Mike Mignola is a well renowned illustrator and writer, most famous for his series Hellboy. I was asked to interview Mike for the Creative Networks, the experience was incredible I asked questions to help others discover more about a professional in the creative industry but also to help aspiring creatives.
I learnt so much from Mike it was incredible I almost couldn't stop smiling throughout the interview just to realise that he was a nice guy, he was humble and he was normal like us. The talk and the interview helped me to realise what it is possible to do and has really helped to push my practice on. Thought Bubble also helped host the event but I hadn't really given much thought about going to the festival because I hadn't checked out pricing and just assumed it would be expensive but after this talk and speaking to my friends from Illustration I realised that I had to do it even just for a day.
Below is a transcript of my interview, read at will:
Josh:
So, the first question, have you ever had a favourite moment in your career, or your creative journey as it were?
Mike:
Huh? I’ve had some spectacularly weird ones but a favourite? I don’t know, I think there was a time when I realised I was going to be able to get continue to get away with what I was doing I think. When I did the third Hellboy story which was something I did almost entirely for myself. The first one, you know was was difficult, the second one was really difficult because I wrote the second all by myself and the third one I just had fun. There was a an old Irish folk tale I want to do an adaptation of so drew that and I had so much fun doing it with the when I was done I looked at it and went my god it's not publishable. It just didn't seem like a professional job because it just it was something I did just for fun and I I remember going to lunch with a friend of mine who looked at it while I sat there nervously like what I do am I going to do I have to turn this thing in? He said it's actually the best thing you've ever done. And so that made a little bit easier to get published and then once it was in print a couple different artists called me up and said oh my god that’s the best thing you have ever done. It was a moment wait that's the most fun I've ever had and really one the smoothest jobs I ever did as far as just blowing through it and then you know and then there was everybody saying it’s the best thing you've ever done I think well Jeez if I can get away with doing that for the rest my career.
Then there was a story I did with my daughter that again I did just for fun. She'd made up this weird story one day, she was 7 years old which is weird story and I agreed to do a story for anthology and I know what is going to do, I picked up at school show is weird story. So I drew that story again everybody said it's the best thing you've ever done. She won the Eisner award the big comic industry award for this odd little thing, that, It was actually a real personal story not just because she made it up but because it was so odd that I could when I did my version of what she told me I could kind of make it a little bit more about something personal. I was spending a lot of time away from home and everything else and having everybody love that story was another pretty big one.
Josh:
Thank you, they’re brilliant, the next question do you or have you ever experienced any creative blocks and if so how do you go about getting out of them?
Mike:
Yeah I'm sure I've had them but I guess so much my career was working with other people writing you know so you don't really have them as far as days where you’re not doing as good as you know you want to be doing. I mean most days are like that but as far as having the kind of creative block where you’re like I don't know what I'm going to do. That, I don't remember ever having I think I always had so many ideas it was mostly dealing with I'm not doing this as well as I wanted to. Now is a very strange time because I’ve wrapped up the Hellboy stuff and really said well now I'm just gonna do whatever I want and it’s not really a creative block but is just this confused thing of well now I really can do whatever I want. What do I want to do so it's not real block but is it is a little bit of a creative confusion.
Josh:
So what inspires you to help you create your work?
Mike:
You know I mean I’ve just always liked monsters and ghost stories as far back as I can remember. I just went to Whitby the other day and it's the one place since I was 13 years old and I read Dracula it’s the one place I always want to go visit. So ever since then I just wanted to do that kind of subject matter. So bouncing through Marvel and DC comics for 10 years was just trying to find a place where I could do that kind of work. Creating my own comic was all about cutting out all the other stuff I didn't want to draw and making up a book where I could just do just the stuff I want and so really my whole career has been just cutting out all the stuff I don't want to draw and get down to basically just drawing you know, ghosts and fog.
Josh:
So almost answered in the last question, how did you come up with Hellboy?
Mike:
Yeah I mean that’s ten years of doing the Marvel and DC stuff and I did a Batman story that I plotted myself it was the first you know relatively large things that one issue comic I did right it's Batman in a in a cemetery. I never could careless about Batman it was DC comics asked me to do something I made up the story that really didn't need to be a Batman story it was just a little ghost story. I did that you know it was so much fun to just do exactly my kind of subject matter and I was really thinking well it was like it was a career turning point. Like okay that was great I made up my own story I'd love to keep making up my own stories, do I make up my own stories and try to shoehorn other people's characters into the stories or if I already know what kind of stories I want to do. Why don't I make up my own guy and that it was just a question of I'm sure it's not gonna work out but if it does work out I gotta make up a character that I won't get bored drawing. My first instinct would have and make up because I love old Victorian occult detective guys so do I make up a regular human being who investigates this stuff but I thought no matter what l do I’m going to get bored drawing this regular guy. So I'd drawn this kind of clunky monster once or twice just for fun, just goofing around. No thought of making up the character and one time I drew this character and I wrote Hellboy on him, just as a goof it was just like oh there's a blank spot put these 2 words together. So I made up this name I thought was funny and this kind of clunky monster thing just for fun and I thought okay, I made up this thing just for fun, maybe if I use him. The fact that I made him up just for fun will make him continue to be fun to draw. There was no calculated I need to sit down now and make up my commercial character, it was just that thing was fun let's let's see if we can do that. It worked because actually I mean before I did Hellboy I'd never drawn any one thing for more than, a year and so here I’ve been doing Hellboy for more than 20 years and he still fun to do.
Josh:
That's brilliant yeah because I've actually started to do my own comic and you've completely just inspired everything that I was thinking and worrying about. Whether or not you get bored or if you can create your own story.
Mike:
Yeah it's as close as I have to career advice for people because you make up your own thing and there's no guarantee that it's going to work out and in most people in most cases they don't work out but I thought on the off chance it does work out, I at least want to try doing something that would combine everything I really like. As apposed to looking around saying well I think what will sell, I thought let me try exactly what I want to do and then if it sells I'm stuck doing my dream job as apposed to making up some commercial thing it sells and the you're stuck doing something you you do it just for the money.
Josh
Was it was it hard to start up your own comic?
Mike:
No, it wasn't because I already had a falling out with Marvel Comics so I went over to DC comics I was living in New York so it was no big deal and I had really good relationships with people at DC comics. Even though I didn't care about the DC comic book characters, I'd grown up reading Marvel Comics. I knew people there and I knew people liked the way I drew Batman, so making up my own thing was no big deal because I assumed it wouldn't work, I assume that we just do the 4 issue first series and then I go back and do another Batman book.
One last question, is there any advice you would give to young aspiring creatives to help in there practice?
Basically just what I what I said is at least try doing your thing otherwise you'll never you'll never know. I think I really do believe that you can tell when you look at somebody’s work you could tell if they love what they’e doing there's something that comes through if you're really love what you’re doing, what you really care about I mean I've seen wonderfully talented people do books and I look at and I go yeah, I see all the skill there but that magic something is missing that excitement. So we all know as commercial artists. Maybe it's not going to work, you're gonna have to do a job you don't really care about but if you get the opportunity to try to make up your own thing and these days it seems like there's so many different places to put your work to get it seen if it is just you know putting it online but at least try it because you know what have you got to lose?
Josh:
We will have to end it there. If there was any way to get in contact with you would there be anywhere to send any work?
Mike:
Josh:
Thank you!
Mike:
And thank you!
