On a dark night in 1880s England, the Whittier family, along with Sir Edward Grey, sent Captain Henry into time and space in pursuit of the soul of a Whittier uncle, the results of which comprise the entirety of the a new series from Mike Mignola and Bruce Zick.
The four-issue series, titled Captain Henry and the Graveyard of Time, is another adventure into the ever-widening Hellboy Universe, full of the action, humor, and excitement one can expect from Dark Horse Comics.
We got a chance to speak with Zick all about the new series, who returns to the world of comics with Captain Henry, brining over 30 years of animation experience with the likes of Disney, Dreamworks, Blue Sky, and Pixar to the project.
How did you get involved in the upcoming Captain Henry and the Graveyard of Time series?
Bruce Zick: Mike Mignola and I knew each other from social media and we eventually had a conversation about working together. At first we just talked about ideas we liked and when Mike told me about a Victorian Soldier of Fortune who travels into a ghost world and then is thrust into a new dimension where monsters, time travelers, and a horrible King of Time live…well, he had me at Soldier. From there we got into the weeds and while Mike plotted the four book series I began a long visual development process. Once Dark Horse greenlit the project, then it was full steam ahead.
You get to create a new corner of the Hellboy Universe in Captain Henry. How did you create it and what was the most fun and challenging about it?
Zick: I first wanted to create a highly detailed world that was fantastic and bizarre and yet also familiar and believable, something the reader could fully immerse themselves into. While this is a Science Fiction/Fantasy story, It has a sort of Steampunk feel of old heavy metal constructions with tons of rivets, nuts and bolts, like something that could have been built 150 years ago, but by some deranged visionary. The fun part was that I had a free hand to follow my imagination and Mike was very supportive. The challenging part was I did want this series to feel like it belonged in the Hellboy Universe, so I kept in mind that there might be some fan expectation and I didn’t want to alienate anyone.
How would you describe Captain Henry?
Zick: The Captain has seen war for decades in the British military of the 19th century, so he is tough, resourceful, and unflappable. While he finds himself in worlds beyond imagination, he still is pragmatic and knows how to survive, but maybe he also has a hard time adapting to severe change that is thrust upon him. There is an unspoken destiny for him that just begins in the first four books and the reader knows the Captain will become a powerful and mythic hero in the grand tradition of the best of heroes. There might be fun in trying to guess where Mike and I came up with the idea for this guy, the only clue being that he is based on our love of movies.
What did you learn from Primordial that you applied to your work on the new series?
Zick: When I created Primordial, my last graphic novel for Dark Horse, I felt that I had finally figured out how best to tell a story. In the past I was more intent on world building to the point of over-complicating the adventure and getting bogged down in too much exposition and dialogue. Now I am much happier keeping the text to a minimum and letting the art tell most of the story. We must quickly like the protagonist and be interested in whatever happens to him and to keep throwing obstacles in his path.
What has it been like collaborating with Mike Mignola?
Zick: Well, first of all, I was really thrilled that Mike wanted to collaborate. But I was pretty tight creatively to start and had to work at being relaxed and just letting the creativity flow. Once Mike approved a series of designs I really opened up and got into the flow. I was constantly amazed at Mike’s unlimited imagination. He is a real powerhouse of creativity that really inspired me.
How is creating a comic book different from working in television animation?
Zick: In television, as in feature animation, I have plenty of time to develop ideas and I work on a very large scale to make the drawings loose and relaxed. It’s crazy to me that in comics so much detail gets crammed into a fairly small sheet of paper. I really feel the constraint of a panel and struggle to leave additional empty space for the lettering–I just want my drawings to explode and fill up the space. Also there is much more time restraint to get things done quickly, so I feel the pressure of speed which can sometimes be a good thing. Speed makes you think faster, draw faster, and it helps to loosen me up. The worst thing about animation is very few people actually ever see your work and the best thing about comics is that 100% of your work is seen by the world.
Upcoming projects?
Zick: I recently finished designing a stop action animated feature, I Am Frankelda, which will premiere internationally later this year. There is a really bizarre NFT project I designed which also might be out this year. I also am midway through a new Zone Continuum graphic novel which will be the most ambitious story I’ve yet to attempt. But nothing would make me happier than to see Captain Henry and the Graveyard of Time succeed because I miss these characters already and I can’t wait to work on the next adventure.
Captain Henry and the Graveyard of Time #1 will be released on October 22.
