Hellboy Into the Silent Sea: The Making of the Comic Revealed

Mike Mignola's Hellboy Into the Silent Sea is a glorious treatment showcasing Gary Gianni's original artwork in an exquisite book. This collection includes revealing commentary regarding how two legendary comic-book creators seamlessly developed this Hellboy sea saga from the core of an idea into a finished work of art. The combined talents of Mignola and Gianni are on display as the reader follows along the path of the creative process: The script, preliminary roughs, reference photos, completed pencil drawings and finished inks are all shared and discussed. The pencil drawings provide insight not only for the student but also for any fan who enjoys lavishly reproduced comic art. Gianni's commentary and preliminary pages are intertwined to provide an light-hearted look into the creation of a comic story.

Mike Mignola's fascination with ghosts and monsters began at an early age; reading Dracula at age twelve introduced him to Victorian literature and folklore, from which he has never recovered. Starting in 1982 as a bad inker for Marvel Comics, he swiftly evolved into a not-so-bad artist. By the late 1980s, he had begun to develop his own unique graphic style, with mainstream projects like Cosmic Odyssey and Batman: Gotham by Gaslight. In 1994, he published the first Hellboy series through Dark Horse, and several spin-off titles (B.P.R.D., Lobster Johnson, Abe Sapien, and Sir Edward Grey: Witchfinder), prose books, animated films, and two live-action films starring Ron Perlman. Along the way he worked on Francis Ford Coppola's film Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), was a production designer for Disney's Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001), and was the visual consultant to director Guillermo del Toro on Blade II (2002), Hellboy (2004), and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008), and the Hellboy: Rise of the Blood Queen.

Gary Gianni began as an illustrator for Chicago newspapers and as a reporter/sketch artist for television. He has illustrated books by authors ranging from Melville and Verne to Michael Chabon and Ray Bradbury. Gianni spent several years illustrating the stories of Conan, Solomon Kane and Bran Mak Morn in a series of books by R.E. Howard. In comics, he worked on Batman, The Shadow, Hellboy and his own creation, Monstermen. For almost a decade, he produced the syndicated newspaper comic strip Prince Valiant. Gianni also created drawings and paintings for George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire epic novels.