When is the next awesome B&W German "pocket-sized" Hardcover due to ship? [Archive]

alz

06-17-2004, 02:47 PM

I didn't see it listed on Amazon.de yet, but here's some other places to try:
http://www.cross-cult.de/sites/shop.htm

Amazon.de takes a bit (a month?) to get them in. You can try here though:
http://www.hummelcomic.de/index.php?jump=shop/cat_frames.php&query=searchsection_Comics!searchstring_Die%20rech te%20Hand%20des%20Schicksals

They have them now, but they only accept VISA (argh).

Wolfgang

06-17-2004, 03:03 PM

Sprechst du Deutsch? Es ist sehr langweilig. Wo machst diese Bucher? Mache im Englisch? Ich kenne das nicht; Amerikanisch Bucher kaufen.

(Man I hope my grammar is correct)

Maija

06-17-2004, 05:19 PM

Sprechst du Deutsch? Es ist sehr langweilig. Wo machst diese Bucher? Mache im Englisch? Ich kenne das nicht; Amerikanisch Bucher kaufen.

If they were available in English, presumably folks wouldn't be interested in the German ones. But language isn't much of an issue if you've already got the English colour books and you just want the black & white art which is what makes these desirable.

Wolfgang

06-18-2004, 05:42 AM

Oh, I see.

jnapper

06-18-2004, 07:35 AM

What I really love about the German editions is that they're sorta "funsize" :)

I've seen a number of translations in various sizes/formats... I just love them all! (Color or b&W).

jnapper

06-18-2004, 07:57 AM

Amazon.de takes a bit (a month?) to get them in. You can try here though:
http://www.hummelcomic.de/index.php?jump=shop/cat_frames.php&query=searchsection_Comics!searchstring_Die%20rech te%20Hand%20des%20Schicksals

Thanks :)

Anakin

06-18-2004, 05:23 PM

Hey, now I have one more motivation to learn German! I've been slowly picking it up on my own because so many great Architectural mags are written in German.

Benocles_Czar

06-20-2004, 09:12 PM

Guys and Gals,

I was sent a free copy of this, as an article that appeared at the back of the book, was influenced by my own "Mignola Literary Influence" Bibliography that I assembled a while back.
:p

Cheers
Benjamin S.

Amigo

06-21-2004, 12:27 AM

Thanks Jonell, for helping me back on the board ;)

Here are some infos on our new book:

Hellboy 5: Die rechte Hand des Schicksals (The Right Hand of Doom)
176 pages, hardcover, thick paper, b/w
exclusive foreword and pin-up by the ever friendly Hellboy production-designer TyRuben Ellingson
Pin-ups by German talents (including my favorite one until now by Thomas von Kummant - he is one of the slowest working german comicbook artists, but he is way good!)
Pin-ups by japanese artists (taken from the sold out Japanese Helllboy issues)
An article on Mignolas influences from literature and art (based partly on Bens text - thanks, Ben!)

So, yeah it would be great if there are some fans who would like to read Hellboy in the language of the "arch-enemy" ;) By the way: There will soon be a Russian edition available (also b/w) - so you can enjoy Hellboy in Rasputins native language.

Andreas

P.S.: @ Wolfgang: You have to work a little bit on your German grammar (as I have to work on my English grammar) :)

Otto66

06-21-2004, 07:25 AM

Welcome back, Amigo. Thanks for the update.
Any idea when the Hellboy movie will be in theatres
there in Germany?

Amigo

06-21-2004, 08:37 AM

Welcome back, Amigo. Thanks for the update.
Any idea when the Hellboy movie will be in theatres
there in Germany?

Hi Otto!

September 16th - still 3 long months.

But I had the chance to see the original (not dubbed) version two weeks ago. We got the opportunity to show this wonderful flick at the Comic-Salon Erlangen - Germanys largest and most important Comic event.

The screening was packed with Hellboy-fans, journalists and staffers from Amigo/Cross Cult and other publishers. It was great! Nearly everybody was very surprised how good it was: we heard people saying "better than X-Men", "better than Spider-Man" and "way better than Van Helsing". I have a good feeling about Hellboys success in Germany - the first ads and reviews are already popping up here and there, press people are very interested in the movie and we had lot's of curious fans at our booth... The release of the US-DVD and illegal copies will cripple the box-office in G.B., Scandinavia and Australia, but I hope they can keep the German dubbed version locked until the movie premieres over here.

Otto66

06-21-2004, 12:30 PM

Glad you liked the movie. I think we were all holding our
breath as to how non-Hellboy fans would take to the movie.
You make good points about the illegal copies and internet
rips. Nice thing is, most people would rather have the
theatre experience. Tell everyone, the better the Box Office,
the soon we get Hellboy2. And maybe, we can push for a
single date world release?

jnapper

07-08-2004, 10:12 AM

Got the new HELLBOY German hardcover-- Hellboy: Die Rehte Hand des Schicksals-- it's fantastic per usual. Really well made, a great weight to it when you read it. I never noticed this before, but whoever is re-lettering the text into German really nails the "look" of the lettering in English.

It's full of short stories-- Pancakes, Nature of the Beast (the lily story from DHP), King Vold, Heads, mr tod, the Varcolac, Right Hand of Doom, Box Full of Evil, and a fantastic gallery of (Asian?) art, the Mignola sketchbook is sketches from the American TPBs. There's a Mignola-influences bibliography too (in German, so I can't translate). All in all, awesome!

Otto66

07-08-2004, 10:07 PM

Amigo and his staff make for great books.
Thank you, and all the folks that work for you, for doing
books that everyone wants to collect.

kid cthulhu

07-09-2004, 09:27 PM

Wow, I gotta get me one of these.
Be keeping an eye out for that Russian version too.

Being mostly Russian and German, that would make it an extra treat. Now I should learn some of both languages...

alz

07-12-2004, 08:01 AM

EDIT:
I wasn't going to pick up the russian ones, but I'm sort of reconsidering that now.

REDBAZ

07-16-2004, 04:23 AM

hi all,

b/w hellboy sounds great, and definitely want to add them to my collection. confused as to how to order though on the site, i don't understand german i'm afraid.

thanks

baz

kid cthulhu

07-16-2004, 03:58 PM

I agree. Any help on how/where to purchase these would be much appreciated...

Brisco

07-16-2004, 04:45 PM

I'll second that. Amazon.de is perfectly easy to understand because the process is pretty much the same as the American site, but they don't even have Book 5 listed yet, and the other sites were not so easy to follow without speaking the language. So any walk-thrus on ordering would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Brisco

alz

07-18-2004, 02:39 PM

You can try this site:

http://www.hummelcomic.de/shop/cat_frames.php?searchsection=Comics&searchstring=hellboy

(ignore anything that has the "neu" red icon -- that means it's coming out soon, but not available yet)

The only downside to this site is that they ONLY except VISA.
But I have ordered from them and other people have said they rock.
(They're usually the first vendor to have the books)

I've used Amazon.de before too. I had to look at the Amazon.com (usa) version to see what the .de pages where saying though (they are designed the same way). Or you can use a babblefish translation (german to english) to get the general idea of what any german site is asking

http://babel.altavista.com/tr?lin=en&lout=fr&translate_me=yes

It's not lickedy-spit easy, but it can be done :)
Or, if there's enough call for it, I can order all the books anyone needs, but you'd have to send me moola first, so I'm not stuck with books someone changes their mind on (not that they should -- they're awesome)

:P

REDBAZ

07-18-2004, 05:22 PM

Cool. Just ordered Book one from amazon.de, thought I'd have to open a new account with them but logged in as normal as I do with the Brit or USA site. Can't wait now! Soon as I know it works I'll get the rest. Gives me an excuse to learn a new language. Who says comics can't be educational!

Now all I need is the 8" figure of HELLBOY, but amazon.com won't deliver!

Amigo

07-19-2004, 12:17 AM

Thanks for ordering our books ;) although it's tricky...

Amazon.de has the fifth book listed as: Mignola, Mike Bd. 5: Die rechte Hand des Schicksals by Mike Mignola !! (sic!) This error should be fixed soon. Until then, please search for Mignola, not Hellboy.

I hope you all enjoy the b/w Mignola!

Andreas

REDBAZ

07-25-2004, 07:00 PM

Hi again,

got this from amazon.de after placing the order, can anyone translate?

"Guten Tag,

unser Logistikzentrum hat den unten stehenden Artikel soeben verschickt!

Unser Hinweis:

Sie koennen Ihr Kundenkonto jederzeit ueber "Mein Konto"
http://www.amazon.de/mein-konto einsehen und verwalten. "

cheers

baz

Amigo

07-26-2004, 12:16 AM

They tell you, that they have shipped the article right now.
You can check your customer-account by clicking "Mein Konto"

REDBAZ

07-30-2004, 05:24 PM

Excellent, thanks amigo.

The book came the other day, absolutely brilliant. I'll be ordering the next two tonight.

Its small though perfectly formed, being about a quarter smaller than standard US size. One day I hope someone releases a A2 portfolio sized printing of some of Mignolas art, be great to frame.

I've not actually got the english version of the SEED OF DESTRUCTION TPB, but this has an interview with Mignola, b/w pin ups from Miller, Allred etc, so I'm assuming its the same as the UK/US versions. And I really need to get that since I lent the original issues out to someone and never saw them again. Gahh!

I noticed though all the swastikas have been altered in the book. I apologise in advance for my ignorance on this, but I take it swastikas aren't allowed in print in Germany?

Highly recommended.

-baz

Amigo

08-01-2004, 09:55 PM

I noticed though all the swastikas have been altered in the book. I apologise in advance for my ignorance on this, but I take it swastikas aren't allowed in print in Germany?

Thanks for your praise, baz! Yep swastikas aren't allowed in print in Germany if it's not a book/comic with serious historical content. We also should have erased Hitlers face in this book - but that would have been a huge alteration of Mikes artwork...

Andreas

alz

11-18-2004, 12:38 AM

Any news on the Conq.Worm edition?? (the website sez Nov.2004)

:)

petriacce

11-18-2004, 08:41 AM

Sieger Wurm...Sieger Wurm...isn't it just fun to say Sieger Wurm.

It's available at http://www.hummelcomic.de/ right now.

alz

11-18-2004, 10:51 AM

petriacce

11-18-2004, 10:57 AM

Have you actually ordered/got it yet? For the last book I saw it labelled "new" and ordered it, but they wrote back saying they didn't have it yet (and that I'd have to wait until it was released)

:)Hmm, no I haven't ordered or received it yet, but I haven't had that happen before. Did they cancel your order or put it on backorder until it was available? The only problem I've had is getting double charged. D'OH!

Now this is funny...

http://www.hummelcomic.de/images/header_sexyhummel.gif

Amigo

11-19-2004, 12:26 AM

Hey there!

Hellboy 6: Sieger Wurm is not out yet. If the printer works fast, it will be available in 2-3 weeks.

The book contains, of course, all Mignola artwork from the US-tpb in glorious b/w, new pin-ups by German artists and an updated and illustrated version of Jason Halls Hellboy timeline (Thanks again, Jason!).

I hope you enjoy it!

Next will be Hollow Earth. I'm curious to see that one in b/w...

Andreas

petriacce

11-19-2004, 08:28 AM

Next will be Hollow Earth. I'm curious to see that one in b/w...

AndreasSo is Cross-Cult going to do all the B.P.R.D. stuff too? Is it going to be #7 under the Hellboy series or a separate B.P.R.D. (or B.U.A.P) series.

Amigo

11-22-2004, 12:29 AM

So is Cross-Cult going to do all the B.P.R.D. stuff too? Is it going to be #7 under the Hellboy series or a separate B.P.R.D. (or B.U.A.P) series.

We will pick the stuff we like and that looks good in bw. We would like to publish the B.P.R.D.-stuff under the Hellboy series - if the friendly guys from Dark Horse give their o.k.

If we don't sneek another B.P.R.D. collection in, German Hellboy #8 will (hopefully) be the next Mignola Hellboy tpb. Then Hellboy #9 "Plague" - but it would be a shame to print it without this beautiful coloring and I don't know if Guy Davis' great artwork will look good in bw... Next will be part one of the Bermejo-series. Lee attended a convention in Germany a few weeks ago. He's also a fan of our editions and would love to see his Hellboy-issues as bw-hardcovers. Nice fella!

Andreas

morna

11-22-2004, 12:44 AM

... but it would be a shame to print it without this beautiful coloring and I don't know if Guy Davis' great artwork will look good in bw... Andreas

Well I can tell you for sure that the covers look AWESOME in b/w ;)

petriacce

06-19-2005, 03:35 PM

I just saw that the first BUAP (BPRD) book is out from Cross-Cult in September. Excellent!

It includes:

"BUAP: Hohle Erde"
"Lobster Johnson: Der Killer in meinem Schädel"
"Abe Sapien vs. Wissenschaft"
"Abe Sapien: Die Trommeln der Toten"

http://www.cross-cult.de/bilder/buap/BUAP1_Previewcover.gif

.

Amigo

06-20-2005, 02:01 AM

Brisco

06-20-2005, 10:24 PM

Yep, we are working on it. A great book for us, because it's Johanns first adventure. We don't have many super-powered comicbook-heroes over here in Germany. ;)

Maybe I can see some of you friendly board-folks in San Diego!

Are you going to have a booth in San Diego? Are you going to be selling these editions??? :) I sure hope so. It would be great to get them without paying for shipping from Europe!
But, of course, you'll be very welcome at the Con even if you come empty-handed. :o
Brisco

Amigo

06-21-2005, 06:23 AM

I come empty-handed. The publishing agreement doesn't allow us to sell our books to you guys - at least not directly at a convention. ;)

I will visit the Dark Horse booth when (if?) Mike is signing. Or when Mike is attending a panel... Maybe I can get in touch with some Hellboy fans from the board who also hang there ...

I attended San Diego regularly between 1994 and 2000. I was there as a fanboy and I loved it! And now, it's great to be there as a "pro" and look for some new material to publish in our booksize, hardcover "Amigo"-format.

Andreas

petriacce

01-03-2006, 10:13 PM

Amigo

01-04-2006, 12:28 AM

Received my copy of B.U.A.P. today. Very nice indeed and I was surprised to see what all was packed into the book.

I checked out the website today and saw that new Hellboy and B.U.A.P. volumes are scheduled. Great. Is the artwork posted for the latest Hellboy volume actually going to be the cover art? I like the art but it is a big departure from the style of the other six volumes. Any chance it's going to change?

Hi there,

I'm glad, that you like our bw-edition of B.P.R.D.! We have to change the cover-design for our Hellboy books, because we started with the old Dark Horse cover design and tried to stick with that as long as we could. So, we added a little detail at the last cover (Conqueror Worm) to make it suitable to the old design. But that got us in deep trouble with Scott Allie. We want to keep our friends at DH happy and therefore we have to change to the new DH-cover design. Maybe we can continue with the old spine-design - so, the new and the old books will look good together on the shelf.

We will reprint our first books in 2007 (Hellboy 1-3 are sold out) - these will also have the new design.

Neil Hill

01-04-2006, 07:49 AM

Now if we can only get Dark Horse US to start printing Mike's Hellboy trades in deluxe hardcover editions, we'll be cookin' with Crisco! :p

petriacce

01-04-2006, 06:27 PM

Hi there,

I'm glad, that you like our bw-edition of B.P.R.D.! We have to change the cover-design for our Hellboy books, because we started with the old Dark Horse cover design and tried to stick with that as long as we could. So, we added a little detail at the last cover (Conqueror Worm) to make it suitable to the old design. But that got us in deep trouble with Scott Allie. We want to keep our friends at DH happy and therefore we have to change to the new DH-cover design.Hey Andreas, thanks for replying. Yeah, that Scott guy sure can be a hardass sometimes. I remember when he made that librarian cry because the Hellboy trades weren't in order by published date. The crazy lady had alphabetized them. He can be pretty nice too though.

Maybe we can continue with the old spine-design - so, the new and the old books will look good together on the shelf.

We will reprint our first books in 2007 (Hellboy 1-3 are sold out) - these will also have the new design.That would be great if you could keep the old spine design, but looking at the spine of the first B.U.A.P. edition it seems that the spine will have to be part of the overall design. Oh well, they'll be similar to my miss-match style of the English trades.

Keep up the great work!

Patrick.

Neil Hill

01-04-2006, 07:23 PM

petriacce

01-04-2006, 09:46 PM

Pardon my currency exchange rate ignorance here folks, but what are people paying via Amazon.de for these? When you come to the end of the ordering process, it appears the final cost is about 32,32 Euros (roughly $39.00 US). Is that about what others are paying for these volumes?

Thanks in advance!I order mine through HummelComics because they seem to have the volumes available before amazon.de. The last two volumes I ordered through them cost approximately $25.17 US each (with shipping).

Neil Hill

01-05-2006, 05:57 AM

I order mine through HummelComics because they seem to have the volumes available before amazon.de. The last two volumes I ordered through them cost approximately $25.17 US each (with shipping).

Is Hummel any more difficult to order through than Amazon.de? Amazon.de has all my account information (including credit card, address, etc.) in the system already, so it would be virtually a snap. Is Hummel much the same way?

Also, how clear and professional looking are the b/w images in the book? It doesn't look like some pixeled, copies of a copy, type thing does it (like those Spanish sketchbooks that pop up on eBay from time-to-time)?.

I just want to make sure of all my options before proceeding with this purchase.

petriacce

01-05-2006, 07:00 AM

Is Hummel any more difficult to order through than Amazon.de? Amazon.de has all my account information (including credit card, address, etc.) in the system already, so it would be virtually a snap. Is Hummel much the same way?

Also, how clear and professional looking are the b/w images in the book? It doesn't look like some pixeled, copies of a copy, type thing does it (like those Spanish sketchbooks that pop up on eBay from time-to-time)?.

I just want to make sure of all my options before proceeding with this purchase.Hummel makes it very easy to order. The site is in German of course but their shopping cart and check out are pretty similar to amazon.de's. If you have any trouble though you can always use SYSTRAN (http://www.systranbox.com/systran/box) or another quick translation service to get the idea.

The books are VERY professional. We're talking about a genuine publishing company Cross Cult. Picture the comics or trades you own as smaller and in black and white. They are crisp images and approved by Dark Horse. I think those Spanish sketchbooks were put together by someone ripping art off of the web.

Amigo

07-27-2006, 03:28 AM

Hi there,

just a quick update on our german edition of Hellboy:

- In August, we will publish new editions of our little Hellboy bw hardcovers. Books 1-6 at once. With a new coverdesign that matches the latest, 7th book.

- The B.P.R.D. hardcovers will switch to color starting with book 2 "Die Froschplage", our first Guy Davis book.

Hellboy was our first major title, but now, we are expanding a bit with titles like Sin City, Boy Vampire, The Walking Dead, Torpedo, The Portent, Jonny Double, Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser, Gregory, 300, The Red Star and others.

Best regards,
Andreas

www.cross-cult.de

plut

07-27-2006, 01:19 PM

i haven't seen this thread before! and i think i'll be ordering some of those august printed books then.

you who've read them - is mignola's art really suitable for b/w? obviously his pages are clean and his b/w illustrations wonderfull but then again the comic pages are made to be colored. i'm just wondering cos i saw petersen's original page from the island and i was thinking that it wasn't as easily read as the colored result.

and that thing about you not being able to print the swastika and even more so, hitler's face (!) that strikes me as odd (though wearing or showing swastikas in public here in sweden is also illegal). but i guess it's thought through

EDIT: and i forgot what it really was i wanted to post. that i think it's great that you do and can do a comic like that in a b/w comic format. i really think it's a format that should be used more often. especially if you're living in a country like sweden, where the comics market isn't very big nor very good. it should also be a strong alternative for struggling publishers everywhere, cheap to print, easier to sell.

to broaden the audience for comics more glossy, expensive and posh editions won't do - only fans and perhaps former fans buy those. to reach new people for the comics medium publishers should make easy to obtain, easy to read and easy to dispose comic books. pocket comic books.

Neil Hill

07-27-2006, 01:36 PM

Hummel makes it very easy to order. The site is in German of course but their shopping cart and check out are pretty similar to amazon.de's. If you have any trouble though you can always use SYSTRAN (http://www.systranbox.com/systran/box) or another quick translation service to get the idea.

The books are VERY professional. We're talking about a genuine publishing company Cross Cult. Picture the comics or trades you own as smaller and in black and white. They are crisp images and approved by Dark Horse. I think those Spanish sketchbooks were put together by someone ripping art off of the web.

Thank you very much for this information. I wish I could find one of these books at a reasonable price online here in the US, just so that I could see a volume and get hooked, before going through Amazon Germany to get the rest of the series. Oh well, that continues to be my plight. :)

Thanks again. :)

petriacce

07-27-2006, 04:37 PM

Thank you very much for this information. I wish I could find one of these books at a reasonable price online here in the US, just so that I could see a volume and get hooked, before going through Amazon Germany to get the rest of the series. Oh well, that continues to be my plight. :)

Thanks again. :)Stygian,

If I can help you to get hooked, I will. Since you're a regularly on the forum and a well-published, letter writing fan. I can mail you the first book to check out if you promise to mail it back. Send me a PM if you're up for it.

Cheers,
Pets.

Neil Hill

07-27-2006, 08:08 PM

Stygian,

If I can help you to get hooked, I will. Since you're a regularly on the forum and a well-published, letter writing fan. I can mail you the first book to check out if you promise to mail it back. Send me a PM if you're up for it.

Cheers,
Pets.

PM sent my friend! Thanks!! :D

Amigo

07-28-2006, 12:40 AM

EDIT: and i forgot what it really was i wanted to post. that i think it's great that you do and can do a comic like that in a b/w comic format. i really think it's a format that should be used more often. especially if you're living in a country like sweden, where the comics market isn't very big nor very good. it should also be a strong alternative for struggling publishers everywhere, cheap to print, easier to sell.

to broaden the audience for comics more glossy, expensive and posh editions won't do - only fans and perhaps former fans buy those. to reach new people for the comics medium publishers should make easy to obtain, easy to read and easy to dispose comic books. pocket comic books.

For us, it wasn't a matter of making it cheaper - our books are pretty expensive due to the smaller print-run, hardcover and high paper-quality.

We have been the first, I guess, to go for bw - just like Mike intended it in the first place, when the first Hellboy story got published in the San Diego Convention Special years back. I own some of Mikes original pages and simply thought: "Hey, this stuff looks so much better and clearer in bw." A former color-edition from another German publisher failed - so, we tried it. And it worked greatly!
Others followed our example and also published bw (using our files): Russia, Finland and maybe others I don't know of. But we are the only ones who do bw, smaller sized bookformat AND hardcover. By the way: The guys at Dark Horse liked our format that much, that they chose to publish the new Sin City edition also in smaller format. So, we are the ones to blame, that they shrunk Sin City. ;)

We also made color/bw tests with Guy Davis artwork, because I love his bw Marquis-series so much. But we came to the conclusion, that his BPRD work is clearer and fresher with Dave Stewarts brilliant coloring.

Ninth Hispana

07-28-2006, 02:01 AM

Thanks Amigo,they are beauties but when will we see them in English.A limited run,to see Mike's work in glorious techno-black and white.Sign me on,truly we would have the best of both worlds.....[I asked for the sun,now I am blind.Truly one can be too bold.]

REDBAZ

07-28-2006, 03:43 AM

Amigo

07-28-2006, 05:56 AM

Have to say I picked up the German Hellboy books simply because they were b/w. The strength of the art overcame the digest size, the minor alterations to swastikas and my inability to read German. They are really well done product, but if the move into reprinting in colour for future books, the appeal has gone for me. But i wish them all the success in the world.

Our edition of Hellboy drawn by Mike will stay b/w. No reprinting in color. Never. ;) And yes, I hope there will also be a Dark Horse b/w edition in the future. Dave Stewart is a brilliant colorist, but Mikes art simply is perfect and should not be "changed" with color (just my opinion). Dark colors mixed with rough paper-quality (in the single issues) and shiny-colors on glossy paper (in the trades) can sometimes spoil Mikes artwork.

I would handprint Hellboy b/w on an old Gutenberg printing machine if I had one handy. :)

Ninth Hispana

07-28-2006, 06:39 AM

All hail the Printing Press, a true work of wonder.Amigo,again I say you do some beautiful work.

Neil Hill

07-28-2006, 07:05 AM

Our edition of Hellboy drawn by Mike will stay b/w. No reprinting in color. Never. ;) And yes, I hope there will also be a Dark Horse b/w edition in the future. Dave Stewart is a brilliant colorist, but Mikes art simply is perfect and should not be "changed" with color (just my opinion). Dark colors mixed with rough paper-quality (in the single issues) and shiny-colors on glossy paper (in the trades) can sometimes spoil Mikes artwork.

I would handprint Hellboy b/w on an old Gutenberg printing machine if I had one handy. :)

Well, I do agree that Mike's artwork TRULY shines in b/w, but adding color is like icing on the cake for me. Knowing that Mike designs his work with color in mind helps me better understand why certain things were done they way they were in b/w. For instance, why was this area of the page left white, or why is there this obvious flow of black that moves from panel-to-panel? You then quickly realize that the eye is being directed and that in color this effect is punctuated ten fold.

Also, by allying himself with Dave Stewart, Mike is assured that his work in color will always be exactly what he intends it to be- truly gorgeous! :D

Amigo

07-28-2006, 07:41 AM

Well, Mike is nice enough to draw little moons in his panels when the story is taking place at night. He uses many little "hints" like that, so that everything works perfectly in b/w. Maybe, he has the color in mind sometimes, when he draws, but I guess not very often. Otherwise 99 percent of his artwork wouldn't work so perfectly in b/w.

When we made color/bw-tests with Davis' BPRD we soon realized that his style on the book is made for color. It just doesn't work without it. Mood, situation, time of day or night, lighting ... all these things get lost. In Mignola artwork, you don't miss these things. The light, the mood ... everything is there - without one touch of color. It's a miracle ... but it is that way.

And didn't Mike say some time ago, in an interview, that Hellboy was intended to be a b/w series? Color titles have been more successful and easier to sell, so he had to change the series to color. Correct me, if this is not true. ;)

Neil Hill

07-28-2006, 08:55 AM

When we made color/bw-tests with Davis' BPRD we soon realized that his style on the book is made for color. It just doesn't work without it. Mood, situation, time of day or night, lighting ... all these things get lost.

You know, I can see this a bit with Guy. I wouldn't say Guy's artwork completely falls apart and looses cohesion without color, however, Dave's color work brings an entirely new dimension to the work. With Mike, the color does much the same thing, however, there is no doubt that without color it's just as strong.

As far as Hellboy originally being intended as a b/w book? That could very well be, however, that thought probably didn't last long. Also, as I mentioned, Mike designs his work these days with color entirely in mind. That could be because he's working with the genius of Dave Stewart and therefore feels more confident with the coloring on his books, but I have to imagine that there are just some messages (metaphorically speaking) that come across better in his work with color added.

I do agree Amigo though that Mike's work holds up completely in b/w. I'm just saying that you miss something in Mike's work if you're only seeing and appreciating the b/w pages. :)

Mikolaj

08-04-2006, 01:28 AM

A quickie, to our Amigo: I'm go'n to berlin in a matter of days and was wondering If there are any major comic book shops or other comic oriented activities worth see'n there? I'd be thankfull for any info on these matters!
(also-> the famous B&W HB should be avaliable there, somewhere, right?)

Amigo

08-04-2006, 07:09 AM

Hey Khan,

you can try those shops:

http://www.modern-graphics.de/wir/

http://www.groberunfug.de/unfug/unfugtexte/kontakt.htm

They both have shops located in Berlin-Kreuzberg - former east Berlin soil. Guillermo liked 'em very much when he stayed in Berlin to promote the first Hellboy movie. ;)

I hope that they sell our Hellboy-books. Please ask the friendly folks there if you can't find them.

Our Cross Cult "headquarter" is in the south near Stuttgart (you know: home of Porsche and Daimler-Chrysler), not near Berlin, so, I don't know if there are any interesting comic-activities there. But the shop-guys will help you. I'm sure.

Mikolaj

08-04-2006, 03:28 PM

Thnx for directions, amigo!
I'll ask around! :)

Mikolaj

08-12-2006, 02:29 AM

Hey Khan,

http://www.modern-graphics.de/wir/

Ok... I'm back from Berlin. And I'f you'll ever have a chance to visit this grand City deffinitly check the modern graphic shop. Especcialy the one at the Oranien strasse! It's far away from the canter in an student/emigrants distric, when you can find tons of oddities and awsome places to hang out, drink some beer and meet new german/other nationalties people. The shop iassistants are real fans and ever helpfull whit guide'n you thru tons of both english and german comic book stuff. Honestlly: the best comic book shop I'v ever been into!
And they had the Strange "Orten" ;) there which I gladly purchased- great publishing job, Amigo! Althou I guess I still prefer the color aditions It'll have to admitt that thanks to the B & W I'v spotted some new thing I'v never seen before such as the skull in the dorway in the Island 1. And the quality of both the paper and the cover is just great! Also.. The pin-ups by Sasha Wusefeld and Helge Vogt are both very interesting and unique attempts on hellboy, what other works are these two artist known for and which of these is worth checking out?

p.s.
BERLIN RLZ! :D

Amigo

08-13-2006, 10:18 PM

Also.. The pin-ups by Sasha Wusefeld and Helge Vogt are both very interesting and unique attempts on hellboy, what other works are these two artist known for and which of these is worth checking out?

I'm glad, that you liked our capital and the MG shop!

Helge Vogt is a character and texture-designer for computergames. And Sascha Wüstefeld drew for the "Abrafaxe" - that's a former east German version of "Mickey Mouse" that is still published regularly today. Now, he is working at a large international project, for Disney, I guess (one of our editors knows him better, but he won't tell me more about the "new secret project").
;)

Some of the other pin-up artists in this volume are more popular:
Robert Labs is Germanys number one Mangaka and did a great surfer-zombie-comic last year for Carlsen Comics. http://robertlabs.com/
Mawil is very successful with his autobiographical and humour works http://www.mawilcomix.de/
And Toni Greis is Germanys most successful erotic comics artist and a big fan of Corben. Also published by Eroscomix in the US. http://www.schwarzerturm.de/html/alraune.html

plut

08-16-2006, 01:22 AM

Amigo

08-16-2006, 10:06 PM

So when do the reprints arrive? Not that I can afford them right now but...
I haven't read the original Batman/Starman/Hellboy so I thought that will be a good reason to learn German.

The coolest Hellboy pin-up ever, which would force me to buy whatever it was published in, would be if Anke Feuchtenberger did one. Wonder if she'd be up for it? http://www.feuchtenbergerowa.de/

The new-editions will be available in a few days.

I have to admit, that I'm not a big fan of Anke Feuchtenbergers comics - in my eyes, they are just too artsy and she takes herself too seriously. O.K:, Hellboy is also artsy, but Hellboy has a high level of lighthearted old style pulp-entertainment which makes it fun to read.

Neil Hill

08-31-2006, 08:04 AM

OKay, so I need to jump in here for a moment and sing the praises of Cross Cult Comix and there exquisitely beautiful little hardcover b/w volumes!!!!! Trust me, if I felt it wasn't redundant, I'd add another exclamation point. These guys have done the one thing I've been hoping and praying DH would do for years, turning out wonderful volumes of all of the Hellboy trades in gorgeous b/w! I know Tad, b/w isn't the way these were intended to be seen (well, completely anyway), but I just love these little things!

I picked up WTD and Strange Places recently, and was just dumbstruck by how much more impactful the Hellboy artwork is in b/w. Granted, I'm no "newbie" when it comes to seeing Mike's artwork in b/w, but for whatever reason seeing it that way for the first time really gets me. I love every page and I can't recommend these volumes highly enough!

BTW, to whomever loaned me their copy of WTD, please PM me! I need to apologize for having horded it for so long! :D

Amigo

08-31-2006, 10:50 PM

I love every page and I can't recommend these volumes highly enough!

In the end, I'm also just a Hellboy fanboy and working on these books is pure fun. Our translator and editor also see this as an honor and refuse to take money for their work. Statements like yours are reward enough. Thanks!

We just spent more than USD 25,000 for the printing of the new editions, to make them all available again ... so, feel free to buy them at www.amazon.de or www.hummelcomic.de. ;)
More info about all of our titles, you can find here: www.cross-cult.de

Neil Hill

09-01-2006, 08:16 AM

In the end, I'm also just a Hellboy fanboy and working on these books is pure fun. Our translator and editor also see this as an honor and refuse to take money for their work. Statements like yours are reward enough. Thanks!

We just spent more than USD 25,000 for the printing of the new editions, to make them all available again ... so, feel free to buy them at www.amazon.de or www.hummelcomic.de. ;)
More info about all of our titles, you can find here: www.cross-cult.de

I picked up Right Hand of Doom and Chained Coffin and Other Stories yesterday via www.amazon.de/! I absolutely L-O-V-E these books! :D

PoprocksAndCoke

09-01-2006, 09:06 PM

Oh man, that's a great idea. I can't really let myself pay for these books again if I can't read them, but I'd definitely buy them again if they were in English. Especially Seed of Destruction... I can't even read that one anymore. The coloring job is so crude compared to how good it is these days.

Mikolaj

11-24-2006, 05:57 AM

I've recently purchased Bend by Marksu Witzel of the German version pin ups. Donno if it's been translated into english or if it's been published in UK/USA but this dudes work is really worth the money. His style has such a positive vibe that it's just imposible not to fall in love with his child like art and great story telling. When you read his work (well at least the "Bend" thing) it doesn't seem as if the things you read/look at were planned or even in there before you opened the book- they seem to happen the second you look a them... Very refreshing!

Typhon24

03-06-2007, 03:11 PM

Pin-ups by German talents (including my favorite one until now by Thomas von Kummant - he is one of the slowest working german comicbook artists, but he is way good!)

I just picked up 'La Chronique des Immortels' at WonderCon, and have been loving the hell out of every page - Kummant is *amazing*. Does anyone know if the Kummant Hellboy pin-up is online anywhere? I'd kill to take a gander at it...

Amigo

03-07-2007, 12:45 AM

I just picked up 'La Chronique des Immortels' at WonderCon, and have been loving the hell out of every page - Kummant is *amazing*. Does anyone know if the Kummant Hellboy pin-up is online anywhere? I'd kill to take a gander at it...

Here is the pin-up. I'm glad that you enjoy von Kummants work as much as I do. ;)

Typhon24

03-07-2007, 09:49 PM

Very nice - many thanks, Amigo! And yeah, Kummant is terrific. I'm a big fan.

Neil Hill

03-25-2007, 08:27 PM

So, with the very recent announcement that there will be a new Hellboy TPB later this year, I'm wondering if Cross Cult is planning a simultaneous release in a b/w German hardcover edition? Good lordy I certainly hope so!

On a side note; I can say with all certainly now that I've owned virtually the entire series of German editions for almost a year now, that I refer to these editions of the Hellboy TPB's more often than the English language versions. There's just something so sumptious about Mike's artwork in b/w. I can't really describe it accurately any other way. Yes I know we're all missing something with the pages leeched of color, but the b/w artwork just sings- and it's a tune I very much enjoy!

Amigo

03-26-2007, 01:20 AM

So, with the very recent announcement that there will be a new Hellboy TPB later this year, I'm wondering if Cross Cult is planning a simultaneous release in a b/w German hardcover edition? Good lordy I certainly hope so!

Hey there,

if theres Mikes artwork in the trade, we will publish these pages b/w - if the storys are drawn by other artists (Corben, Fegredo), it simply depends on the answer to the question: "does it look better in b/w or in color"?

Neil Hill

03-26-2007, 07:16 AM

Hey there,

if theres Mikes artwork in the trade, we will publish these pages b/w - if the storys are drawn by other artists (Corben, Fegredo), it simply depends on the answer to the question: "does it look better in b/w or in color"?

Thanks, Amigo! I had a feeling that was the case. I'm just hoping you folks have something in the works to coincide with the Dark Horse TPB release.

Neil Hill

08-22-2007, 02:54 PM

Any word on whether or not the newest Hellboy TPB will be available in one of the German hardbound editions, Amigo? The newest trade is scheduled to be released here in the states in a few months (short story collection), but I couldn't find any info on your website about a b/w German hardbound edition.

Thanks in advance!

Amigo

08-23-2007, 01:51 AM

Any word on whether or not the newest Hellboy TPB will be available in one of the German hardbound editions, Amigo?

Yes, they will be available! We wil update our homepage in October, when the new programme is set.

But upfront some infos for you:

We plan to publish "Troll-Witch" in spring 2008 and "Darknes Calls" in summer 2008. Plus a couple of BPRD-books and also the new Lobster Johnson-book.

All Mignola-Storys will be published in b/w and all storys by other artists in full color. All books in our "standard" smaller sized hardcover format.

The latest BPRD (or BUAP in German) book, #3, contains an interview with the friendly Guy Davis, and one of his storys is also featured in our first " Best of Aliens black & white book" - together with Mikes Aliens story.

Our next BPRD book (Black Flame - out in December) will contain a beautiful pin-up by Ben Stenbeck:
http://www.benstenbeck.com/pages/gallery_com_pinups/gallery_05.html
He is the very talented artist on the upcoming "Living with the Dead" series published soon by Dark Horse and eventually in 2009 by us.

We will also publish Mikes great "Baltimore" masterpiece - I'm very happy that we got the German language rights for this gem. It will be also available as a limited and numbered edition with variant-cover and a signed artprint by Mike.

So, lot's of stuff coming in 2008!

Best,

Andreas

Amigo

08-23-2007, 01:57 AM

By the way: We published this promo comic in cooperation with Konami Germany. It features the popular story "heads". We used a drawing from the "Art of Helboy" book as a cover.

Neil Hill

08-23-2007, 08:05 AM

Thanks for the information, Amigo! Just to clarify with you, so Troll Witch will not be published as part of the new b/w German Hellboy edition that you'll be soliciting in October, assumedly based on this edition (see link below)?

http://www.darkhorse.com/profile/profile.php?sku=14-716

If not, just out of curiousity, what stories will that b/w edition contain?

Thanks in advance-

Amigo

08-23-2007, 11:38 PM

We will, as always, follow the US-trade-editions. So, the next book will be part b/w (the short storys by Mike) and part color (storys by other artists).

Neil Hill

08-24-2007, 09:08 AM

We will, as always, follow the US-trade-editions. So, the next book will be part b/w (the short storys by Mike) and part color (storys by other artists).

Okay, Amigo, that helps and thank you!

petriacce

08-24-2007, 11:08 PM

I have been waiting to get caught up on these. I was behind three books. I've been selling some stuff on eBay in order to get the money for these. I just ordered.

Hellboy 7
BUAP 2,3,4 (pre-order)

I'm psyched. :cool: :cool: :cool:

I ordered a tons of other trades that I've been waiting to read too.

.

Neil Hill

03-10-2008, 08:40 AM

We will, as always, follow the US-trade-editions. So, the next book will be part b/w (the short storys by Mike) and part color (storys by other artists).

Amigo, can you tell me if the latest German hardbound Hellboy edition- Troll Witch and Others- will be b/w? Amazon.de has two listings for Troll Witch- one (I'm guessing) in b/w and one (according to the "see w/in" feature) in color. I just wanted to clarify if the hardbound will be in b/w like the others.

Thanks!

Amigo

03-11-2008, 01:11 AM

Amigo, can you tell me if the latest German hardbound Hellboy edition- Troll Witch and Others- will be b/w? Amazon.de has two listings for Troll Witch- one (I'm guessing) in b/w and one (according to the "see w/in" feature) in color. I just wanted to clarify if the hardbound will be in b/w like the others.

Thanks!

Hey Neil,

the next book will be in color, because there's so much mateial not drawn by Mike in it - and these storys look better in color. It would make no sense to switch in Makoma from bw to color and back ... so,, we decided to go color all the way. Duncans Hellboy will also be color.

If you want more Mignola in b/w, you might want to look at our ALIENS 1 book. With Mikes Aliens-story in glorious b/w:

http://www.amazon.de/Aliens-Bd-1-David-Lloyd/dp/3936480575/ref=pd_bbs_6?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1205223086&sr=8-6

Best,

Andreas

Lunchebox

03-11-2008, 01:56 AM

Man, I wish i read German, so I could justify buying this.

Neil Hill

03-11-2008, 08:18 AM

Man, I wish i read German, so I could justify buying this.

Trust me Lunchebox, Mignola's artwork in glorious b/w a language spoken the world over!! In other words, don't let the language barrier stop you. Many times I've found myself popping these b/w editions open just to drool over Mike's art. After all, I own the American trades and can thumb through those if I want to actually read the stories. :D

BTW, thank you, Amigo! Unfortunately, with Troll Witch being in color, this officially ends my relationship with the German trades. If you ever print this one in b/w I'll be back lickety-split, but no b/w Mignola artwork means no purchase for me.

Lunchebox

03-11-2008, 08:13 PM

Trust me Lunchebox, Mignola's artwork in glorious b/w a language spoken the world over!! In other words, don't let the language barrier stop you. Many times I've found myself popping these b/w editions open just to drool over Mike's art. After all, I own the American trades and can thumb through those if I want to actually read the stories. :D

BTW, thank you, Amigo! Unfortunately, with Troll Witch being in color, this officially ends my relationship with the German trades. If you ever print this one in b/w I'll be back lickety-split, but no b/w Mignola artwork means no purchase for me.

I've been meaning to pick up German...

But I'd feel a silly picking it up.

How much are these German hardcovers?

In US dollars.

Amigo

03-12-2008, 01:13 AM

I've been meaning to pick up German...

But I'd feel a silly picking it up.

How much are these German hardcovers?

In US dollars.

Not especially cheap compared to the US editions: US-$ 30 plus shipping. Due to the expensive paper and hardcoverformat and much lower print-run.

@Neil: I totally understand. If Mike would have continued to draw Hellboy, we would have stayed b/w.

Neil Hill

03-12-2008, 07:44 AM

Neil: I totally understand. If Mike would have continued to draw Hellboy, we would have stayed b/w.

No worries, Amigo. I love these German hardcovers with a passion, so please don't worry that I've turned tail on them in the slightest. I just prefer the b/w, especially with the increased cost.

You folks do good work though, so never let it be said that there's any fan animosity from my end!

Lunchebox

04-01-2008, 01:00 AM

gary bolt

04-01-2008, 04:48 AM

I was looking through the prievews of these German hardcovers just now, and I noticed something.

Every instance of a swastika is edited to make it look like a diamond with an "x" in it.

I think I'll pass after all.

Any representation of the Swastika in illegal in Germany.

From Widipedia...
The German (and Austrian) postwar criminal code makes the public showing of the Hakenkreuz (the swastika) and other Nazi symbols illegal and punishable, except for scholarly reasons. It is even censored from the lithographs on boxes of model kits, and the decals that come in the box. It is also censored from the reprints of 1930s railway timetable published by Bundesbahn. The eagle remains, but appears to be holding a solid black circle between its talons. The swastikas on Hindu and Jain temples are exempt, as religious symbols cannot be banned in Germany.

Amigo

04-02-2008, 12:26 AM

I was looking through the prievews of these German hardcovers just now, and I noticed something.

Every instance of a swastika is edited to make it look like a diamond with an "x" in it.

I think I'll pass after all.

Gary explained it perfectly. We would love to show them unedited, but we simply can't. But there are a few Hellboy-books without any swastikas - so you can read those, if you don't like edited swastikas. ;)

Lunchebox

04-03-2008, 10:54 PM

Any representation of the Swastika in illegal in Germany.

From Widipedia...

Huh, I didn't know that.

Gary explained it perfectly. We would love to show them unedited, but we simply can't. But there are a few Hellboy-books without any swastikas - so you can read those, if you don't like edited swastikas. ;)

I dunno, it still takes something away from it, in my opinion.

Again, I don't think it's for me.