Mignolaversity

[Middenway]

Mignolaversity is a part of the Multiversity Comics website focusing on (surprise!) Mignola's stuff. So far it's mainly been reviews, but lately they've started doing interviews with the creators. And they're good interviews too, by people very familiar with Mignola's work.

Here's their first interview with Tonči Zonjić.

And here's their second with James Harren.

Expect more in the future.

[Middenway]

Here's the latest interview on Mignolaversity, this one with Scott Allie, and it is HUGE. Excellent interview, certainly the best I've ever read with Scott Allie. It is a fascinating read.

[UnravThreads]

We’re doing these hardcover books collecting all of the old stuff, called Plague of Frogs. We’re basically looking at all of the Guy Davis stuff, that entire group, everything we did from the first series Hollow Earth to Liz torching the center of the Earth, is called Plague of Frogs. That was the frog army thing, the whole Plague of Frogs thing is being collected in these four hardcovers.

That quote, to me, explains why half of the PoF HC stuff isn't about the frogs at all.

Must confess I quite liked the interview, but was saddened by Allie not giving Cameron Stewart even a glancing mention.

[Middenway]

Must confess I quite liked the interview, but was saddened by Allie not giving Cameron Stewart even a glancing mention.

You'll have to wait until Mignolaversity interviews Cameron Stewart, I guess

The interview was focused on Scott Allie's work as an editor and writer, and I enjoyed that. Especially the stuff about scheduling. It's sounds like an elaborate juggling act.

[UnravThreads]

Oh, I understand that, it's just they asked him about most of what's coming out now... except that one, and he didn't mention it or even allude to it, I think. Just seemed a little odd.

[JonNik]

That quote, to me, explains why half of the PoF HC stuff isn't about the frogs at all.

First things first, hello all. Long time Mignola fanboy, formerly distanced from comic books for a few years and now struggling to catch up :)

That quote and your take confused me a bit so I'll take this opportunity to ask here. Isn't the HC Plague of frog volumes (I bought 1-3) simply
collecting the B.R.P.D trades in chronological order (3 TPBs in 1 HC) ?

Are stuff being skipped ?
i.e shouldn't I be expecting #4 to contain 1946, the warning, Black goddess, War on Frogs etc ?
(1946 in particular is both something of an interlude and not Guy Davis stuff ? to be more specific)

Don't the TPBs comprehensively collect everything released in chronological order for that matter ?

It would be good to know that because HC #4 seems to be some ways off and I would like to buy some trades in advance if they
are not included there.

Any good, digested and organized, resource out there on released trades and chronological order so I don't bug you people about it ?
(if it got info on the contents of #4 it would be great).

P.S Sorry if this is off topic for this thread (Should I move it in the publishing order thread ?) and for the deluge of questions but I am trying to both make sense of the volume of released material and not read too many spoilers ;)

[Middenway]

Isn't the HC Plague of frog volumes (I bought 1-3) simply
collecting the B.R.P.D trades in chronological order ?

Are stuff being skipped ?
i.e shouldn't I be expecting #4 to contain 1946, the warning, Black goddess, War on Frogs etc ?
(1946 in particular is both something of an interlude and not Guy Davis stuff ? to be more specific)

Don't the TPBs comprehensively collect everything released in chronological order for that matter ?

It would be good to know that because HC #4 seems to be some ways off and I would like to buy some trades in advance if they
are not included there.

Any good resource out there on released trades and chronological order so I don't bug you people about it ?
(if it got info on the contents of #4 it would be great).

P.S Sorry if this is off topic for this thread and for the deluge of questions but I am trying to both make sense of the volume of
released material and not read too many spoilers ;)

I have a thread on the topic you should find useful, The Hellboy Universe Publishing Order. Specifically, you'll want to check out the section on Library Editions and Omnibuses.

Basically, the current omnibuses only collect the stories involved in the Plague of Frogs story cycle (B.P.R.D. trades 1-8, 10-12, 14). Volumes 9 and 13 are 1946 and 1947, which have nothing to do with the Plague of Frogs cycle, however since 1948 is on its way (and it will be the last of these B.P.R.D. 1940s books), it's likely these three trades will one day be collected in their own omnibus some day.

The order of the stories in the second volume of B.P.R.D. Plague of Frogs has been juggled around a bit. Scott Allie explained this was to make for a more logical reading order. The omnibuses are collected in the best possible order, don't worry. There's an article about it on the Hellboy Wiki here. (You'll see War on Frogs was not just moved to a different place, but cut up and rearranged around The Black Flame)

And you won't have to wait too long for B.P.R.D. Plague of Frogs - Volume 4. It should be coming out roughly December this year give or take a month or two.

As for the B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth story cycle, it's going to be collected in omnibuses too, but only when the entire thing is finished, and that's a looooooong way off.

The only B.P.R.D. trade that looks unlikely to ever be collected in the omnibus format is B.P.R.D.: Being Human.

[JonNik]

Thanks Middenway couldn't have possibly asked for a more thorough reply!

Basically, the current omnibuses only collect the stories involved in the Plague of Frogs story cycle (B.P.R.D. trades 1-8, 10-12, 14). Volumes 9 and 13 are 1946 and 1947, which have nothing to do with the Plague of Frogs cycle, however since 1948 is on its way (and it will be the last of these B.P.R.D. 1940s books), it's likely these three trades will one day be collected in their own omnibus some day.

Hmm I do not mind buying them separate as trades. This is exactly what I was hopping for really as I would like to get those two (1946,1947) asap...

As for the B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth story cycle, it's going to be collected in omnibuses too, but only when the entire thing is finished, and that's a looooooong way off.

The only B.P.R.D. trade that looks unlikely to ever be collected in the omnibus format is B.P.R.D.: Being Human.

Oh I'll probably buy trades going forwards. But I have to wait and buy HC #4 for uniformity plus there is a lot of "interlude stuff" (I'll also order the two Abe Sapien trades for now) to keep me occupied it seems in the meantime. Thanks for the wiki link (should have occurred to me to look) should be easy to compile my checklist now.

Cheers

[Jr. Wormwood]

Here's the latest interview on Mignolaversity, this one with Scott Allie, and it is HUGE. Excellent interview, certainly the best I've ever read with Scott Allie. It is a fascinating read.

This definitely grabbed my attention:

"So you’re juggling all these schedules on the Mignola books. Yesterday, I pretty much finalized the yellow slip. It’s a certain stage in the approval process. I pretty much finalized the lettering and coloring for a B.P.R.D. issue coming out in November. But the five issues preceding that aren’t done yet…I think it’s November…but that just works with the artist. The guy doing this particular story that starts in November, we just needed to be way out in front with him. He’s busy, he’s got other stuff to do, we could have waited longer for him to do it, but he’ll be on another job at that point so he jumped in on this one here.

It’s funny, finalizing that lettered comic and the dialogue refers to stuff that hasn’t even been scripted yet because the artist on the preceding arc is on such a different schedule. So there’s just…reading that I was like “wait a minute, what?!” but then I thought “oh yeah, John will get to writing that eventually.” There’s a specific line where one character says to another character “oh poor, poor (this guy).” Fill in the name of a guy who got wiped out. “But that guy is fine right now. What’s he talking about? Oh yeah, this comic doesn’t come out for 8 months.”

[Jr. Wormwood]

Moved this post to "publishing order" thread.