Amazing Screw On Head Fan-Comic (2004)

Back in 2004 I was an active member of the Hellboy forums on CBR. We had a great community who were fans of Mike Mignola's work, but also a support community for our various hobbies, crafts, and artwork. A group of us decided it would be fun to put together a web-only fan comic, a few pairs each working on a short story of a Mignola creation. Animation director Tad Stones did a Hellboy Jr. short, Lyndon Webb drew a Lobster Johnson tale (perhaps with another member as a writer), and Maija Graham and I collaborated on a Screw On Head comic.

I'd been playing with a watercolor technique where after I painted the shapes loosely, I'd outline all the blotches of color and tonal shifts with pen. And while it worked great for one-of pinup images, (especially with Mike's characters since they are so shaped based) I was curious to see how far I could push it and if it would work for sequential pages.

Each panel was drawn and painted separately and then assembled in Photoshop with borders and text. As a community event, I also offered to mail a panel to any forum member who sent me a mailing address until they were gone. I also mailed the panel with Screw On Head and the number 17 to Mike himself.

The Hellboy forum that we were a part of back in the early 00's is long gone, but I still have several friendships that have lasted ever since. And I thought it was time to dust off these pages and share them with you all.