Looking for safe ways to pass the time while social distancing? As a special quarantine treat, Mike Mignola is sharing essential issues from the Hellboy comic book universe, and we're thrilled to share the entire first issue of Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1953 - Beyond the Fences with Daily Dead readers, along with a new Q&A with co-writer Chris Roberson!
Originally published in 2016, Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1953 - Beyond the Fences #1 features Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. investigating unsettling disappearances in a seemingly idyllic suburb that would be right at home in the world of Leave It to Beaver... minus the ravenous monsters, of course.
Featuring artwork by Paolo Rivera, you can read Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1953 - Beyond the Fences #1 in its entirety by clicking the cover art below. You can also learn insights on how this three-issue miniseries came together by reading our Q&A with co-writer Roberson, and visit Dark Horse Comics' website for more information on Beyond the Fences.
Thanks for taking the time to answer a few questions for us, Chris! When you look back at co-writing Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1953 – Beyond the Fences #1, what are your fondest memories of working on that issue with Mike Mignola?
Chris Roberson: I had already been working with Mike for a little while by that point, having come onboard to work on a Witchfinder miniseries the year before, but Beyond the Fences was my first time working with the character Hellboy himself, which was more than a little intimidating. But getting to work with Mike on his most famous creation, and to collaborate with an artist as fantastic as Paolo Rivera, was a pretty amazing experience.
It’s fun to watch Hellboy walk around a Leave It to Beaver-esque neighborhood. What was it like for you and Mignola to bring that iconic character into the suburbs? How did you come up with this idea?
Chris Roberson: The story grew out of conversations that I had with Mike early on, and thinking about aspects of the 1950s that we hadn’t really seen explored in the world of Hellboy before. That kind of bucolic post-war suburban experience was about as far from the world that Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. normally move through that I could think of, and it seemed natural to drop those characters into a setting like that and see what happened next.
In your mind, what makes Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1953 – Beyond the Fences #1 an essential issue in the world of Hellboy?
Chris Roberson: This is Hellboy right at the beginning of his career as an agent of the B.P.R.D., young and cocky and just excited to be on the team. I think it’s an interesting contrast to the sometimes world-weary and jaded Hellboy that we know from stories set later in his life, but also it’s one of the few times in the comics that we get a glimpse into how the general public views Hellboy himself. Plus, giant monsters.
Ultimately, what do you hope readers take away from Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1953 – Beyond the Fences #1, whether they’re reading it for the hundredth time or the first time?
Chris Roberson: One of the things I love most about the character of Hellboy is that he was brought to Earth to carry out this great and terrible destiny, but thanks to the goodness and humanity of the people surrounding him in his earliest years, he grew up to be a decent, hardworking guy who wants nothing more than to help others. I think we could all use a little bit more of that in our daily lives, now more than ever.
---------
Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1953 - Beyond the Fences #1: "A mysterious creature hunts the children of an idyllic suburban town, and the BPRD get more than they bargained for when their investigation begins to seem strangely familiar.
CREATORS
Writer: Mike Mignola, Chris Roberson
Penciller: Paolo Rivera
Inker: Joe Rivera
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Cover Artist: Paolo Rivera"
Click the cover art to read Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1953 - Beyond the Fences #1:
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
Daily Dead's Official Podcast! Daily Dead's Official Podcast!
