“An Uncharted Corner of the Hellboy Universe!” — CAPTAIN HENRY AND THE GRAVEYARD OF TIME Preview and Q&A with Artist / Co-Writer Bruce Zick

"An intrepid time traveler voyages to a new dimension, but the monsters he finds there may be less of a danger than time itself."

Renowned animator and cartoonist Bruce Zick has been involved in some of your (and my) favorite animated films and shows over the past four decades, and he has now joined Mike Mignola in the Hellboy Universe in Captain Henry and the Graveyard of Time. A four-part Victorian sci-fi / horror adventure that kicks off with its first issue on October 22nd, I had to catch up with Zick for our latest Q&A to learn more about the project. We also have a preview of the first issue that you can read right now!

You and Mike Mignola are exploring a new corner of the Hellboy universe in Captain Henry and the Graveyard of Time. How did this collaboration first come about?

Bruce Zick: Mike complimented one of my social media artwork posts, so I messaged him back saying how much I would like to work with him someday. A few years later he was ready to talk and we kicked ideas around. Then Mike told me his idea about a Victorian ghostbuster type who is jettisoned into a Graveyard of Time. His story had everything, an irresistible hero, science fiction, fantasy, horror, monsters, and time travelers and their time machines. Well, I was immediately hooked so I began developing ideas and concept sketches, and the rest is history.

You both have a background in building new worlds. What can you tell us about the collaborative process with Mike Mignola when developing this story?

Bruce Zick: After our first story discussions, Mike took charge of plotting out the nuts and bolts of the four book story arc and left the details up to me about what the world building and characters and creatures should be like. We agreed that Mike would plot the books, and I would write the script and produce the pencils, inks, and colors. I was a bit tentative to start and my first ideas needed fine tuning but after Mike approved a second round of sketches I was confident to just go for it. In the back of my mind I kept thinking that I wanted this to in some way feel like a Hellboy book, but at the same time I had to be true to myself as an artist. I think the final product does feel like it belongs to the Hellboy Universe but at the same time is something we’ve never seen before.

Captain Henry and the Graveyard of Time takes things in a more sci-fi direction than many of the Hellboy universe stories. What can you share about how time travel works in the world of Hellboy?

Bruce Zick: While this story is indeed more sci-fi, it’s not really slick and futuristic, but a clunky old world version of sci-fi, almost Jules Vernian, that is very familiar and accessible. There was less emphasis on science and logic and more use of a fantasy/magical approach. We went back into the world history of ideas about mechanics, like a Perpetual Motion Machine that would be the source of unlimited power, and there is also a Rennaissance era idea of a calculator/computator. In this story, time traveling has occurred for many many centuries, so different eras and different cultures had their own ideas of what time machines would look like. The bottom line is if you have an endless source of energy and a machine that can calculate a course in the Space/Time Continuum…then you are ready to go.

Can you talk about developing Captain Henry visually and what excites you most about this character?

Bruce Zick: I mined my own history of being a concept artist for animation studios for inspiration and let myself go. There are bits and pieces of ideas from my time on Titan A.E. especially that helped with my approach to machinery, which is very massive, made of steel and iron and copper with heavy girders and tons of rivets everywhere. The two main characters are each inspired by Mike and my love of movies and I don’t want to give away the details–it needs to be a surprise. But I would expect that before too long the reader will know who they are and really get a kick out of their personas. Captain Henry is a soldier of fortune, a reluctant hero who is hurled into realities beyond belief, and in the greatest of traditions he will be destined to become a legend.

Can you give our readers a tease of what they can expect over the series' four issues?

Bruce Zick: In the beginning you have no clue to the worlds of wonder that await, but once we are through the Rabbit Hole the story gets wilder and wilder from one surprise to another all the way to the very end. And peppered throughout will be many elements and characters from the Hellboy stories that firmly plants the series in the Mignola-Verse. We go from Victorian to a ghostworld to an alternate dimension of time machine graveyards to horrible monsters to a colossal castle to the King of Time himself. And just when you think you know where the story is going, we whip it around with more unexpected twists and turns. The ending is only the beginning.

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Captain Henry and the Graveyard of Time #1

An intrepid time traveler voyages to a new dimension, but the monsters he finds there may be less of a danger than time itself. Mike Mignola and Bruce Zick cowrite and Zick (Thor, The Atomic Legion) draws this new series that explores an uncharted corner of the Hellboy universe!

• A new four-part miniseries in the world of Hellboy!

• Writer: Mike Mignola, Bruce Zick
• Artist: Bruce Zick
• Letterer: Clem Robins
• Cover Artist: Bruce Zick
• Publication Date: October 22, 2025
• Format: FC, 32 pages; Miniseries
• Price: $4.99
• Age range: 16+
• UPC: 7 61568 01459 4 00111