Co-written by Mike Mignola and Rob Williams, and brought to life in stunning fashion by artist Laurence Campbell, The Sword of Hyperborea continues with the release of its second issue today by Dark Horse Comics. To celebrate, we caught up with Williams in a new Q&A feature to discuss collaborating with Mignola and Campbell, including familiar faces from the Hellboy/B.P.R.D. world, and more!
Below, you can read our full Q&A with Williams as well as preview pages from The Sword of Hyperborea #2, and to learn more about this new comic book series, visit Dark Horse Comics!
Thanks for taking the time to answer questions for us, Rob, and congratulations on the release of The Sword of Hyperborea #1! This new series follows the intriguing history of the Hyperborean sword from the supernatural world of Hellboy. How did you and Mike Mignola come up with the idea to tell this story?
Rob Williams: Thanks. Well, it’s really a collaborative story in this first issue. Laurence Campbell, our artist, had been talking to Mike and the Dark Horse team about doing a Gall Dennar barbarian story. Laurence had the idea for the hook of the series—that we’d meet all the different sword-bearers throughout history—and Mike Mignola had a plot in mind for a Gall Dennar tale. Then I came onboard and we talked it all through. I scripted it and added certain aspects to the story. It’s a three-headed story beast, really. Issues #2–#4 feature brand-new characters created by myself and Laurence.
What types of adventures and characters can readers expect to encounter in The Sword of Hyperborea? Should we keep an eye out for some familiar faces from the world of Hellboy?
Rob Williams: Yeah, you’ll see a few characters you recognize from the Hellboy/B.P.R.D. world along the way. But as I say, from issue #2 onward, we’re adding new players to this world, creating new protagonists with their own journeys and curses and battles to fight. If you’re a Hellboyverse nut, you’ll hopefully dig the references and the reveals, but it’s deliberately not an exposition-heavy book. We like to think new readers will get just as much from it as returning fans. Ultimately you have to care about these characters and live with them through their triumphs and disasters.
Did you and Mike do a lot of research to trace the titular sword’s journey through the history of Hellboy?
Rob Williams: Mike knows a lot of this stuff and, it seems, hasn’t written all of it down. We had a few Zoom calls where he’d talk about the history of the world, the sword, where it actually came from, why it’s powerful, etc. There are certain points in the map that are already established and that we knew we had to hit, but there were also a lot of gaps that allow Laurence and I to tell these new stories and connect the dots.
Approximately how long did it take you and Mike to write the story for The Sword of Hyperborea?
Rob Williams: You sound like the tax man! It’s tough to be definite about a question like that, to be honest. As I say, there were conversations with Mike and Laurence and the Hellboy editorial team, there’s me writing up plots and taking notes onboard, then there's scripting. One issue’s script usually takes me a week to write a first draft, but a lot of the work has been done before that.
What has it been like teaming up with artist Laurence Campbell to help bring this story to life?
Rob Williams: Well, Laurence is a brilliant artist. He drew B.P.R.D. for five years or so previously, so he knows this world. He’s great at creating mood and tone and creepiness and all those horror-tinged things, but this story is also about the world-building, the epic landscapes of Hyperborea, London, and Belgium, the world of a deep-sea diver in 1940, and finally, the Chicago blues scene of the 1950s, where our final issue takes place. This is a series that asks a lot of an artist, and we’ve talked a lot about the plotting along the way. It’s very much a team experience.
What are you the most excited for readers to experience with this new series?
Rob Williams: All of it, really. There are some beautiful moments in there. But mostly it’s a character-driven book. So I guess it’s that the readers are meeting our brand-new leads, and hopefully they respond to them the same way that those characters have to us.
Do you and Mike have a sequel series in mind after the conclusion of The Sword of Hyperborea?
Rob Williams: Mike, Laurence, and I have talked about where these characters could go after this series, yes. We’ll see where that takes us.
What has it been like to team up with Dark Horse Comics to release The Sword of Hyperborea?
Rob Williams: Great. The Hellboy editorial team has been really easy and friendly to deal with. It’s all very collegiate. I was a fan of Mike’s Hellboy and B.P.R.D.
What advice would you give to aspiring comic book writers and artists just getting started in the industry?
Rob Williams: Concentrate on honing your craft and getting good rather than worrying about how you can get noticed and hired. The bottom line is, if you get the basic structures of your work in solid working order and develop a voice of your own in your work, you will get hired. People, myself included when I first started, try to run before they can walk. You have to put the graft in. The more you practice, the better you get. It’s boring, but true.
In addition to The Sword of Hyperborea, what other upcoming projects are you excited about, and where can our readers go online to keep up with your work?
Rob Williams: My World War II horror series, Out (with Will Conrad), is currently on issue #4 and we'll have a trade paperback of it due in March. That’s from AWA Studios. I have series of Judge Dredd and Hershey written and on the way via 2000 AD. And more in the Hellboy universe, I’m pleased to say.
You can find me online at:
Twitter @Robwilliams71
Instagram @Robwilliams1971
website robwilliamscomics.co.
Thank you very much for your time, Rob!
Rob Williams: Thanks very much!
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Synopsis: The Sword of Hyperborea continues its trek through history, blessing the chosen ones who wield it with incredible power. When it appears at a pivotal moment during WWI, will the blade be used for good or for evil? Spies, supernatural creatures, and secret societies collide in this fast-paced continuation of the sword's saga!
CREATORS
Writer: Mike Mignola, Rob Williams
Artist: Laurence Campbell
Colorist: Quinton Winter
Cover Artist: Laurence Campbell, Dave Stewart
Issue #2 Preview Pages:
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.
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