Early Christmas

Okay, I bought two of the books but it still felt a lot like Christmas.  This week I got complimentary gifts of the Dark Horse sculptures by Tony Cipriano.  Both beautiful but I really think the Abe Sapien is something special.  There's not much Abe stuff out there but the graceful elegance of the design by Sean and Greg is stunningly translated into 3D and the paint job is truly amazing.

I also received a copy of the Hellboy Animated digest-sized TPB which has my first professionally published comic story of young Hellboy.  I also wrote an introduction to the comic.  Unfortunately, I'm such a blow hard that they had to use a microscopic font to fit it onto a reasonable number of pages.  It's a neat little package.  Great thanks to Scott Allie and Matt Dryer for putting it together.  Look for it at your comic shop at the end of January.  Neat pinup by Mike Mignola included.

The two books I bought are The Dark Horse Book of Monsters and Right Hand of Doom: A Critical Study of Michael Mignola's HELLBOY.  The Book of Monsters features a very funny tale of Hellboy and the death of Hercules.  It is another example of how unique his imagination is.  Mike's imagination, not Hellboy's or Hercules'.  I've just started the second book by long time fan Benjamin Szumskyj.  It's a limited run of only 333, I believe so if you're interested, order soon.  No pictures but interesting stuff for the hard core fan.

But what about BLOOD AND IRON?  We recorded ADR with Ron Perlman on Friday (sorry, Helen, no pictures).  He had only about an eighth of an inch of hair, if that.  "This is grown in," said Ron.  He is playing a Viking in a live action movie which requires him to shave his head.  It also requires him to perform shirtless, at night, in HALIFAX, NOVA SCOTIA!!  Ron's comment?

"Hardest nipples ever."

Ron also said his "father" was appearing in the movie - John Hurt.  Sorry I don't have the name of the flick.  I'm sure we'll be updated.  This week we record almost everybody else.  We'll record Doug from  Vancouver via a digital patch.  Selma Blair will record Liz back to back with Peri Gilpin doing Kate, the strong women of Hellboy Animated.

Work on the story of Hellboy: Best One Yet continues.  Really cool stuff, hope we get to do it!  Okay, gotta go!  -- Tad

Comments

[hb]

if only i had x ray vision to see inside those books!. And lucky you on this free stuff!

i dig the abe and hellboy, but it think ill wait it out for the busts or maybe figures if this gets any bigger.
ill continue spreadin the word.
AND be sure to drop a post about when HB is airin in north america....cant wait forever! wait, yes i can.

[kirk]

I may also have to wait on the sculptures as money is running pretty tight and I need that DVD when it arrives (along with three book, it appears).

I am curious about this viking movie of Ron's. Haven't heard much about viking movies except that one that is coming out in the spring I think.

But, Tad, that's about enough carrot dangling for that third movie, especially since it isn't even green lit yet. Get us all excited and then, WHOOSH!, the rug gets pulled and I end up hitting my head on the coffee table. I really hope it gets made so we can see what all the yammerin' is about. ;)

[Hellmistress]

What???? No pictures???? Sheesh. Although the Perl-Girls (NOT as Tad once named us, The Ronettes) will look forward to seeing Ron shirtless in Nova Scotia. With hard nipples. The film is called Outlander, by the way, and the amazing Mister Hurt is indeed in the film. It's a sci-fi/historic crossover thingy, apparently.

Tad, I envy you the sculptures - and I have to agree about the Abe. It is incredibly elegant, and I wonder if they referenced Doug for the design. The books will appear on my Christmas list.

And thanks for teasing the crap out of us about the third movie. You're worse than Guillermo, and that's saying something.

[ethan]

Ron's viking movie is probably Outlander: http://imdb.com/title/tt0462465/

[Cole]

Quick question, Tad. Does it matter if we order Sword of Storms from amazon or purchase it at a store? Wasn't sure if pre-orders helped facilitate future films or if total sales would be the deciding factor. I'll purchase one either way, but if there's a difference, I'll go the route that speeds along a third film. Keep up the good work.

[Tad Stones]

Amazon numbers are always noticed and we expect them to climb when commercials start airing. Preorders are an indication of excitement. If you order through Amazon, order via the link at Hellboy.com. Doesn't cost you anything but it supports the website.

Ultimately, a sale is a sale, so as long as you don't buy a black market copy or wait too long to buy it, it "counts."

[The Mysterious Mister Alexander]

If we can keep Hellboy Animated's ratings high and new films coming, any chance of an animated Roger the Homunculus? If we get that lucky, I'd recommend Keith David (Childs from John Carpenter's "The Thing", and the voice-over guy for those "Navy: Accelerate Your Life" ads) for Roger's voice. Hell, with enough make-up he could play Roger in the live-action films!

[kirk]

Thanks for the link and revelation of "Outlander." It is not the "other" viking movie I was thinking of but sounds interesting none the less. And poor Ron, his character doesn't even have a name yet! At least, it's not shown on IMDB yet.

I know his character has a name in his NEXT movie!

[JFCC]

Hey Tad--will John Hurt be in BLOOD AND IRON?

[hb]

yup...if you check the site it has a synopsis. Hes rather important this time around...cant wait for the vampires!!!

PS I agree a 100% witht the mysterious mister alexander on the appearance or roger....
( not sure about the voice though ) BUT
it seems to me what with his not appearing in the HB2 movie as well as his sudden 'absence' in the BPRD comics, the animated series would be a perfect little place for him to be. Particularly a solo mission. The moments in the comics when he is alone are very interesting, hes like a big strong curious child.

[Tad Stones]

As I've said before, when and if Roger appears it will not be in a small way. He will not just pop up for a mission.

No Roger in the next mission. In fact, surprisingly fewer agents than you might expect.

[hb]

hmmm...mysterious...yet intriguing

[blond]

i agree with what you said about the abe sculpture. it is beautiful