Dark Horse Comics and Madefire are bringing Mike Mignola's Hellboy to the groundbreaking digital comics platform's Motion Books! We spoke with Madefire's co-founder about the possibilities!
Madefire's stable of top-flight comic book talent is already impressive, boasting high profile names like Dave Gibbons, and Bill Sienkiewicz. They can now count Mike Mignola among their stable, as Mignola's most famous creation, Hellboy, is getting the Motion Book treatment, thanks to a new arrangement between Dark Horse Comics and Madefire.
“Dark Horse prides itself on providing a top notch reading experience for our books digitally” said Dark Horse president and publisher, Mike Richardson. “This partnership with Madefire gives us a chance to again push the envelope and deliver a benchmark reading experience for the screen.”
“The industry is really starting to face into a digital-first approach. We're thrilled to have Dark Horse join IDW, Boom!, ITV, and Top Cow in making Motion Books,” said Ben Wolstenholme, CEO of Madefire. “Mike Mignola and Dark Horse bringing Hellboy onboard is extremely exciting."
Fans of Mignola's artwork should be well-served by what the Madefire app offers. Madefire's Motion Books are immersive reading (as opposed to passive viewing) experiences, and something tells us that Mignola's atmospheric artwork will translate beautifully to the format. We had a quick chat with Ben Wolstenholme about what's in store for Hellboy at Madefire!
Den of Geek: How did this come about? Was this Dark Horse first and then Mike Mignola was just the right creator to spotlight the deal? Did you guys approach Mike Mignola/Dark Horse, or did he come to you?
Ben Wolstenholme: We’re huge Mike Mignola and Hellboy fans but it really started with Dark Horse—we’d targeted them early on as a publisher that we wanted to work with as they’ve shown a solid track record of innovation and forward-thinking.
Will these be earlier Hellboy stories given the Motion Book treatment, or are they new stories built specifically for the Motion Book format?
We’re launching with Hellboy in Hell to start—but new content would be exciting!
There’s a wealth of Hellboy and related material out there. Will this be a chronological exploration of Mignola’s Hellboy work, or are you guys rolling these out according to yours (or Mr. Mignola’s) preference?
We wanted to start with the latest work that Mike was writing and illustrating although we’d love to explore the back-catalog further.
How much Hellboy content does this cover? Will these roll out on a weekly or semi-weekly schedule?
Hellboy in Hell will be released bi-weekly.
Is this deal with Dark Horse strictly for Hellboy, or is Hellboy just the forerunner of other Dark Horse content (and creators) that may come to Madefire in the future?
For the time being we’re only working on Hellboy...
What about Dark Horse’s licensed properties, such as Star Wars, their various manga, etc? Might any of these may get the Madefire treatment now that Dark Horse is hanging out with you guys?
Dark Horse has a long history of producing incredible content so who knows what the future could hold!
Any chance that Mr. Mignola is interested in doing some exclusive non-Hellboy content for Madefire as well?
I’m afraid you’d have to ask Mike that question!
It seems like you’re lining up these companies with terrific creators, original and licensed content. Are there any creators or particular brands you’ve got your sites set on?
There’s quite a few publishers, creators, and properties we’d love to see at Madefire…and there’ll be more announcements in the coming days!
Thanks, Mr. Wolstenholme! You can get a taste of Hellboy's Motion Book treatment below...and then go check out everything that Madefire has to offer over at their site!
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