Studying the Work of Mike Mignola

In my interim Critique it was suggested that I look at the illustration work of Mike Mignola. This is likely as I stated my interest in creating a memorable hero with horns, perhaps Mignola's most recognised character being 'Hellboy', a devil-like demon detective. His work is also very gritty and macabre, which could be on some level informative towards my work as I have decided that I want to present a bleak narrative with my hero. I often take a cynical outlook on society, so am always fascinated by narratives that include political corruption and exploitation of the people. I am considering  the left-wing 'We the 99%' idea as potential focus for my hero's motives, so Mignola's macabre art could inspire my development work:

When looking at Mignola's work you can detect a very recognisable style. Interestingly, on his website the bio section describes his work as containing: 'thin lines, clunky shapes and lots of black'. On a personal development note, I should be aiming to ultimately establish my own style to make my work stand apart from other talented artists within the game art industry. I imagine each concept artist will include personal flair in their designs. It is also important to relfect on the fact that Mignola is an illustrator and comic book artist. The stylised approach to his work exists very well within the flat two-dimensional media platform, but arguably the bold jagged shapes and heavy ink shadows may not translate well in the more dynamic fluid media of animation or game. Perhaps they would need to be addapted. Considering this, I searched to find out if Hellboy had ever been adapted into an animation. In fact there was an animated series, and I found this clip:

As expected, the approach here is different. The lines and shapes although still stylised feel softer and less rigid making the animation flow better and everything appear more three dimensional. These adaptations will have to be considered when I reflect on how my hero could be adapted into different areas of the media, or if in fact get time to visually present my character in two different transmedia formats.