Like a lot of artists, acclaimed comic creator Mike Mignola had quite a bit of time on his hands during quarantine and used the opportunity doodle various sketches many of which were collected in a Quarantine Sketchbook. One of these sketches inspired Mignola to create an all-new character making his debut this Spring in Radio Spaceman, an all-new two-issue comic book series published by Dark Horse Comics.
Joining Mignola is artist Greg Hinkle who has been on the rise since fans were introduced to his artistic talent in the Airboy series. Longtime Mignolaverse collaborators Dave Stewart and Clem Robins will also serve as colorist and letterer respectively. The first issue will sport a cover drawn by Mignola and Stewart.
Here’s how the publisher describes Radio Spaceman:
In this two-part story, when a spaceship crashes and lands on a mysterious planet and some of the surviving crew go missing, the mysterious mechanical hero Radio Spaceman is called to investigate. But the planet hides much more than the missing crew, and Radio Spaceman may be stumbling into more than even he can handle.
Mignola divulged the genesis of the character that began in a fashion not too dissimilar to Hellboy:
“Radio Spaceman started in very much the way Hellboy did—A fast sketch done just for fun and a funny name that just popped into my head. That was during the early days of covid-19, when I was banging out sketches to entertain myself and posting them online. People seemed to like the guy, and I liked him—I did five or six sketches of him, but had no plans to do anything REAL with him. I didn’t have a story for him until, suddenly, one day I did. I wasn’t trying. It just happened. I don’t remember how exactly, but I’m suspecting it was one of those things that came to me in the shower. Most of the best ideas happen there.”
Hinkle described the experience of working on the book and collaborating with a legend like Mignola.
“Every single panel of Radio Spaceman has been fun to draw, and working with Mike on this has reminded me what a blast comics can be. A machine man with a floating skull. Men with light bulbs sticking out of their heads. Extraterrestrial caves with ancient idols. Towering monsters. Alien bears. Vampires! Any one of these things would’ve made an interesting story. But when Mike Mignola calls and wants to mix them all up, you can’t help but get very, very excited. I can’t wait to help introduce the world to Radio Spaceman.”
Look for Radio Spaceman #1 to arrive in stores on Wednesday, March 2, 2022.
