Ben Stenbeck is leaving the Mignolaverse with The Serpent in the Garden: Ed Grey and the Last Battle for England, which hits stores this week from Dark Horse Comics. But don’t worry… He’s sticking with Mignola for a new universe called Lands Unknown. And the more exciting part is that with the debut of Serpent in the Garden, you’ll get to see Stenbeck’s take not just on the title character, but moments from throughout Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. history.
“It’s such a tricky balance,” Stenbeck told Comic Book Club over email about tackling these iconic moments. “A lot of the time the script is literally asking for a repeat of a panel usually drawn by someone else. I mostly try to make it all my own version of that panel.”
To find out more about what to expect from the book, read on.
Comic Book Club: Before we get into the book, you’ve said this is your last Hellboy book for a while… Why are you stepping away?
Ben Stenbeck: From now on, as far as I can tell, I’ll be spending all my time on my Lands Unknown books, which will be a part of Mike Mignola’s and my new shared universe. I’m sure I’ll pop back into the world of Hellboy for the odd thing here and there, but my focus will be on the Lands Unknown books from here on.
There are a lot of references to not just prior characters, but prior events in this book. When you’re doing these flashbacks, how do you tackle previously published material? I imagine it’s not just “copy, paste, done.”
It’s such a tricky balance. A lot of the time the script is literally asking for a repeat of a panel usually drawn by someone else. I mostly try to make it all my own version of that panel. I always redraw it from scratch, but sometimes I end up with something so close to the original that I feel bad about it. But it’s all about telling the story, personally I get a kick out of seeing artists redraw a panel I did.
On the characters, the main is Ed Grey… What’s your visual take on him? What makes him unique in the Hellboy universe?
He’s very worn down. He holds himself in this stoic English gentlemanly way, but he’s been through a lot. There’s a sadness to him. And in this series we see an all new side of him.
You’ve also got two opposing forces here: Alice, the last Queen of England; and Morgan Le Fay. Looking at your designs, there does feel like a bit of an Alice in Wonderland versus Queen of Hearts thing going on – is that what you were going for?
No, I didn’t design them, Duncan Fegredo designed Morgan and Mike designed Alice. I do see what you mean, especially with Morgan, as she comes from that sort of regal old world version of England.
Broad question, but your style is very complimentary to Mike Mignola’s without feeling repetitive. How much are you leaning into his look with a book like this? And how has your take on art for this world changed over your time in the BPRD universe?
I’ve never consciously tried to ape Mike on these books, but you can’t help doing things a certain way when it’s in the world of Hellboy. I don’t think my take on it has changed much, but I hope I’ve gotten better at drawing.
Lastly, there are some big, wild swings in this first issue (I’m being vague because I don’t know what you want to spoil, but there are some surprising transformations, shall we say)… What can you tease going forward?
I don’t know, I don’t want to get in trouble. But yeah, we get to see some old characters in ways they’ve never been seen before in this series and a big fight. But that’s probably as much as I can say.
The Serpent in the Garden: Ed Grey and the Last Battle for England hits stores on Wednesday, December 4, 2024 from Dark Horse Comics.
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