Hellboy & Screw-On Head news

In case you haven't heard, Mike Mignola's Hellboy returned to comics last month with The Island, the long-awaited sequel to 2002's The Third Wish. (Originally slated for 2002, it was delayed by Mike's work on the Hellboy movie, which inspired a major rethink/expansion of the work.) In it, Hellboy washes ashore on a mysterious island littered with shipwrecks after spending over two years wandering the bottom of the ocean (following the events of Wish). Issue #1 is in stores now, while #2 ships next week, concluding a major turning point in the saga as Hellboy learns the secret history of the world, the origin of the Ogdru Jahad and his Right Hand of Doom. Great gothic stuff.

Meanwhile, the treasure trove that is Hellboy.com - the official Hellboy website - has been relaunched and redesigned, and is the definitive source for all things Hellboy, including links to a new Mignola Q&A with WizardUniverse.com and a Mignola video interview with FangoriaTV, among other goodies.

Finally, my other favorite Mignola creation - The Amazing Screw-On Head - is being turned into an animated series at this very moment by Wonderfalls creator Bryan Fuller, Kickstart and Mignola himself for Sci Fi Channel, which has announced some truly inspired casting: Paul Giamatti as Screw-On Head, Patton Oswalt as his manservant Mr. Groin, David Hyde Pierce as his arch-nemesis (and former manservant) Emperor Zombie, Molly Shannon as Patience the Vampire, and Mindy Sterling as Zombie's henchwomen Aggie and Geraldine . (For the uninitiated, Screw-On Head chronicles the untold history of a robotic secret agent who worked for President Lincoln in the 1860s, battling supernatural forces threatening our civilization. And it is genius.)