Hellboy Fan Gives Lobster Johnson His Own Cartoon Intro With a Stunning Animation

May 15, 2023

Animator Dominick Battle offers Hellboy devotees a tantalizing glimpse at what an animated series headlined by Lobster Johnson could look like.

Hellboy fan Dominick Battle just gave one of the Dark Horse Comics series' most beloved supporting characters, Lobster Johnson, his own stunningly animated cartoon intro.

Battle's lovingly crafted opening sequence for the non-existent Lobster Johnson animated series recently surfaced on Twitter. It features character and environment designs clearly inspired by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola's distinctive art style and pits its pulp hero protagonist against a horde of living skeletons. This isn't the first time that Hellboy devotees have seen Lobster Johnson make the jump from the page to the screen, though. The Nazi-fighting vigilante has a brief, non-speaking cameo in the 2007 direct-to-DVD animated film Hellboy: Blood and Iron and made his live-action debut in 2019's Hellboy reboot, in which he was portrayed by Thomas Haden Church.

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It's unclear when fans can next expect to see Lobster Johnson in action, although there's certainly no shortage of upcoming Hellboy projects that he could show up in. Of these projects, arguably the most notable is Hellboy: The Crooked Man, a film co-written by Mignola which marks the second time the cinematic franchise has started over since the release of 2008's Hellboy II: The Golden Army. Little is known about the plot of Hellboy: The Crooked Man at this stage, although the reboot's official synopsis indicates that it will take its cues from the comic book miniseries of the same name. The production wrapped principal photography in May 2023.

Another high-profile Hellboy-themed multimedia project on the horizon is roguelite action-adventure video game Hellboy: Web of Wyrd. Developed by Upstream Arcade and published by Good Shepherd Entertainment, Hellboy: Web of Wyrd boasts a story overseen by Mignola and Dark Horse Comics that pits its eponymous paranormal investigator against horrifying creatures from an alternate dimension known as "The Wyrd." It will be available on PC and all major consoles, including Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series S/X. As with The Crooked Man, there's currently no word on whether Lobster Johnson will appear in Web of Wyrd, however, there's nothing ruling out his involvement, either.

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Then there are the comics themselves. Dark Horse Comics recently revealed that two new Hellboy titles are on the way in 2023: Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1957 From Below and Panya: The Mummy's Curse. Both books are written by Mignola and Chris Roberson, and feature art by Mike Norton and Lee Loughridge, and Christopher Mitten and Michelle Madsen, respectively. Fans will have to wait until both titles drop on July 12 to find out whether Lobster Johnson appears in either, although the Ancient Egypt setting of Panya: The Mummy's Curse makes a cameo in that story somewhat unlikely.

Source: Twitter

Leon is an Associate News Writer at CBR. He reports on the latest developments in film and TV, covering everything from popcorn cinema to prestige mini-series. His previous freelance writing credits include articles on film, TV, comics, and video games for Polygon, Popverse, Screen Rant, PanelxPanel, The Things, Cultured Vultures, and Taste of Cinema. Originally from Australia, Leon is currently based in the UK.