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There’s something about the odd pairing of a monster and a flack vest that just makes me overwhelmingly happy. 

I first encountered this visual delight while reading the pages of John Arcudi, Mike Mignola and Guy Davis in the pages of the B.P.R.D.. For those uninitiated, the book is a spinoff of Mignola’s long-running Hellboy series. It follows the journeyman-like exploits of a few monsters, trapped in the employ of the United States government. Their task? To investigate all those things that go bump in the night.

That sounds like it could be any number of genre-centric programs, right? The X-Files, Kolchak the Night Stalker, Fringe. They’ve all played in similar waters. But the thing that makes the BPRD so fascinating to me is the seemingly effortless combination of the mundane and the surreal. Additionally, you’re not dealing with humans who are investigating monsters… your primary cast are all monsters. And then they go out and deal with more monsters. What’s not to love? It’s the perfect setup for an enthralling otherworldly procedural. 

A large component of this is thanks to John Arcudi’s effortless storytelling craftsmanship. He, more so than anyone else I’ve encountered in the modern comic book field, understood the assignment when it came to the B.P.R.D.. He straddles the line between being something that’s applicable to superhero readers but also is really a stealth horror comic. 

Furthermore, it has a tone, style, and visual language all its own. It did not attempt to re-create the murky, somber atmosphere of Minola’s solo Hellboy work. Instead, it attempted to create an aesthetic all its own. Grids. Simple scene constructions. And an emphasis on character. One that could not be accomplished without the draftsmanship and virtuosic skill of Guy Davis. It’s often said about Davis that he can 'draw anything,' typically in a joking tone. However, I’m here to say with the utmost straight face that the man literally can draw anything. Monsters, kaiju, boring exposition dump scenes, or witches summoning black magic. It doesn’t matter. He can literally do it all. 

And yet, the element of this that’s the most exciting to me? Anytime he draws a monster wearing clothes.

Abe Sapien wearing a suit while testifying before Congress? Sign me up. Roger the Homunculus wearing a flack vest? Take me to there. Ben Daimio ripping out of his fatigues when he goes full were-jaguar? Couldn’t pay me enough to keep me away. 

I’m not quite sure what it is. Maybe it’s the visual shorthand for 'Monsters, they’re just like us!' But I love it every time I see it. It’s something that I tied into when building my own monster-hunting organization in my new book Halloween Boy Volume One: Last of the Halloween Boys. 

My project follows a character, the eponymous Halloween Boy, who is obsessed with the idea that he’s the Patron Saint of the Impossible. Each chapter of the book follows him as he attempts to get someone out of an unwinnable scenario or freedom from a lost cause. It’s my love letter to things like Doc Savage, King Solomon’s Mines, and, of course, Hellboy.

It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see that Mignola, Arcudi, Davis, and I are all pulling from a similar well. From pulp adventurers to sci-fi, dimestore novels, the book that I make, and the book that they’ve made are equally indebted to our predecessors.

However, one of the main lessons that I cribbed directly from Davis was this idea of supernatural mundanities. I love jumpsuits, jack boots, and bomber jackets. Put a monster in them? And I’ll be happy for days. They make any scene feel like it has more urgency and immediacy. Have an exposition dump sequence? Just put those bitches in a uniform, and you’re off to the races.

Halloween Boy is my version of doing what George Lucas did with Star Wars. He originally wanted to make a Flash Gordon movie, but couldn't get the rights, and eventually ended up filing the serial numbers off, pairing it with a bit of Dune and calling it a day. To me? Halloween Boy is The Phantom mashed up with B.P.R.D.. I have such a deep and abiding love for what Arcudi and Davis accomplished with their considerable tenure on the title. After I read it, I couldn’t help but want to try my hand at something similar. To me, that’s the ultimate compliment. Watching two creators have such fun making something, that it forces you to sit down and take a swing yourself. 

So, y’know, hopefully one day someone will write an essay about how HB’s ears inspired them. But until that day arrives? I guess I’ll just keep drawing monsters in flack vests. 

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