This week Laurence Campbell’s second arc on B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth wraps up. He made his Mignolaverse debut on last year’s Wasteland arc and continued to blow our minds with the phenomenal Sledgehammer 44: Lighting War. Last August we interviewed him about his comics work and process, but this interview is focused specifically on the recent two-issue B.P.R.D. Hell on Earth: The Devil’s Wings arc (#120-121). We’ll be talking in detail, so consider this your spoiler warning.

This is your third project working with John Arcudi and Mike Mignola. So what’s your experience working with them like? Are you given a breakdown and then bounce some ideas back and forth, or is your first introduction to the story a full script? And how involved is Mike Mignola in the design work?

Laurence Campbell: I receive a full script and any reference I need. These could be characters, settings or monsters etc . For The Devil’s Wings I was given a character sketch of teenage Hellboy drawn by Mike Mignola and another by Max Fiumara.

I may be wrong here but I think I was givenandarcs because of my style of art. This is one of the many things I like working with them. Everything is thought out and planned ahead. The right person for the right story. I’m pretty sure they know my strengths and weakness.

Once I’ve read the script, I then start drawing my first thoughts down the margin of the script from the second reading. The next step is thumbnails, small roughs of the whole issue. A lot gets worked out at this stage, storytelling issues, balloon placements etc.

Once these are done I send them to John Arcudi, Scott [Allie, editor] and Shantel [LaRocque, assistant editor] at Dark Horse for approval. With the thumbnails stage I give my thoughts and maybe alternative ideas I’ve had for layouts- For example double page spreads etc. I get feedback from the thumbnails (always helpful). I then start doing pencils, again these are sent to John, Scott and Shantel. Once these are agreed I start the inking stage. Any main points of design are designed by Mike or if there drawn by me are run by Mike before I start.

The whole team are very much up for putting my ideas forward but to be honest I think John is a very visual writer and his ideas and direction are great. I love working that way.

Once the inks are done I send these to Mike, John and Dark Horse to be agreed. The whole process is very smooth.

I remember when I first sent my pages to Mike, I was both terrified and excited.

With covers it’s a little different, I get sent the scripts or a synopsis of the story. I then brain storm ideas (my favourite bit of the process). I draw these ideas up in rough and send them to Mike, John, Scott and Shantel. Mike gives his thoughts and we work from there. Mike is probably my favourite cover artist so when I was first asked to come up with some ideas for Sledgehammer 44 cover I was very excited/ worried. The whole experience has been great!

Those covers for Sledgehammer 44: Lightning War were fantastic. And I liked seeing all your early thumbnails in the trade collection recently. Of all the current Mignolaverse artists, you skew the most towards realism, yet you really fit. Your debut in Wasteland was quite a favourite among the Mignolaversity staff, and Lightning War was incredible, a great prelude to Liz’s own fight with the Black Flame. You conjure that definite Mignolaverse feel in your work, especially in your covers.

LC: Thanks, that’s very kind. I loved doing the Sledgehammer 44 covers. I had a mixture of emotions when offered the covers- fear, panic and excitement amongst them. I come from a graphic design background so covers have always appealed to me. With issue two, I did a number of thumbnails and was trying to strip the cover down to its true essence. I wanted it to have a feel of Mike’s work but not be a copy. So the final basic shape is very much of Mike’s influence. The cover which was chosen was my favourite and I was really pleased they went with it. I must say that Dave Stewart colouring the cover in yellow is a masterstroke. That’s what really make it pop.

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With issue three, I wanted to capture the main event The Black Flame vs Sledgehammer. I tried to capture a bit of the pulp feel to the cover and again reflect the basic shape set up in the previous issue but flipped.

My artwork does have a strong sense of realism and to be honest I was a little worried about fitting in the Mignolaverse but it has seemed to go down pretty well. People may not see it, but Mike is a huge influence on me. The use of blacks, the design of the panel/page and the use of shapes are all very important to me. I’m also interested in storytelling. I’m not interested in drawing a page which looks cool but the storytelling is whack. They’ve both got to work hand in hand with me.

You really need to speak to Scott, John and Mike on why I was taken on but I think one of the reasons is you need to show a sense of realism when the world is falling apart to get the impact across.

I like the way James Harren and myself have done different arcs I think we bring different things to the story. The dynamics seem to work. Every time I see James’s work it blows me away.

This book really felt like classic B.P.R.D. to me. In many ways it’s more akin to the Plague of Frogs era than Hell on Earth. In particular, it summoned up memories of The Dead, John Arcudi’s first arc on the book. Kate running around possessed reminded me of Johann running around possessed by German scientists, disappearing and reappearing in strange places, not to mention the uncovering of secrets in the bowels of the B.P.R.D. Headquarters. There was also a bit of Killing Ground in there, where the threat is roaming their halls. And thanks to the flashback material, it also felt like a classic Hellboy short story. Considering last week’s announcement, those bits seemed like a bit of bridge between B.P.R.D.: 1948 and Hellboy and the B.P.R.D. when Hellboy will be going on his first Bureau mission in 1952.

For the record I loved the Killing Ground, that’s one of my favourite arcs.

I think John has an amazing ability of making the base either huge or so close it’s difficult to breathe- that’s great writing. In a way the base feels like its own person. When you have big world events I feel sometimes it’s good to make stories a little closer and personal and that’s what’s refreshing here. It also works really well when you have changed the artist to change the beat of the story as well. It’s like changing gears in a car, slow the story and then speed it up when you need too. Dave’s colours are great on the arc, the limited palette and just added to the creepiness.

I know Mike, John and Scott have planned well ahead. For me the Sledgehammer helmet showing up as Kate wonders around in the dark gave me a buzz after just finishing the Sledgehammer arc.

Getting to draw teenage Hellboy was also a real buzz for me and I thank Mike for giving me a the opportunity. I love researching and drawing the past so that was fun. As for the announcement of Hellboy and the B.P.R.D., well I’m really looking forward to that. The cover alone got me excited.

How was that, getting to draw such an defining moment for Hellboy? One thing that jumped out for me was that this was an echo of Hellboy: Being Human. In that story Hellboy consoled Roger after he had shot an old witch. I felt this moment deepened that one. Hellboy was consoling him from his own childhood experience.

LC: When I first read the script I thought “Oh F_ck!” It totally came out of the blue to me, a big shock. This was a real tragic moment, Hellboy had to save the situation but he killed someone in the process. Teenage Hellboy had lost his innocence in that one moment. You can see he is really shaken up by the event, but at the same time it also got me thinking whether Hellboy can really change his birthright? John and Mike did an amazing job of getting that across. There’s something very tragic about a teenage boy killing someone with a gun here – perhaps reflecting the end of innocence when toy guns become real guns. A life changing event.

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As for the connection with Roger, that’s what I love about you, Mark. I didn’t even make that connection! But yes it makes perfect sense.

It’s that sort of character stuff that keeps me reading.

This story is essentially split into three places: everything at the Bureau HQ, O’Donnell sealed off in his own room reading old reports, and 1949 with Hellboy and company. Transitioning between these scenes could have been complicated, but you made it appear effortless. Especially when you were transitioning between one character against total black to a scene with another character in another place against total black. In that case you can’t even rely on the background to orientate the reader.

LC: This is really a combination of everyone working together on the book. John’s direction and dialogue in the script is great. Dave’s use of colours really help direct the placing and time periods, I can’t express how important that is. I used maybe a change of angle or different shape panel to show a change of scene. All of this is hopefully mixed together in a seamless issue.

LC: On the page you mentioned, with the first panel being an establishing shot, I needed the viewer to see the house which plays an important part in the story, I also needed to show where the car is placed in relation to the house and show the team about to walk up the path. Everything is there for this part of the story in that one panel.

I don’t normally give colour notes to Dave. I think I have once or twice. Frankly I’ve been over the moon with everything he’s done. There’s a reason why Dave has won all those Eisners.

Yeah, Dave Stewart is constantly finding new ways to surprise me. I like that.

I got a real kick out of this story. Kate’s my favourite character, and she’s been on the sidelines for a while now. It was nice to see her in the thick of things again. In fact, the present day plot line was really dominated by the women of the Bureau, something I didn’t notice on my first read through, but really appreciated on the second.

LC: Yeah, B.P.R.D. has always had strong females in the team but make nothing of it- I love this. Other comics seem make a big thing out of this or force it but B.P.R.D. have been doing it for years.

What I love about the team in general is they work as a team but not everyone gets on with everyone. They really have personalities. I also like their quirks. They’re an odd team, something that really attracts me and of course they could die at any moment doing what they do and they don’t seem to come back. So there’s always an atmosphere of tension and danger.

Well, I hope you’ll be back on B.P.R.D. again soon. I’d like to see you handle a five-issue arc one of these days. But in the meantime I’ll be enjoying your covers for #122-124. Oh, and flame-Breccan looked amazing.

Laurence provided me with so much material, there wasn’t quite room for it all. Check it all out below: