The first two-issue arc introduces us to the character and tells us a bit about him, what he is, what he can do, etc. Though Sledgehammer 44 turns out to be a fairly uninteresting dude, nor are his stories particularly memorable, the book is not without its charms. But during a mission to retrieve a prisoner and experimental plane, Sledgehammer 44 comes up against a formidable Nazi figure: the Black Flame! He lives somewhere in Southern California with his wife, daughter, a lot of books and a cat.Ī powerful new Allied weapon enters the closing stages of World War 2: Sledgehammer 44, a robot imbued with supernatural Vril power. Mike worked (very briefly) with Francis Ford Coppola on his film Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), was a production designer on the Disney film Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) and was visual consultant to director Guillermo del Toro on Blade II (2002), Hellboy (2004) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008). Mike also created the award-winning comic book The Amazing Screw-on Head and has co-written two novels ( Baltimore, or, the Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire and Joe Golem and the Drowning City) with best-selling author Christopher Golden. Hellboy has earned numerous comic industry awards and is published in a great many countries. There are, at this moment, 13 Hellboy graphic novel collections (with more on the way), several spin-off titles ( B.P.R.D., Lobster Johnson, Abe Sapien and Witchfinder), three anthologies of prose stories, several novels, two animated films and two live-action films staring Ron Perlman. While the first story line ( Seed of Destruction, 1994) was co-written by John Byrne, Mike has continued writing the series himself.

In 1993, Mike moved to Dark Horse comics and created Hellboy, a half-demon occult detective who may or may not be the Beast of the Apocalypse. In 1992, he drew the comic book adaptation of the film Bram Stoker's Dracula for Topps Comics. By the late 80s he had begun to develop his signature style (thin lines, clunky shapes and lots of black) and moved onto higher profile commercial projects like Cosmic Odyssey (1988) and Gotham by Gaslight (1989) for DC Comics, and the not-so-commercial Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser (1990) for Marvel. In 1982, hoping to find a way to draw monsters for a living, he moved to New York City and began working for Marvel Comics, first as a (very terrible) inker and then as an artist on comics like Rocket Raccoon, Alpha Flight and The Hulk. His fascination with ghosts and monsters began at an early age (he doesn't remember why) and reading Dracula at age 13 introduced him to Victorian literature and folklore from which he has never recovered. Mike Mignola was born Septemin Berkeley, California and grew up in nearby Oakland.

Sledgehammer 44 by Mike Mignola