Saturday, March 22, is Hellboy Day which is a celebration of the 20th anniversary of Mike Mignola’s greatest gift to the world – Hellboy. While there are a slew of events going on around the world and a special hardcover art book entitled ’20 Years of Hellboy’ being released, you might think that is enough? Well you would think wrong! It was just announced that there will be a special comic book sampler for ‘Hellboy’ being released as well!

The 20th Anniversary Sampler will feature new work by Mike Mignola that he has worked on with a few major contributors. We have something special for you today though as we also have a preview of the stand alone work that R. Sikoryak has done for the issue entitled ‘B.P.R.D. Color Comics Fun’! It is a riff on the classic Sunday comic strips that many have grown up with over the years with a Mignola styled twist to them. Honestly they are a piece of pure joy. We’ll look at those in a moment but first Dark Horse Publisher Mike Richardson weighed in on how he feels about Mignola’s success over the years.

“Mike Mignola is the embodiment of all that I hoped Dark Horse could be. Mike is an example of a talented creator who seized the opportunity and has become a shinning light in the field of creator owned comic books. Mike’s Hellboy stands side-by-side with Paul Chadwick’s Concrete, Stan Sakai’s Usagi Yojimbo, Frank Miller’s Sin City, to name a few.”

On top of that, ‘Hellboy’ editor Scott Allie chimed in with, “Mignola’s characters have such distinct personalities, and iconic designs, they hold up through really diverse interpretations, from the films, to the cartoons, to the recent Itty Bitty Hellboy. Mike and I are big fans of Sikoryak, who’s notorious for mashing up classic or modern art styles for really counterintuitive homages — he once did Waiting for Godot for us, recast with Beavis and Butthead. So we asked him to cut loose on Mike’s characters, and what he gave us is the weirdest Sunday comics section of all time.”

With that much praise of Sikoryak’s work, I won’t keep you waiting any longer. Let’s take a look shall we?

Personally that was a work of genius! What did you think though? Am I wrong with my overeager love of all things Mignola or is this as great as I’m thinking it is? Share your thoughts below!

Also for those interested in the events that are happening on ‘Hellboy Day’ you can find a listing of the largest ones below:

Mike Mignola – Meltdown Comics – Los Angeles, CA
2pm
Meltdown Comics
7522 Sunset Blvd,
Los Angeles, CA 90046
(323) 851-7223

Tyler Crook, Dave Stewart & Scott Allie – TFAW – Portland, OR
7pm – 10pm
Things From Another World – Portland Location
2916 NE Broadway St.
Portland, Oregon 97232
(503) 284-4693

Duncan Fregredo, Laurence Campbell, & Mick McMahon – Gosh! Comics
London, England
2pm – 4pm
Gosh! Comics
1 Berwick Street
London W1F 0DR
Tel: 020 7636 1011

Art Baltazar – AW YEAH! Comics – Skokie, IL
AW YEAH COMICS!
4933 Oakton Street
Skokie, IL 60077
(847) 423-2916

Franco – Midtown Comics, Downtown – NYC
2pm – 4pm
Midtown Comics – Downtown Location
64 Fulton St
New York, NY 10038
(212) 302-8192

Sebastian & Max Fiumara – Buenos Aires, Argentina
Moebius Liceo
Av. Santa Fe 2729 local
13 P. Baja
1425 Buenos Aires, Argentina

Fabio Moon – Sao Paulo, Brazil
School Quanta Academia de Artes
Rua Dr. José de Queirós Aranha, 246
Vila Mariana
São Paulo, SP, 04106-061, Brasil
0(XX)11 3214-0553

Source: The Hollywood Reporter