1 - Posted on 1/1/2026

So Nice !!! early Mignola does look awesome !! Congrats !!

1 - Posted on 1/1/2026

Sweet inks and utilization of shadow and lighting even at this earlier stage for Mr. (master) Mignola! nice pickup from the Kennedy pedigree - and Happy New Year Rick!@

1 - Posted on 1/1/2026

Bernie Wrightson influence? Reminds me of K Kong at first glance.

1 - Posted on 1/1/2026

This might just be the oldest Mignola piece I've ever seen.  It sure looks like he loved those blacks from the jump.  Very cool.  Happy New Year bud.

1 - Posted on 1/1/2026

One of Mignola's earliest pinups, and a great one at that. So cool to see how raw he was back then!

1 - Posted on 1/1/2026

wonderful piece, congrats

1 - Posted on 1/1/2026

This is really awesome! An awesome early  piece from Mignola and one of the best characters in comics! Major congrats Rick! Hope you have a Happy New Year!

1 - Posted on 1/1/2026

I was working in the lab, late one night
When my eyes beheld an eerie sight
It was a Mignola monster on the rise
And suddenly to my surprise
he did the monster mash
(The monster mash) it was a swampland smash
(He did the mash) it caught on in a flash
(He did the mash) he did the monster mash

1 - Posted on 1/1/2026

Great piece! Classic early Mignola, goes well with the early Elric. Congrats Rick! Here's wishing you joy, good health, and prosperity in the new year!

2 - Posted on 1/1/2026

These early Mignolas are so cool. And evocative of a period when he and Art Adams both lived in Oakland and I'd see them at Berkeley comic shop, Comics & Comix. A lot of their early art passed through there. Maybe this one did, too!

1 - Posted on 1/2/2026

Just wonderful how Mignola was finding his voice and being influenced by the rock star illustrators of the day!  This foreshadows that he would eventually gravitate towards horror comics!

1 - Posted on 1/2/2026

Sweet evocative rendition of our favorite muck-monster with already a unique graphic voice blossoming...

1 - Posted on 1/2/2026

Such a lovely piece!

1 - Posted on 1/2/2026

Wow - that is vintage - nice foliage!

1 - Posted on 1/2/2026

Loved when back in the day our future art masters had fertile ground like the fanzines to get published, and I love how today we have the tech to produce such convincingly cool mock-ups, congrats!

1 - Posted on 1/4/2026

Great!!

1 - Posted on 1/5/2026

Nice choices for Shadows. Even early on, Mignola had a strong understanding of the production process and how the image would eventually look.

1 - Posted on 1/6/2026

The -perfect- New Year's post to remind us all to look back in joy and be thankful for how far we've been able to come on the winding journey along the way! :) That is one early Mignola!  Special in and of itself for that reason, but getting to see his take on Swampy (even at this primordial stage) is a real treat - one of the mainstream heroes you'd most want to see his version of, right?  Congrats, Rick, and happy new year (sorry I'm late :) )! 

1 - Posted on 1/6/2026

I love seeing early pieces like this, and being able to chart an artist's progression into their own space. Fantastic!

1 - Posted on 1/6/2026

Outstanding!!! Those inks are beautiful! Love seeing the color version, but the original stands on its own. Fantastic Swampy from MM!