Mike Mignola And Rae Allen Head West With ‘Carmen Red Claw: Belly Of The Beast’
by Anton Kromoff
Welcome to the table,
I’ve been traveling a lot as of late. In my travels, the time away from the internet while my phone is in airplane mode is the time I use to ponder how and why I am sitting in a metal tube soaring through the air at dizzying speeds while the landscape of various parts of the world slips by below me. It’s also the time I watch a lot of things I’ve not had a chance to just sit down and give my full attention to, because I’m afflicted with the need to always be productive. There is rarely any point I am just watching something without a keyboard under my fingers or a notebook in hand.
The first of those things was Mike Mignola: Drawing Monsters. I have to say it was an amazing trip through the rise of one of my favorite creators in the comic and pop culture space. The biggest takeaway for me, though, was that Mike Mignola does not like the term “Mignolaverse.”
While I am unable to travel back through all my coverage of his work over the years and edit all the times that turn of phrase has popped up, the moment he said he did not like it in the documentary, I immediately said “well that is good to know.” There are so many instances of it I have seen it used. It’s in press releases, other people’s coverage, social media, and even in conversations. While I can’t change the past, I can for sure not use it going forward, and from me, your very own Anton, I can offer my apologies for using it up and to this point. Won’t be happening again!
Now that I have at least tried to right the cosmic scales there, I want to talk about something new Mignola is bringing to the table, a paranormal western by the name of Carmen Red Claw: Belly of the Beast. Let’s get into it!
Mike Mignola is teaming up with Rae Allen to deliver this new outing set in the World of Hellboy (see, that is how we are going to refer to things going forward, friends). This new title, Carmen Red Claw: Belly of the Beast, connects to Lobster Johnson lore and the greater happenings in the storied world that Hellboy takes place in.
Mignola and Allen will be co-writing this title together, and Allen will be providing the drawn lines, while Michelle Madsen will be handling the colors, and Clem Robins will be lettering. This four-issue series is said to also have variant covers from Mike himself, Jake Parker, Tonic Zonjic, and Benjamin Schipper.
Carmen Red Claw is set to be a descendant of notorious El Bogavante, the privateer who first appeared in Mike Mignola, John Arcudi, and Tonci Zonjic‘s 2014 Lobster Johnson: Get The Lobster. Working as a shape-shifting supernatural gun-for-hire, Carmen investigates a supposedly cursed rance in 1870s New Mexico territory.
Until next time, the series is due out on January 7th, 2026, and I, for one, can’t wait for another thrilling adventure in this world I love so very, very much.
