Interviewing Rae Allen About Dark Horse Comics ‘Carmen Red Claw: Belly Of The Beast’

Welcome to the table,

It’s no secret that the storied landscape Hellboy inhabits is one of my favorite places to visit. Each time a new story arrives on my desk, I can barely contain my excitement. What most don’t know, unless they have been following along very closely, is that I adore a western as well. Mostly modern westerns these days, as the more problematic issues with the classic stories of the “wild west” are hard not to notice, but I have warm memories of stories from my youth that had rolling tumble weeds, wide open space, great big sky, and daring gunfights through various small towns and settlements.

So you can imagine when I learned of Carmen Red Claw, a weird western set in the same world that Miss Truesdale, Panya, and the one-and-only Lobster Johnson inhabit, I got positively giddy. I was even more over the moon when I had a chance to sit down with the wildly talented Rae Allen and talk to her about her work on the title.

You can find that interview below!

Anton: Hi, Rae! Thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me today. Before we dig into questions about Carmen Red Claw, can you please tell our readers a little bit about yourself?

Rae Allen: Thanks for having me, Anton!

From the moment I could hold a pencil, I’ve been using drawings to tell stories. I’m obsessed with finding the best ways to show a story rather than tell it — hence my passion for comics. Most of my work has been smaller-press or indie before now, and so the opportunity to work in the Hellboy universe (of which I’ve been a fan since high school) has been a miraculous (but daunting) dream come true.

A: Amazing! Now I love this book; issue one of Carmen Red Claw: Belly of the Beast is an absolute delight. As a fan of “weird west” stories, I was all in from the moment I saw the first cover. With gunfighters, monsters, and colonial history being blended together within the well-storied world of Hellboy, what was the story or spark of inspiration that conjured Carmen Red Claw to life?

R: I’m so glad you like it! Mike had invited me to pitch a Hellboy universe story to him, so I re-read through my favorite comics from the franchise, searching for spin-off ideas. When I came across the story about El Bogavante in Lobster Johnson: Get the Lobster, and learned about his 30-some-odd shapeshifting grandchildren, I decided I wanted to tell a story about one of those kids. Meanwhile I had been relistening through one of my all-time favorite radio shows, Have Gun Will Travel. I imagined a Paladin-esque character in a supernatural universe, and felt it just had to exist as a Hellboy story.

A: What I love about Carmen is that she feels so grounded. There are some really iconic entities within the world she wanders. What do you think sets her apart from other occult detectives and monster hunters in this landscape?

R: That’s high praise, thank you! Carmen felt pretty deep-rooted from the start because of her very specific origins: Daughter to a Spanish fur trapper and a Lakota shapeshifter, granddaughter to an infamous privateer, and now a well-to-do, self-sustaining, supernatural gun for hire. Like Hellboy, she lives in denial of her true power inherited from both sides of her bloodline. But unlike Hellboy, who runs from his fate, Carmen feels obligated to seek out the supernatural and enforce balance. She’s not part of any secretive organizations like the BPRD, nor is she a vigilante like her descendant Lobster Johnson; she’s rather like Sherlock Holmes with a gun, who fights monsters, and is cursed with the constant companionship of a bloodthirsty shoulder demon.

A: Cultural folklore and mythos are the foundation for all of my work, creative, journalistic, and otherwise. There is some Lakota folklore within these pages, inspired by Zitkala-Sǎ and guided by a friend of yours, Shiala King. Can you tell me a bit about that, because I love that it seems like you have really approached this kind of storytelling with respect and thoughtfulness.

R: Absolutely! As someone who grew up in the American west, and who spent her childhood visiting monuments of ancient First Nations people, I learned to see America as a place with as story-rich and folkloric a history as any other country, starting long before colonization. I’ve always felt it tragic that so much of that history has been overlooked, and is largely unknown among all the other myths and legends modern media celebrates today. But simply retelling Native American stories is not the same as retelling Greek myths (for example), since many Native stories are still held sacred today, so I’ve made it a priority to approach it with as much respect as I can.

Shiala has been indispensable in that pursuit. She’s every bit as much of a history and pop culture nerd as I am, and she happens to be Lakota. When I told her I wanted to retell a Zitkala-Sǎ story, she was very supportive and onboard to aid in my research, answer my many questions, and give me guidance that has really served to enrich the story.

A: Yargoss, the king of lizards, is going to be a fan favorite. There is no way this unhinged little demon does not become a comic icon. Please tell me where you guys conjured up the idea for him from.

R: Funny enough, Yargoss (AKA “Pest”) started off as a purely aesthetic choice. I needed something to add to Carmen’s character design that made her look more supernatural. I really liked how the snake looked on the cover of Miss Truesdale and the Fall of Hyperborea, so I thought, why not give Carmen a flying, talking lizard? I did a quick sketch and sent it to Mike before my call to give him my full pitch. I think it definitely served to pique his interest because his response was “I like a talking lizard.” The idea to make Pest a bloodthirsty lunatic came about as a foil for Carmen’s reserved, buttoned-up personality.

A: I love how recognizable your art style is. It can swing from fluid and animated to moody and atmospheric, but it works so well in this weird-west setting. Were there any moods or textures that were really important to you as you were crafting your visual language for this particular story?

R: Wow, thank you! As a relatively young artist, I feel like I’m still searching for my style, so I do switch it up a little depending on the project. Carmen Red Claw came about because of Mike’s interest in my self-published graphic novella, The Manderfield Devil. So I’ve worked hard to recapture many of those same elements of moodiness and noir vibes, but I also can’t seem to get away from making things feel whimsical and animated — or “comedic” as Mike once described it. So I’ve tried to lean into that a bit more too.

As far as texture goes, I did envision the whole story feeling like it came off an old film reel, and Michelle has done a fantastic job of capturing that through color.

A: I really appreciate your time. Before we wrap up, can you please tell our readers why they can keep up with you and everything you are working on?

R: Sure thing! I’m on pretty much any social media platform as @raeallenart, but the places I’m most active are on Instagram and Substack. My website is RaeAllenArt.com.

A: Wonderful! Now Carmen Red Claw: Belly of the Beast #1 is due out on January 7th, 2026. What would be your elevator pitch for long-time fans of the world and new folks just discovering this brilliant landscape of stories and characters?

R: For those who are fans of Hellboy, Carmen Red Claw will bring you more paranormal investigations and monsters, but set in the less-explored territory of the American Old West. There are some overarching narratives exploring the deeper lore of the Hellboy universe which long-time readers will pick up on, but that doesn’t spoil anything for newcomers. The series was written with new readers in mind, centered on standalone adventures exploring Old Western cryptids and folklore.

A: Thank you again, Rae. I really appreciate your time and can’t wait for the next issue!

Until next time, oh oh! One more thing … more a comment than a question … I don’t trust that baby. Just want to put that out there from day one.