The Mignola Brothers Talk ‘Pinocchio’ Obsession And Illustrated Sequel [Interview + Art]
It shouldn't have come as such a surprise to me that Mike Mignola is a Pinocchio fan, but I confess the pervasive, wholesome influence of the marvelous Disney animated feature has clouded my awareness of the dark, supernatural weirdness of the original story, the kind of spooky stuff that has inspired the celebrated Hellboy creator since he was a little boy. It was indeed at a young age that Mignola and his brother Scott discovered the twisted parable about a puppet who wishes to be real, and although both brothers have described their fondness for Pinocchio as an obsession, it's only now that they've channeled it into a brand new work directly inspired by Carlo Collodi's original story. Written by Scott Mignola with a cover and plate illustrations by Mike, Pinocchio's Forgotten Land is a new novel billed as a sequel to the original 1883 classic that finds the real boy a real grown-up man, confronting themes like greed and guilt as he seeks his fortune while looking out for his aging father Geppetto. But as the Mignola brothers told ComicsAlliance, the book retains the outrageous fairy tale spirit of the original.