Monsters: The monster council of elders
Appearance: "The Edge of Civilization - Part 2", Midnight, Mass. #3, August, 2002. "Here There Be Monsters - Part 2: Orion" Midnight, Mass. - Here There Be Monsters #2, April, 2004. "Here There Be Monsters - Part 3: Abraham" Midnight, Mass. - Here There Be Monsters #3, May, 2004. "Here There Be Monsters - Part 6: Magellan" Midnight, Mass. - Here There Be Monsters #6, August, 2004.
Jesus Saiz: Penciller, Jimmy Palmiotti: Inker, Ken Bruzeniak: Letterer, Noelle Giddings: Colorist, Digital Chameleon: Seperations, Tomer Hanuka: Cover Artist, Zachary Rau: Assistant Editor, Heidi MacDonald: Editor.
Paul Lee: Artist, Sherilyn Van Valkenburgh: Colorist, Janice Chiang: Letterer, Tomer Hanuka: Cover Artist, Zachary Rau & Joan Hilty: Editors.
Just as Magellan was the leader of the rebel monsters bent on taking for their own a portion of human civilization's trappings, I wanted the general populace of monsters, okay with their existing place in the world, to have representation. Most of the rebel monsters tended to be young, so it made sense to go in the other direction with the Council of Elders, though among its representatives are young clerks and bodyguards.
The absolute leader of the Council is Abraham, who I wanted to be something like the Creature from the Black Lagoon as elder statesman. He was given the name Abraham, because of its connection with leadership in the bible, and in U.S. History. It didn't occur to me until much later that Hellboy also featured a fishman named Abraham, although they are very different characters.
The Abraham of Midnight, Mass. is uptight, stodgy, and not always polite, or patient. Above is my original sketch. Below you can see him along with Stagyrites, Baby Doll, and Mizra.
Stagyrites, with her face pulled back to a knot on the top of her head, wired to knife blades, is more bodyguard than council member, though she's not afraid to chime in her opinions.
Babydoll was meant to be an unexplained presence whose visual look begged for an origin story.
Dulcarnon was a somewhat childlike clerk of the Council, but his anatomy was supposed to imply a fast predatory creature, that like Arturo, belied his pleasant nature.
The full story of the Council remains to be seen, but their departure, seen above, is one of my favorite visuals from the series.
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