Exclusive Preview: CARMEN RED CLAW

In January, Hellboy creator Mike Mignola and writer/artist Rae Allen team up with colorist Michelle Madsen and letterer Clem Robins for the first in a four-issue limited series, Carmen Red Claw: Belly of the Beast, that connects Mignola’s Lobster John lore to the broader Hellboy universe. Today, The Beat has an exclusive preview of the debut issue.

Carmen Red Claw is a descendent of privateer El Bogavante, who first appeared in the 2014 series Lobster Johnson: Get the Lobster by Mignola, John Arcudi, and Tonci Zonjic. In this new series, she takes a job that may or may not be supernatural in nature:

Supernatural gun-for-hire and shape-shifting descendent of the notorious El Bogavante, Carmen Red Claw faces a new type of monster when investigating supposedly cursed ranch land. Something is killing the cattle in the area, but Carmen has to find out if it’s really a beast to blame, or if humans are the real monsters here.

Check out interior art and covers by Allen and Mignola below.

“I’ve wanted to find a project for Rae for a long time, and finally just had the good sense to ask her if she had something in mind—and she did,” said Mignola. “She had half a dozen ideas—all great—but I was super impressed with this one, that she was able to create an entire character and situation based on a super tiny bit of a Lobster Johnson history.

“Such a fun addition to the Hellboy universe. We banged some details back and forth, but that was all fun and easy. She is a joy to work with and I hope this is only the beginning,” he continued.

Allen said, “One of my favorite parts about Hellboy is the merging of classic folklore with the Hellboy universe. A lot of that ground has already been covered in Europe, how about more from America? I’m a big fan of the radio show Have Gun Will Travel (aired 1958-1960), and I thought a Paladin-style gun-for-hire in a supernatural Old West facing off with Native American, Colonial, and Mignolaverse monsters would be a lot of fun.

“Plus, why not add a lizard shoulder demon?” Allen continued. “Mike and I bounced ideas off each other and landed on a story that we think you’ll really enjoy. And I’m excited to introduce you to some Lakota folklore inspired by Yankton Dakota author Zitkala-Sa, enriched with the help of my friend Shiala King.”

Carmen Red Claw: Belly of the Beast #1 will be available digitally and at your local comic shop on January 7, 2026.