| This article is written from the Real World perspective |  |
Mike Mignola (born September 16, 1960 in Berkeley, California) is an award-winning illustrator and writer who is best known for his work in the comic book industry.
Perhaps his most famous creation is Hellboy, the demonic hero of the series (and films starring Ron Perlman) of the same name, as well as the spin-off series B.P.R.D. (Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense). He has also worked in television and feature animation, most notably art direction for Batman: The Animated Series and the Walt Disney animated film "Atlantis: The Lost Empire".
As part of Batman: The Animated Series' art direction team, Mignola was responsible for the original design of Mr. Freeze, which was done at the special request of Bruce Timm. There is a close resemblance between Mr. Freeze and several of Mignola's subsequently-created characters:
- Herman von Klempt, a mad Nazi scientist in the Hellboy universe, also exists as a disembodied, semi-immortal head attached to a robot body;
- The Amazing Screw-On Head (which Mignola claims was inspired by looking at plastic action figures, many of which are made by attaching an individualized head to a standard-form body); and
- Karl Ruprecht Kroenen, another mad scientist from Hellboy, became fascinated with cryonics at a young age and, as a child, froze animals and insects in water as a hobby.
Mignola's work for DC Comics includes the illustration of the Elsewords story Gotham by Gaslight, later the basis for the DC Universe animated movie Batman: Gotham by Gaslight.