Who is the greatest superhero ever? Its not Superman or Batman. Its not Spider-man or Wolverine. The real answer is Lobster Johnson. Who is Lobster Johnson, you ask? He is a secondary character from Hellboy that is so good, he got his own series of comic books. Lobster is very similar to The Shadow, for those of you who are up on your pulp era superheroes. Like The Shadow, Lobster Johnson almost seems supernatural and is nigh impossible to kill. He also isn’t afraid to pump any evil doers (including Nazis) full of lead! Hopefully that background helps you appreciate the minis I painted this week.
I don’t think I’ve ever managed to get a bust/marker and the respective mini done in a single week but I’ve been thinking about breaking out Hellboy for another go and I wanted a new investigator to play with. Lobster Johnson looks fun in-game and is my favorite Hellboy character so I figured, what better time than now? I even did a freehand claw on his open hand which he likes to brand into the forehead of his victims. Brutal!
I have officially received my first Kickstarter pledge as the Hellboy expansion known as the Big Box of Doom arrived after lengthy delays. I know Mantic wasn’t happy with their US shipper as many here still don’t have theirs yet but I was happy when it showed up. Its fairly modest in size but comes with some cool minis. I’ve shown a few of what’s included below. Add them to the already ridiculous backlog! I can’t imagine I’ll be doing any other Kickstarters in the near future but the process went well enough with this one which I know isn’t something you can’t take for granted.
Speaking of the backlog, I got something I need to finally start working on a big piece of terrain for Fallout. Its going to be a big experiment and take some time so I’ll be sharing my progress as I work on it. Hopefully that ends up being interesting content for you all. Unfortunately, choosing to paint Lobster Johnson this week means that I won’t have any meaningful contributions to any of the great October hobby challenges this month sadly. Hopefully I can participate in future ones as I had every intent to do so this month and just ran out of time.
Kuribo's Painting 
I do not know much about the Hellboy universe except for what was in the films but Lobster Johnson seems like a cool hero…. and as usual your brushwork has brought him to life! Well done sir! 👏🏻 Some neat figures added to your backlog and I am as always looking forward to your Fallout creations.
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Lobster Johnson and Johann Kraus were not handled all that well in the movies sadly. Lobster is only in the newest Hellboy movie which by all accounts is a disaster (I haven’t seen it). Johann is in Hellboy 2 but not very accurate to the comics sadly. Regardless of that, thank you for the kind words and I’m hopeful that you find the Fallout terrain cool and inspiring. I’m going to try and make it my best terrain yet!
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Clearly I need to read Hellboy! Great painting and fun read about the character!
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The comics are great and if you like a mix of mythology, Lovecraft, and pulp, then there isn’t really anything else like them. The comics are better than the movies too for what that’s worth. Thanks for the kind words as always 🙂
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That’s a tick for all three topics! Definitely adding it to the to read list
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I’ll be curious to hear what you think of them!
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Excellent work on the claw Jeff, both the bust and figure have lots of great detail to them, and getting the claw mark in his hand is very impressive.
Don’t worry on the challenges mate, they’re there to help motivate to clear the backlogs of miniatures, and they come round every year, so it’s not a problem if you miss one ! LOL
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Thank you, Dave! The claw mark is probably mostly a waste of time but it makes the mini that little bit more comic accurate so I was glad to do it. I think I feel bad about the challenges because I said I was going to participate and didn’t manage but as you said, you can’t participate in them all.
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Brilliant! 🙂 Lobster Johnson is just so cool! Very nice indeed! I agree with Nicolas, I need to be reading Hellboy! Have I said the minis were brilliant yet!
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As I mentioned to Nic, the comics are a bit better than the movies, I think, so I’d definitely recommend reading them. I’m really glad you like Lobster too. He really is a fun character that I think could be in your wheelhouse, John! 🙂
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Not a character I’m familiar with so the background information was most welcome. Great work on the figure itself and I will be interested in seeing the scenery piece you will be working on. 🙂
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Glad to hear it and thank you for the kind words as always! I’ve already started on the scenery and it is ambitious and one big experiment so it will be interesting to see how it turns out 🙂
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Wow! That’s brilliant work on both the figure and especially the bust of old Lobster there! Great subtlety on things like his lips and the highlighting of the black suit as well as thr nice edge highlights on the claw logo. Really well done all around, mate!
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Thank you, mate! Neither took terribly long (by my standards anyway) to paint too so that didn’t hurt! I’ll be curious to see what you do with Hellboy when you get around to it though I’m sure it will be a bit with Zombicide taking precedence currently 🙂
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Thanks mate – ain’t that the truth!
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Wonderful work on the bust and the mini! The black uniform is highlighted really well with some subtle gradations in shades, and the blue claw on his chest adds a second colour but doesn’t clash with the overall look.
I only know Hellboy from the movies but I’ll try to give the graphic novels a shot!
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Thanks, Matt! I realized while working on this that Lobster has a good color combo of orange, cold blue, and black/gray so it made it easy to turn out well in some ways 🙂 Being a fellow man of letters, I wouldn’t be surprised if you enjoy the comics. They offer something that no other comic or book I have seen can match!
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Not heard of this chap but you paint scheme and little write up on him gives me a very good impression of him. The goggles look great by the way.
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Cheers, mate! I was having a bit of fun by saying he’s better than any other superhero but if you know Hellboy, then you probably like the Lobster and maybe one or two of my regular readers will become a fan of him after this too 🙂
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Lobster Johnson… The Greatest… who’d have guessed? Never heard of him!
But that’s just because I’ve never read the comics or watched the movie – had my head under the sand, I know.
Like how you’ve done the lenses in his goggles, cool!
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That seems to be the running theme here! Lobster Johnson is a fan favorite but apparently only if you’re a Hellboy fan. There are few good pulp superheroes these days so its nice to have this one. Thanks for the kind words on the goggles too. It was fun painting that part!
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Looking appropriately evil! With the leather and goggles he could fit in as a villain in any pulp scenario.
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He is perfect for some pulp gaming! This might surprise you but he’s a good guy in Hellboy but that doesn’t mean he’s anything but gentle 😀
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Should have read your description better, would have realized he was good. Oh well.
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Its hard not to skim online (I’m guilty of it too) so don’t sweat it! 🙂
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I love it! Your paint job here is perfect for such a character – straight out of pulp comics.
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Thanks, mate! That is exactly what I hoped to achieve on Lobster Johnson.
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