Beehive Books is announcing a series of three watercolor prints of Pinnochio by renowned Hellboy creator Mike Mignola. The three 8×11″ fine art prints are exclusively available as part of Beehive Books’ Kickstarter campaign for their illustrated and annotated edition of Carlo Collodi’s classic novel PINOCCHIO featuring a cover and 50+ Illustrations by Mignola, alongside 100+ annotations by celebrated novelist Lemony Snicket (A Series of Unfortunate Events). The prints—of Mignola’s Pinocchio paintings currently not already included in the book—are available as their own $50 tier, an add-on with every other tier, and as a free bonus item with every special edition of the book on Kickstarter.
The full color paintings were created by Mignola as part of the New York’s Society of Illustrators exhibition, live now in NYC, which features full portfolio of yet-to-be-published Pinocchio illustrations, including all the drawings done for the book, as well as additional art not included in the book, including paintings, process work for the project, and an original puppet from Red Nose Studios. The exhibit will be open to the public until July 8.
The all-new, deluxe hardcover edition of PINOCCHIO from the Philadelphia-based boutique publisher includes exquisite original illustrations from Mignola, which breathe new life to the charm, gloom, and chaos of the seminal novel, alongside over 100 full text annotations by Snicket, presented as slipped-in typewritten sheets produced by Snicket during his Pinocchio-induced descent into madness. The project is part of Beehive Book’s acclaimed Illuminated Editions imprint, the Philadelphia-based company’s distinctive line of book art editions of literary classics which reimagine literary masterworks with all-new covers and illustrations from the world’s greatest graphic artists, including the Balbusso Twins, Rebekka Dunlap, Brecht Evens, Dave McKean, Paul Pope, Yuko Shimizu, Bill Sienkiewicz, Kent Williams, and Jim Woodring, alongside original essays from the likes of Academy Award-winning filmmakers Guillermo Del Toro and Darren Aronofsky and Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Michael Cunningham. The Beehive Books Illuminated Editions feature singular design sensibilities, the highest production values, and a special emphasis on comics and graphic art. Beehive Books is now crowdfunding the PINOCCHIO: The Illuminated Edition on Kickstarter.
PINOCCHIO: An Illuminated Edition comes in three print editions: a slipcase hardcover, a signed and numbered edition, and a sketched and lettered edition. All ten titles in the Beehive Books’ Illuminated Editions series are available through the campaign, and Beehive will offer certain discounts on bulk orders. Each title also comes as a DRM-free digital PDF, which is included along with every print edition. The standard edition is an oversize 9×12″ hardcover, bound in sewn signatures, and housed in an elaborately embossed and debossed die-cut slipcase, silk-screened or foil-stamped with artwork. The interior is printed on creamy, acid-free heavy-weight 140gsm uncoated paper with a fine tooth, and includes dozens of full color illustrations, illuminated letters, and special design pieces. The entire package is designed by Maëlle Doliveux with a restrained graphic boldness, and an unparalleled eye for beauty, clarity and readability. There will also be a signed & numbered edition limited to 250 backers which comes in a foil-stamped slipcase wrapped in natural-fiber binding cloth. The editions have dyed edges, bound-in silk ribbon markers, and specialty bookplates, signed and numbered by Mike Mignola and Lemony Snicket. This edition also comes with a Kickstarter-exclusive foil-blocked 8×11″ print by Mike Mignola. The lettered edition comes in a clamshell housing with enamel plates re-creating Mignola’s artwork mounted onto its French door enclosures, and includes an original Pinocchio drawing from Mignola. All editions include dozens of slipped-in typesheet pages authored by Snicket on a mid-century Smith Corona typewriter.
For updates on Beehive Books, follow them on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. To back the project, head to Kickstarter.
About Beehive Books: Beehive Books is a Philadelphia-based small press founded by artist and designer Maëlle Doliveux and author and editor Josh O’Neill. They create book art editions of literary and pictorial works with a special emphasis on graphic art, design, and experimentation. Their catalog includes monographs on Harrison Cady and Herbert Crowley; a line of lavishly illustrated classic novels featuring artists like Dave McKean, Yuko Shimizu, Jim Woodring and Mike Mignola; the ongoing experimental periodical LAAB Magazine, created and curated by Ronald Wimberly, and much more. Learn more at www.beehivebooks.com, or on Instagram @beehivebooks.
About Mike Mignola: Reading Dracula at age 12 introduced Mike Mignola to folklore and Victorian supernatural literature, from which he has still never recovered. He began working as a comic book artist in 1982, working for both Marvel and DC Comics before creating Hellboy, published by Dark Horse Comics in 1994. What began as a single comic-book series would eventually expand to a “Hellboy Universe” of related graphic novels, prose novels, short story anthologies, and both animated and live action films. He also wrote and drew The Amazing Screw-On Head and Other Curious Objects. He has co-written novels with Christopher Golden (Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire) and Thomas Sniegoski (Grim Death and Bill the Electrocuted Criminal), worked with Francis Ford Coppola on Bram Stoker’s Dracula, was a production designer on Disney’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire, and was a visual consultant to Guillermo Del Toro on Blade II, Hellboy, and Hellboy II: The Golden Army. A new Hellboy film directed by Neil Marshall was released in April 2019. Mike’s comics and graphic novels have earned numerous awards, and are published in a great many countries. He lives in Southern California with his wife and a very demanding cat.
About Lemony Snicket: LEMONY SNICKET is the author of far too many books, including the four-volume All The Wrong Questions, the thirteen-volume A Series of Unfortunate Events, and the single-volume Poison for Breakfast, and has won several dubious and/or notorious awards, most recently the Charlotte Zolotow Award for The Dark, and the Peabody Award for an alleged television adaptation of his work. He is represented in all legal, literary and social matters by Daniel Handler, the author of seven novels, including We Are Pirates, All The Dirty Parts and Bottle Grove.