"The Empty Chair" LJ story in Hellboy Winter Special 2018

Couple of quick questions regarding this story (by Tonci Zonjic):

* The story is datelined "New York City, 1930".
[url=https://servimg.com/view/18913714/1165][img]https://i67.servimg.com/u/f67/18/91/37/14/empty_12.jpg[/img][/url]

The five-issue [B][I]Lobster Johnson[/I][/B] series "[B][I][FONT=Century Gothic]The Burning Hand[/FONT][/I][/B]" starts with a newspaper dated "February 6, 1932".
[url=https://servimg.com/view/18913714/1164][img]https://i67.servimg.com/u/f67/18/91/37/14/from_l10.jpg[/img][/url]
What other stories[SIZE=1] (if any) [/SIZE]are there that have taken place prior to February 1932?

* At the end of "[I][FONT=Century Gothic]The Empty Chair[/FONT][/I]", there's a note that the Lobster killed "P.B. 'Pretty Boy' Calory" in [B]Spring[/B] 1932.
[url=https://servimg.com/view/18913714/1163][img]https://i67.servimg.com/u/f67/18/91/37/14/empty_11.jpg[/img][/url]
Has "Pretty Boy" previously been in any stories, and has a story where he died appeared yet?

[QUOTE]Has "Pretty Boy" previously been in any stories, and has a story where he died appeared yet?[/QUOTE]

I think it's just a part of joke. and it was funny one.

I laughed, but I don't think it was an actual reference to material already out there. Nice research though.

[QUOTE=KROENEN;4110612]I laughed, but I don't think it was an actual reference to material already out there. Nice research though.[/QUOTE]Thanks.

I've read the Lobster Johnson comics (in tpb collections for the early ones, and as single issues for "[B][FONT=Century Gothic][COLOR="#000080"]Get the Lobster[/COLOR][/FONT][/B]" and later), but didn't know if he could have been referenced anywhere else (even in a throwaway line in a [B][I]B.P.R.D.[/I][/B] story or something).

I think they need to do another BPRD/Hellboy companion, especially after BPRD: The Devil You Know wraps up, and update it to include a longer active history for Lobster Johnson (starting in 1930?). And I really hope to someday find out what Mignola was referring to when he said there was a Lobster Johnson family tree that nobody will believe but it's been there for a while for writers.

[QUOTE=KROENEN;4167952] . . . And I really hope to someday find out what Mignola was referring to when he said there was a Lobster Johnson family tree that nobody will believe but it's been there for a while for writers.[/QUOTE]Maybe it goes back to the days of pirates.

[QUOTE=MajorHoy;4168071]Maybe it goes back to the days of pirates.[/QUOTE]

I wouldn't be surprised at all. It would seem appropriate even given the pulp Phantom-like template of the character.

[QUOTE=KROENEN;4169720]I wouldn't be surprised at all. It would seem appropriate even given the pulp Phantom-like template of the character.[/quote]Also seems like a good possibility to me because of this arc:
[img]https://d2lzb5v10mb0lj.cloudfront.net/covers/300/27/27175.jpg[/img]

For sure, I'm going to have to re-read that arc. Rumor is Lobster Johnson will show up in the new reboot movie in some fashion. I'm hoping so!

Something else I hadn't realized before.
When I was looking through my tpb copy [B][I]Hellboy: Conqueror Worm[/I][/B] to see if there was a more specific date reference to the Lobster and Hunte Castle, Austria than just the year (1939), I noticed this a few pages later:
[img]https://i67.servimg.com/u/f67/18/91/37/14/from_h12.jpg[/img]

And when trying to Google "Vinny the String" and Lobster Johnson, I found a reference to the [B][I]Hellboy Winter Special[/I][/B] for 2018 and the story "[B][FONT=Comic Sans MS]The Empty Chair[/FONT][/B]"
So going back to the original post for this thread,
[indent][QUOTE=MajorHoy;4105554]Couple of quick questions regarding this story (by Tonci Zonjic):

* The story is datelined "New York City, 1930".
[url=https://servimg.com/view/18913714/1165][img]https://i67.servimg.com/u/f67/18/91/37/14/empty_12.jpg[/img][/url][/QUOTE][/indent]And those guys at the table were identified in the following panel as:
[img]https://i67.servimg.com/u/f67/18/91/37/14/empty_13.jpg[/img]

I was wondering why I knew the names of those gangsters. Thanks for posting this