Lobster Johnson is a fictional character featured in the Hellboy and Bureau For Paranormal Research and Defence comic books published by Dark Horse Comics. He was created by Mike Mignola.
History and death Within the Hellboy universe, Lobster Johnson was a vigilante who worked in secret in New York City during the 1930s. Although the public believes that The Lobster was only the hero of pulp serials and comics, he was a real man who faced gangsters as well as paranormal threats. Johnson had a reputation for violence, such as killing mobsters and burning his trademark lobster claw symbol into their foreheads. This behaviour was similar to the Marvel UK pulp character Night Raven, and the pulp magazine hero The Spider.
Johnson's first appearance was in the story "The Killer in My Skull" from Hellboy: Box Full of Evil #1. Johnson and his sidekick investigate a series of bizarre deaths which appear to have been committed using telekinesis. Late in the Thirties, Lobster Johnson and his sidekick shifted to deal more with the **** threat to the United States. One of his unsuccessful missions (told in flashback during the story "Night Train") involved the escape of a **** criminal who destroyed a train full of scientists bound for The Manhattan Project. This mission lead to the death of Johnson's sidekick. Johnson began to work as an independent agent for the US government.
Lobster Johnson's final mission was an unsuccessful attempt to prevent the ***** from launching a space capsule at Hunte Castle, Austria on 20 March 1939 (in the prologue of Hellboy: The Conqueror Worm). Although he managed to force the roof of Hunte Castle to close before the launch, the capsule managed to burst through. The subsequent explosion and fire within the castle killed everyone except **** scientist Herman von Klempt.
The Ghost of Lobster Johnson During the modern-day events of Hellboy: Conqueror Worm, Johnson appeared to Roger the homunculus. Johnson lead Roger back to Hellboy, and the two creatures contained The Conqueror Worm and destroyed Herman von Klempt. Johnson himself was responsible for destroying The Conqueror Worm; this action saved Roger's life. After the work was done, all that was left of Johnson was a desiccated skeleton, with bullet holes where the ghost had been shot. What happened to Johnson's remains after this has never been revealed.
Johnson's ghost was one of the strongest ghosts yet seen in the Hellboy universe. He was completely corporeal when he chose to be, firing his pistol and burning his sign into the forehead of his victims. It would appear that Johnson's death greatly increased his powers, as opposed to the Ghost of Rasputin, who was rendered almost immaterial by his death at Hellboy's hand.
Lobster Johnson's ghost would appear to Roger again as a spirit guide in "Night Train", as Roger captured the **** that accidentally slew Johnson's sidekick. Johnson played a passive role in this adventure, riding the Night Train with the dead Allied soldiers instead of assisting Roger physically.