Tag: Mike Mignola

Tales of the Outerverse with Cojacaru the Skinner

This issue is an okay jumping in point to sample this universe. After rereading both issues and grooving to this Evil Dead style narrative, I’ll have to revisit the other works to remind myself of all that’s transpired. 

Cojacaru the SkinnerBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Dark Hose Comics
Available Now

Masters of Comic Book Horror Mike Mignola and Chris Golden have an alternate history fantasy horror universe I’d love to see get a cinematic treatment. There were plans for it once, but it was abandoned; nothing’s been done to bring it back into production since. Their series which began with Baltimore (2007) has everything I’d love to see when turning World War II into a Weird War.

Anyone who knows Joe Golem will have a leg up, and coming soon is Imogen of the Wyrding Way and The Golem Walks Among Us. With Cojacaru the Skinner #2 out today, this two issue mini-series makes a lot more sense than as individual issues.

This seminal hero is a different type of King Arthur. She’ll arise from the dead (in Europe’s darkest hour) to defeat the dark forces that’s tearing this continent apart. The Nazis are well known for their interest in using the supernatural to conquer the world and I’m loving how Mignola and Golden have a concept that’s reminiscent of Sergei Lukyanenko‘s Night Watch.

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A New Life with Hellboy and his Young Adventures…

The events in the series take place in May of 1947, before the events depicted in The Midnight Circus, Lighter in tone, Young Hellboy: The Hidden Land is an exhilarating adventure that embraces the thrills and chills of the pulp adventure stories of the 1930s.

Young Hellboy Comic Book Cover (without text)In 2021, Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, co-writer Tom Sniegoski, artist Craig Rousseau, colorist Dave Stewart, and letterer Clem Robins will explore an untold chapter of Hellboy’s childhood in Young Hellboy: The Hidden Land.

In this four-issue series from Dark Horse Comics, Hellboy and Professor Bruttenholm are stranded on a strange island after a mishap on their way to a South American dig site. They soon find themselves confronted by all manner of monsters, and even when the stranger who rescues them turns out to be one of Hellboy’s heroes, they aren’t as safe as they think they are. The four issue mini-series features covers by Folklords artist Matt Smith. Mignola and award-winning colorist Dave Stewart provide the variant cover for the debut issue, with subsequent issues featuring variant covers by Rachele Aragno (#2), Wylie Beckert (#3) and Anthony Carpenter (#4).

“Awhile back (when you could still do such things) I was at a convention in Boston and ducked out for lunch with Tom Sniegoski,” said Mignola. “Years earlier we co-wrote a more-than-slightly insane novel together, Grim Death and Joe: The Electrocuted Criminal and I brought up the idea of the maybe slightly insane globetrotting adventures of a very young Hellboy. Tom’s eyes lit up, as I kind of knew they would. So there was half the battle won, but we would need a special kind of artist to bring Tom’s madman energy to the page—and artist Craig Rousseau just happens to be that artist. And Craig just happened to be at that same convention, and when I told him the idea his eyes lit up just the way Tom’s had. It was almost too easy, and I’m happy to say the results are everything I could have hoped for.”

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Hellboy! Where to Begin, What to Read with the 2021 Universe Essentials Collection…

The HELLBOY UNIVERSE ESSENTIALS line debuts in July 2021 with HELLBOY UNIVERSE ESSENTIALS: HELLBOY. Priced at $14.99, the trade paperback will collect these iconic stories: The Chained Coffin, The Third Wish, Pancakes, The Nature of the Beast, The Corpse, The Baba Yaga, A Christmas Underground, The Ghoul, and The Troll Witch.

Cojacaru the SkinnerDon’t know where to begin with Dark Horse Comics’ seminal mascot? The stories from the Hellboy Universe are some of the most celebrated and beloved in comics fandom. Blending folklore, horror, mythology, action, and adventure, legendary creator Mike Mignola and a host of celebrated writers and artists have chronicled the adventures of Hellboy, the Bureau for Paranormal Research and Defense, Lobster Johnson, and Sir Edward Grey for more than two decades. Beginning in 2021, Dark Horse Books will publish four volumes of essential Hellboy Universe stories, all selected by Mike Mignola, each featuring all new covers by him and award-winning colorist Dave Stewart.

“In some cases—B.P.R.D. and Witchfinder—it was pretty easy to select the one “essential” book,” said Mignola. “Hellboy was more complicated, as there is so much ground to cover. In the end we chose to go with a collection of short stories rather than a single graphic novel, to give more of an overview of the character. We chose certain stories that say important things about his background, but also some that just show what he does and how he does it. A couple of stories are in there just because they are my favorites.”

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By Thunder, Gaiman’s Norse Mythology is Now a Comic Book!

With three stories per issue and fifteen chapters in the book, we’ll be regaled with tales till February 2021. I’ll be getting my horn and sipping mead every time I revisit this world.

Cojacaru the SkinnerBy Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

Dark Horse Comics
Available Now

Neil Gaiman and P. Craig Russell’s comic book collaborations are usually always perfect. From their days with DC’s Sandman to Dark Horse Comics latest Norse Mythology, I don’t think I need to read the written work again. Well, I’ll have it on the bookshelf to crack open for a look ahead to what the comic book adaptation will soon offer. In issue #1, the first three chapters, Yggdrasil and the Nine Worlds (with Russell authoring), Mimic’s Head and Odin’s Eye (with art by Mike Mignola) and The Treasures of the Gods (as visualized by Jerry Ordway) are enigmatically featured. These talents are also regulars to this mini-series.

According to the publisher’s advance solicitations page, artist Piotr Kowalski will have a tale in issue #2, and the variant covers by David Mack are ongoing. His rainbow coloured portraits of wonder are worthy of being put on full size posters to hang in any art room. The first issue features Thor and Mjölnir as though they are on the rainbow bridge, and the light is misting around them and reflecting off the shiny armour like a Van Gogh painting.

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The Mignolaverse Comes Alive with Hellboy the RPG!

Hellboy Book Cover

Updated: Aug 18, 2020

The Kickstarter is live!

Mantic Games is excited to announce that it is partnering with Dark Horse Comics and visionary creator Mike Mignola to bring Hellboy: The Roleplaying Game to Kickstarter this summer. This game will be a whole new way to explore the Hellboy and B.P.R.D. universe while creating your own spectacular one-off stories or action-packed chronicles.

Powered by the world’s most popular RPG ruleset, Fifth Edition, Hellboy: The Roleplaying Game gives you the tools to step into the shoes of a B.P.R.D. agent, ready to face the forces of evil. You can become a field researcher skilled in the study of the occult, a hard-nosed B.P.R.D. security agent, a rookie with hidden supernatural powers, and more…. The choice is yours.

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Unravelling All That is … Frankenstein Undone #2

Frankenstein Undone #2Available Now
Dark Horse Comics

Spoiler Alert

In the last issue of Frankenstein Undone, the beast swore to be consumed by fire not as an act of cleansing but to be rid of those dark impulses which defined him. In the second issue released this week, we look at the creature’s life turned around at an isolated Eskimo-like village. He’s at peace, and there’s people here who won’t judge him by his looks and now demure nature.

The human he rescued is a shapeshifter. Though they share a mutual bond, the question of whether his name, Arobas, can be etymologically traced to Ouroboros  (where life can be seen as cyclic) was being considered in the back of my head. When these two are seeking redemption from their past, the cues are certainly there.

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