SDCC 2018: For Hellboy’s 25th, Dark Horse Reveals Three New Mignolaverse Titles

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the first appearance of Hellboy in a four page comic that was distributed as part of the guide to Comic-Con International, and to celebrate that anniversary, creator Mike Mignola will not only be at the show, but Dark Horse and Mignola are announcing three new comic series set in the “Mignolaverse”. Hellboy is also featured in a new cover for CCI’s Events Guide cover this year to commemorate his 25th and Hellboy’s first 4-page story has been included in CCI’s 2018 Souvenir Book. The story, which previously had been published with colors by Matt Hollingsworth, will now be colored by longtime Mignola collaborator Dave Stewart and appears alongside an all new interview with Mignola and Jed W. Keith.

Mignola says:

From the beginning I knew Hellboy was going to be a book about monsters fighting monsters. I started off with a 4-page teaser about a shabby dog at a gas station turning into the Egypian god Anubis, and since I got away with that I just kept going—the Baba Yaga, the Penanggalan, demonic Mexican wrestlers, Irish goblins, flying Japanese heads—there’s a whole world of monsters out there, so still plenty of work for Hellboy to do.

The three new titles, which Dark Horse Comics will publish in 2018 include the following: the occult cold war escalates in Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1956; Lobster Johnson’s biggest foe, The Crimson Lotus, is featured in her first ever, eponymous mini-series; and the annual Hellboy Winter Special features festive and supernatural stories from Mike Mignola and Ben Stenbeck, Tonci Zonjic, Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá.

Here’s further information on each of the three titles:

Crimson Lotus five issue mini series

Mike Mignola (W), John Arcudi (W), Mindy Lee (A), Michelle Madsen (C), Tonci Zonjic (Cover)

Issue 1 on sale date: 11/21/2018

Before she became Lobster Johnson’s biggest foe, the Crimson Lotus was a young girl whose family was caught up in the Russo-Japanese war. Thirty years later, the Lotus exacts her revenge with terrifying international ramifications, and two spies must try to chase her through China before they become flies in her web.

Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1956 five issue mini series

Mike Mignola (W), Chris Roberson (W), Yishan Li (A), Mike Norton (A), Michael Avon Oeming (A), Dave Stewart (C), Dave Johnson (Cover)

Issue 1 on sale date: 11/28/2018

Pressure is mounting within the bureau to uncover the Soviets’ secret plans, but a suspicious cover-up leads one agent off the radar in search of answers. Meanwhile, demonic Soviet occult leader Varvara pushes her team to follow her own whims, and Hellboy is sent on the mission that would lead to his infamous misadventures in Mexico. But even more clandestine plots are at work—both inside the B.P.R.D. and out. Three different storylines are interwoven in this espionage saga.

Hellboy Winter Special 2018

Mike Mignola (W/Cover), Fábio Moon (W/A/variant cover), Gabriel Bá (W/A/Variant cover), Tonci Zonjic (W/A/C), Ben Stenbeck (A), Dave Stewart (C)

On sale date: 12/12/2018

Three wintery tales featuring a Mike Mignola and Ben Stenbeck team-up about a New Year’s Eve séance gone wrong when Hellboy visits a family’s English home, Fábio Moon and Gabriel Bá revisit B.P.R.D.: Vampire with a new tie-in story, and Tonci Zonjic returns to write and draw Lobster Johnson.

Fans will be able to ask Mignola about the new titles —and anything else the audience wants to talk about regarding his career —  at the San Diego Comic-Con international Spotlight panel on Mike Mignola on Friday, July 20th at 2:30 PM PT in Room: 24ABC. Mignola will also be signing at the Dark Horse Comics booth (#2615) on Friday July 20th at 4:30 PM and exhibiting at Booth #4901, alongside artists Geof Darrow, Frank Cho and Steve Purcell from Wednesday through Saturday.

For more information about the Mignolaverse comic books and graphic novels, as well as announcements of Dark Horse Comics’ plans for 2019 to celebrate the 25 year anniversary of the first Hellboy comic book, Hellboy: Seed of Destruction, follow the company on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.