Stenbeck And Mignola Bring Horror To The ‘Lands Unknown’ With ‘The Skinless Man’
by Anton Kromoff
Welcome to the table,
Bowling With Corpses and Other Strange Tales From Lands Unknown was one of the coolest books I have had the privilege of reading in recent years. Dark Horse Comics’ bold, new, fresh folklore-filled story was the brainchild of the maker of modern mythos, Mike Mignola. Anyone who has been around the site for more than a few weeks has more than likely found at least one instance of my adoration and excitement over the work of the man who brought up Hellboy, B.P.R.D., and Lord Baltimore.
So it should come as no surprise that the publisher announcing the wildly talented Ben Stenbeck will be joining Mignola to tell more stories in Lands Unknown resulted in me rolling into the editor’s den screaming with a manic glee about The Skinless Man like some unhinged cartoon character who had just chugged a pot of coffee and chased it with three sticks of TNT.
Lands Unknown: The Skinless Man will be Stenbeck’s debut into this wonderful, strange space inspired by folklore and tall tales. He is going to be drawing this two-issue comics event along with colorist Dave Stewart and letterer Clem Robins.
“I’m beyond thrilled to have my first contribution to the world of Lands Unknown released into the wild,” Stenbeck said. “It’s such an exciting world to work in. The possibilities are endless, and I have big plans for a lot of stories that might seem disconnected at first, but they are all part of a larger story. A story about people searching for things they may or may not need in Lands Unknown. Also monsters and magic and talking animals in exotic locations.”
What I really dig about the possibilities that this conjures up: Mignola’s Bowling With Corpses was fantastic and charming in nature. It felt like stories that had high stakes, but they were softer around the edges, almost dreamlike. The kind of story that becomes a classic animated film, or the stories you tell kids before bedtime.
The Skinless Man, however, seems to be wandering into the horror elements of folklore, giving us a look at something far more frightening than kindly undead and magical cat goddesses.
“I’ve had the good fortune to work with Ben for a lot of years now, so I know how good he is — But I’ve also had a pretty good idea how good he could be if he were really given the room to cut loose,” explains Mike Mignola. “That was a large part of the whole Lands Unknown thing, creating a place where Ben would have no choice but to cut loose — And he has — And it’s wonderful. I love what he’s done here, and I really love that this is just the tip of his crazy iceberg of talking animals, evil wizards, monsters and giants. There is nobody out there I’d rather be sharing a world with.”
Lands Unknown: The Skinless Man #1 is set to drop on March 4th, 2026, and I, for one, am going to be counting down the days!
Until next time, there are warlocks, a skinless man, a witch telling stories … this whole thing is going to be epic! I am always grateful for Mignola’s books. Sometimes — and I mean this — the world is a dark and messed-up place, and it’s these stories that give me something to focus on, like an anchor, to look forward to. They are my hope in the dark at times when the wonder has worn off a great many things. Mignola keeps magic alive in the world.
