‘The Silver Lantern Club’ puts the spotlight on those who came before Hellboy

‘Hellboy: The Silver Lantern Club,’ a new five-issue miniseries by Mike Mignola, Chris Roberson, Christopher Mitten, Ben Stenbeck and Michelle Madsen, kicks off in October.

Dark Horse Comics has announced a new Hellboy project from Mike Mignola and Chris Roberson, with art by Christopher Mitten, Ben Stenbeck and Michelle Madsen that will continue to expand the Hellboy universe and its history.

Each stand-alone issue of Hellboy: The Silver Lantern will feature a different Victorian occult investigator who battled evil alongside other established characters, like Witchfinder Edward Grey and Sarah Jewell from The Sarah Jewell Mysteries.

“Over the years readers have gotten to know a few of the people who investigated the occult and supernatural long before Hellboy and the B.P.R.D., like the Witchfinder himself Sir Edward Grey and the globetrotting Sarah Jewell,” Roberson said. “But Sir Edward and Sarah were just two members of the Silver Lantern Club, a group of occult investigators who met regularly in a London tavern to swap stories over drinks. In Hellboy: The Silver Lantern Club Hellboy and Professor Bruttenholm take a break from an ongoing investigation to meet up with the professor’s Uncle Simon at that same tavern, who was a member of the club himself, to hear stories of the glory days.”

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Dark Horse announces ‘Young Hellboy: The Hidden Land’

Mike Mignola, Tom Sniegoski, Craig Rousseau, Dave Stewart and Clem Robins team up for an untold tale from Hellboy’s past.

Dark Horse Comics will reveal an as-yet-untold adventure from Hellboy’s past in Young Hellboy: The Hidden Land. The four-issue miniseries will be co-written by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola and Tom Sniegoski, with art by Craig Rousseau, colorist Dave Stewart and letterer Clem Robins. Matt Smith will provide the covers.

“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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Mail Call | DC announces more ‘Tales from the Dark Universe’

A round-up of news from DC, Drawn & Quarterly, Image and more.

Mail Call is a roundup of the announcements we’ve received from comics publishers in our mailboxes recently. Hit the links for more information.

DC has announced two more one-shots for its Tales from the Dark Multiverse line: one that re-imagines Batman: Hush and one that puts a new twist on the already twisted-up Flashpoint.

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Mignola + Howard revisit ‘The Crooked Man’ in new Hellboy miniseries

‘Hellboy & The B.P.R.D.: The Return Of Effie Kolb’ brings back a classic Hellboy storyline and characters.

Mike Mignola will revisit a classic Hellboy story in the upcoming Hellboy & The B.P.R.D.: The Return Of Effie Kolb. The story will serve as a sequel to “The Crooked Man” story that was published back in 2008.

“Sometimes you create a character, they perform their function, and that’s it,” Mignola said. “Other times you finish with them and they just refuse to get back in their box. Tom Ferrell is one of those characters. Even as I was writing The Crooked Man I knew there was a whole lot more to that guy. And Effie Kolb… It turns out there are worse things you can do to a character than turn them into a horse.”

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Smash Pages Q&A: Evan Dorkin

The writer and co-creator of ‘Beasts of Burden’ discusses his long career in comics, his collaborations, ‘Blackwood’ and much more.

Evan Dorkin seems to have many careers. For many comics readers, he’s the writer and artist behind Dork, Milk and Cheese and The Elitingville Club. He wrote and drew Bill and Ted’s Excellent Comic Book series for Marvel back in 1991-92, which has since been reprinted. He’s contributed to MAD Magazine and other outlets. In television, he’s worked extensively with his wife, the noted creator Sarah Dyer, on shows like Space Ghost Coast to Coast, Superman: The Animated Series and others.

He is also the writer and co-creator of the award winning comic series Beasts of Burden. Dorkin’s approach to horror and suspense and his skill at writing animal protagonists — combined with the painted artwork of initially Jill Thompson and later Benjamin Dewey — have made the books a favorite among readers and critics. Beasts of Burden: Neighborhood Watch was just released by Dark Horse, which collects a lot of the one-shots and other stories featuring the supernatural-battling pets, including a crossover with Hellboy co-written by Mike Mignola.

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Slap a demonic groove on this Hellboy 5-string bass

Dingwall Guitars and Dark Horse team up for a hellish new instrument featuring Mike Mignola’s most famous creation.

Mike Mignola’s Hellboy can be found everywhere from comics to movies to whiskey to action figures — and now you can add “bass” to that list.

Dingwall Guitars has partnered with Dark Horse and Rob van der Loo from (of course!) the Dutch metal band Epica to release the New D-Roc Rob van der Loo “Hellboy” Limited Edition 5-string bass.

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Mignola, CCI celebrate 25 years of Hellboy

Mike Mignola’s monster-fighting monster returns with three new projects from Dark Horse and a tribute cover on the CCI events guide.

This week’s Comic-Con International celebrates 25 years of Hellboy by placing Mike Mignola’s most famous creation on the cover of their annual events guide — while publisher Dark Horse Comics has taken the occasion to announce three new Hellboy-related titles.

“From the beginning I knew Hellboy was going to be a book about monsters fighting monsters,” Mignola said in a press release. “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.”

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‘Hellboy Omnibus Collection’ collects the series from the start

The adventures of Mike Mignola’s heroic half-demon will be collected in six volumes.

Clear some room — a lot of room — on your bookshelves. Dark Horse Comics will publish Mike Mignola’s signature, award-winning series Hellboy in Omnibus format, collecting the entire run in chronological order.

“I’m very excited to finally have all the Hellboy stories collected in chronological order,” Mignola said. “And I’m especially excited to have the three Duncan Fegredo books—all the stuff with Alice and the Queen of Blood—together in one collection for the first time.”

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Mignola, Stewart, Dark Horse support Hurricane Harvey victims with special print

Limited Edition Hellboy print will be available at this weekend’s Rose City Comic Con, with proceeds going to the Houston Food Bank.

Portland may be a long way from Houston, but comic fans attending this week’s Rose City Comic Con can lend a hand to people in Texas by purchasing a limited edition Hellboy print by Mike Mignola and Dave Stewart.

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Mignola brings out the bad guys this winter

“Hellboy” creator MIke Mignola teams up with Adam Hughes, Chris Roberson, Christopher Mitten, Ben Stenbeck and more to tell new stories about Rasputin, Krampus and Koshchei the Deathless.

The “Mignolaverse” will continue to grow this coming winter with a pair of miniseries and a one-shot focusing on some of the unsavory characters Hellboy has encountered — namely Rasputin, Krampus and Koshchei the Deathless.

“We didn’t set out to publish three stories about bad guys for the holidays, it just worked out that way—and, really, at least one of these guys isn’t ALL bad,” Mignola said in a press release. “It’s been a real pleasure working with Chris Roberson and Christopher Mitten again to flesh out more of the history of the Hellboy world—focusing on Rasputin before the arrival of Hellboy. You just knew there had to be more to say about that guy. Just like I’ve always known there was a lot more to say about Koshchei the Deathless, who I’ve loved since Hellboy: Darkness Calls. Now thanks to the great Ben Stenbeck, we get his full, odd, and tragic life story. And then what is there to say about the Krampus? This grim little Christmas story has been gathering dust for years on my mental shelf, apparently just waiting for the right artist to come along and ask to draw it. I just never imagined that the right artist would be Adam Hughes!”

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Raise a glass of Hellboy Hell Water to everyone’s favorite demon

6.66 proof whiskey now available from Dark Horse Comics, XXX Distillery and Prestige Imports.

Given that his name has appeared on an ale, a wine and now a whiskey, maybe the new Hellboy movie should simply be about him opening a bar.

Officially announced this week, Hellboy Hell Water Cinnamon Whiskey is a craft distilled, small batch, naturally flavored cinnamon whiskey retailing for $19.99 for a 750ml bottle by Dark Horse Comics, XXX Distillery LLC and Prestige Imports LLC. 66.6 proof whiskey, that is.

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Hellboy sets sail — with ghosts! — in ‘Into the Silent Sea’

Check out a preview of the original graphic novel, coming next spring from Dark Horse.

Next spring a third Hellboy original graphic novel will arrive from Mike Mignola, Gary Gianni and Dave Stewart. Titled Hellboy: Into the Silent Sea, the OGN follows up on 2002’s “The Island” as we learn what happened next to our brave hero.

“The biblical Jonah was vomited up by a whale, but Hellboy might not be as lucky,” Gianni said in a press release. “A superstitious crew and a figure in black will make sure there’s no escaping the silent sea.” Taken captive by the phantom crew that plans to sell him to the circus, Hellboy is dragged along by a captain who will stop at nothing in pursuit of a powerful sea creature.

In the spirit of Halloween, Dark Horse has provided a preview of the upcoming OGN:

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