Mindy Lee

Dark Horse Celebrates the 25th Anniversary
of Hellboy’s First Appearance at San Diego Comic-Con
with New Mignolaverse Announcements

In 1993, legendary comic book creator Mike Mignola’s most famous creation, Hellboy, first appeared in a four page, black and white story in San Diego Comic-Con Comics #2, months ahead of his full issue comic book debut in Hellboy: Seed of Destruction. Co-published by Dark Horse Comics, this story introduced one of the most beloved comic book characters in history and launched what would become known as the Mignolaverse — the strange, shared universe of comic books and graphic novels, comprised of acclaimed titles including Hellboy and the B.P.R.D., Abe Sapien, B.P.R.D., Frankenstein Underground, Lobster Johnson, The Visitor: How and Why He Stayed and Witchfinder.

RELATED: Dark Horse Comics Announces Exclusives & Programming for SDCC 2018

25 years later, Mignola is once again returning as a Special Guest to Comic-Con International: San Diego 2018, where the convention will celebrate the 25th anniversary of that first 4-page story by including the historic story in their 2018 Souvenir Book. The story, which previously had been published with colors by acclaimed colorist Matt Hollingsworth, will now be colored by Eisner Award-winning colorist and longtime Mignola collaborator Dave Stewart and will appear alongside an all new interview with Mignola and Jed W. Keith. In addition, Mignola and Stewart have created an all new cover for the San Diego Comic-Con International Events Guide. And now, Dark Horse Comics is announcing three new Mignolaverse comic books, which further expand and enrich the epic story that has been entertaining fans around the world for two and a half decades.

Creator Mike Mignola

“From the beginning I knew Hellboy was going to be a book about monsters fighting monsters,” said Mignola. “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, span the globe and showcase very different corners of the Mignolaverse — 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.

The three new titles are:

Crimson Lotus
(5-issue miniseries)

Writers: Mike Mignola, John Arcudi
Artist: Mindy Lee
Colorist: Michelle Madsen
Cover Artist: Tonci Zonjic

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
(5-issue miniseries)

Writers: Mike Mignola, Chris Roberson
Artists: Yishan Li, Mike Norton, Michael Avon Oeming
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Cover Artist: Dave Johnson

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

Writers: Mike Mignola, Fábio Moon, Gabriel Bá, Tonci Zonjic
Artists: Fábio Moon, Gabriel Bá, Tonci Zonjic, Ben Stenbeck
Colorist: Dave Stewart
Cover Artists: Mike Mignola, Fábio Moon, Gabriel Bá, Tonci Zonjic

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.

Acclaim for Mike Mignola’s HELLBOY:

“Since introducing Hellboy in March of 1994, Mike Mignola has built a huge comic-book universe around the character on par with what Stan Lee and Jack Kirby accomplished in the Silver Age of Marvel Comics.. . .  Each new visual is like a master class in establishing mood, and Mignola’s skill increases as he refines his line, proving that less is more when it comes to his pulp-inspired fantasy horror universe.” — THE AV CLUB

“Iconic.” — ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

“Lots of comic-book adventurers have made splashy debuts over the last twenty years but none have had the lasting appeal of Hellboy.” — KOTAKU

“An inspiration to creators hoping to achieve similar  success with their own characters and ideas.” — MENTAL FLOSS

“Seminal.” — THE NERDIST

“One of the most beloved characters in the comic book community.” — IGN

“For twenty years, Hellboy has been a staple of the industry, with Mignola’s fiercely imaginative art and storytelling thrilling and chilling fans all over the world. Hellboy has been one of comics’ greatest independent success stories” — DEN OF GEEK

“A major contribution to comic-book culture.” — WASHINGTON POST/COMIC RIFFS

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.

The new titles join an exciting Mignolaverse publishing lineup for the year, including the HELLBOY OMNIBUS COLLECTION which creates the definitive reading experience for Hellboy fans and an ideal entry point for new readers by publishing Mignola’s award-winning Hellboy stories in chronological order for the first time ever.

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 online! (links below)

Publisher – Dark Horse Comics

`

For more than thirty years, Dark Horse Comics has proven to be a solid example of how integrity and innovation can help broaden a unique storytelling medium and establish a small, homegrown company as an industry giant. Founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson, the company is known for the progressive and creator-friendly atmosphere it provides for writers and artists. In addition to publishing comics from top talent, such as Eric Powell, Mike Mignola, Geof Darrow, Brian Wood, Gail Simone, Stan Sakai, and Guillermo del Toro, and comics legends, such as Will Eisner, Milo Manara, Kazuo Koike, Neil Gaiman, and Frank Miller, Dark Horse has developed its own successful properties, such as The Mask, Ghost, X, and Barb Wire. Its successful line of comics, manga, and products based on popular properties includes Dragon Age, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Aliens, Conan, Tomb Raider, The Legend of Zelda, Halo, The Witcher, Game of Thrones, and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Today, Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent comic book publisher in the US and is recognized as one of the world’s leading entertainment publishers.

Comic-Con International: San Diego (SDCC)

`

`

`

`

`