Congrats to Hellboy creator Mike Mignola on the birth of a whole new monster universe (and an imprint for his whole family of fiction)
We didn't even know Mignola and collborator Ben Stenbeck were expecting!
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Mike Mignola created a horrifying and pancake-friendly world when he created Hellboy and his associated characters in what's known as the 'Hellboy Universe.' But now he is looking to expand his horizons, expand his universe(s), and do it all under his own banner.
Mignola has partnered with long-time publisher Dark Horse Comics for Curious Objects, a new imprint at the company to house his various projects - including an all-new universe with stories all its own called 'Lands Unknown'.
“It all started with an Italian Folktale about a boy who goes bowling with corpses. I fell in love with the story as soon as I discovered it but I wanted to play fast and loose when adapting it, so I created a whole new world," says Mignola in the announcement. "Not too different than our world a few centuries ago, but with a lot more gods and monsters. Once I created that world new characters and stories just started pouring out of it. There is a whole lot to play with here and I expect to be at it for a very long time.”
This universe is being created by Mignola and frequent collaborator Ben Stenbeck, with their first book from the imprint being an anthology called Bowling With Corpses and Other Strange Tales From Lands Unknown. Mignola will be writing and drawing the whole thing, with colors from Dave Stewart and lettering by Clem Robins.
“For a few years now, Mike has been emailing me designs and pages and ideas and maps and lists of place names for this world, and his enthusiasm for this project is indomitable and infectious,” said Stenbeck, who will be writing and drawing other, unannounced future Lands Unknown comics. “So often my reaction to these emails is ‘that's great Mike! But I still have two books to draw before I can even move on to this work!’ and then I find myself taking three days off to write a new story. Luckily Mike likes my stories. My first project is set far off in a distant corner of this world. That way I can't bump into anything Mike is doing and make a mess. Spoiler...it will have monsters in it.”
Bowling With Corpses and Other Strange Tales From Lands Unknown is set to go on-sale December 3 in bookstores, and December 4 in comic book stores.
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