Dark Horse Celebrates the 25th Anniversary of Hellboy’s First Appearance at San Diego Comic-Con!
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. 25 years later, Mignola is once again returning as a Special Guest to San Diego Comic-Con International, 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 today, ahead of the convention and the planned celebration of Mignola and his creation, 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.
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 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.
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 on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
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
“An inspiration to creators hoping to achieve similar success with their own characters and ideas.” — MENTAL FLOSS
“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
Andrew Sale
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Clocking in at over 800 million seconds old (be impressed), Andrew is a Graphic Artist, Communications Director, and lover of Ninja Turtles & Star Wars. He is formally trained in the Fine Arts, with special interest in shade drawing realism. He has spent the last 15 years focusing on Brand messaging and corporate / organizational identity along with the majority of his life honing in on his own personal style. Even though he loves to create his own pieces of art, it's even more fun to collect and support other really incredible artists! If you look around his studio (or home for that matter) you won’t see much of his own stuff!