Mignolaversity News Update – October 2017

Welcome to Mignolaversity News Update, your monthly recap of all the Mignolaverse-related news from the past month. January’s solicitations went up way earlier than usual, so you’re getting your monthly news earlier too. Let’s check out what’s coming our way in January 2018.

RASPUTIN
THE VOICE OF THE DRAGON #3 (of 5)

Cover by Mike Huddleston

Variant cover by Francesco Francavilla

Written by Mike Mignola and Chris Roberson
Illustrated by Christopher Mitten
Color by Dave Stewart
On sale January 3, 2018
Full color, 32 pages
$3.99
Ongoing
Rasputin’s allies pursue their own goals as Professor Bruttenholm parachutes into Nazi territory in search of “The Master.”

KOSHCHEI THE DEATHLESS #1 (of 6)

Cover by Mike Mignola

Written by Mike Mignola
Illustrated by Ben Stenbeck
Color by Dave Stewart
On sale January 10, 2018
Full color, 32 pages
$3.99
One-shot
Sent to kill Hellboy by the Baba Yaga in Darkness Calls, Koshchei the Deathless hinted at a long and tragic life before being enslaved to the Russian witch. Now Koshchei relives every horrible act on his road to immortality and beyond, with none other than Hellboy himself—in Hell. Mignola returns to Hell and to the bizarre folklore that’s filled some of his greatest books, reuniting with one of his favorite collaborators, Ben Stenbeck (Frankenstein Underground, Witchfinder: In the Service of Angels, Baltimore).

JENNY FINN #3 (of 4)

Cover by Mike Mignola

Written by Mike Mignola and Troy Nixey
Illustrated by Troy Nixey
Color by Dave Stewart
On sale January 17, 2018
Full color, 32 pages
$3.99
Miniseries
The death toll continues to rise as the tentacle plague sweeps through London, and slop yard worker Joe tries to flee the city after being haunted by visions of cursed young Jenny Finn, but everyone from a local painter to the Prime Minister is searching for him to try to get to Jenny.
Mike Mignola and Troy Nixey’s acclaimed series, in color for the first time by Eisner Award winner Dave Stewart.

JOE GOLEM, OCCULT DETECTIVE
FLESH AND BLOOD #2 (of 2)

Cover by Dave Palumbo

Written by Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden
Illustrated by Patric Reynolds
Color by Dave Stewart
On sale January 31, 2018
Full color, 32 pages
$3.99
Miniseries
There’s much more than meets the eye in the haunted house Joe investigates, and Joe’s personal troubles get more serious.

Plus there’s a “Lobster Johnson” trade and an “Abe Sapien” omnibus in March, but we already knew about these…

LOBSTER JOHNSON – VOLUME 6
A CHAIN FORGED IN LIFE

Cover by Tonci Zonjic

Written by Mike Mignola and John Arcudi
Illustrated by Ben Stenbeck, Stephen Green, Peter Snejbjerg, Toni Fejzula, Troy Nixey, and Kevin Nowlan
Color by Dave Stewart, Toni Fejzula, and Kevin Nowlan
On sale March 7, 2018
Full color, 144 pages
$19.99
Trade paperback
Collecting five Lobster Johnson one-shots featuring the Lobster in a Christmas robbery, a prison break with a familiar enemy behind it, an art museum heist, a preacher serving up more than scripture, and a zombie hitman! Collects Lobster Johnson: A Chain Forged in Life, Lobster Johnson: The Glass Mantis, Lobster Johnson: The Forgotten Man, Lobster Johnson: Garden of Bones, and Lobster Johnson: Mangekyō.
“Fitting in perfectly in the “Mignola-verse,” I would put this up there with an issue of B.P.R.D. or Hellboy any day.” –Pop Culture Uncovered

ABE SAPIEN
DARK AND TERRIBLE
—OMNIBUS EDITION—

Continued below

Cover by Sebastián Fiumara

Written by Mike Mignola and Scott Allie
Illustrated by Max Fiumara and Sebastián Fiumara
Color by Dave Stewart
On sale March 21, 2018
Full color, 408 pages
$34.99
Hardcover
When monsters began to tear down civilization, suspicion fell on Abe Sapien, who resembled the frogmen plaguing mankind. The two volumes of Dark and Terrible tell the complete story of Abe’s quest to prove his innocence as he went AWOL from the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense. Collects Abe Sapien volumes 6–8.

Now, on to the news…

• The big news: We’re getting “Hellboy” omnibus editions. I spoke about it a couple of weeks ago in what can only be described as excessive detail. Sorry about that.

• Gary Gianni’s “Hellboy: Into the Silent Sea” (Studio Edition) Kickstarter went live two weeks ago. And last week I spoke to Publisher John Fleskes about it. This is an awesome project and it’s really close to cracking its 80K stretch goal, an edition of The Call of Cthulhu illustrated by Gary Gianni.

• Chris Campbell, a former student of Laurence Campbell (no relation), made a series of maps to show the state of the world in “B.P.R.D. The Devil You Know.” You’ll need to see them in full size to appreciate them though, so click the images below for a closer look.

Map by Chris Campbell

• John Arcudi’s “Rumble” is coming back in December with a cover by Mike Mignola.

• We got our first look at David Harbour’s Hellboy for the upcoming 2018 film.

(On a related note, lots of Hellboy movie news out there is bullshit. No, the film is not coming out in January 2019 and Gruagach is not being played by Allen Leech. Remember to get your information from verified sources and not a random commenter on social media or an unsourced Wikipedia edit.)

• In case you didn’t know, Daniel Dae Kim is gonna be awesome as Daimio.

• Funko is doing “Hellboy” plushies.

• This coming Friday Scott Allie is leaving Dark Horse Comics. He’ll still be involved with projects at Dark Horse though, but to what extent remains to be seen.

UPDATE: Multiversity received the following statement from Scott Allie:

‘Last week, I notified Mike Richardson of my decision to leave my full time role at Dark Horse Comics after 23 years. I want to thank Dark Horse for the chance to collaborate with so many talented writers, artists, and in-house staff while I’ve been here, and especially to Mike Richardson for everything over the years. The best thing about a job like this is the amazing creative people you spend your days with, from the writers and artists to your coworkers in the office. I’ve learned a lot through my relationships with people here, and I’m particularly proud of sharing what I learned by helping others to get started in the industry. That’s one of the things I’m most interested in exploring now in new ways.

‘Growing the Hellboy line of books with Mike Mignola has been a particularly formative experience, dating back to my first few months at Dark Horse. I’m excited to hand that off to the talented Katii O’Brien, who I hired two years ago and who’ll now be my own editor, as I continue to write B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know with Mignola, and other forthcoming projects.

‘My focus as I go forward will continue to be editing comics and prose, and Dark Horse will remain an important partner. I’m also excited to connect with new collaborators and look for ways to reach new readers, to continue my own learning about the comics medium, and finally tackling some of my personal projects that have been idle too long.

Continued below

‘I’ve made a lot of changes over the past two years, and this was a difficult but natural next step for me. I thank Dark Horse for introducing me to the best friends I’ve ever had, most of all my wife Elisabeth. As the industry evolves, I look forward to contributing by listening, encouraging, and participating in new ways ahead.’

And a statement from Dark Horse founder, Mike Richardson:

‘We wish Scott well and thank him for his many years of service with Dark Horse. Scott played a key part involving many of our biggest properties and his contributions are greatly appreciated. We hope for nothing but continued success in Scott’s freelance efforts.’