Via CBR, Dark Horse Comics have announced “Panya: The Mummy’s Curse,” a new series by writers Mike Mignola and Chris Roberson, artist Christopher Mitten, colorist Michelle Madsen, and letterer Clem Robins. Starting July 12, 2023, the book will reveal the origin of Panya, the living mummy who first appeared in 2007’s “B.P.R.D.: Garden of Souls” #3, taking us back to her youth “as a girl in ancient Egypt, [who] witnessed the fall of a dynasty, and was gifted — or cursed — with visions of the beginning, the end, and the coming of the dragon.”
“The living mummy Panya has been a fixture in the world of Hellboy from the Victorian era through the modern day, but her origins in ancient Egypt have always been shrouded in mystery,” Roberson said. “In ‘Panya: Curse of the Mummy,’ we pull back the curtain a bit and take a look at her childhood in the court of the rebel pharaoh Akhenaten [who reigned in real life circa 1353–1336 BC], and see her take the first steps on a path that will lead her deeper and deeper into the mysteries that lurk in the corners of Hellboy’s world.”
Additionally, Dark Horse revealed “Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1957 — From Below,” the last of the five one-shots set in 1957 announced back in 2021. Written by Mignola and Roberson with art by Mike Norton, and coloring by Lee Loughridge, the comic will see Hellboy, Professor Bruttenholm, and B.P.R.D agent Archie Muraro investigate a supposedly haunted sawmill. While there, “an unexpected discovery reveals an even stranger source for the rumors.”
Roberson said the story was an opportunity to shed light on Hellboy’s two father figures, Bruttenholm and Muraro, and “their respective views on the job [investigating the supernatural], and life in general. Also, Hellboy punches a monster.” It will be released on July 12 as well, with a main cover by Laurence Campbell, which you can see over at CBR.
