We’re all pretty familiar with Mike Mignola’s Hellboy Universe, but even among our readers here on Mignolaversity, I still come across readers unaware of Mignola’s other universe co-created with author Christopher Golden. It began with the prose novel Baltimore, expanded with Joe Golem: Occult Detective, then last March Golden stopped being coy about it and announced ‘The Outerverse,’ and the upcoming miniseries, “Lady Baltimore: The Witch Queens.” However, there’s a great deal more to come.
This April, Dark Horse comics will launch “Cojacaru the Skinner,” a new two-issue miniseries and the first of the ‘Tales from the Outerverse.’ In June, there will be a one-shot, “Imogen of the Wyrding Way,” and in August we’ll get another two-issue miniseries “The Golem Walks Among Us!” The interior art for each is from long-time ‘Outerverse’ contributor Peter Bergting, with Michelle Madsen on colors.
To mark the occasion, each of the first issues from ‘Tales from the Outerverse’ will have a variant cover from Bergting, which together will form a triptych.
About “Cojacaru the Skinner”:
Cojacaru the Skinner, the strange and enigmatic bane of Eastern European witches, has been dead many years. But from a bloodied French town in the throes of World War II, a plea for help carries across the winds of time. A desperate band of resistance soldiers and their white witch allies rest their fate in the hands of Cojacaru’s ghost. And when she answers their call, it will be heard near and far.
Called forth from beyond the grave to fight witches once again, Cojacaru the Skinner wreaks her havoc on the witches of the Hexenkorps. But with their evil buoyed by the violence of the Nazis and the supernatural presence of the Outer Dark, the ghostly warrior will have to depend on a ragtag group of white witches and resistance soldiers to back her up. It will prove to be a desperate fight indeed.
This is the story of Cojacaru the Skinner, once a small girl named Crina who befriended a witch-hunting golem. It is a story of horror, desperation, and, ultimately, hope.
About “Imogen of the Wyrding Way”:
While on a mission in Denmark with her fellow Wyrders, Imogen hears some odd news: hundreds of refugees fleeing the spread of Nazism are traveling into the nearby forest, and never returning. Helping a young man find his refugee family will bring Imogen face-to-face with some of the worst that war can inflict upon those in need–and make her ask the difficult question of what she’s really fighting for.
About “The Golem Walks Among Us!”:
The Golem has a long memory. . .
After being awakened from his long sleep in a shrine in Eastern Europe, Josef the Golem aids in the fight against the witches that once again terrorize humanity. Deployed to a small village where a cult has taken root, Josef encounters not only witches but an old enemy who remembers him well. . . and is out for vengeance!
Brought to a small fishing village to fight a cult, Josef the Golem finds himself face-to-face with one of his oldest enemies from centuries of fighting witches. And when the fight comes to a head, the ultimate question will be whether fighting witches or saving humanity is really at the heart of the Golem’s purpose.
All this has been brewing for some time now. Keen-eyed readers would’ve been able to spot visual references to Baltimore back when the “Joe Golem: Occult Detective” comic launched in 2015.
In Dark Horse’s press release for ‘Tales from the Outerverse,’ Golden said:
“From the moment Mike and I realized that Baltimore and Joe Golem existed in the same universe, it started to grow and evolve in our minds. I knew Sofia’s story wasn’t over and we’d talked about doing LADY BALTIMORE, but it felt like this new universe was so much bigger than that, just bursting with possibilities. In the previous books we had already established a deep mythology and a broad timeline, but we wanted to explore a time where the big story points would overlap. Lady Baltimore was born of that. But with so many and so much world-building to explore, we knew that wasn’t enough for us, and so “Tales from the Outerverse” was born. That’s the banner title for three separate, smaller stories spotlighting three of our favorite characters. COJACARU THE SKINNER, IMOGEN OF THE WYRDING WAY, and THE GOLEM WALKS AMONG US! each tell a self-contained story, but they’re also part of this broader story we’re telling of this world, the Outerverse, as our version of World War II kicks off. It’s all rooted in the origins of evil from the Outer Dark, which is where The Outerverse gets its name.”
You can read the full announcement on IGN here. The five-issue “Lady Baltimore: The Witch Queens” miniseries hits shelves beginning March 24, and ‘Tales from the Outerverse’ begins the very next month with “Cojacaru the Skinner” #1 on April 21.
