HELLBOY's Mike Mignola Announces New TALES FROM THE OUTERVERSE Series with Dark Horse

Mike Mignola is once again teaming up with novelist Christopher Golden, artist Peter Bergting, and colorist Michelle Madsen. This team is looking to expand the world of Baltimore, Lady Baltimore, and Joe Golem in three new stories under the umbrella of Tales from the Outerverse. The three new stories are Cojacaru the Skinner, Imogen of the Wyrding Way, and The Golem Walks Among Us!. All of these will release after the new series Lady Baltimore: The Witch Queens launches on March 24. Talking about these new stories, Mignola said:

Way back when, BALTIMORE was just intended to be a novel and so was JOE GOLEM. But then, HELLBOY was originally going to be a few comics, and I never imagined it would take off and turn into whatever the hell it is now. These things sometimes have a life of their own, and the best thing you can do is feed the fires and see where things are going to take you. In the case of BALTIMORE and JOE GOLEM, you have both Chris and I feeding the fire. The best kind of fire—a fire made of folklore, monsters, and magic. So really, there’s no limit to how far this thing might go, especially with artists Bridgit Connell and Peter Bergting onboard doing, I think, the best work of their careers thus far.

Golden added:

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.

Bergting, the artist for the stories said:

I just feel so fortunate to still be doing this. This year is my seventh year on the team, and I thought for sure that I was going to be booted from ever working with Mike and Chris after the first issue I did for Baltimore way back in 2014, the one that introduced the character that would go on to become Lady Baltimore. I keep wanting to improve. I’ve had some big shoes to fill over the years, and I think in these issues that I’m doing now I’m finally coming into my own (in a panel here and there, at least). I hope we get to do more of these, it was super fun to revisit some of my favorite characters of all time.

You can learn more about each part of Tales from the Outerverse below

  • Cojacaru the Skinner

    • 2 Issues

    • First Issue Releases April 21

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.

  • Imogen of the Wyrding Way

    • One-Shot

    • Releases June 23

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.

  • The Golem Walks Among Us!

    • 2 Issues

    • First Issue Releases August 4

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.

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