Mike Mignola Rings In Halloween With Two Spooky Comics — ‘Hellboy In Love’ & ‘Leonide The Vampyr’

Hollywood & Entertainment Mike Mignola Rings In Halloween With Two Spooky Comics — ‘Hellboy In Love’ & ‘Leonide The Vampyr’ Josh Weiss Contributor Opinions expressed by Forbes Contributors are their own. Fascinated by the convergence of pop culture and Judaism. Following New! Follow this author to stay notified about their latest stories.

Got it! Oct 4, 2022, 12:31pm EDT | New! Click on the conversation bubble to join the conversation Got it! Share to Facebook Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Mignola’s variant cover for ‘Leonide the Vampyr’ Courtesy of Dark Horse Comics Spooky season is upon us once again, which means you’re probably in the market for a heaping helping of supernatural thrills, yes? Hair-raising tales of the macabre? Stories chock full of ghosts, goblins, demons, vampires, and the remaining cadre of beings that go bump in the night? Mike Mignola , grand architect and curator of the Hellboy mythos, has just the thing with not one — but TWO — new comics at his longtime publisher of Dark Horse. First up is Hellboy in Love , a five-issue miniseries that reunites the titular paranormal investigator with Dr. Anastasia Bransfield, who was first introduced in the pages of Christopher Golden’s Hellboy prose novel, The Lost Army , almost 30 years ago.

“For years now, I’ve been careful to not touch on that year or so of their relationship — just mentioned it in one or two comics set during that time that Hellboy was off having this relationship,” says Mignola, who co-wrote the limited series with Golden. “So really, it was just a matter of timing and finding the right artist. When Matt Smith came on board to do some Hellboy stuff, both Chris and I fell in love with his work and knew he would be perfect for this series — and we were right.

” The story kicks off with a rip-roaring train robbery in the north of England, circa June of 1979. Dr. Bransfield and Big Red begrudgingly join forces to pursue a group of light-fingered goblins in possession of a highly valuable trunk whose contents may hold untold secrets of the occult.

Their journey in the first issue brings the duo to the last place you’d expect to see goblins: a punk rock concert. “I just try not to repeat myself,” Mignola explains when asked about how he’s managed to keep the universe both fresh and familiar all these years. “The goal still is to do comics set in all different parts of the world and tell all different types of supernatural stories —I still feel like we’ve barely scratched the surface of what it’s possible to do.

” MORE FOR YOU Hiring Refugees: How One Big Factory Did It Fabled Roy H. Robinson Collection Of Native American Art Going To Auction With Bonhams Los Angeles If You’re Tua Tagovailoa, And You’ve Saved All Of That NFL Money, It’s Time To Say Goodbye Next up, we have Leonide the Vampyr: Miracle at The Crow’s Head , Mignola’s first of two collaborations with artist, Rachele Aragano ( Mel the Chosen ). The dark fable one-shot takes place in a small and dreary coastal village itching for a joyous occasion to celebrate.

The people get their wish when a shipwreck delivers a mysterious coffin onto their shores. But even answered prayers, no matter how pure, come at a price. “I’ve really loved Rachele’s work for a long time,” Mignola says.

“She was posting these cute little vampire girl drawings online and I think I said something nice about them. She asked me to write something and I said, ‘Yes. ’ I think it was as simple as that.

The way I remember it, I came up with this odd little plot in a day or so, entirely inspired by just her little vampire girl drawings. Sometimes, you just see a character and they tell you what they want to do. Leonide was like that.

” “I finally had the chance to work with one of the creators I admired — and still admire — most in the comics scene, and really wanted to give it my all,” Aragno continues. “I wanted to be faithful to my way of drawing, but also embrace all the dark and gothic themes that this story contains . .

. Leonide was created by me and she has my vibes. I wanted something that came close to Mike’s world without making a copy.

It is my homage to his creatures who have made me dream all these years. ” Hellboy in Love & Leonide the Vampyr Courtesy of Dark Horse Comics A second Leonide one-shot is currently in the wings, ready to guide readers into the festive holiday season with “Christmas, crows, and one really gigantic bat,” Mignola teases. “It’s sort of a sequel to the first, but really its own little story — a Christmas story that I assume will be out in December.

We will wait and see the audience’s response to these first two comics, but there are clearly more stories to tell. ” “Fingers crossed!” echoes Aragno. “I hope we can tell more [stories].

Her world has things to say!” Leonide the Vampyr: Miracle at The Crow’s Head goes on sale this Wednesday — Oct. 5. Issue #1 of Hellboy in Love hits stands the following Wednesday — Oct.

12. If you’re looking for even more Mignola madness (and perchance find yourself in Portland or Los Angeles over the next week), then consider checking out Drawing Monsters , a new documentary centered around Mignola’s prolific career. Featuring interviews with Guillermo del Toro, Neil Gaiman, Victor LaValle, Rebecca Sugar, Jorge Guiterrez, Patton Oswalt, Ron Perlman, and more, the film will enjoy a number of public screenings at the Million Dollar Theater (Oct.

15), LightBox Expo (Oct. 16), and the Portland Film Festival (Oct. 22).

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