Mike Mignola’s on-again, off-again retirement from the world of his most iconic creation, the supernatural-fighting demon Hellboy, has seen the legendary writer/artist return here and there for everything from covers to new series. But his latest expansion of Hellboy’s world sees him teaming up with a new artist for the first time.
io9 can exclusively reveal the latest Hellboy spinoff from Dark Horse Comics, Miss Truesdale and the Fall of Hyperborea. Penned by Mignola, and illustrated by Jesse Lonergan, the four-issue miniseries will follow the titular Miss Truesdale — one of the final followers of the secret society known as the Heliopic Brotherhood of Ra. Gifted with a vision from the Brotherhood’s leader, Truesdale finds her life in Victorian London connected to ancient Hyperborea, and the life of a young gladiator there — giving her an opportunity to tweak the past and change her future.
“When Mike asked me if I would be interested in doing something in the Hellboy universe, it felt a little bit like a dream,” Jesse Lonergan said in a press release provided to Gizmodo. “He’s one of the artists whose work I revisit the most, and there have been times when I’ve been working on something and asked myself, ‘How would Mignola do this?’ And then to get to do a story that introduces a new character, expands the lore, and has gladiators, Victorian spiritualists, and lizard people — it’s just been so much fun.”
“I fell in love with Jesse’s stuff the moment I stumbled across it, but it took a long time for me to wrap my head around a way we could work together,” Mignola added in his own statement. “His storytelling is so great but amazingly unique and I’m such a control freak when it comes to how to pace a story — I didn’t want to tie his hands with the way I structure things. But he is just so good…”
“Eventually I came up with the idea for Miss Truesdale (an odd one, even for me) and just couldn’t think of anyone better to draw it. We met, we talked, and I think we settled on a way to collaborate. It meant writing a plot that was tight in some places and very, very loose in others,” Mignola continued. “I had to trust Jesse to work his magic — and for me it’s hard to really trust an artist I’ve never worked with, even one as good as Jesse — but I did it and he did what he does and I couldn’t be happier with the results. I think this ends up being one of the most unique extensions of the Hellboy Universe, and after almost thirty years (and some very odd stories) that’s saying something.”
Miss Truesdale and the Fall of Hyperborea begins when issue one hits comic store shelves May 17, 2023.
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