Mike Mignola creates new imprint at Dark Horse, and a whole new shared-universe

Hellboy creator Mike Mignola has a lot going on right now, with both a new comics imprint and an original shared universe.

Lands? Unknown.

As comics fans know well by now, Mike Mignola’s Hellboy universe has had a heck of a lot of success. Not only has the demon-turned-hero spawned several movies, action figures, and video games, but he’s also grown as a comics line, with several mini-series and comics runs taking place in the “Hellboy Universe”. Those have all spun out of Dark Horse as a publisher, and that’s exactly where Mignola is taking his next big project. That is dubbed Curious Objects, a fresh imprint for the artist and writer. And it’s not the whole story either, as there’s also Lands Unknown for fans to get pumped for.

While Curious Objects is the brand, Lands Unknown is a the shared universe that’s going to take advantage of it. Completely separate from anything Hellboy, Lands Unknown is based on the real world’s Middle Ages period, but embellished with all sorts of creepy angles, and as Mignola adds, “a lot more gods and monsters”.

“It all started with an Italian Folktale about a boy who goes bowling with corpses,” said Mignola. “I fell in love with the story as soon as I discovered it but I wanted to play fast and loose when adapting it, so I created a whole new world. Not TOO different than our world a few centuries ago, but with a lot more gods and monsters. Once I created that world new characters and stories just started pouring out of it. There is a whole lot to play with here and I expect to be at it for a very long time.”

“For a few years now Mike has been emailing me designs and pages and ideas and maps and lists of place names for this world, and his enthusiasm for this project is indomitable and infectious,” said Stenbeck, who will be writing and drawing other, unannounced future Lands Unknown comics. “So often my reaction to these emails is ‘that’s great Mike! But I still have two books to draw before I can even move on to this work!’ and then I find myself taking three days off to write a new story. Luckily Mike likes my stories. My first project is set far off in a distant corner of this world. That way I can’t bump into anything Mike is doing and make a mess. Spoiler…it will have monsters in it.”

Dark Horse Comics press release

The first book in the Lands Unknown line, Bowling With Corpses and Other Strange Tales From Lands Unknown looks to be an anthology series, with multiple stories per volume. The first and headlining of those is the above mentioned Italian tale, though there are several more and all sound pretty darn neat.

In Bowling With Corpses and Other Strange Tales From Lands Unknown, the stories are fantastical, odd and charming — from a search for the beating heart of a long-dead sorcerer, to a pirate girl who makes a deal with the devil, to the titular boy who wins a grim prize in a game with undead interlopers.

Dark Horse Comics press release

Oh, and did we mention that this is now series of floppies? No, we’re talking about a 112 page hardcover tome with Bowling With Corpses and Other Strange Tales From Lands Unknown, with colorist Dave Stewart, and letterer Clem Robins on board.

Fans of Mignola and all things creepy can keep an eye on the end of the year for this new effort. Bowling With Corpses and Other Strange Tales From Lands Unknown arrives in comics shops on December 3rd, 2024, and in book stores the very next day, on December 4th.