The characters—both the good and the evil ones—that lurk within the "Mignolaverse" are an eclectic and restless bunch, and sometimes their personalties and persistence require more stories to be told. Such is the case with Tom Ferrell and Effie Kolb, who, after appearing in 2008's The Crooked Man, will make a comeback in Hellboy and The B.P.R.D.: The Return of Effie Kolb.
A two-issue miniseries making its debut on February 19th, 2020 from Dark Horse comics, Hellboy and The B.P.R.D.: The Return of Effie Kolb will bring together Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, artist Zach Howard, colorist Dave Stewart, and letterer Clem Robbins. We have the press release with additional details below, as well as a look at both versions of the first issue's cover art.
Press Release: (November 14, 2019) Legendary HELLBOY creator Mike Mignola, acclaimed artist Zach Howard, award-winning colorist Dave Stewart, and letterer Clem Robbins are collaborating on a sequel to the iconic HELLBOY story THE CROOKED MAN. In HELLBOY & THE B.P.R.D.: THE RETURN OF EFFIE KOLB, years after he banished the infamous backwoods demon known as the Crooked Man, Hellboy returns to Appalachia when a young psychic warns Tom Ferrell of looming danger. But the Crooked Man’s house is no longer empty, and threats both new and old simmer in the Virginia woods.
“Sometimes you create a character, they perform their function, and that’s it,” said series writer Mike Mignola. “Other times you finish with them and they just refuse to get back in their box. Tom Ferrell is one of those characters. Even as I was writing The Crooked Man I knew there was a whole lot more to that guy. And Effie Kolb… It turns out there are worse things you can do to a character than turn them into a horse.”
“Getting to stand in the shadows of the two legends that made The Crooked Man is an honor,” said Zach Howard. “Mignola asking me to draw the sequel is an opportunity I have not taken likely, and I’ve given my absolute best to live up to his wonderful creation. This will be my final sequential art as a freelance comic book artist, and I couldn’t ask for a better end to this chapter of my career.”
HELLBOY: THE CROOKED MAN by Mignola and celebrated illustrator Richard Corben was originally published by Dark Horse Comics as a 3-issue mini-series in 2008 and is included in HELLBOY: THE COMPLETE SHORT STORIES Volume 1.
Dark Horse Comics will publish the debut issue of the thrilling, two-part HELLBOY & THE B.P.R.D.: THE RETURN OF EFFIE KOLB series on February 19, 2020.
For more information about Hellboy, and the Mignolaverse comic books and graphic novels, follow Dark Horse Comics on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
About Zach Howard:
Zach Howard is a freelance professional illustrator of seventeen years. His most notable employers include Marvel, Disney, DC, Warner Bros., Image, IDW, Boom, Simon & Schuster, and Steve Jackson Games. Zach’s most popular projects are Wild Blue Yonder, Shaun of the Dead, Spiderman, X-Men, GI Joe, The Cape, and Batman. He has been nominated for an Eisner Award, multiple Indie awards, and received an Amazon Book of the Month selection for Wild Blue Yonder. In addition to his professional work, Zach is passionate about supporting young artists and has dedicated much of his time to helping nurture the next generation of creators.
About Mike Mignola:
Reading DRACULA at age 12 introduced Mike Mignola to Folklore and Victorian Supernatural Literature from which he has still never recovered.
He began working as a comic book artist in 1982, working for both Marvel and DC Comics before creating HELLBOY, published by Dark Horse Comics in 1994. What began as a single comic book series would eventually expand to a “Hellboy Universe” of related graphic novels, prose novels, short story anthologies and both animated and live action films. He also wrote and drew THE AMAZING SCREW-ON HEAD AND OTHER CURIOUS OBJECTS. He has co-written novels with Christopher Golden (Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire) and Thomas Sniegoski (Grim Death and Bill The Electrocuted Criminal), worked with Francis Ford Coppola on BRAM STOKER’S DRACULA, was a production designer on Disney’s ATLANTIS: THE LOST EMPIRE, and visual consultant to Guillermo Del Toro on BLADE II, HELLBOY and HELLBOY II: THE GOLDEN ARMY.
A new HELLBOY film directed by Neil Marshall was recently released.
Mike’s comics and graphic novels have earned numerous awards and are published in a great many countries.
He lives in Southern California with his wife and a very demanding cat.
About Dark Horse Comics
Founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson, Dark Horse Comics is an excellent example of how integrity and innovation can help broaden a unique storytelling medium and transform a company with humble beginnings into an industry giant. Under a new partnership with Vanguard Visionary Associates, Dark Horse is positioned to further expand its reach globally with publishing, products, and filmed entertainment. Over the years, Dark Horse has published the work of creative legends such as Yoshitaka Amano, Margaret Atwood, Paul Chadwick, Geof Darrow, Will Eisner, Neil Gaiman, Dave Gibbons, Faith Erin Hicks, Kazuo Koike, Matt Kindt, Jeff Lemire, Mike Mignola, Frank Miller, Moebius, Chuck Palahniuk, Wendy Pini, and Gerard Way. In addition, Dark Horse has a long tradition of establishing exciting new creative talent throughout all of its divisions. The company has also set the industry standard for quality licensed comics, graphic novels, collectibles, and art books, including Aliens, Stranger Things, Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra, Predator, Minecraft, The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, Dragon Age, James Cameron’s Avatar, Game of Thrones, Mass Effect, StarCraft, The Witcher, and Halo. Today, Dark Horse Comics is one of the world’s leading entertainment publishers.
Raised on a steady diet of R.L. Stine’s Goosebumps books and Are You Afraid of the Dark?, Derek has been fascinated with fear since he first saw ForeverWare being used on an episode of Eerie, Indiana.
When he’s not writing about horror as the Senior News Reporter for Daily Dead, Derek can be found daydreaming about the Santa Carla Boardwalk from The Lost Boys or reading Stephen King and Brian Keene novels.
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