This Hellboy Day, Dark Horse has announced Hellboy and the B.P.R.D: The Ghost Ships of Labrador and Other Stories which features some amazing Hellboy adventures and work from Laurence Campbell, Giuseppe Manunta, Matt Smith, and more!
Due out on November 27, 2026 this trade paperback will collect Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: The Ghost Ships of Labrador #1-2, Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: Professor Harvey is Gone one-shot, Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: The Monster of Nivola one-shot, Hellboy Winter Special: The Yule Cat one-shot, Hellboy: The Fortune Teller short story, and bonus material.
BOOM! Studios has revealed a first look at Mouse Guard: Dawn of the Black Axe #3. There are few series as lauded and beloved as David Petersen’s Eisner Award-winning and New York Times bestselling Mouse Guard. Now, in celebration of the 20th anniversaries of both Mouse Guard and BOOM! Studios, David Petersen, along with Eisner-nominated artist Gabriel Rodríguez, bring a brand new chapter to life in this sprawling saga.
Bardrick’s quest to protect the Lockhaven and mouse territories from the surrounding serpents comes to a thrilling conclusion! Will the Black Axe’s first wielder be able to complete his task before the poison flowing through his veins claims his life? And who shall come to his aid in his hour of need?!
Mouse Guard: Dawn of the Black Axe #3features main cover art by series artist Gabriel Rodríguez with variant covers by David Petersen and Matt Smith. It comes to shops June 11, 2025.
(W) David Dastmalchian, Lukas Ketner (A) Matt Smith (A/CA) Lukas Ketner In Shops: Oct 23, 2024 SRP: $7.99
Like the urban legends and folklore frights of yore, the Headless Horseman is coming back to haunt you once more! Ignore the creaking footsteps, don’t mind the whistling wind, pull your eyes away from the shifting shadows, and tiptoe through these spine-tingling stories. The Headless Horseman returns… and this year, he’s coming for you!
2024 marks the 30th anniversary of one of the most influential independent comic characters in pop culture: Hellboy. Mike Mignola’s iconic character has inspired artists working in every medium for decades. To celebrate Hellboy and Mignola’s legacy, curator Gary Deocampo has assembled a group exhibition with over 40 artists paying tribute to Hellboy with paintings, drawings and sculptures. The Hellboy 30th Anniversary Tribute Group Show will open on Saturday, July 6 at Copro Gallery in Santa Monica, CA.
The show brings together a diverse roster of acclaimed artists from the worlds of comics, film and fine art, including Rachele Aragno, Attack Peter, Abby Belle, Mitchell Bernal,Steven Russell Black, Scott C, Anthony Carpenter, Rick Cortes, Martin Darkside, Gary Deocampo, Dos Diablos, Alban Ficat, Luke Flowers, Thom Fluharty, Francesco Francavilla, Gabriel Garcia, Juan Gedeon, Joseph Gonzalez, Mab Graves, Gris Grimly, Jorge R. Gutierrez, Natalie Hall, Kevin Hanna, Rustam Hasanov, Tomás Hijo, Dan Hipp, Mike Huddleston, David Igo, Warwick JC, Karikatura, Paul Komoda, Mark Laszlo, Travis Louie, David Mack, Ruben Martinez, Kamila Mlynarczyk, Kirk Nelson, Kory Nelson, Stephen Oakley, Kelly Olson, Thomas Perkins, David Peterson, Craig Rousseau, Heidi Marie Smith, Matt Smith, Javier Soto, Tad Stone, Vin Teng, Katsuya Terada, Patrick Thai, Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Doug William, Allen Williams, Chet Zar, and more! The variety of art on display is a testament to the breadth of Mignola’s influence and inspiration.
Copro Gallery will host an opening reception for The Hellboy 30th Anniversary Tribute Group Show from 6-10 PM PT on Saturday, July 6.
Like the urban legends and folklore frights of yore, the Headless Horseman is returning to haunt you once more! Dark Horse Comics presents an all-new 2024 edition of The Headless Horseman Halloween Annual.
Similar to the first Headless Horseman horror anthology, published in 2023, the 2024 one-shot collects five stories from some of the best horror writers and artists around. David Dastmalchian, Leah Kilpatrick, and Lukas Ketner all return with new stories this year. Ben Stenbeck and James Asmus will join the team for the first time with their fright-filled stories with Matt Smith and Chris Panda contributing their haunting illustrations to the anthology as well.
Don’t miss out on the Headless Horseman Halloween Annual 2024, a 56-page horror extravaganza.It’s set to hit comic shops on October 23, 2024, but you can preorder your copy now from your local comic shop for $7.99.
(W) Matt Smith (A/CA) Matt Smith In Shops: Dec 06, 2023 SRP: $3.99
Hellboy travels to Reykjavik, where children are disappearing and a giant beast has been spotted. Could it be the infamous Yule Cat of Icelandic lore? Fan-favorite Hellboy artist Matt Smith writes and draws this chilling wintery one-shot!
This is a column that focuses on something or some things from the comic book sphere of influence that may not get the credit and recognition it deserves. Whether that’s a list of comic book movies, ongoing comics, or a set of stories featuring a certain character. The columns may take the form of a bullet pointed list, or a slightly longer thinkpiece – there’s really no formula for this other than whether the things being covered are Underrated in some way. This week: Lake Of Fire
It is 1220 AD, and the gears of the Albigensian Crusade grind on. When an alien spacecraft infested with a horde of bloodthirsty predators crash-lands in the remote wilderness of the French Pyrenees, a small band of crusaders and a Cathar heretic are all that stand between God’s Kingdom and Hell on Earth.
When the owner of my LCS not so subtly recommended this to me by putting it in my pull box, I figured that she’s never steered me wrong yet, so why not give it a go? A few hours ago I opened the cover to the five issue collection, unsure of what I’d be getting beyond the notion that it was essentially aliens verses knights, and I didn’t stop reading until the story was done.
I devoured the entire tpb in one sitting and immediately wondered why I hadn’t read about this somewhere before. Why had nobody told me about this before the owner of my LCS told me to read it?
Published by Image, Lake Of Fire was written, coloured and lettered by Nathan Fairbairn with art by Matt Smith (no, not the guy who played Doctor Who), the comic does have a fairly straight forward knights verses aliens feel to it – not that that is a bad thing as it allows the characters, action and art to really pop.
Yes, there are the fairly standard typical characters within the story, but while Fairbairn does tread familiar ground with the characters, the major players all feel as though they have a weight about them. You have the grizzled old warrior, the naive young knights and the dark priest all present and accounted for, and yes they are popular fantasy archetypes, but they’re well written archetypes which goes a long way in my book. I’d rather a well written archetype than a shallow character for the sake of originality.
That being said, rather than having the characters face off against a supernatural threat Fairbairn instead pits them against a horde of alien predators. I’ve always been partial to seeing how our ancestors would fair against an extraterrestrial threat, and the collected edition of Lake Of Fire scratches that itch remarkably well.
Matt Smith‘s art couldn’t be better suited to the past-meets-future story; the action sequences are easy to follow and once the comic reaches the midpoint the atmospheric art really amps up the threatening feel of the story itself in a case where Fairbairn’s colouring melds so well with Smith’s line art that it’s hard to believe that two people were involved in creating the visuals for the story.
It may seem as if I’m being a little harsh on the story for being relatively straight forward, and that’s not my intent. Lake Of Fire is a fairly easy tale to follow from start to finish, but there are a more layers to the characters than you’d initially expect from the story – such as the relationships between some of the characters – and there’s an underlying theme about acceptance and tolerance in a time when neither of these were encouraged or widely practiced.
As far as recommendations from my LCS go, this is one of the more surprising ones; I didn’t expect much more out of this story than to be able to just pop my feet up with a cup of tea and just relax with a half the story before moving on to something else. Instead I ended up finishing the entire trade in one go and immediately start writing this column. Lake Of Fire is a really enjoyable story that surpasses a lot of the comics currently on the racks – and it’s also entirely self contained.
There are a lot of reasons why I wanted to spotlight the comic this week, but chief among them is that I haven’t heard anything about it anywhere – and that’s why it’s Underrated.
That’s all for this week folks. Join us next week when we talk about something else that falls under the Underrated banner in the comic book world.
The holiday season is full of cherished traditions: gatherings with family and friends, exchanging gifts, and, for discerning readers, the publication of the annual Hellboy Winter Special. This year, ahead of the winter solstice, Dark Horse Comics will publish the Hellboy Winter Special: The Yule Cat one-shot, written and illustrated by Barbarian Lord creator and acclaimed cartoonist Matt Smith, colored by Chris O’Halloran, lettered by Clem Robins, and featuring a variant cover
by legendary Hellboy creator Mike Mignola. The special one-shot is inspired by the stories of Jólakötturinn, the ferocious Yule Cat of Icelandic folklore, who is said to come down from the mountains, on the prowl for people who have not received any new clothes to wear before Christmas Eve.
Hellboy Winter Special: The Yule Catmarks Hellboy’s first visit to Iceland in the character’s 30+ year years of publication. In the one-shot, Hellboy travels to Reykjavik, where children are disappearing and a giant beast has been spotted…could it be the infamous Yule Cat of Icelandic lore?
Hellboy Winter Special: The Yule Cat will be published on December 6, 2023.
In close collaboration with CD Projekt Red, Dark Horse Comics continues to explore the world of The Witcher in a brand new comic series, The Witcher: Wild Animals. The four-issue miniseries is written by Bartosz Sztybor and introduces Ukrainian artist Nataliia Rerekina, Silver Award-winner of the Japan-International Manga Award, in their U.S. comics debut. Colorist Patricio Delpeche and letterer Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou complete the series team, with variant cover offerings for issue #1 from acclaimed artists Manuele Fior, Sara Kipin, and Matt Smith.
Fan-favorite witcher Geralt is no stranger to jobs gone wrong, but washing ashore on a strange new land forces him into a conflict between the hunters who took him in and a mysterious clan known to kill humans. Where man and creatures coexist, there is an unspoken rule—one where the skills of a witcher go beyond killing monsters.
Enjoy a classic witcher adventure with monsters, grim musings, and carnage as The Witcher: Wild Animals takes readers to new places with unfamiliar faces in a story based on the hit games by CD Projekt Red!
The Witcher: Wild Animals #1 (of 4) will be in comic shops on September 20, 2023. It is available for pre-order now at your local comic shop for $3.99.
Come to the Baltimore Comic-Con at the Inner Harbor’s Baltimore Convention Center on October 28-30, 2022. The Baltimore Comic-Con has announced comics creators Jim Cheung, Brian Haberlin, Laura Martin, David Petersen, Matt Smith, and Rich Woodall to our 2022 event. Tickets are available now and can be purchased online now.
Jim Cheung originally hails from the sunny land of Great Britain, and landed his first professional penciling job at Marvel UK in the mid 90s. From there, he went on to establish himself on titles such as Iron Man and X-Force for Marvel US, and in 2000, he moved to the US to co-create and launch Scion for Crossgen Comics. After Scion, he worked exclusively for Marvel Comics for over 15 years, creating titles such as Infinity, which spawned the Avengers: Infinity War movie, and the award-winning Young Avengers!
Jim is currently working on various covers for Marvel and DC.
Past credits include Justice League for DC Comics, and numerous titles for Marvel Comics, including Spider-Man: The Clone Conspiracy, Avengers vs. X-Men, New Avengers, Illuminati, and Original Sin. Further credits include work for The New York Times, ESPN, Mattel, Blizzard Entertainment, The Royal Mail, Amazon, Skybound Entertainment, Todd McFarlane Productions, IDW, The Village Voice, Dorling Kindersley (DK Books), The Daily Mirror, Dynamite Comics, The Folio Society, and Upper Deck.
An award-winning comic book artist, writer, editor and producer, Brian Haberlin began his career in comics working at Top Cow Productions, where he co-created the Witchblade franchise. He co-founded Avalon Studios, which published many successful fantasy and sci-fi titles, including: Stone, Aria, and Area 52. Brian also served as Editor in Chief of Todd McFarlane Productions and penciled and inked its flagship title, Spawn. After co-founding Anomaly Productions, he’s published Anomaly (and Anomaly: The Rubicon), Shifter, Creative Creature Catcher (augmented reality children’s book), and a number of comics published through Image Comics (Faster Than Light, Sonata, The Marked). He currently writes and illustrates the comic Hellcop. Brian teaches comic art at the Minneapolis College of Art and Design and his work is in the permanent collection at the Smithsonian Museum.
Laura Martin is one of the comics industry’s most lauded colorists. Recipient of Harvey, Eisner, Eagle, Squiddy, and Comics Buyer’s Guide Awards, Martin is regularly assigned high-profile and event-oriented comics on which to bring her palate to bear. Her work can be found in DC, Marvel, Image, Dark Horse, Virgin, and CrossGen comics through the years, and she is lately working on Bad Idea’s Eniac, DC’s Nubia: Queen of the Amazons, and Marvel’s Hulk.
David Petersen is a cartoonist and children’s book illustrator who launched his career with a self-published issue of his series Mouse Guard in 2005, when it was then picked up by Archaia, who continues to publish the Eisner and Harvey Award-winning series. Petersen has also worked on covers for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and The Dark Crystal. He’s illustrated an edition of Kenneth Grahame’s Wind in the Willows for IDW and his artwork also graced the cover for the 2012 Baltimore Comic-Con program, as well as the show-exclusive t-shirt.
Matt Smith is the author/illustrator of the Icelandic Saga-inspired Barbarian Lord for Houghton Mifflin books. Matt worked with Nathan Fairbairn on Lake of Fire for Image Comics and with Matt Kindt on Folklords for BOOM! Studios. Currently, he’s working on Hellboy for Dark Horse (The Bones of Giants, Hellboy in Love).
Rich Woodall is the Co-Publisher of Black Caravan, a Scout Comics Imprint. He is also the creator or co-creator of The Electric Black, Gods of Brutality, Kyrra: Alien Jungle Girl, Johnny Raygun, Sgt. Werewolf, Space Force, and Zombie Bomb! Woodall has also worked on covers for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, The Last Ronin, The Powerpuff Girls, Masters of the Universe, Crossover, and Phantom Starkiller.
2022 GUESTS
Confirmed guests for this year’s show include: Chris Barcomb (The Amazing Adventure of Superior Sam), Jeremy Bastian (Cursed Pirate Girl), Marty Baumann (Pixar artist), John Beatty (Marvel Super Heroes: Secret Wars), Carolyn Belefski (Curls), Brian Michael Bendis (Action Comics), Brett Breeding (Superman), Dan Brereton (Nocturnals), Russ Braun (The Boys), Harold Buchholz (Sweetest Beasts), Mark Buckingham (Fables), Jeffrey Burandt (Killer Bad), Greg Burnham (Tuskegee Heirs), Jim Calafiore (NED, Lord of the Pit), Joe Carabeo (Black Magic Tales), Richard Case (Edgar Allan Poe’s Snifter of Terror), John Cassaday (Astonishing X-Men), Howard Chaykin (Time Squared), Jim Cheung (Miracleman), Frank Cho (Harley Quinn), Steve Conley (The Middle Age), Katie Cook (Nothing Special), Kevin Cuffe (Metalshark Bro), Nick Davis (The Night Guardians – Awakenings), Kristina Deak-Linsner (Roses for the Dead), J. Robert Deans (Crass Fed), Todd Dezago (The Perhapanauts), Scott Dunbier (Jim Lee’s X-Men Artist’s Edition, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Garth Ennis (The Boys, Friday and Saturday only), Chris Flick (Capes and Babes), Scott Fogg (Phileas Reid Knows We’re Not Alone), Trish Forstner (Stray Dogs), LJ and Kayla Fowlkes (The Adventures of CHIBIWONGTONG), Franco (The Ghost, The Owl), Bob Frantz (Metalshark Bro), John Gallagher (Max Meow: Cat Crusader), Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez (DC Nation), Jimmy Gownley (Amelia Rules!), Steven Grant (X), Dawn Griffin (Zorphbert & Fred), Brian Haberlin (Spawn), Bob Hall (West Coast Avengers), Cully Hamner (Blue Beetle), Dean Haspiel (The Fox), Mike Hawthorne (Happiness Will Follow), Jamal Igle (Molly Danger), Klaus Janson (Daredevil, Friday and Saturday only), Chris Kemple (Artist Alley Comics), Phillip Kennedy Johnson (Alien), Kata Kane (Altar Girl), Barry Kitson (Amazing Spider-Man), Greg LaRocque (The Three Stooges), Jim Lee (Action Comics, Friday only), Joseph Michael Linsner (Red Sonja), Howard Mackie (Ghost Rider), Mariano Brothers (Claire Lost Her Bear at the World’s Fair), Laura Martin (Nubia: Queen of the Amazons), Ron Marz (Silver Surfer), Whitney Matheson (Pandemix: Quarantine Comics in the Age of ‘Rona), Jason May (LEGO Club Magazine), Bob McLeod (New Mutants), Mike McKone (Genis-Vell: Captain Marvel), Carla Speed McNeil (Finder), Adriana Melo (Action Comics), Pop Mhan (Gears of War 3), Frank Miller (Sin City, Saturday only), Mark Morales (Thor), Bill Morrison (The Simpsons), Trevor Mueller (Albert the Alien), Jamar Nicholas (Leon: Protector of the Playground), Sedat Oezgen (Judge Dredd), Jerry Ordway (Superman), Rachel Ordway (Chainmail Bikini), Richard Pace (Second Coming, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Dan Parent (Archie vs. Sharknado), Andrew Pepoy (Simone & Ajax), David Petersen (Mouse Guard), Brandon Peterson (Uncanny X-Men), Khoi Pham (Teen Titans), Ed Piskor (Red Room: Trigger Warnings), Andy Price (My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic), Tom Raney (Green Lantern), Afua Richardson (Omni), Christopher Ring (Seamus (the Famous)), David A. Rodriguez (Skylanders), Don Rosa (Uncle Scrooge), Craig Rousseau (The Perhapanauts), Arsia Rozegar (Shahnameh For Kids), Jim Rugg (Hulk Grand Design), Alex Saviuk (Web of Spider-Man), Stuart Sayger (The Joker), Pat Shand (Destiny, NY), Liam Sharp (Green Lantern), Louise Simonson (X-Men Legends), Walter Simonson (Ragnarok), Don Simpson (Megaton Man), Matt Slay (Equilibrium), Matt Smith (Hellboy), John K. Snyder III (Suicide Squad), Jim Starlin (Infinity Gauntlet), Joe Staton (Dick Tracy), Brian Stelfreeze (Black Panther), Paul Storrie (Storm Kids: Stanley’s Ghost), Jill Thompson (Scary Godmother), Billy Tucci (Shi), Emilio Velez Jr. (The Dodgeball Teens), Dexter Vines (Civil War, courtesy of Hero Initiative), Sean Von Gorman (Return of Toe Tag Riot), Mark Waid (Superman: Red and Blue), Adam Wallenta (Punk Taco), Todd Webb (Mr. Toast Comics), Emily S. Whitten (The Underfoot), Matt Wieringo (Stargate Atlantis: Gateways), Keith Williams (Thor the Worthy), Charles P. Wilson III (Wraith), Rich Woodall (Electric Black), Gene Luen Yang (Superman Smashes the Klan), and Thom Zahler (Love and Capes).
