Hellboy creator Mike Mignola will enlist co-writer Tom Sniegowski, artist Craig Rousseau, colorist Dave Stewart, and letterer Clem Robins for Young Hellboy: The Hidden Land, a four-issue limited series that delves into Hellboy's youth alongside Professor Bruttenholm.
"In this four-issue series from Dark Horse Comics, Hellboy and Professor Bruttenholm are stranded on a strange island after a mishap on their way to a South American dig site," reads Dark Horse's synopsis.
"They soon find themselves confronted by all manner of monsters, and even when the stranger who rescues them turns out to be one of Hellboy's heroes, they aren't as safe as they think they are."
Matt Smith will provide covers for all four issues. The first issue will feature a variant cover by Mignola and Stewart, while future issues will feature variants from Rachele Aragno on #2, Wylie Beckert on #3, and Anthony Carpenter on #4.
"Awhile back (when you could still do such things) I was at a convention in Boston and ducked out for lunch with Tom Sniegoski," Mignola explains. "Years earlier we co-wrote a more-than-slightly insane novel together, Grim Death and Joe the Electrocuted Criminal, and I brought up the idea of the maybe slightly insane globetrotting adventures of a very young Hellboy."
"Tom's eyes lit up, as I kind of knew they would. So there was half the battle won, but we would need a special kind of artist to bring Tom's madman energy to the page—and artist Craig Rousseau just happens to be that artist," Mignola continues. "And Craig just happened to be at that same convention, and when I told him the idea his eyes lit up just the way Tom's had. It was almost too easy, and I'm happy to say the results are everything I could have hoped for."
"Young Hellboy: The Hidden Land is another look into our red-skinned paranormal investigator's childhood," states Sniegoski. "The events in the series take place in May of 1947, before the events depicted in Hellboy: The Midnight Circus."
"Lighter in tone, Young Hellboy: The Hidden Land is an exhilarating adventure that embraces the thrills and chills of the pulp adventure stories of the '30s. Mysterious islands, vampire queens, dinosaurs, giant ape gods, and a new and exciting addition to the Hellboy Universe—Scarlett Santiago, the Sky Devil," he continues.
"I've always been fascinated by the glimpses into Hellboy's childhood that Mike has given us, and to be asked to contribute to these stories, along with Mike, Craig, and Dave, is a dream come true."
"This may sound like a cliché, but as a fan of Hellboy since he arrived in Mike's very first issue, it's been an absolute thrill to work on this project with Mike and Tom and Dave," adds artist Craig Rousseau. "Getting to play in this universe with a story so full of over-the-top action, adventure, and fun has been an absolute blast and a career highlight."
Young Hellboy: The Hidden Land is due out in 2021.
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