A few years ago, Chris Roberson, one of my favorite writers, started working with Mike Mignola, one of my favorite writer-artists, within the Hellboy Universe. It's been a great match, as the two have been locked in on everything from stories featuring everyone's favorite red demon to Sir Edward Gorey. It's hard to believe how many comics they've worked on together already (Dark Horse's site lists over 70, and while I didn't spot check that for duplications, it seems about right to me.) with no signs of stopping.
So what could be better than Chris and Mike teaming up again?
Adding amazing horror artist Andrea Mutti (alongside equally awesome colorist Lee Loughridge) to the mix! That's the creative team for The British Paranormal Society: Time Out of Mind, the newest expansion of the Hellboy universe. This time, the creators are building from the Witchfinder part of the vast Mignola tree. Here's what Roberson has to say about it:
“I loved the dynamic between the British Paranormal Society's Simon Bruttenholm and Honora Grant when they appeared in supporting roles in the pages of Witchfinder, and I really wanted to spend more time with the characters,” said Roberson. “When we first started talking about doing an Edwardian-era English folk horror story, it seemed the perfect opportunity to bring the pair of them onto center stage. Andrea Mutti was the first and only artist we had in mind to draw it."
An English folk horror story, eh? That's definitely my jam (at tea time), so I'm in. Dark Horse's PR describes the premise as follows:
In the series, British Paranormal Society members Simon Bruttenholm and Honora Grant arrive at Noxton together, but with separate goals: Honora hopes to uncover information on the town’s strange traditions, while Simon is searching for his missing assistant. But their separate investigations lead down the same twisted path that hides a dark secret behind Noxton’s innocent façade!
One of my favorite parts of reading anything from Mignola is seeing just how horrible the "dark secrets" turn out to be. His imagination is seemingly endless when it comes to finding new concepts to haunt my mind for days after reading. I am well aware that he's appeared twice already in my "This Looks Cool" entries, but there's a reason for that--while Mike isn't writing and drawing everything (how could he?) the way that Stan Sakai does for Usagi Yojimbo, he's still very much in control of the world. Even weaker entries are still fun to read, and 2021 saw a real resurgence in his work. 2022 looks to be more of the same and I couldn't be happier about it.
The British Paranormal Society: Time Out of Mind #1 appears in comic shops and your favorite digital devices on April 27th, 2022.
