Yesterday Dark Horse Comics unveiled a short motion comic-style teaser for a new series by Mike Mignola, Chris Roberson, Paul Grist and Bill Crabtree titled The Visitor: How And Why He Stayed. Today the publisher officially announced the series as a five-issue look at with one of the most unexpected mysteries of the Hellboy world.

When Mike Mignola ended his decades-long run with Hellboy this past June in Hellboy In Hell #10, many assumed the legendary creator was taking a break from comics all together, but it seems there are still stories to be told in the Hellboy universe. The miniseries goes all the way back to the earliest days of Hellboy, and answers a huge lingering question that many fans may have forgotten about; who were those aliens in Conqueror Worm?

In a press release provided by Dark Horse, Paul Grist, a legendary artist in his own right, discussed his relief that such a huge plot point would finally be followed up on.

“I remember when I first read Hellboy: The Conqueror Worm,” said Grist. “Halfway through Mike Mignola throws in this character who has been tracking Hellboy ever since he arrived on Earth, who then promptly dies and is dismissed by Hellboy in a single sentence. And I thought NO! You can't do that! There has to be more to this guy’s life than that! And it turns out there was. And I'd like to thank Mike for asking me to help tell that story now.”

Over the past few years, Mignola's co-writer Chris Roberson has become a veteran of the Hellboy line of titles with his work on Hellboy & The BPRD in its various forms, and with The Visitor also being set within Hellboy's history he seems to be a perfect choice to help Mignola building this long awaited story to life.

The Visitor: How And Why He Stayed will be released by Dark Horse Comics on February 22nd, 2017.

 

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