Soon we will see the long awaited release of Lady Baltimore from Dark Horse Comics. And when I say long awaited, I’m not kidding. The series was announced a year ago and was originally scheduled for a June publication before COVID hit and I was lucky to be asked to send along a few questions for Mignola’s co-writer, Chris Golden.
This summer Mike Mignola, the legendary creator of Hellboy, and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling novelist Christopher Golden will reunite for an all-new series, Lady Baltimore. The five-part comic-book series from Dark Horse Comics is co-written by Mignola and Golden, with art by Bridgit Connell, colors by Michelle Madsen, and stunning covers by Hugo Award-winning illustrator Abigail Larson.
How was it working with Mike Mignola?
CG: Mike and I have actually been working together for twenty-five years, going back to when I convinced him to let me write the first Hellboy novel—THE LOST ARMY—which came out in 1997. There have been so many projects since then, but it’s been especially fun and rewarding to work with him on the creation of The Outerverse. It started with the BALTIMORE novel, way back when, and it’s just grown organically over the years into a mythos and universe of its own. I love these characters and the mythology we’ve created for this world so much and I can’t wait till people see what we really have in store for them.
With the quarantine pushing this back, how do you handle that sort of pause in your work?
CG: Not well. It was agonizing. By nature, I’m someone who wants everyone to share in the excitement I feel about…well, about anything that excites me. I’m always trumpeting the movies and books and TV and comics that I love because I want other people to experience them and be enthusiastic right along with me. The same goes for projects like this. Mike and Bridgit and I have been sitting with this story and these characters and what we’re building for the future for so long. I kept busy during the break, of course. My new novel, RED HANDS, came out in December and the next one will be out in January 2022, but mostly I’ve written a lot of comics in the meantime. Some of them you know about and some of them you don’t, but Lady Baltimore is finally here, and I’m celebrating!
How much do you love the weirdness that comes with this story? Was there anything you wanted to put in but decided it was TOO weird?
CG: I work on these comics with Mike Mignola! Nothing’s too weird!
Plans for what you’re doing next?
CG: Right after Lady Baltimore, you’ll see five issues of what we call TALES FROM THE OUTERVERSE, which consists of two two-part stories and a one-shot, focused on other characters in the Outerverse and what they’re up to during and after the events of Lady Baltimore. Those are COJACARU THE SKINNER, IMOGEN OF THE WEIRDING WAY, and THE GOLEM WALKS AMONG US! I’m working on several projects in the Hellboy universe that I can’t talk about, as well as a pair of projects with Audible that, again, I can’t discuss. So many secrets.
