MILWAUKIE, Ore. – Oct. 18, 2016 – In 2017, one of the strangest and most unexpected mysteries of the Hellboy world will be revealed in an all new comic book series from Dark Horse Comics.

In The Visitor: How and Why He Stayed, legendary Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, iZombie co-creator Chris Roberson and Jack Staff creator Paul Grist will spotlight mysterious aliens and probe into a pivotal moment in Hellboy’s past for a surprising tale that harkens back to the character’s first ever appearance. This 5 issue comic book series will be teased in a story in the forthcoming Hellboy: Winter Special 2017 on January 25th, before the first issue of The Visitor: How and Why He Stayed debuts on February 22, 2017

“In Hellboy: Seed of Destruction, readers were given a brief glimpse of a crew of strange looking aliens monitoring the supernatural doings on Earth from way out in space. We later learned that one of those aliens had been sent to Earth to kill him in 1944, but chose to spare him at the last moment,” said Chris Roberson. “In The Visitor, we explore who those aliens are, why that assassin was sent to kill Hellboy, and just what he was doing in all of the years in between.”

Joining co-writers Mignola and Roberson, and colorist Bill Crabtree, is cartoonist Paul Grist who will be making his Mignolaverse debut.

“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.”

“The Visitor is the story of a stranger in a strange land,” Roberson added. “Stranded on Earth for more than half a century, an alien assassin observes humanity’s capacity both for compassion and for destruction. We see history unfold through his eyes, just as the experience of living among humans changes who he is.”

Dark Horse Comics will publish the first issue of The Visitor: How and Why He Stayed, the most mysterious Hellboy spinoff yet, on February 22, 2017.

View a teaser trailer for The Visitor: How and Why He Stayed here!

About Dark Horse


For thirty years, Dark Horse Comics has proven to be a solid example of how integrity and innovation can help broaden a unique storytelling medium and establish a small, homegrown company as an industry giant. Founded in 1986 by Mike Richardson, the company is known for the progressive and creator-friendly atmosphere it provides for writers and artists. In addition to publishing comics from top talent, such as Eric Powell, Mike Mignola, Geof Darrow, Brian Wood, Gail Simone, Stan Sakai, and Guillermo del Toro, and comics legends, such as Will Eisner, Milo Manara, Kazuo Koike, Neil Gaiman, and Frank Miller, Dark Horse has developed its own successful properties, such as The Mask, Ghost, X, and Barb Wire. Its successful line of comics, manga, and products based on popular properties includes Dragon Age, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Aliens, Conan, Tomb Raider, Halo, The Witcher, Serenity, Game of Thrones, and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Today Dark Horse Comics is the largest independent comic book publisher in the US and is recognized as one of the world’s leading entertainment publishers.