Dark Horse Comics is going to publish missing chapters from the history of the Hellboy universe in the form of a four-issue miniseries in January 2022, The Sword of Hyperborea. Along with a new comic one-shot by Mike Mignola, the miniseries is one of several new chapters in the Hellboy world following the epic B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know storyline, which served somewhat as a series finale to the entire Hellboy saga. B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know wrapped up several storylines from 25 years of Hellboy universe comics, but there is still plenty of fertile ground from which to draw new stories. One such story is the history of The Hyperborean Sword.

The titular sword was first introduced in 2013's B.P.R.D.: Hell On Earth #103, which saw B.P.R.D. Agent Howards (a reference to pulp writer Robert E. Howard), discover an ancient sword in the middle of Chicago. Upon touching the sword Agent Howards' mind is sent to the past where he gains the memories of the ancient barbarian warrior Gall Dennar, and fans have wondered about the Hyperborean Sword's origins ever since. With Hellboy being a big part of Dark Horse Comics' 35-year history, it's exciting that Mignola and company are now exploring and adding to their corner of Dark Horse Comics history with new stories.

Related: A Marvel Legend Unofficially Brought Spawn Into the Hellboy Universe

According to SuperherohypeThe Sword of Hyperborea will be co-written by Mike Mignola and newcomer to the Hellboy world Rob Williams. Williams is a Welsh comic writer best known as the creator of 2000 AD's Low Life, which follows undercover Judges from the Judge Dredd world. The series will be drawn by Laurence Campbell, who is both a past collaborator with Rob Williams on 2000 AD's Breathing Space, as well as a veteran Hellboy universe artist having drawn several issues of B.P.R.D. The series will also feature variant covers by Quinton Winter, Dave Stewart, and Christopher Mitten.

This new miniseries will make an excellent companion to Dark Horse's new Hellboy Universe Essentials line, which collects various Hellboy universe stories in easy-to-read volumes. The Sword of Hyperborea will follow how the mythical sword got to Chicago in the first place, with each issue telling the stories of the different people who came in contact with the sword through the ages before it fell into the hands of Agent Howards, shedding light on pieces of Hellboy universe history that until now have seldom been explored. "B.P.R.D. fans know that the sword Howards picked up in a Chicago temple had strange properties," Rob Willaims told Superherohype, "but they don’t know how that sword got to be there, and they don’t know about some of the people who brandished it in the past."

The Sword of Hyperborea seems to be another step in a new direction for Hellboy comics lately along with Hellboy: The Silver Lantern Club, as Mignola and Dark Horse are seeming to focus more on one-shots and short stories to flesh out the world of Hellboy, rather than the multi-issue epics that the series has become known for. “I love what Rob and Laurence are doing here. Building on what’s been established and expanding in great new directions, creating new characters, playing with different time periods and locations—I think this is exactly the kind of stuff that’s going to keep this world alive and breathing, especially when done by guys with this kind of talent. I couldn’t be happier,” said Mike Mignola in a statement. Since the conclusion of B.P.R.D.: The Devil You Know, the overall story of the Mignolaverse has been told, but now it's time to start filling in the gaps. Fans can see what Dark Horse Comics has in store for the world of Hellboy when The Sword of Hyperborea #1 hits shelves on Wednesday, January 12, 2022.

Next: Hellboy Comic Fans Will Love The Pulp Horror of Hillbilly

Source: Superherohype