Dark Horse Exploring Hellboy Mystery In The Visitor Miniseries

10/18/2016 01:18 pm EDT

The Hellboy universe is full of interesting characters, but one of the most mysterious ones are the strange aliens seen in Hellboy: Seed of Destruction. Now fans will finally be allowed to learn more about this alien race, and why they wanted to kill Hellboy in a new miniseries The Visitor: How and Why He Stayed.

The talented creative team of Mike Mignola, Chris Roberson (iZombie), Paul Grist (Jack Staff) will explain why they've lurked in the shadows, and why their assassin chose to spare Hellboy's life.

"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."

The book will also explain just where the one-time assassin has been all this time, and how he's adapted to human life.

"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."

For Grist, this is his first time working with Mignola, and it's a dream come true for him to work on this particular character and area of Hellboy lore.

"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."

Fans will get their first piece of The Visitor in the upcoming Hellboy: Winter Special 2017, which releases on January 25. The Visitor will launch afterward and will consist of 5 issues.

The Visitor: How and Why He Stayed will hit comic stores on February 22, 2017.

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