(September 10, 2025) Legendary Hellboy creator Mike Mignola is joining forces with writer/artist Rae Allen (The Manderfield Devil, Town with a Million Eyes) for a new paranormal Western in Carmen Red Claw: Belly of the Beast, a new series that connects to Lobster Johnson lore and the greater Hellboy Universe.Co-written by Mignola and Allen, with art from Allen, colors from Michelle Madsen, and letters from Clem Robins, this four-issue series will feature covers from Allen with variants from Mike Mignola, Jake Parker, Tonci Zonjic, and Benjamin Schipper.
“I’ve wanted to find a project for Rae for a long time, and finally just had the good sense to ask her if she had something in mind—and she did,” explains Mike Mignola. “She had half a dozen ideas—all great—but I was super impressed with this one, that she was able to create an entire character and situation based on a super tiny bit of a Lobster Johnson history. Such a fun addition to the Hellboy universe. We banged some details back and forth, but that was all fun and easy. She is a joy to work with and I hope this is only the beginning.”
Carmen Red Claw is a descendent of the notorious El Bogavante, the fearsome privateer who first appeared in Mike Mignola, John Arcudi and Tonci Zonjic’s 2014 Lobster Johnson: Get The Lobster featuring iconic 1930s crimefighter, the Lobster. Working as a shape-shifting, supernatural gun-for-hire, Carmen investigates a supposedly cursed ranch in 1870s New Mexico territory. Something is killing the cattle in the area, and it’s up to Carmen to find out whether there’s a beast to blame, or if humans are the real monsters.
“One of my favorite parts about Hellboy is the merging of classic folklore with the Hellboy universe,” says Rae Allen. “A lot of that ground has already been covered in Europe, how about more from America? I’m a big fan of the radio show Have Gun Will Travel (aired 1958-1960), and I thought a Paladin-style gun-for-hire in a supernatural Old West facing off with Native American, Colonial, and Mignolaverse monsters would be a lot of fun. Plus, why not add a lizard shoulder demon? Mike and I bounced ideas off each other and landed on a story that we think you’ll really enjoy. And I’m excited to introduce you to some Lakota folklore inspired by Yankton Dakota author Zitkala-Sa, enriched with the help of my friend Shiala King.”
Carmen Red Claw: Belly of the Beast #1 is due out on January 7, 2025 from Dark Horse. Follow Dark Horse Comics on social media for more news, announcements, and updates.
About Dark Horse
Founded in 1986 as an offshoot of his comics retail chain, Mike Richardson launched Dark Horse Comics with the goal of creating a welcoming environment for comics professionals. The company strives to be an example of how integrity and innovation can broaden a unique storytelling medium and transform a company with humble beginnings into an industry giant. Dark Horse has published modern masters such as Yoshitaka Amano, Margaret Atwood, Brian Michael Bendis, Paul Chadwick, Geof Darrow, Colleen Doran, Janet Evanovich, Dave Gibbons, Faith Erin Hicks, Kazuo Koike, Matt Kindt, Jeff Lemire, Kentaro Miura, Moebius, Chuck Palahniuk, Eric Powell, Stan Sakai, and Gerard Way, as well as Hall of Fame legends Will Eisner, Jack Kirby, Steve Ditko, and Richard Corben. The company also set the industry standard for quality licensed comics, graphic novels, collectibles, and art books, based on properties such as Star Wars, Stranger Things, Avatar: The Last Airbender, The Legend of Korra, Minecraft, The Legend of Zelda, Super Mario, Dragon Age, James Cameron’s Avatar, Game of Thrones, Mass Effect, The Witcher, and Halo. Dark Horse established an entertainment division in 1989, finding immediate success with company-owned projects The Mask and TimeCop. Current hits from Dark Horse Entertainment include The Umbrella Academy on Netflix and Resident Alien on SyFy. Additionally, Dark Horse has a long tradition of establishing new creative talent throughout all of its divisions.
In 2022, Dark Horse Media, LLC was established as the parent company of all three divisions, and became part of Embracer Group AB, forming the tenth operative group, strengthening the company’s transmedia capabilities.
About Mike Mignola
Mike Mignola’s fascination with ghosts and monsters began at an early age; reading Dracula at age twelve introduced him to Victorian literature and folklore, from which he has never recovered. Starting in 1982 as a bad inker for Marvel Comics, he swiftly evolved into a not-so-bad artist. By the late 1980s, he had begun to develop his own unique graphic style, with mainstream projects like Cosmic Odyssey and Batman:Gotham by Gaslight. In 1994, he published the first Hellboy series through Dark Horse.There are thirteen Hellboy graphic novels (with more on the way), several spin-off titles (B.P.R.D., Lobster Johnson, Abe Sapien, and Sir Edward Grey: Witchfinder), prose books,animated films, and two live-action films starring Ron Perlman. Along the way he worked on Francis Ford Coppola’s film Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1992), was a production designer for Disney’s Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001), and was the visual consultant to director Guillermo del Toro on Blade II (2002), Hellboy (2004), and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008). Mike’s books have earned numerous awards and are published in a great many countries. Mike lives in Southern California with his wife, daughter, and cat.
About Rae Allen
Rae Allen was raised by a pair of nerdy historians who instilled in her a lifelong fascination with history, archaeology, and storytelling. From the moment she could hold a pencil, she was creating illustrations to accompany her imaginative narratives. She developed a passion for comics during high school, when her then-crush (now husband) lent her a copy of Hellboy. She went on to crowdfund and self-publish two comic projects as author/illustrator, including The Manderfield Devil (2021), during college. Working in a style that ranges from whimsical and bright to dark and moody, Rae’s work has since been published by Mad Cave Studios, Gold Key Comics, and now Dark Horse Comics. She and her husband currently reside in central Utah at the foot of the Rocky Mountains.
