DARK HORSE'S MIGNOLAVERSE CHANGES

Dark Horse Comics has announced changes to its Mignolaverse titles from Hellboy creator Mike Mignola.

Following is a rundown:

* Mignola and Frankenstein Underground artist Ben Stenbeck will reunite to launch the new series Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: 1953 in October. They will release two one-shot stories that follow Hellboy to England for his first-ever ghost hunt. Hellboy is joined by Professor Bruttenholm in the field to fight the phantom hand of a murderer and a demonic water spirit.

* January will see the Hellboy Winter Special one-shot that will include contributions of still unannounced artists and will include the first Mignolaverse story co-written by Chris Roberson. Roberson and Mignola will co-write a 12 page story illustrated by Michael Walsh. The following month, Roberson will debut as the ongoing co-writer for Hellboy & The B.P.R.D., with Mignola, working with the art team of Paolo Rivera and Joe Rivera.

* Next year will also see the conclusion of John Arcudi's run on B.P.R.D., which started in 2004. His run will conclude with B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth #147, the series finale.

"I'm always excited to work with Ben Stenbeck and it's great to finally see his take on Hellboy," Mignola said. "And I'm excited about working with Chris Roberson. He's bringing a wonderful new energy and a lot of new ideas to Hellboy & The B.P.R.D. and a couple other books we aren't ready to talk about yet.

"And I'm excited about the amazing way John Arcudi is wrapping up B.P.R.D.: Hell on Earth. Of course we are all sorry to see him leave the title but he is doing such an amazing job on his way out. I will be forever in his debt. He is really responsible for making the B.P.R.D. what it is and while I'm excited about where that book is going -- can't say anything about that yet -- everything we do in the future will be built on top of the rock solid foundation John created."

"I've been an enormous fan of Hellboy since the very beginning and I've got the action figure and lunch box to prove it," said Roberson said. "B.P.R.D. has been and remains one of my all-time favorite series, so getting the opportunity to work with Mike Mignola in exploring Hellboy's early days as a B.P.R.D. agent is an incredible thrill."