Mostly known today for creating Hellboy and its expanded universe, Mike Mignola has also written (and sometimes drawn) a variety of other stories exploring similar themes full of supernatural, folklore, horror, and other paranormal elements.
With Christopher Golden, he co-created Baltimore in 2007, an illustrated novel that led to a comic-book series published by Dark Horse Comics, then to an expanded universe called “The Outerverse.”
Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire introduced us to Lord Henry Baltimore. The story begins in November 1914. A British officer during World War I, Lord Baltimore is left for dead on a battlefield in the Ardennes Forest. When he awakes, he sees the most unexpected scene: giant bat-like creatures are feeding on his dead men.
When he is attacked, he fights back and wound the vampire who tried to feed on him. This action inadvertently changes Baltimore himself, but also in the course of the war, and of human history.
Baltimore is an alternate history tale full of horror. Vampires emerged from their sleep and decimated the human population–not unlike the 1918 influenza pandemic, except that here, one man and a few followers traveled through Europe to kill the one responsible for all the deaths.
Launch three years after the novel, the comic book series explored Lord Baltimore’s hunt for the vampire Haigus, developing the years that were skipped over in the original story, before going beyond it.
Introducing Joe Golem, occult detective
The novel first then comic book series approach was repeated with Joe Golem. In 2012, Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden published an illustrated prose novel titled Joe Golem and the Drowning City. The story takes us to an alternate, half-submerged version of Manhattan.
We meet Joe Golem, an occult detective in New York City during the 1960s and ’70s, as he uncovers the truth behind strange happenings that threaten the city’s inhabitants. The biggest mystery for Joe, though, is his own origins.
Published from 2015 to 2019, the Joe Golem: Occult Detective series takes us before the events of the novel, then retells them.
As Cristopher Golden explains in the Introduction to the Joe Golem omnibus edition, the Outerverse was born when he and Mignola connected the events of Baltimore with the ones leading to the drowning of Manhattan. That’s the connection.
Both Baltimore and Joe Golem: Occult Detective series ended, but the Outerverse started to grow with new stories–in 2021. The Lady Baltimore series and the Tales From The Outerverse anthology explore events taking place between the two original series. They firmly developed the links between them, with the characters as well as the events.
The Outerverse is still young at that point in time.
The Outerverse Reading Order
Like with the Hellboy universe, the stories from the Outerverse were not published in chronological order. In fact, if you read Lady Baltimore and Tales From The Outerverse before Joe Golem, you will miss some important facts. Of course, you can do without them and perfectly understand the stories, but it is better to follow the publication order (for now, at least):
I. The Baltimore Series
- Baltimore, or, The Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire (prose novel)
- Baltimore Omnibus – Volume 1
Collects The Plague Ships, The Curse Bells, The Widow and the Tank, A Passing Stranger, The Play, Dr. Leskovar’s Remedy, The Inquisitor, The Infernal Train, and Chapel of Bones. - Baltimore Omnibus – Volume 2
Collects The Witch of Harju, The Wolf and the Apostle, The Cult of the Red King, Empty Graves, The Red Kingdom, and Monstrous.
Also available in trade paperbacks:
- Baltimore Vol. 1: The Plague Ships
Collects The Plague Ships - Baltimore Vol. 2: The Curse Bells
Collects The Curse Bells - Baltimore Vol. 3: A Passing Stranger and Other Stories
Collects The Widow and the Tank, A Passing Stranger, The Play, Dr. Leskovar’s Remedy, and The Inquisitor. - Baltimore Vol. 4: Chapel of Bones
Collects The Infernal Train, and Chapel of Bones. - Baltimore Vol. 5: The Apostle and the Witch of Harju
Collects The Witch of Harju, and The Wolf and the Apostle. - Baltimore Vol. 6: The Cult of the Red King
Collects The Cult of the Red King - Baltimore Vol. 7: Empty Graves
Collects Empty Graves - Baltimore Vol. 8: The Red Kingdom
Collects The Red Kingdom
II. The Joe Golem, Occult Detective Series
- Joe Golem and the Copper Girl (prose short story)
- Joe Golem and the Drowning City (prose novel)
- Joe Golem: Occult Detective Omnibus
Collects The Rat Catcher and the Sunken Dead, The Outer Dark, Flesh and Blood, The Drowning City, and The Conjurors.
Also available in trade paperbacks:
- Joe Golem: Occult Detective – Volume 1: The Rat Catcher and the Sunken Dead
Collects Joe Golem: The Rat Catcher and the Sunken Dead #1-5. - Joe Golem: Occult Detective – Volume 2: The Outer Dark
Collects Joe Golem: The Outer Dark #1-3 and Joe Golem: Flesh and Blood #1-2. - Joe Golem: Occult Detective – Volume 3: The Drowning City
Collects Joe Golem: The Drowning City #1-#5 and bonus material - Joe Golem: Occult Detective – Volume 4: The Conjurors
Collects Joe Golem: The Conjurors #1-5.
III. The Lady Baltimore Series
- Lady Baltimore: The Witch Queens
Collects Lady Baltimore: The Witch Queens #1-5.
IV. Tales From The Outerverse
- Tales From The Outerverse
Collects Cojacaru the Skinner #1-#2, The Golem Walks Among Us! #1-2 & Imogen of the Wyrding Way one-shot.
Last Updated on January 24, 2024.