EXCLUSIVE Preview — Seeking Light In The Darkness In ‘Panya: The Mummy’s Curse’ #3
by Anton Kromoff
Welcome to the table,
“Behind the veil of all the hieratic and mystical allegories of ancient doctrines, behind the darkness and strange ordeals of all initiations, under the seal of all sacred writings, in the ruins of Nineveh or Thebes, on the crumbling stones of old temples and on the blackened visage of the Assyrian or Egyptian sphinx…”
–Abbé Alphonse Louis Constant under the pen name Éliphas Lévi
Dark Horse Comic’s Panya: The Mummy’s Curse#3, continues the long tradition of works from The World of Hellboy. It beautifully blends the quiet human moments of individuals who see beyond the boundaries of this world, into a place where spirits and ancient forces, long conceived before things like time and space had meaning.
The tales of Lobster Johnson, Hellboy, and Miss Truesdale are often big and bombastic with grand conflicts between ancient forces and personifications of note. What Panya: The Mummy’s Curse does so delightfully is show that even in this world of elder gods, unknowable outsiders, and mystical creatures, a story can be told that is at its core so very human, or at least at this point, still relatively human.
It can be quiet and introspective, and still as just gripping and mysterious with each turn of the page as the wild adventures traveling through the hidden chambers of the hollow earth. And with the strange cat and viper manifestations, it clearly can be just as dangerous.
Mike Mignola and Chris Roberson weave a story full of history and lore that feels as much like a chapter out of Edith Hamilton‘s mythologies as it would if you were traveling with an old friend who just happened to be in a strange place at a very strange time in her life.
As Panya scours the world in search of the truth behind her visions Christopher Mitten‘s art comes alive on the page with the aid of Michelle Madsen‘s fantastic color work and pulls you along in a very dream-like fashion from one moment to the next.
In Panya: The Mummy’s Curse #3, out September 13, 2023, Panya will find herself learning more about the secrets of her mysterious powers and the voice that whispers for her to seek the light. But to find answers, she may first have to venture into the darkness …
Getting a chance to view this exclusive preview is such a thrill because the book has been nothing but stellar up to this point. This little glimpse of what is in store for us in September will tide me over for just a little bit longer.
Seeing these early chapters of the characters history really sheds some solid insight into what she becomes, and gives hope that the tradition of exploring more of the world during this time period in the Mignolaverse continues.
Until next time, The rest of the quote I shared at the start ends as follows…
“…in the monstrous or marvelous paintings which interpret to the faithful of India the inspired pages of the Vedas, in the cryptic emblems of our old books on alchemy, in the ceremonies practiced at reception by all secret societies, there are found indications of a doctrine which is everywhere the same and everywhere carefully concealed.”
This book has, on more than a handful of occasions, has conjured this quote up in my mind as it dances with the secret and unknown histories of our world that could, more often than not, have been totally lost to us. Each new chapter in this ever-growing webwork of lore and mythology feels like it unlocks a deeper understanding of this beautiful narrative space, where things have histories and actions have consequences and they are not just swept away for the love of money that can be made off branded burger meals or Saturday morning cartoons.
In a world where I had to learn that gods do not stay dead and monsters can always come back, there is something so deeply comforting that even in the melancholy and often grim outcomes of events in the stories of the Hellboy Universe. There is an every unfolding lore that is still based on stories, forming a foundation that can be trusted.
