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Joe Golem: Occult Detective
Series · 6 books · 2012-2020

Books in series

Joe Golem and the Drowning City book cover
#1

Joe Golem and the Drowning City

An Illustrated Novel

2012

In 1925, earthquakes and a rising sea level left Lower Manhattan submerged under more than thirty feet of water, so that its residents began to call it the Drowning City. Those unwilling to abandon their homes created a new life on streets turned to canals and in buildings whose first three stories were underwater. Fifty years have passed since then, and the Drowning City is full of scavengers and water rats, poor people trying to eke out an existence, and those too proud or stubborn to be defeated by circumstance. Among them are fourteen-year-old Molly McHugh and her friend and employer, Felix Orlov. Once upon a time Orlov the Conjuror was a celebrated stage magician, but now he is an old man, a psychic medium, contacting the spirits of the departed for the grieving loved ones left behind. When a seance goes horribly wrong, Felix Orlov is abducted by strange men wearing gas masks and rubber suits, and Molly soon finds herself on the run. Her flight will lead her into the company of a mysterious man, and his stalwart sidekick, Joe Golem, whose own past is a mystery to him, but who walks his own dreams as a man of stone and clay, brought to life for the sole purpose of hunting witches.
Joe Golem book cover
#2

Joe Golem

Occult Detective, Vol. 1: The Rat Catcher and the Sunken Dead

2016

Forty years after disaster left Lower Manhattan submerged in thirty feet of water, the Drowning City has taken a turn for the weird, and Joe Golem is there to investigate. A mysterious and terrifying creature has been snatching children and pulling them into the depths of the canals, and those that drowned in the floods are coming back to the surface—alive. Collects the five-issue miniseries.
Joe Golem book cover
#3

Joe Golem

Occult Detective, Vol. 2: The Outer Dark

2018

More chilling tales of supernatural horror! Occult detective Joe Golem invesitgates two supernatural mysteries, while demons from his past seep into the present. When men are being driven mad by otherworldy voices in their heads, Joe's search for an explanation leads to another dimension, and a dangerous man who wants to harness its power. Then, Church leads Joe to a crumbling home where a young woman is being possessed by the ghosts of her family. Collects Joe The Outer Dark #1-3 and Joe Golem - Flesh and Blood #1-2.
Joe Golem book cover
#4

Joe Golem

Occult Detective, Vol. 3: The Drowning City

2019

What truly lurks in the Outer Dark? A chilling new adventure unfolds as Joe Golem investigates the kidnapping of a Conjurer and the strange men who took him. Aided by the victim's ward, a spunky teenage girl, the detective soon finds that otherworldly forces are at work. The only way to stop the madman behind the kidnapping and occult activities is to locate a strange object known as Lector's Pentajulum. But how can they locate it, who else is trying to track it down, and how can it save both them and the city? Collects Joe Golem: Occult Detective—The Drowning City #1-#5 and bonus material
Joe Golem book cover
#5

Joe Golem

Occult Detective, Vol. 4: The Conjurors

2020

Joe Golem is dead. Or is he? The supernatural mysteries continue in the latest volume of the post-apocalyptic series. Simon Church is fading fast in the city above and Molly is held captive by Dr. Cocteau's gas-men below, but something stirs in the tunnels. How much of the golem is still in the man, or the man in the golem? And can either be enough to stop Dr. Cocteau once he has the artifact he seeks? The end of the adaptation of Mike Mignola and Christopher Golden's hit novel is collected for the first time in this hardcover edition. It features art by series veteran Peter Bergting (The Untamed) and colors by Michelle Madsen (Witchfinder, Crimson Lotus). Collects Joe Golem: Occult Detective - The Conjurors #1-#5.
Joe Golem and the Copper Girl book cover
#7

Joe Golem and the Copper Girl

A Short Story

2012

In 1925, earthquakes and a rising sea level left Lower Manhattan submerged under more than thirty feet of water, so that its residents began to call it the Drowning City. In Joe Golem and the Copper Girl, hard-nosed private detective Joe Golem and his employer are faced with one of their strangest cases yet. When a young mother named Rachael Blum arrives on their doorstep, frantic about the bizarre changes in her daughter's appearance and the terrible dreams plaguing the girl, it's up to Joe to separate nightmare from reality. But Joe Golem knows better than anyone that sometimes, the two are one and the same.

Authors

Mike Mignola
Mike Mignola
Author · 291 books

Mike Mignola was born September 16, 1960 in Berkeley, California and grew up in nearby Oakland. His fascination with ghosts and monsters began at an early age (he doesn't remember why) and reading Dracula at age 13 introduced him to Victorian literature and folklore from which he has never recovered. In 1982, hoping to find a way to draw monsters for a living, he moved to New York City and began working for Marvel Comics, first as a (very terrible) inker and then as an artist on comics like Rocket Raccoon, Alpha Flight and The Hulk. By the late 80s he had begun to develop his signature style (thin lines, clunky shapes and lots of black) and moved onto higher profile commercial projects like Cosmic Odyssey (1988) and Gotham by Gaslight (1989) for DC Comics, and the not-so-commercial Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser (1990) for Marvel. In 1992, he drew the comic book adaptation of the film Bram Stoker's Dracula for Topps Comics. In 1993, Mike moved to Dark Horse comics and created Hellboy, a half-demon occult detective who may or may not be the Beast of the Apocalypse. While the first story line (Seed of Destruction, 1994) was co-written by John Byrne, Mike has continued writing the series himself. There are, at this moment, 13 Hellboy graphic novel collections (with more on the way), several spin-off titles (B.P.R.D., Lobster Johnson, Abe Sapien and Witchfinder), three anthologies of prose stories, several novels, two animated films and two live-action films staring Ron Perlman. Hellboy has earned numerous comic industry awards and is published in a great many countries. Mike also created the award-winning comic book The Amazing Screw-on Head and has co-written two novels (Baltimore, or, the Steadfast Tin Soldier and the Vampire and Joe Golem and the Drowning City) with best-selling author Christopher Golden. Mike worked (very briefly) with Francis Ford Coppola on his film Bram Stoker's Dracula (1992), was a production designer on the Disney film Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001) and was visual consultant to director Guillermo del Toro on Blade II (2002), Hellboy (2004) and Hellboy II: The Golden Army (2008). He lives somewhere in Southern California with his wife, daughter, a lot of books and a cat.

Christopher Golden
Author · 180 books
CHRISTOPHER GOLDEN is the New York Times bestselling, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of such novels as Road of Bones, Ararat, Snowblind, Of Saints and Shadows, and Red Hands. With Mike Mignola, he is the co-creator of the Outerverse comic book universe, including such series as Baltimore, Joe Golem: Occult Detective, and Lady Baltimore. As an editor, he has worked on the short story anthologies Seize the Night, Dark Cities, and The New Dead, among others, and he has also written and co-written comic books, video games, screenplays, and a network television pilot. Golden co-hosts the podcast Defenders Dialogue with horror author Brian Keene. In 2015 he founded the popular Merrimack Valley Halloween Book Festival. He was born and raised in Massachusetts, where he still lives with his family. His work has been nominated for the British Fantasy Award, the Eisner Award, and multiple Shirley Jackson Awards. For the Bram Stoker Awards, Golden has been nominated ten times in eight different categories. His original novels have been published in more than fifteen languages in countries around the world. Please visit him at www.christophergolden.com
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