The freezing plains of 19th-century Manitoba provide the backdrop for a new venture into the macabre. Kristin Kreuk and Peter Mooney, long-time collaborators on the legal drama Burden of Truth, have traded the courtroom for the supernatural with the announcement of Black Star.
Published by Titan Comics, the series is a creative departure for the duo, alongside writer Eric Putzer, moving from the structured world of television to the visceral, “hopeful yet bleak” landscape of historical horror.
Set in the 1880s during the height of the fur trade, Black Star follows a group of young outcasts at a remote wilderness school. While the official pitch invites comparisons to “The Revenant meets Harry Potter,” the choice of the latter is a bold, perhaps contentious, move in 2026. Given the shifting reputation of the Potter brand among former enthusiasts, the creators are banking on the “magical school” archetype rather than the baggage of its predecessor. However, with Joe Bocardo providing the art, any whimsy is quickly stifled by a “gritty, bloody” reality that reflects the inhospitable nature of the Canadian wilderness.
A Love Letter to the Frozen North
The project is deeply rooted in Winnipeg’s geography. Mooney and Putzer have crafted a story that mirrors the city’s own reputation: a place of extreme isolation and hard-won resilience. By setting the story in a fictionalised version of the historic fur-trading era, the team explores the “omitted chapters” of local history, using the supernatural to heighten the very real dangers of the period.
Kristin Kreuk, Co-Creator at Team 3 Productions, said in a statement:
Black Star has been a true labour of love for us. We wanted to create a story that captures the raw, unforgiving beauty of the landscape we know so well, while exploring the bond of found family in the face of ancient, terrifying forces.”
The Visual Language of Horror
The transition from screen to page allows the team to bypass the budgetary constraints of television. With Joe Bocardo, known for his haunting work on Nightwalkers, handling the visuals, Black Star leans into a Gothic aesthetic that emphasises shadows and scale. The preview pages suggest a world where the environment is as much a predator as the monsters lurking in the woods.
Peter Mooney, Co-Creator, added:
Working in comics has allowed us to tell a story that is both more intimate and more expansive than anything we could do on screen. It’s a chance to lean into the atmospheric horror that defines the northern experience.”
The series is scheduled for a late 2026 release, arriving just as the winter chill begins to settle – a fitting timing for a story born from the frost of the Canadian prairies.
