New Hellboy Holiday Special Announced

As has become a tradition within the Hellboy lore, the Harbinger of the Apocalypse is getting another holiday special. Monday, Dark Horse Comics officially unveiled Hellboy Winter Special: The Yule Cat #1, a new one-shot from Hellboy creator Mike Mignola, cartoonist Matt Smith, colorist Chris O'Halloran, and letterer Clem Robbins. The story follows Hellboy and his Right Hand of Doom as he travels to Iceland to investigate a possible appearance by Jólakötturinn, or the urban legend known as the Yule Cat.

"The land of fire and ice, trolls and necropants, Iceland is as natural a setting for a Hellboy story as any I could think of," Smith offered in a press release. "Set in 1990 and coming close to the events of the Hellboy: Bones of Giants, Hellboy likely hasn't forgotten about the wrath of old Norse giants. But a giant, child-eating cat—that would be something new."

In Icelandic lore, Jólakötturinn surfaces the night before Christmas to eat those who do not have new clothes to wear for the holiday.

"Matt Smith's great. I have been very fortunate to have him working on Hellboy and thrilled that he came up with a story of his own, especially a holiday story about a monster cat!" added Mignola. "Merry Christmas to me and to everybody who loves this kind of thing. He does it so well."

The comic features two covers, one from Smith and a variant by Mignola. The Christmas issue is due out on the shelves at your local comic store on December 6th, likely not too far in advance of the release of Hellboy: The Crooked Man, the next film adaptation of the character.

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