I’d never heard of Jólakötturinn, the “ferocious Yule Cat of Icelandic folklore,” who is said to lurk about “the snowy countryside during Christmas time and eats people who have not received any new clothes to wear before Christmas Eve.” Let’s hope Hellboy remembered to buy a new outfit, because he’ll be facing off with the Yule Cat in a new special this December.
It’s by Barbarian Lord creator Matt Smith, with colors by Chris O’Halloran and letters by Clem Robins, and of course the oversight of Hellboy creator Mike Mignola (whose birthday was yesterday! Happy belated birthday, Mike Mignola!)
“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 said. “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.”
Here’s the description from Dark Horse:
Hellboy Winter Special: The Yule Cat marks Hellboy’s first visit to Iceland in the character’s 30+ year years of publication. In the one-shot, Hellboy travels to Reykjavik, where children are disappearing and a giant beast has been spotted…could it be the infamous Yule Cat of Icelandic lore?
“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,” said Mignola. “Merry Christmas to me and to everybody who loves this kind of thing. He does it so well.”
Mignola provides the variant cover for the special:
The one-shot arrives in stores Dec. 6.