Deck the claws with boughs of Hellboy

Mike Mignola and Matt Smith present a holiday story featuring Hellboy and a giant cat.

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.”

Continue reading “Deck the claws with boughs of Hellboy”