Hellboy meets the Yule Cat in his first visit to Iceland this winter

This holiday season, Hellboy is taking a trip to Iceland to meet one of the island nation's most eccentric and interesting mythical figures, the Yule Cat. The story will take place in 2023's aptly named Hellboy Winter Special: The Yule Cat, which carries on Dark Horse Comics' tradition of releasing a new Hellboy special every holiday season.

Hellboy Winter Special: The Yule Cat will be written and drawn by Barbarian Lord creator Matt Smith along with colorist Chris O'Halloran and letterer Clem Robins. In the story, Hellboy travels to Iceland for the first time in his history to investigate the mysterious disappearances of children in the city of Reykjavic.

In Icelandic lore, the Yule Cat is known as the Jólakötturinn, and it is said to come down from the mountains to take away any children who don't get new clothes for Christmas, an Icelandic tradition.

"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," states Matt Smith in Dark Horse's announcement. "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."

Along with a main cover by Smith, Hellboy creator Mike Mignola has also drawn a new cover for the one-shot. Here's a gallery of both covers:

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"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!” states Mignola. "Merry Christmas to me and to everybody who loves this kind of thing. He does it so well."

Hellboy Winter Special: The Yule Cat goes on sale December 6.

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