Hellboy: The Bones of Giants is getting a comic book adaptation.
In honor of the 20th anniversary of Hellboy: The Bones of Giants, Dark Horse Comics will publish a four-issue comic book adaptation of the prose novel, originally written by Christopher Golden with illustrations by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola. Golden and Mignola will helm the adaptation, with art by Barbarian Lord creator Matt Smith, colors by Chris O'Halloran (Ice Cream Man) and lettering by Clem Robins. The first issue of The Bones of Giants hits comic shops in November 2021.
"Matt Smith's Barbarian Lord is one of my favorite contemporary comics," said Mignola, via a press release. "It's awfully hard to imagine an artist who is a better fit than Matt to draw Hellboy: The Bones of Giants, with its mix of Norse mythology and action-packed drama."
Originally published in 2001, Hellboy: The Bones of Giants takes Hellboy on a journey through Norse mythology after a giant's skeleton clutching a mysterious iron hammer appears on a Swedish riverbank. When Hellboy is the only being able to wield the hammer, he is thrust into a "wild adventure full of Norse legends, mythical creatures, and a threat that could bring not just Earth, but the Nine Realms of Norse mythology to their knees," per the press release.
"Elves, dwarves, wolves, and giants. These are things I've drawn for myself many times before, because I love them," Smith said. "I expect I'll continue to draw them until the wolf eats the sun or I am taken by trolls (fate goes as fate must). What I did not expect was to be invited to draw them for an adaptation of a novel I also love, and have read many times since it was released. Now I can only hope fellow Hellboy and Norse mythology fans have as good a time reading it as I did working on it. Skál!"
Golden, whose newest novel The Road of Bones is set to publish in 2022, said it is a "thrill to return to the world of Hellboy: The Bones of Giants." He said, "When Mike first told me he had this image in his head of lightning flashing down from the sky to strike Mjollnir, where it lay in the grip of the corpse of Thor…well, that was like Christmas morning, getting to indulge my love of Norse myth and my love of Hellboy."
According to Golden, Hellboy's story will finally get the "full color treatment it deserves" in the hands of Smith. "This adaptation exists purely because Matt wanted to draw it, and when you see the art, you'll see how much fun we all had on every page," he said.
Hellboy: The Bones of Giants #1 debuts on Nov. 3, 2021.
Source: Dark Horse Comics