With Halloween fast creeping up, you’d do well to stock up on some spooky stories, and thankfully Dark Horse has you covered. Written by Hellboy creator Mike Mignola and illustrated by Matt Smith in his Hellboy Universe debut, “Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: Long Night at Goloski Station” is just what you need to get you through your own spooky long night. To tell us a little more about it, here’s Matt Smith. Stick around for a preview at the end.
‘Long Night at Goloski Station’ isn’t the first time you’ve been published in a “Hellboy” book—you’ve also appeared in the Hellmail letter column. What’s it been like to journey from being a Hellboy fan to a fully fledged Hellboy artist?
Matt Smith: Wild. It’s not something I ever imagined happening. Honestly, I hadn’t imagined working regularly on comics back when I started with “Barbarian Lord.” I was ghost-drawing for a series of chapter books at the time. It was killing my interest in working as an illustrator and I was looking for other things to do. “Barbarian Lord” was an effort to focus solely on ideas I loved before moving along from art as a career. It was definitely what I needed at the time, and then also led into more comics work. But again, I didn’t ever imagine it would lead into working with the comic book artist that has inspired me the most. Can I say wild again? Wild.
Knowing your love of “Hellboy,” I have to ask, what’s your favorite story? What is it about this world that attracts you?
Matt: I don’t know that I could just pick one. That’d be like picking one Iron Maiden song. ‘King Vold’ comes to mind as a favorite short. I love the opening where Aickman takes Hellboy through the folklore of the area. I really want to know what that Tunkall is.
Illustrated by Mike Mignola, colored by Dave Stewart, lettered by Pat Brosseau
The wolves howling over the mountains, the “dreadful” appearance of the king himself. I just love it. I came in on “Hellboy” with the first issue of ‘Wake the Devil’ and I have some heavy nostalgia from that experience—finding myself really taken with this character for the first time—so that’s a favorite too.
You clearly have a lot of love for folklore; it’s evident in all your work. ‘Long Night at Goloski Station’ seems tailor-made for you in this regard. How did it come about?
Matt: I’m not sure exactly if Mike had me in mind for it early on, but I agree it was a very good fit. When he first mentioned it to me, the story seemed to consist of a few elements to be fleshed out in a story—a Siberian werewolf hunter and some bad guys coming out of the mist. That was more than enough for me. Siberian werewolf hunter. Even typing it just now my reaction is “that’s wicked cool.”
Illustrated by Matt Smith, colored by Dave Stewart, lettered by Clem Robins
For a one-shot, you got to touch on a number of different bits of Hellboy mythology. There’s Ed Grey, the Baba Yaga, the silver buttons from ‘The Chapel of Moloch’. . . What was your reaction when you first read the script? Were there any particular moments that you couldn’t wait to draw?
Matt: ‘The Chapel of Moloch’ is another favorite short, and so getting to the origins of the buttons was very cool. The hissing creature in that story is one of my favorite panels in all of Hellboy. It’s both creepy and cracks me up every time.
Illustrated by Mike Mignola, colored by Dave Stewart
As much as I enjoyed those established elements of Hellboy being in this story, I was most taken with the new character of Yad Tovich. I could see his mannerisms and hear his voice reading the script and immediately couldn’t wait to draw him. My main goal in this issue was to try to capture something of the character Mike had written in Yad. I felt if I got anywhere near that, I’d have done the story I was reading some justice.
Continued belowI loved the action in this issue. Having Bishop Zrinyi’s buttons in play opened it up so it wasn’t just a bunch of characters punching each other. I’m curious how much of that was you and how much was Mignola, because your fight sequences in “Barbarian Lord” and “Lake of Fire” were incredibly dynamic too.
Matt: Thanks! It was all there in Mike’s script and I just tried to get it onto the page. Action sequences are generally a challenge for me, so I’m extra glad to find they work for you here.
I know you’ve got “Folklords” with Matt Kindt coming up next month, so you’re busy for now, but I hope we get to see you back in the Hellboy universe again soon. Is there any particular character in this world you’d love to draw?
Matt: The Tunkall! Haha. Seriously, I’d love to work on “Hellboy” again. I’ve had an ongoing interest in Norse mythology for ages, so if it also happened to involve trolls or elves, that’d be even better!
“Hellboy and the B.P.R.D.: Long Night at Goloski Station” is out this Wednesday, just in time for Halloween. You can keep up everything that’s going on in the Hellboy Universe by following Mike Mignola on Twitter, and check out Matt Smith’s work on his website.
with Dave Stewart
Written by Mike Mignola
Illustrated by Matt Smith
Colored by Dave Stewart
Lettered by Clem RobinsA quiet night at a rundown Russian train station turns into an all-out demon battle for Hellboy when three sinister interlopers pass through.
Mike Mignola writes and Matt Smith draws this Western-style supernatural standoff!
