Christmas Comic Books

Each year, I try to pick up some holiday-themed comic books. I'm a little light this year, and they're all Marvel titles, but I did manage to work through a good/bad/ugly trio.

Getting the bad out of the way, Wolverine #49 isn't terrible, but it's pretty mheh. The issue is oversold from the solicitation blurb to the cover (Wolvie never shows up in a Santa suit). There's a funny moment after Wolverine kills a bunch of terrorist elves (seriously), the beginning is solid, and the climax and end are top-notch, very stylistic, and powerful with their lack of dialog.

The good is this year's Marvel Holiday Special #1, I surprisingly great, entertaining read. Not serious at all, the pace is great, and there are some fun stories to be had. "A.I.M. Lang Syne", Shaenon K. Garrity and Andrew Farrago's take on a holiday office party (where an unknowing date is attending at the offices the A.I.M. terrorist organization) is a fun romp, with Ron Lim's solid and personable art pulling the story along nicely. Also, spreading that story across the issue (24-style), is clever.

Scott Gray and Roger Langridge's "how fin fang foom Saved Christmas" unexpectedly pairs up the legendary dragon Fin Fang Foom and Dr. Strange's faithful manservant Wong (that looks weird spelled out). The two thwart a botched Hydra holiday attack. The art is Ditko-esque, and the whole piece is satire, with some not unimportant things to say about dogmatism and relationships. And it's funny.

Then there's Mike Carey and Mike Perkins' Dr. Seuss-ian (ish?) "A is for Annihilus", which is arguably brilliant, and is the "whole package" -- writing and art, and really needs to be experienced to be appreciated.

And there's a "Official Handbook of the Marvel Universe" entry for Santa Clause, written (edited?) by Jeff Christiansen, and does a great job of marrying the history the myth with Marvel's treatment of it over the years.

Finally, there is a gallery of select previous Marvel Holiday Special covers (1991, 1993, 1994, and 1996), with my favorite being the Arthur "Art" Adams 1991 cover, the original issue of which I have somewhere. (Art did the cover for 1993, too, but I think that's an inferior cover, and for me (for various reasons), that cover is a sad snapshot reminder of Marvel's first year in serious decline.)

And the bar from last year's issue (a Harvey Award nominee) is pretty high...

The ugly isn't bad -- it's actually great. But it's the Punisher: X-mas Special #1. Not only does it typify the anti-hero nature of the character (which straddles the fence between that and "non-hero"), it's even grittier when put against a holiday backdrop (think select issues of the Daredevil "Born Again" run). Stuart Moore's story is tight, and C. P. Smith's art is much better than the New Invaders stuff, which may be due to the one-shot nature of the issue, and Dean White's coloring. Smith's art is bit inconsistent, most noticeably in not keeping character's (like Frank Castle's) faces consistent. It's annoying when you have remember the main character is the main character.

Why this get's the "ugly" designation is it's pretty rough stuff, content wise. Published under the Marvel Knights imprint, geared to "spotlight its darkest corners and grittiest characters". The problem is it doesn't bare the MK logo on its cover, and it's even missing Marvel's kludgey (and changing) rating system. While MK titles are generally for "readers 15 and up", I'd argue this title -- with its child death, attempted suicide, strip club, and such -- is somewhere between "Parental Advisory" and "MAX".

Mad About Super Heroes

People who are cooler than me got me Mad About Super Heroes, a consolidation of Mad Magazine's riffs on all things super hero.

This includes takes on Superman (comics/films/TV), X-Men, etc., with artwork from Sergio Aragones, Mort Drucker, Al Jafee, Angelo Torres, and Don Martin.

And while the book self-deprecates as being written by "The Usual Gang of Super-Idiots", there's some clever stuff in almost every panel of every satire.

And though some of the jokes feel a little retread, this is a pretty good tome -- and probably avoids that problem altogether if read in multiple sittings.

Fun, inspiring comedic stuff.

ELEPHANTMEN

I'm reading ELEPHANTMEN: Tales from Mystery City and the World of Hip Flask.

This is amazing stuff. Think well-thought, European Blade Runner sensibilities on an Island of Dr. Moreau skin stretched over an HR Geiger skeleton. Or something.

"2162: THEY ARE THE SURVIVORS of genetic engineering experiments and indoctrination by Doctor Kazushi Nikken and MAPPO, a sinister organization which sought to create suprahuman weapons of mass destruction.

"FREED AND REHABILITATED by the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce, the 'Unhumans' now live amongst men. Legitimized by the 'Elephantmen' act, they are nevertheless denied the right to bear arms and must survive on their wits alone."

Born in the pulp 1940s, the franchise has nothing but improved with age. The Website has a 60-year retrospective, well worth a quick romp. I've been a fan for a while, and this recent incarnation is a brilliant addition to the franchise.

Lots of previews available on the Web, and the second printing of the sold out #1 is on its way.

Twisted ToyFare Theater (Vols. 1 & 2)

"Oh, Sweet Mother, his is funny sh**. They should do a kids cartoon."

I'm reading ToyFare Magazine's Twisted ToyFare Theater, and it now hurts to pee.

ToyFare is a Wizard's toy collection magazine, and the whole thing is awesomely irreverant, but TTT is a whole new level of funny.

The concept is to take toys (many valuable, some MEGO crappy, and some both), and create riffs on everything -- how Jar Jar Binks sucks, how funny it would be if Charlie Brown really hated his servitude to Snoopy, etc. -- and make a comic strip. An adult comic strip.

Spider-Man is a dysfunctional slacker. Captain America is a boyscout. Mr. Fantastic is an elistist megolomaniac. The hulk has consistent dietary problems with broccoli and corn, and with petting furred animals too hard (like Chief Chirpa). Thor's a girly man. The Axis of Evil consists of Gargamel, Skeletor, Cobra Commander and Megatron.

You get the picture.

I laughed out loud reading Volumne 2.

Out. Loud.

Check out samples online.

Oh, this is funny stuff. And it's inspiring stuff for my "Super Secret Project X", which is in the same vein.

And, the collected volumes also include behind-the-scenes techniques. Which also helps "Super Secret Project X".

Ah, I've dropped another tip.

More to come ...