Blake Petit
December 13th 2006, 10:09 PM
Review by: Blake M. Petit Blake@comixtreme.com
Quick Rating: Very Good
Collects: The Last Christmas #1-5
After the world ends, is there really a need for Santa Claus?
Writers: Gerry Duggan & Brian Posehn
Pencils: Rick Remender
Inks: Hilary Barta
Colors: Michelle Madsen
Letters: Ed Dukeshire
Cover Art: Rick Remender & Hilary Barta
Publisher: Image Comics
3/Last_Christmas_TPB.jpgAs anyone who knows me will attest, I’m kind of a traditionalist when it comes to Christmas. I like my Santa Claus jolly, my Mistletoe fresh and my carols in Church Christmas morning. But never let it be said that I can’t also appreciate a good, twisted version of a Christmas story. And that’s exactly what The Last Christmas is.
This story (collecting the five issues of the Image miniseries) is composed by professional comedians and first-time comic writers Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn, with dandy art by industry vets Rick Remender and Hilary Barta. After the inevitable nuclear holocaust plunges the world back into a medieval warzone, roving bands of mutants, zombies and ravagers are crippling the world, with only Santa Claus’ annual visits keeping hope alive. The ravagers finally make it to the North Pole, though, slaughtering Santa’s elves and reindeer, killing his wife and leaving St. Nick for dead.
Santa survives, but with his wife dead and home destroyed, he plunges into a suicidal depression. But his attempts are no good – as long as there’s one child left who still believes in him, he can’t die. So Santa decides to take care of things.
For such a bleak story description, this comic is surprisingly funny and, ultimately, heartwarming as well. Santa Claus here is an old man brought to the brink, but who ultimately is still the same decent soul he’s always been. The kids and villains are somewhat stereotypical, but you can forgive that in a story of this sort. They really just exist to move the story from one point to the next, after all. Santa is the only one who has a real character, and he’s the only one who really needs it.
Although Duggan and Posehn are writing their first comic book here, they do a surprisingly good job. They’ve got a natural grasp for how to use the form, how to pace a comic book, how to insert story beats to keep it flowing at a natural pace. Some of the credit for that should go to the art team as well, of course. Rick Remender’s pencils convey the story very well, and Hilary Barta’s inks give just the right depth, dimension and (when necessary) humor to the story. Barta is an old hand at humor comics, and work like this should be seen more often.
This paperback may be called The Last Christmas, but Duggan and Posehn leave the comic wide open for a sequel. If they decide to pursue it, I’d be inclined to pick it up. Hopefully, though, if they do they’ll do it as a one-shot or a paperback set to come out in the fall – the only real problem with this story in miniseries form is that no one really wants to read a Christmas comic book in May. This is one time waiting for the trade felt pretty natural.
Story:
fullfullfullfullnone
Art:
fullfullfullfullhalf
Overall:
fullfullfullfullnone
Buy Last Christmas products from X-World and save! ( http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=2293&cat=LAST+CHRISTMAS)
Quick Rating: Very Good
Collects: The Last Christmas #1-5
After the world ends, is there really a need for Santa Claus?
Writers: Gerry Duggan & Brian Posehn
Pencils: Rick Remender
Inks: Hilary Barta
Colors: Michelle Madsen
Letters: Ed Dukeshire
Cover Art: Rick Remender & Hilary Barta
Publisher: Image Comics
3/Last_Christmas_TPB.jpgAs anyone who knows me will attest, I’m kind of a traditionalist when it comes to Christmas. I like my Santa Claus jolly, my Mistletoe fresh and my carols in Church Christmas morning. But never let it be said that I can’t also appreciate a good, twisted version of a Christmas story. And that’s exactly what The Last Christmas is.
This story (collecting the five issues of the Image miniseries) is composed by professional comedians and first-time comic writers Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn, with dandy art by industry vets Rick Remender and Hilary Barta. After the inevitable nuclear holocaust plunges the world back into a medieval warzone, roving bands of mutants, zombies and ravagers are crippling the world, with only Santa Claus’ annual visits keeping hope alive. The ravagers finally make it to the North Pole, though, slaughtering Santa’s elves and reindeer, killing his wife and leaving St. Nick for dead.
Santa survives, but with his wife dead and home destroyed, he plunges into a suicidal depression. But his attempts are no good – as long as there’s one child left who still believes in him, he can’t die. So Santa decides to take care of things.
For such a bleak story description, this comic is surprisingly funny and, ultimately, heartwarming as well. Santa Claus here is an old man brought to the brink, but who ultimately is still the same decent soul he’s always been. The kids and villains are somewhat stereotypical, but you can forgive that in a story of this sort. They really just exist to move the story from one point to the next, after all. Santa is the only one who has a real character, and he’s the only one who really needs it.
Although Duggan and Posehn are writing their first comic book here, they do a surprisingly good job. They’ve got a natural grasp for how to use the form, how to pace a comic book, how to insert story beats to keep it flowing at a natural pace. Some of the credit for that should go to the art team as well, of course. Rick Remender’s pencils convey the story very well, and Hilary Barta’s inks give just the right depth, dimension and (when necessary) humor to the story. Barta is an old hand at humor comics, and work like this should be seen more often.
This paperback may be called The Last Christmas, but Duggan and Posehn leave the comic wide open for a sequel. If they decide to pursue it, I’d be inclined to pick it up. Hopefully, though, if they do they’ll do it as a one-shot or a paperback set to come out in the fall – the only real problem with this story in miniseries form is that no one really wants to read a Christmas comic book in May. This is one time waiting for the trade felt pretty natural.
Story:
fullfullfullfullnone
Art:
fullfullfullfullhalf
Overall:
fullfullfullfullnone
Buy Last Christmas products from X-World and save! ( http://x-worldcomics.com/yourvirtualstore/shopdisplayproducts.asp?id=2293&cat=LAST+CHRISTMAS)