| Comic Review | Dana Place |
The Last Christmas #1 (of 6)
Writers: Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn
Penciller: Rick Remender
Inker: Hillary Barta
Colorist: Michelle Madsen
Plot:
After the apocalypse, Gary the Snowman is telling a nice
sing songy tale of Christmas after the apocalypse and how
Santa and his elves are changing with the times. After the
world has been destroyed, a group of zombie-like gangs
called “marauders” are going from town to town killing
anyone they can find. One Christmas Eve as Santa is out on
his yearly rounds, they make it to the North Pole. When
Santa arrives, he finds the village in ruins. The marauders
have burned most of the village, killing most of the elves
and Mrs. Clause. When Santa tries to save his wife he is
shot, and well since he is immortal, he survives, only to
have to live with the destruction of his home.
Review: The Last Christmas is a cross between the old
Bing Crosby narrated “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” claymation family film, and pretty much any “B” action movie
that comes to mind, and the references are plenty and pretty
blatant. That isn’t a bad thing of course; it is actually a
large part of the humor. You can tell that Gerry Duggan and
Brian Posehn are children of the 80s as the book is laced
with pop-culture references that only a kid that has logged
thousands of hours of television would enjoy. The humor is
completely dark, with various suicide attempts by Chris
Cringle, surly elves, and a half naked Santa Claus that
enjoys lathering himself in pancake syrup. This book is only
about 22 pages, but it has more fun, violence and pop
culture than most mainstream comics have in an entire story
arc. Rick Remender did a fantastic job on the art and I
really can’t think of anything negative to say about the
book. Except that you may want to keep it out of the hands
of your four year old. This is the first of a six part
series that only seems to be gearing up for more violence
and dark humor. If your store is carrying this book, pick it
up. If not, stand outside your local comic store and tape
yourself cursing at the little children. Once you read it, I
am sure we will both agree that it was worth the trouble.
Special thanks go out to Jeremy Shorr, owner of
Titan Comics for allowing us to use his advance
preview books for review purposes.
