In a year where the passing of celebrities has coloured social media, the spate of deaths over the holiday period has lent the season a sombre tone. I have to say, although I was longing for a break, I haven't been feeling the Christmas spirit much, with a hacking cough and an eye infection.
Nonetheless, I plan to post on some of my Xmas reading and listening here and on our sister blog Materioptikon- Blish's Spock Must Die!, the Fireside Books Doctor Strange and the Twelve Doctors of Christmas- more of the Madman in a Box shortly. Today, however, lets's look at this year's Christmas comics from the Big Two. How do they compare to the Treasury Editions of the Bronze Age or the specials of the last decade?
For me, DC Rebirth didn't turn out to be the event that the New 52 was. I quickly gave up on Hitch's photo-realistic take on the JLA with its widescreen , tension-free plots. In fact, the only DC books I'm enjoying are the Young Animal titles. That said, the DC Rebirth Holiday Special is great VFM with eleven stories. My favourites included "The Night We Saved Xmas" starring Batman and Detective Chimp; "A Flash Christmas Carol" and "Day of Returning"- a one-pager for China's New Super-Man, It was amusing to see Supes and Bats as dads trying to get this year's in-demand present but I was surprised by the absence of tv stars Supergirl and Green Arrow and by the whimsical tone of the comic.
I was equally surprised by the Batman Annual with the charming relationship between of Ace and Bruce Wayne (" D'you want to be a Bathound? Yesh you do, yesh you do"). Neal Adams and Paul Dini also gifted us with a sequel to a Bronze Age classic in "The Not So Silent Night of the Harley Quinn." And obscure Golden Age Wonder Woman foe Minister Blizzard was a welcome if bizarre guest-villain- although the absence of any Robins was keenly felt.
If Harley Quinn feels like DC's biggest star this year, her anarchic brand of cartoon violence spilled over again into this year's Gwenpool Holiday Special from Marvel. The comedy mercenary finds strange new Xmas traditions in a parody comic with a knowing "No More Santa!" gag. The dudebro take on Galactus which first appeared in Squirrel Girl is reprised in adventure for Miles Morales. "Don't worry my dude, you're super in my nice list." There's also an outrageous and hilarious team-up of Hitler and the Red Skull. This book offers a blackly humorous twist on the trend for anti-heroes and partly reformed villains of the Nineties.
Elsewhere, Marvel continues to be more amusing and more clever in their festive offerings than DC: the Power Man/Iron Fist "Sweet Christmas" special offers us a charming seasonal adventure guest starring the Son of Satan and Spider-Woman. Although there are cameos for the Punisher, Doc Strange and Kamala Khan, it's strange that the Marvel icons- Hulk, Peter Parker, Wolverine, even Groot -are offstage this year.
Finally, the long-awaited Doctor Who Christmas Special was a lightweight affair this year but still not a patch on Moffat's Christmas Carol of 2010.
The Return of Doctor Mysterio was less a comment on the prevailing superhero movie trend and more of a tribute to Chrstopher Reeve- even though the finished product was more Lois and Clark than Superman the Movie.
My attention wandered a little and I'm scarcely a casual viewer. My gripe is that, as a sequel to last year's episode, the Doctor's reaction to the loss of River Song was poorly placed and comedy sidekick Nardole- who had a touching little speech at the end - needed more context. Similarly, it should have been clear that the aliens with the "splitting heads" were holdovers from 2015 too.
Capaldi is both funny and furious but the slapstick of which Matt Smith was the, er, master undercuts Twelve's austerity and vein of Glaswegian menace.
More Doctor Who courtsesy of Big Finish in future posts. Wishing you and yours a happy, safe and prosperous 2017.
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