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Multiversity’s Advent Calendar Day 24: Spawn #39

By | December 24th, 2011
Posted in Columns | % Comments

We here at Multiversity get pretty excited about the holidays, and this year we’re sharing that excitement with the rest of you as we celebrate that wonder of wonders: THE HOLIDAY COMIC!

Each day for the next twenty-five days, and in no particular order, we’ll be featuring one yuletide yarn set to the tune of tidings of comfort and joy, and today’s entry is a heartwarming tale of violence, lies and happenstance.

Hit the jump, and hopefully Santa’s gifts will fall on your fire escape.

Day #1#2#3#4#5#6#7#8#9#10#11#12#13#14#15#16#17#18, #19#2#21, #22, #23

Who Did It?  This holiday classic was written and inked by Todd McFarlane, with pencils by Greg Capullo.

What’s It About? The story focuses on a working class family with a young son, Bibsy, who is totes in the Christmas spirit. His older sister, Nadine, is a cranky, hormonal teenager, and his mom is working two jobs to make ends meet. Mom has to go to work, and Nadine is supposed to watch Bibsy. But, there’s an awesome party, so she puts on Rudolph, the Red Nosed Reindeer and bounces.

Eventually, Bibsy falls asleep, but is awoken by some noise up on the rooftop.Must be Santa, right?

WRONG LOLZ, it’s Spawn.But Bibsy thinks it is Santa, and is trying to get to bed in time so Santa doesn’t skip his house – but first, he has to put out the cookies and milk. Meanwhile, Spawn is braining some goons on the roof. Finally, he looks out the window and sees Spawn and the baddies in the air, and takes them for Santa and his reindeer (the kid’s vision is never brought into question, but I think there is some subtext here about the American Health Care System, and how he should have glasses, but doesn’t because of the cost, what with his mom already having two jobs already).

But oh no! Santa didn’t leave a gift for his mom.Luckily, one of Spawn’s punching bags dropped some money, Bibsy finds it, and wraps it up for his mom. She’s a good person, so she gives a lot of it away to the other poor families around. Merry Christmas to all!

How Holiday Friendly Is It?  For a Spawn comic, it is REALLY holiday friendly. If you leave all the violence, the story is relatively heartwarming and sincere. Again, my definition of family friendly is I could share this with a child, and this fails that test, not only because of the violence, but because of the whole “Santa isn’t real” part too.

See you tomorrow for the big finish!


Brian Salvatore

Brian Salvatore is an editor, podcaster, reviewer, writer at large, and general task master at Multiversity. When not writing, he can be found playing music, hanging out with his kids, or playing music with his kids. He also has a dog named Lola, a rowboat, and once met Jimmy Carter. Feel free to email him about good beer, the New York Mets, or the best way to make Chicken Parmagiana (add a thin slice of prosciutto under the cheese).

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