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 we set our eyes on one of the most unique holiday narratives of all time, Green Lantern Mosaic # 9.
Meet you after the jump!
Day #1, #2, #3, #4, #5, #6, #7, #8, #9, #10, #11, #12
Who Did It? “Merry Mosaic” was written by Gerard Jones, with art by both Jim Balent, and Mark Beachum.
What Is It About? Let’s get this out of the way right up front, okay? John Stewart is the best Green Lantern. Now that we’ve established the facts, let me explain Green Lantern: Mosaic. Launched in 1992, Mosaic was an ongoing series that spun out of the main Green Lantern series, and sadly, only lasted 18 (brilliant) issues. It told the story of John Stewart as he served as the assigned caretaker of “Mosaic World”, a planet populated by alien peoples who had been uprooted from their home planets and relocated there by the lonely, but quite deranged Guardian, Appa Ali Apsa. Stewart was tasked by the only slightly-less-crazy Guardians with forging the disparate group into a unified community, and to protect the volatile world from dissolving into chaos.
In Mosaic # 9, John throws a Christmas party, and invites a handful of the races to join in on the festivities. But John’s effort to unify only seems to turn a larger spotlight on their differences.
The Xudarians (Tomar-Re’s people) tell the story of Xush-Nut-Nut and the time he saw the rainbow.
Tindon Ripper, the Berserker, attempts to flay an Earth boy, as is traditionally done on the Night of the Sweet Smoke.
And who can forget the Steam Frogs extolling heir future larvae and the eventual bursting of bellies that will take place. (Image withheld for your own protection.)
When some of the aliens’ traditions begin to rub the Earthlings the wrong way, John is forced to step in and remind the humans of the inherent violence and oddities found in their own Christmas celebrations. But in doing so, John can’t help but think about his own Christmases-past, and how parts of the Christmas lore have shaped his life, both for good and for ill. And as John is wont to do throughout Mosaic, he begins down a uneasy spiral of bleak revelation and honesty that ultimately ends with him asking more questions about faith and the reality of faith than anybody present is comfortable with.
And then the Pans show up.
Fashionably late to a party in desperate need of some livening up. Described as “eternal children from a world where forgotten adults long ago found a way to halt aging”, the Pans immediately start tearing into the food and asking where the presents are. Their child-like wonder goes contagious, dissolving the barriers separating the races, and suddenly it’s Christmas on Mosaic World… or is it Tuxushta… or is it the time when mud runs high… or the Night of Sweet Smoke… or does it even matter?
How Holiday Friendly Is It? My friend Scott swears this is the perfect Christmas comic, and while I maybe know if I’d go that far, I’ll say that it’s pretty darn close. It’s not an easy book to pick up and read cold. There’s a lot of back story that plays into the biggest moments of the issue, and if you’re a fan of the John Stewart made popular by Justice League and Justice League Unlimited (or even the guy running around in the Green Lantern Corps right now), well, this is most certainly not THAT guy.
But I think we can all agree that the holidays are weird, and sometimes they can be hard to get through even if we do share a common background and religious or non-religious touchstone with those where spend time with. Mosaic #9 knows that too, but doesn’t shy away from being real about the absurdity of it all, while at the same time embracing and celebrating the beauty that’s there as well.
