We are taking a few days off from publishing new content for the holidays, so enjoy some of our favorite Christmas-themed writing over the past 11 years! Merry Christmas to all!
Happy Holidays everyone! It seems fitting that during this time of family, tradition, and frantic travel and gift giving that we talk about Santa Claus: a man who in the case of “Klaus Life & Times of Joe Christmas” #1 is an immortal, alien fighting, monster hunting, super hero who still manages to fulfill his traditional duties of traveling around the world and giving gifts to children.
Yep, it’s pretty darn wild.
Written by Grant MorrisonCover by Dan Mora
Illustrated and colored by: Dan Mora
* In the tradition of Grant Morrison ‘s 2001 New X-Men Annual , BOOM! Studios presents a widescreen comic that catalogs the life and times of one Joe Christmas.
* Abandoned as a baby, Joe Christmas is taken in by Klaus. In this holiday calendar-inspired comic, experience 25 all new short stories of Klaus teaming up with Joe Christmas over the years!
* Grant Morrison (New X-Men) and Dan Mora (Buffy the Vampire Slayer) return to the winter world of Klaus for an all new holiday special!
The history behind the creation of the Santa Claus that we know and love today are actually really interesting and go back thousands of years. He originally started off as a story of an early Christian bishop who threw loaf of bread with coins baked in down the chimneys of poor people, then proceeded to move through Europe where he picked up his bushy white beard and red robes, moved to the United States where he gave presents to soldiers during the American Civil War, and then became the red and white clad spokesman for Coca Cola in the 1930’s.
The reason for this brief history lesson is to show that the meaning and symbolism behind one of the biggest symbols of Christmas has been around for a long time and has undergone some pretty radical transformations over the centuries, and it is within that grand and strange tradition of Santa Claus where “Klaus Life & Times of Joe Christmas” #1 plants its flag.
The comic itself is a strange one, and is kind of difficult to talk about at any length. It’s a simple story, following the eponymous Santa Klaus as he discovers an abandoned orphan named Joe, does his utmost to help him, and winds up befriending the boy and taking him on a whole bunch of adventures. There are two things that make this comic book unique. First, this version of Santa isn’t the jolly bowl of overweight jelly who is a friend to all the children. This version of Santa is a warrior who looks like he would be more at home on a Viking long ship than sitting in a shopping mall. Second, the story is presented entirely in single page spreads, and makes the bold choice to tell a story with no dialogue.
The story for “Klaus Life & Times of Joe Christmas” #1 comes courtesy of Grant Morrison, one of the most famous and strangest comic book writers out there. While this isn’t the strangest comic that Morrison has ever penned, it’s a story that asks a lot from the reader and it could be argued that this is barely a comic, just a collection of well drawn single page spreads. There are no panels to break up the story and no dialogue to cue the reader to what is going on. It’s a comic that relies entirely on visual storytelling and demands that the audience fill in the blanks themselves.
Thankfully, Morrison hasn’t lost his storytelling chops and “Klaus Life & Times of Joe Christmas” #1 still manages to tell a fun, zany, and heartwarming story about an orphan boy growing up and going on epic adventures with Santa Klaus: Christmas Warrior. What makes the story great is how Morrison manages the interplay between traditional images of Christmas cheer with off the wall comic book insanity. It’s not every day that we get to see heartwarming scenes of a new family singing Christmas carols by the fireplace next to a full page image of Santa fighting off a gang of evil umbrellas on the moon. There’s even a fun reference to the ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’ story line in the comic that I won’t spoil for you, but you’ll know it when you see it.
Continued belowWhile Morrison does a great job laying the foundation an engaging story, the real challenge towards making “Klaus Life & Times of Joe Christmas” #1 a comic worth buying falls to the artist Dan Mora. Since the comic relies on massive, single page images Mora has the interesting challenge of filling each page with enough imagery to make it interesting to look at, while at the same time providing enough detail to provide the reader with enough information so they can figure out how the characters got to this particular moment, process what is happening, and try to figure out where the characters may have gone on from there. It’s a format that doesn’t provide a whole lot of wiggle room for mistakes and Mora pulls it off incredibly well. In particular, the action scenes have a fantastic sense of motion and implied narrative, there’s always something going on and there’s plenty of stuff that will grab the reader’s eye and force them to slow down and appreciate each page. Even in the quitter moments, Mora demonstrates a fantastic attention to detail and his use of narrow lines and exaggerated features allow for incredibly expressive artwork that lets the reader pick up on the nuances and little emotions of the characters in an instant. Mora is the perfect artist for this kind of book and his energy and style absolutely make the comic.
Upon initial viewing, “Klaus Life & Times of Joe Christmas” #1 seems like a letdown. The choice to tell a person’s life story in a single issue, and the choice to only use big massive splash pages instead of traditional panels, make the comic seem rushed. However, if you’re willing to slow down, take a step back, and pay attention to the tremendous amount of detail that is placed on each page, you will be rewarded with a heartwarming, engaging, and touching story of an immortal warrior Santa Klaus and the orphan boy who learned the true meaning of Christmas by fighting fruitcake meteors and evil businessmen on pogo sticks.
Final Verdict: 8.9-While the choice to have no dialogue and no panel layout might not be a popular one, it’s still a touching story about celebrating Christmas with some amazing artwork and fun ideas.
