Ragman Holiday Special ’09
DC Universe Holiday Special ’09 (Ragman)
“Seeing the Light”
Writer – Rob Levin
Art – Brian Ching
Colors – Michael Atiyeh
Letters – Travis Lanham
Editors – Adam Schlagman & Eddie Berganza
What luck… Hanukkah just started, and here we are… about to discuss a (short) Hanukkah-themed story! Who ever said this site could never be relevant? Well… I think it was probably me who said that… but, no matter!
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This is going to be a weird one to synopsize… because, it’s not so much a story, but a vignette. We’ve talked a little about Hanukkah over the past several weeks… I wanna say there have been two other Hanukkah stories this year. In one, Kyle Rayner learned all about the Maccabees and their uprising against the Syrians. Well, that’s kind of the story we get here… only, it’s being delivered alongside a battle between Ragman and some street toughs.
Ragman, like the Maccabees before him, is victorious… and makes his way into a Temple. He is greeted by a Rabbi who calls this latest fight a “miracle” in that he was able to eek out a victory against all odds.
Ragman is then invited to light the final candle on the Menorah… and the Rabbi assures him that better days are ahead.
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So yeah… a tough one to synopsize. But, overall… not a bad little feature!
It’s the first story we’ve had in a number of days that didn’t make me roll my eyes… and didn’t only exist for the express purpose of making the writer feel superior to those around him. So, that’s a win!
I gotta admit, I don’t know diddly-ding-dong-squat about Ragman. I was nearly as surprised to see him included in this special as I was the B’wana Beast. But, unfamiliarity does sometimes breed curiosity… and, I’d say this story actually whet my appetite somewhat for further Ragman stories. That in and of itself tells me that this story, short as it was, was something of a success.
So yeah (again), not much to this one… but sometimes, we really don’t need anything more than this. We don’t always need “commentary” or “satire”… sometimes a story can be told in a single scene. I don’t know if this story just had the benefit of appearing after a couple of particularly heinous features… or, if I just plain dug this one. I guess we’ll never know!
Tomorrow: The Final Story in the ’09 Special!
