Spectre (vol.4) #12 (February, 2002)
"The Spectre of Christmas!"
Writer - J.M. DeMatteis
Artist - Ryan Sook
Letters - Chris Eliopoulos
Colors - Guy Major
Assistant Editor - Morgan Dontanville
Editor - Dan Raspler
Cover Price: $2.50
Heyyy, Happy Festivus everybody!
I ask you what better way to air my grievances and test my strength then to discuss an issue of Spectre?!
Anyone who has listened to any of the programming on the Cosmic Treadmill "Network" knows that the Spectre ain't exactly my cuppa tea. I always saw the character as nothing more than a moody and irritable "get out of jail free" card who writers could pull out whenever they needed to make their story seem more important... or to bail them out when they write themselves into a corner.
This is probably why the only time I actually actively collected his title was when Hal was wearing the rags. Surely Hal Jordan could make this property interesting, right?
Right?
Well'a let'ssssa find out'a.
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We open on a narrated scene of Hal-as-Spectre watching Hal-as-young-boy moodily watching his family prepare for Christmas... for some reason, this brings him great joy. Suddenly he is whisked away and finds himself stood right at the foot of Santa Claus... who is in need of Spectrey aid. Hal is incredulous at first... which, c'mon, considering what the Spectre is, is meeting Santa really outside the realm of possibilities?
Hal learns that his Spectre-temple (or whatever it is) has been pulled through a rift of sorts. Hal is still in all kinds of disbelief over the situation... but Santa presses on regardless. He assures him that everything exists where they are... the Easter Bunny, even the Great and Powerful Oz. This story ain't about them though.
Santa and the Spectre arrive at a Christmas Party, which is where we meet the fella narrating the story... Charles Dickens. Hal is pretty taken aback by this, as growing up his father would read A Christmas Carol in the days leading up to Christmas. Hal lets himself go, and begins to enjoy himself at the soiree.
We shift scenes to Hal's niece, Helen. She is playing Candy Land or something with... are you kidding me... the Phantom Stranger?! The Spectre and the Phantom Stranger? Oh c'mon! It's been nearing on twenty-years since the last time I even looked at this series, so I can't say exactly what's going on here. Either way, she kicks the board away and says it's "for babies"...
Back in Santa's Village the party finally begins to die down... until the only people left are Mr. and Mrs. Claus, Charles Dickens, Abin Sur (who has been hanging around throughout this run) and the Spectre himself. Hal finally remembers that Santa asked him there for a reason, and it's high time they got around to dealing with it. Santa sends Hal (and Dickens) to another place... a town or something, but one not nearly as lively and animated as Santa's.
Upon arrival, they are greeted with the repeated shrieking of "Get Out!" The person behind this voice is revealed to be... Ebeneezer Scrooge, and he's pretty ticked off. Ya see, he hates the fact that he's only remembered for being the villain of A Christmas Carol... and how nobody thinks of him as the man he became at the end of the story... which, I gotta admit, is a bit clever! Apropos of nothing, Scrooge kinda looks like Stan and Ollie's boss at the Toy Factory in March of the Wooden Soldiers.
And so, he sics a bunch of witches on Hal and Chuck! They're just the thing to kayo our heroes... after which, Scrooge and Company loads Dickens into a coffin and ties Hal to a tree... upside down? Okay then. Odd customs, but who am I to judge?
While hangin', Hal revisits that memory of the moody boy watching his family getting into the Christmas Spirit. We learn that this was Hal's first Christmas following his father's death... and the lengths his mother went to that day to get him to smile... laugh even! She sang... very poorly.
The memory causes Hal to begin laughing out loud.
And, as we all know... laughter is contagious!
Amid the frivolity, Santa and Company arrive to spread even more Christmas cheer!
With his job complete, Hal returns through the rift where he meets up with his niece and the Phantom Stranger... and we're outta here.
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This issue does a lot of things right... but, I still can't say that I necessarily enjoyed it. I feel like this was trying to evoke a Sandman sort of feeling, bringing in literary characters and what-not... but didn't quite stick the landing, at least not in the "overall" sense.
Let's get the Dickens stuff out of the way first. I thought the idea that Scrooge is tired of only being looked at as a villain was super clever... because, really... nobody talks about the "changed man" he becomes after being visited by the ghosts. It's always about what he was a penny-pinchin' ol' skinflint 'e was ('e was? 'e was!) Nobody's going to get that reference... it's okay though.
I feel like more could've been done with that concept. Like, an entire arc of Fables or something... ya know? They just burned through it too quickly. I won't go so far as to call the idea "mind-blowing", but... it's wonderfully clever regardless.
Let's talk Hal. He kinda wraps himself up in his Christmas memories... which is sorta what we all do, right? I mean, I'm coming to you today as a childless adult... Christmas has a significantly different meaning to me now than it did 20-30 years ago. It was certainly better back in the long ago, and had a "magic" to it... magic that can still cause me to smile (laugh even).
Christmas as an adult (without children) doesn't really bring that kind of joy. We touched on this when we discussed a Wally West Christmas last week. You find yourself creating traditions... perhaps to convince yourself that things are just as special as before. Maybe even a twelve-day blogging marathon... ahem.
What I'm getting at is, Hal found the Christmas spirit in memories of his youth... and in sharing his joviality, he was able to bring Christmas to a place it otherwise wouldn't have been. This works on many levels... and hits me a little closer to home than I had initially realized.
Overall... a perfectly readable and enjoyable book (with wonderful Ryan Sook art). A little disappointing in that it kinda rushed through and squandered a really cool take on Ebeneezer Scrooge. It doesn't look like this issue (or series) is available digitally... I'm guessing DC might not want us to remember that Hal Jordan was ever the Spectre!
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On the Tenth Day of Christmas on Infinite Earths, I gave to you, Spectre (vol.4) #12, Batman #598, Batman #596, Flash (vol.5) #17,Batman and the Outsiders #31, Captain Atom #13! Scooby-Doo! #139, Superman #369, Impulse #34, and a Flash (vol.2) #73 Discussion and Review.
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Batman #598 (February, 2002)
"Santa Klaus is Coming to Town!"
Writer - Ed Brubaker
Pencils - Scott McDaniel
Inks - Andy Owens
Colors - Roberta Tewes
Separations - WildStorm FX
Letters - John Costanza
Associate Editor - Michael Wright
Editor - Bob Schreck
Cover Price: $2.25
Hey remember yesterday when we met Santa Klaus? Well, we're just two months later (publishing time), and he's back... just in time for Christmas, even!
Unfortunately, all of DC's books that shipped in December, 2001 were part of a weird "cover theme" month... and so, we're robbed of a fun Holiday cover. Not the biggest fan of this (or any) cover-theme, but it's far better than that month during the late 90's where it was just close-ups on a hero's face. Yeesh!
Anyhoo, let's see what this creep's got in his sleigh for us good girls and boys!
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It's a week before Christmas, and we open at Wayne Manor. The man of the house is quite displeased that his bodyguard (Sasha Bordeaux) has found where he keeps all of the Christmas decorations. He tells her they don't celebrate the Holidays there, but she ain't havin' none of it. Before Bruce can put up too much more of an argument, he spies the Bat-Signal illuminating the night sky... and he's off to work in a flash.
We rejoin him, in his work duds, at a Gotham dentist office where he meets Detective Montoya. She tells him that our new pal Santa Klaus had been brought in for some oral surgery (impacted molars!), and during the procedure, he happened to overtake the surgical team and get away!
Not before killing them though!
Renee brings Batman out into the reception area where he speaks to a couple of survivors: a nurse and a security guard. They both report that Santa Klaus knew their darkest "naughty" secrets... it was as though he could read their minds...
We catch up with Klaus as he roams the streets of Gotham, causing all sorts of mischief by telling people the secrets they never want to hear said aloud. He happens upon a pair of panhandling children who he hires as gun-wielding "elves".
Back at Wayne Manor, Bruce gets all melancholy staring at Sasha's Christmas Tree. He briefly allows himself to think back to a perfect holiday season from his youth, before snapping out of it.
Over the next few days, reports come in about a dude in a Santa costume (flanked by a pair of elves) handing out gifts to naughty men and women. Those gifts are, naturally, bombs.
Batman is called in to check out the latest bombsite... a bar, where ol' Klaus just went nuts handing out "gifts" left and right. A bartender managed to survive the blast, because he chased after "Santa" to try and get a gift for his kid. That's when he saw him push the detonator... which blew up the whole joint. The bartender claims to have overheard Santa Klaus say he now had "ze perfect chance".
Batman immediately assumes this means that the baddie is going to bomb Gothafeller Center... er, Gotham Square. And, sure enough, Klaus and Company are present and accounted for... and handing out gifts!
Santa tries handing a gift to one man in particular, who turns it down on account'a he's Jewish. This causes Klaus to fly into a rage... how dare he refuse one of his gifts! Luckily, the ruckus caused is enough to tip Batman and the GCPD off on his location!
Batman has the GCPD comb the crowd for "gifts" while he gives chase to Klaus. As he follows, Batman accidentally knocks a fella down. Unfortunately, that fella was smoking a cigarette... which rolled right under the giant Gotham Square Christmas Tree! Before we know it, the whole thing has gone up in flames. They probably should've refilled the water reservoir!
During the struggle, Santa himself winds up engulfed. Using his cape, Batman manages to put out the fire... and Santa Klaus's "season of giving" comes to a close.
We wrap up back in the Batcave, where Sasha has brought Bruce his Christmas gift. He sheepishly tells her that he didn't get her anything. She's not surprised. Bruce unwraps the present, and is shocked that it's just what he had wanted (we readers don't get to see what's in the box...). The pair retire to the not-cavey part of the Manor to watch some Christmas movies, and we're outta here.
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Well, that's more like it, eh?
While I'm certainly a "Christmas all year long" type'a dude, it's definitely better to see ol' Santa Klaus as close to the actual Holiday as possible.
Thing of it is, there ain't all that much more to say about him, right? We know from yesterday's piece that he's going to punish all of the "bad" boys and girls... only this time around we get the added wrinkle that he might be able to read minds? Does that mean he knows about Batman's secrets? That kinda ups the ante, dunnit? Guess it's a moot point though... dude went down pretty easy.
I'm not sure we've discussed Sasha yet on the blog... I thought she was a pretty fun character, and that she added a bunch to the bat-books around this time. I had a buddy I worked with who was positively obsessed with her, for whatever reason... kept asking me questions about her, at a time when she only had all of five appearances.
I appreciated how she could go from all-business bodyguard, to a sorta perky, sorta charming pain in Bruce's butt. I hated it when she got sucked into the post-Infinite Crisis Checkmate book, because that book be boring, my friends.
I'm not sure if this is a complaint or not... but, I'm really wondering what Sasha's gift to Bruce was. It's been... jeez, 16-17 years since I read any of this... so I don't know if it was ever followed up on, or was just meant to be a nice "moment" between the two. I'm pretty sure many readers were convinced that there was going to be a long and tangled romance between the two... and thought maybe this was going to be the start of it.
Of course, that's not the case... the following month will see Batman: The 10-Cent Adventure, which rolls right into the several months-long Bruce Wayne: Murderer/Fugitive storyline... which, I'm now kinda getting an itch to revisit.
Overall... this was a good read. If you're a sucker for Christmas books like I am, this one's a no-brainer. If you wanna see some Moonlighting-esque awkwardness and contention between Bruce and Sasha... you'll probably dig this one as well. This issue is available digitally.
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Batman #596 (December, 2001)
"City on Fire"
Writer - Ed Brubaker
Pencils - Scott McDaniel
Inks - Aaron Sowd
Colors - Roberta Tewes
Separations - WildStorm FX
Letters - John Costanza
Associate Editor - Michael Wright
Editor - Bob Schreck
Cover Price: $2.25
Okay, we've got a strange one today... not necessarily Christmas themed, per say... but features a homicidal Santa Claus! Er, make that Santa Klaus.
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So, the Joker did that whole prison riot thing at The Slab which led to plenty of baddies escaping into the world. From there, he'd do the same thing over at Arkham Asylum... so, now there are a bunch more not-safe-for-the-streets types prowling Gotham City. One of whom is a fella they call Santa Klaus. He dresses up like Santa, ya see... he also speaks with a thick German accent. This guy really seems to think he's Santa Claus, and takes the "Naughty List" deadly serious... which is probably the reason he was locked up in Arkham.
As Klaus deals with a motorist's carbon footprint, Batman is across town fighting his way through a burning building. He's following the voice of, what he believes to be, a trapped civilian. What it turns out being is a corpse with a tape-player strapped to its chest.
So yeah, whole thing was a trap! Batman grabs the body, and bursts out a nearby window before the place goes boom.
Shortly, Batman is chatted up by Detective Montoya... and another guy, maybe Crispus Allen... though, I thought it was a little while until he showed up. Either way, it ain't Bullock. Batman reveals that the body belonged to a fella named Yuri Kalanikov, a lieutenant in the Odessa Mob, and the third of their number to fall in the past couple weeks. Batman is certain that Lew Moxon is behind this.
We shift scenes to Moxon associate, Mr. Zeiss. At least I think he was still Moxon's associate/bodyguard at this point. Either way, he's informed that Batman survived the bomb... and he's not surprised, after all... it is Batman. He gazes out the window using a pair of binoculars, and we learn the next step in his plan. He's planning on killing another Odessa Mobster, Gregor Popavich when he goes out to dinner with his young daughter. Zeiss confirms this with his Russian hostage, Dmitri.
We rejoin Santa Klaus as the Batmobile roars past him. He considers punishing him for speeding, but decides to take a nap in a dumpster instead.
Some time passes, and a bunch of nogoodniks happen across the dumpster dweller, and decide to push him down a hill and into traffic! This doesn't end up well for anyone.
We pop back over to Batman, who is in position for Zeiss's assassination attempt on Popavich. Zeiss is also in position, and has taken a few extra measures to ensure this all goes down according to plan. He has a sniper... and a bomb!
No sooner do Popavich and his young daughter emerge from their ride, does Zeiss leap into action. Batman follows suit.
Before Batman can nab the baddie, Zeiss grabs Popavich's daughter by the scruff of her neck and threatens to kill her if anybody moves. Zeiss turns to Batman and informs him that, no matter what his next move is... somebody is going to die. Either he'll break the girl's neck... or his sniper will take out Popavich.
Popavich pleads with Zeiss to kill him and let his daughter go, but before we can see how this would've played out, Santa Klaus has come to town!
The distraction is enough so that Batman can dive over to the girl and get her to safety.
The sniper finally takes his shot, and winds up winging Santa in the shoulder. Now, it's down to just Batman and Zeiss.
Or, it would be... if not for that bomb Zeiss had planted as a back-up.
In the explosion, our man Zeiss manages to get away. Moments later, the GCPD arrive on the scene, and when Popavich is asked for a statement, he claims that his "eyes were closed" the entire time. Whatta jackass.
We wrap up with Santa Klaus being loaded into an ambulance where he tells the EMTs that they've both been "güt boys".
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Ya know, I hate using this small forum as a way to complain about current comics and the culture around them... buuuuuut, issues like this make me miss when we could get a Batman book that just told a good story, and wasn't trying to be (and being ridiculously lauded as) an "instant classic". Though in fairness, I suppose if "retweets" were a thing back in ye old 2001, this one probably would've been hailed as such too.
What we have here is a pretty seamless way to tie into the Joker's Last Laugh crossover event, while keeping Batman's story moving forward. Sometimes tie-ins result in a book's narrative being derailed for a time... here, however... it's not much of a hindrance at all! We get a page of Jokery exposition to open the issue, and from there we're off to the races! Really well done!
It is a bit of a breezy issue, a quick read... but, it's from the 21st Century, so I'm not really expecting more than a few good scenes. Scott McDaniel's art is really nice... though, for whatever reason, I prefer him on Nightwing. I'll say he's a better fit here than on the Superman books though!
Overall... like I said above, not a Christmas issue... per say. So, if you're in a holly jolly mood, this one might not scratch that itch. Though, if you're just looking for a good (if brief) story, this might be right up your alley. This issue is available digitally.
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