Man-Thing (1997) 3

Better get all eight issues of this series to make sense of “Christmas in Bedlam!”

By 1997 the comic’s industry had taken a beating after the bean counters played on the greed of the carpetbaggers. Marvel was on the verge of bankruptcy as Avi Arad stepped in to take control of the purse strings and save the paper portion of the company with licensed likenesses.

DC had launched its Vertigo line spearheaded by writers like Alan Moore and Neil Gaiman. In doing so they also earned literary accreditation with adults who wanted more than spandex and capes.

In my opinion, Marvel took note and attempted to do the same with a relaunch of an eight-issue mini-series of Man-Thing written by J.M. DeMatteis.

Issue three spends its entirety touching on the plot with time slips to the past to save look to the future.

If you’re buying this for more than the cover, pick up the previous two and the remaining five issues.

A graphic retelling of redemption spun with zombies.

While short on carnage there are some genuinely creepy imaginations plotted between writer James McCann and pencilers David Baldeon and Jeremy Treece. The wording is as eloquent as a Victorian dance step.

This one-and-done Christmas story reads more like any 1960s Marvel team book complete with angst and love triangles.

Amidst unrequited love the Freedom Fighters find a new foe to tangle with known only as the Elf who is in league with the evil Silver Ghost. The plan is to turn the Earth on its axis so New York is the new North Pole.

I kid you not.

There are worse ways to tackle the new millennium than with the Tick.

Always entertaining – sometimes confusing – Tick and Author are especially welcome in every household at Christmas time. Short of the celluloid classic Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, where else ya gonna find a misplaced alien bent on world domination during the happiest time of the year?

Spoon!

The Tick’s Big Yule Log Special (1999) 1

The Tick’s Big Yule Log Special (1999) 1 (present variant)

The Tick’s Big Yule Log Special (1999) 1 (cookie variant)

 

This was a surprise for the 2013 Christmas season. It wasn’t even on my radar, but my friendly local neighborhood comic book pusher hooked me up for this goofy story filled with holiday cheer and imagery.

Thanks, Mike.

Cain and Able extend happy holidays to escaped convict “Killer” Cowan who chooses to wait out the dragnet on Christmas Eve with the caretakers.

Part of the Dollar Comic line of the time, the pair teamed when DC foreclosed on the House of Secrets and moved Able in with his abusive brother. Throughout this issue the duo tag team to entertain Cowan until he finally learns the true meaning of consequences at the behest of Santa’s helpers.