Judging by the preview we’re going to be getting a realistic telling of the origin of Santa Claus. Or is it Klaus? Either way, you can count on comic maestro Grant Morrison incorporating some drug usage. Is it good?
Klaus #1 (BOOM! Studios)
Grant Morrison is writing a Santa Claus story and I couldn’t be more excited. The fact that the uber complex and meta writing of Morrison is being used to tell a classic story is fascinating. This is his take on the character, but can he tell it by adding something new?
Why does this comic book matter?
As BOOM! states in their preview: “Grant Morrison is one of the most prolific and best-selling writers in comics, earning a reputation for his ability to effectively revamp superheroes like Animal Man, Batman, and the X-Men. His creator-owned titles are also highly praised, including The Invisibles, Nameless, We3, and Joe the Barbarian because no one tells mythical stories better than him. In Klaus, Grant reimagines one of the biggest cultural myths in history, and we could not be more excited to pair him with one of our homegrown talents, Dan Mora (Hexed)!”
Need we say more?
Fine, you have my attention. What’s good about it?
Dan Mora does a fantastic job in giving the comic a very realistic look and feel. The snow and cold really shine through and you can practically feel the chill as you read. The period of the series is also well rendered and it’s obvious Mora spent a good deal of time researching the clothing and architecture. Meanwhile his rendering of Klaus is very much like a superhero. The guy has bare freaking arms for instance, which would probably leave him with frostbite. From what I can tell he’s very human and a normal guy, but I suppose looking cool is more important. Because yes, he does look cool, and it’s neat to see Santa in a heroic look.
I also really dig Mora’s villains, particularly the Baron of the town and his evil spoiled son. Mora makes the Baron look practically like the Emperor in his robes as his face hides in the shadows of the cloak.
Mora completely nails the final scenes though and without ruining them let’s just say they are incredibly colorful and bizarre. It’s a great way to end the story as it makes one wonder if the story is tying into some kind of fairy tale or fantasy story we aren’t aware of yet.
Morrison writes a good script albeit it’s a little on the nose on its intentions. The basic premise is easy to follow and the ending is a surprise. It spends most of its time setting things up and I suspect the writing will reveal itself as stronger in the next issue. In stereotypical Morrison fashion we’ve been introduced to a cold and unhappy world only to reveal there’s magic at hand. Fans of Happy should enjoy this one.
It can’t be perfect, can it?
I had a hard time suspending my disbelief based on Klaus’ wardrobe. As I stated above it looks cool but there’s no function to it. If he’s supposed to be a real dude how can he not even have sleeves and look as if he’s wearing jeans and a tank top? A shirt that shows off ripped abs I might add.
Klaus himself isn’t very well developed either. His intentions and what he cares about are obvious based on what he fights for here, but who is this guy? Where did he come from? Is he just some hunter with no personality? There’s no time spent beyond him being a simple trader and that’s unfortunate since he’s not very interesting.
Dude must be freezing.
Is It Good?
Much of this reads like a bad Christmas movie from the 50’s with characters saying what they think and feel in order to remind us children should be playing with toys and people should be celebrating rather than working during the holidays. That said, the conclusion introduces a fantastical and magical element that’ll make me come back for more next month.
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