DC’s Twas The Mite Before Christmas #1 – Zipporah Smith, Rob Levin, Ethan Sacks, Natalie Abrams, Jillian Grant, Michael W. Conrad, Josh Trujillo, Sholly Fisch, Writers; Logan Faerber, Bob Quinn, Soon Lee, Marcus “Mas” Smith/Norm Rapmund, Rebekah Isaacs, Gavin Guidry, Andrew Drilon, Juan Bobillo, Artists; John Kalisz, Hi-Fi, Kurt Michael Russell, Ryan Cody, Colorists
Ray – 9.5/10
Ray: I look forward to DC’s holiday special all year. These tend to be a lot of fun, filled with truly out-there stories and great creative teams. Let’s see how this year’s eight stories shake out!
First up is “At Home Alone In Titans Tower” by Zipporah Smith and Logan Faerber. When Christmas festivities get to be a bit too much for Raven, she lashes out with her powers and briefly alienates her teammates. She hides while they head off to a Christmas party—and Trigon apparently thinks this is the perfect opportunity to turn her into a kid to weaken her. That’s about when Mammoth and Shimmer break in for a robbery. Yes, this is an elaborate set-up for a Home Alone parody, but it’s a very funny one. The art is fun and kinetic as well, although it didn’t make it easy to tell who some characters were—this is the Rebirth Titans team with Damian and Ace.
“The Princess Switch” by Levin and Quinn teams Harley and Amethyst has Amethyst needing some time off from princess duties, so Citrine suggests a… body swap? Seems extreme, but Amy picks Harley Quinn, and Harley jumps at the chance to be a Princess, and chaos predictably ensues. Harley doesn’t really learn all that much from this and causes like ten diplomatic incidents, but Amy’s character development here is really strong and I enjoyed seeing Ivy in the unlikely mentor role to the powerful teenage monarch.
“Lex-Tacular Christmas Carol” by Sacks and Lee is exactly what it sounds like on the tin—Lex Luthor getting a visit from some ghosts. Lionel Luthor, Amity Arkham, Deadman, and Spectre play the starring roles, and Sacks even writes in a pastiche on Bob Cratchit and Tiny Tim for the story. We’ve seen many takes on this story, but there’s a very clever twist towards the end that reveals the true mastermind of Lex’s late-night visitors that works, and it’s extremely fun to see these two play off each other. It also feels well in line with Williamson’s Lex characterization.
“Riddler on the Roof” by Abrams and Smith is this issue’s Hanukkah story, and it’s also the best story of the volume. Riddler has been unleashing a series of eight traps and tricks themed to the eight nights of Hanukkah on Gotham, and Batwoman and Julia Pennyworth are on the case. But after the eighth puzzle has her flummoxed, she turns to an unlikely ally—a woman named Quinn who Kate arranges a date with. I figured out Quinn’s identity early on, but the way they work through the puzzles is excellent and the characterization of both Batwoman and the other players is top-notch. Can we just give this creative team a Batwoman series?
“The Santa Copies” by Grant and Isaacs is the most bizarre story in this book, in the best way, as Booster Gold and Rip Hunter find themselves facing a plague of self-replicating Santas. When Santa collapses and Booster touches him, he finds himself turning into a clone of him—followed by being joined by two hapless robbers. Like The Santa Clause if it had a strange sci-fi bent, but the partnership between Booster and Rip is a lot of fun—with the last few scenes having an extra emotional edge knowing what we know about them now.
“Streaks in the Sky” by Conrad and Guidry is a much more melancholy tale than the others, as Superman finds a man about to commit suicide on Christmas eve and asks him for his help. This is obviously all a feint by him to help the man, but he manages it in a very emotional and honest way that finds a great middle ground between the optimism of All-Star Superman and the more oddly cynical take we saw in JMS’ Superman. I think this might actually really help some people who are looking for words to describe what they feel.
“It’s a Bunkerful Life” by Trujillo and Drilon tries to give a new lease on life to the largely disliked Lobdell-era Titan. It doesn’t shy away from the fact that he’s sort of been forgotten by the DCU, and that leads to him having some feelings of inadequacy—until he’s visited by Extrano, the eccentric gay mage who gives him a tour of a world without Bunker—which will apparently be taken over by evil alien clones of the Titans. It doesn’t really make a lick of sense, but then Extrano is usually more about show than anything, and the entire thing has a fun, energetic feel that made me like the character quite a bit more.
Finally, Fisch and Bobillo bring the curtain down with “Wonderful Toys,” a Bat-Mite story. As the Wayne family is trimming the tree, Damian is uninterested in participating, preferring to train—until he gets an unexpected visit from Bat-mite. The chaotic imp doesn’t recognize this Robin, so assumes he must be an impostor—and proceeds to assault him with an array of comical deathtraps. Damian gives him as good as he gets, but when Bat-Mite finds out the truth, he decides to give him an unexpected Christmas gift instead. Really funny story, with a great last scene about a certain tradition among the Wayne boys.
Overall, this issue was incredibly good. Not a single weak story in this and a few instant holiday classics.
To find reviews of all the DC issues, visit DC This Week.
GeekDad received this comic for review purposes.
