Created and written by Grant Morrison, Illustrated by Dan Mora, Letters by Ed Dirkshire, Designer: Scott Newman, Editors: Eric Harburn & Matt Gagnon
For those of curious minds, this comic book review is on the second issue of Klaus (not the 1st). I get comic books at random from my comic book store. I could ask for comic books in order, but I prefer the adventure of finding random ones.
Anyways, in this review I will not be covering the events in the first issue of the 7 part series, so I recommend reading the first one if you like reading in order.
STORY:
The story takes place in a walled-off city, controlled by a profit-seeking king named Lord Magnus. After cancelling Yuletime, Klaus (known by the people as the Yuletime Spirit) infiltrates the castle to bring toys to the kids of the city. Klaus goes non-lethal Assassin's Creed on the guards at night, raising alarms across the city. In the morning, all the kids of the city are greeted with toys and play in the streets with the reanimated toys. Toy birds flew through the air, windup frogs hopped around the snowy streets, singing echoed through the square. Pretty magical.
Then, the evil Lord Magnus confiscated all the toys and gave them to his son, Jonas, who was confined to his castle due to illness. Lord Magnus orders his troops to find the "Yuletime Spirit" and kill him. Before night falls, Jonas is angry with the toys as they did not come to life for him. Simple, lifeless toys made of painted woods.
At night, Klaus attempts his escape beating up a few guards and turning the gigantic warrior of the town, Olav, into a snowman. Klaus quickly tries to escape at the gate, but finds it locked. He turns around to be faced with a pack dogs, followed closely by guards. The story leaves on the cliff hanger line: "And a Merry Yuletime to you, too..."
IMPRESSIONS:
I really enjoyed the story. Based on the cover, I was expecting a gritty Game of Thrones meets Logan Christmas tale. It had touches of Game of Thrones (being thrown into a medieval world and all), but the artwork was both dark and colorful. Night scenes felt like it was darker, grittier world. In the morning, especially with the toys, the colors were brighter and filled with hope. The artwork matched the theme and progression of the story beats. For me, the artwork made the story much more engaging than other comics I have read.
The writing was slick and wasn't overly reliant on older styles of language like some fantasy/sword & shield type stories can be. It was an interesting way to write it, more similar to screenplay. All members involved really did a fantastic job. Dan Mora & Scott Newman had awesome artwork and design for the piece. Ed Dirkshire had a subtle touch to the letters that I think goes unnoticed too often. It helped drive the story while not being in the way. And of course, the story was well-written and crafted in a way that makes you want to read more.
OVERALL:
Its a great story that wasn't that violent. I mean nobody died...except maybe the people thrown off the wall. They might have died, but if they rolled after they hit the ground they could life...with a limp. I would recommend this story for those who are looking for a short, simple series for the holiday season. It might be better to get started tracking it down now before the holidays and cold winter roll around again in a five to six months. Or maybe you want to cool off in the summer...its up to you. I'll give Klaus 4.5 snowballs!
