The Latest DC Holiday Special Is Cheery, Dark & Fun

Written by Tom G. Wolf

The end of the year is rapidly approaching – and that means it’s time for another DC Holiday Special! The 2017 instalment features 11 different stories of holiday cheer, featuring most of your favourite DC characters, and a number of B-listers as well.

Comic anthologies are always a bit of a mixed bag. It’s great to see so many different artists and writers working on the one book, but some are always going to stand out as stronger than others. The Holiday angle adds an extra level of risk; if you’ve read comics for any length of time, you’ve seen superheroes delivering Christmas presents. It’s nice and heart-warming, sure, but it’s also very disposable. The temptation to go for overt Christmas cheer and an “aw shucks” feelgood ending can really bowdlerise otherwise great creatives.

Fortunately, outright schmaltz is avoided in most of these stories. There’s plenty of standard Christmas fare, like The Flash helping people get home for the holidays, and Starfire getting a lesson in what Christmas is all about – but there are a few interesting novelties as well.

To showcase all of this seasonal festivity, there’s also a framing story. Clark Kent and Constantine drinking in Bibbo’s bar, though naturally, Clark is only drinking club soda. Clark is seemingly a bit gloomy, so Bibbo launches a whole heap of stories to cheer him up i.e. the stories that follow.

This particular framing device was a questionable move; while framing stories can be quite entertaining in their own right, this one feels like it was developed in total isolation from the other stories. Several run directly counter to Bibbo’s protestations that “things ain’t so bad”. Deathstroke steals presents for his family? One can only imagine Clark’s reaction to hearing some of this stuff.

The most memorable (and certainly darkest) story is the Hanukkah-themed piece featuring Sgt Rock. A tale of a wounded American soldier and the Nazi officer he’s captured, bunkered down in the snow – it’s pretty grim stuff, but it’s significantly more affecting for it.

Similarly notable is Swamp Thing’s appearance. Who would have thought that Cronenbergian body horror, nuclear war, psychosis and attempted murder could make for an oddly heartfelt Christmas story? Though thinking about it, this may not be a special to hand to the kids.

None of the stories in the DC Holiday Special 2017 are likely to be future classics, but they’re entertaining enough and appropriately seasonal. The DC Holiday Special 2017 is available from all good comic stores now.

Pic via DC Comics