Review: Festive Thrill Power 2017

Â Synopsis:

It’s Christmas and here’s a smorgasbord of Christmas presents for comic book fans: 11 stories fit nicely into this anthology Christmas stocking stuffer. Most of these stories star Judge Dredd. the first story is an amusing tale where you get to Choose your own X-MassÂ We play as Jackson Packard. The next tale is Judge Dredd in the Santa AffairÂ Where a little kid sees what he thinks is Santa Claus and walks up to tell Santa what he wants for Christmas. Only this Santa’s packing heat! After that comes Sinister Dexter: Ray and Finney’s Daze of Christmas.Â It’s monster v monster as one creepy creature trespasses on another creepy creature’s property and a fight is about to ensue but…It’s Christmas time! Then comes Dandridge: A Christmas Ghost Story. What traumatized you the most at Christmas time? I bet Timothy’s story has yours beat. The next holiday tale is One Christmas During Eternity. Tharg’s Future Shocks, a sci-fi tale told in black and white. Another young boy named Tim rushes in to open his presents! But Timmy’s joy turns out to be artificial. Then we come to Judge Dredd: A Creepy Christmas. What happens when a Judicial cadet can’t handle the experience? After that is Stickleback: Twas the Fight Before Christmas. A twisted poem inspired by Twas the Night Before Christmas. Cal-Hab Justice Hogmanay. How will citizens be repressed by 2115? the answer lies within. Another Judge Dredd story follows: Melt. The Judge literally takes on a snowman! And finally Max Normal: No Comics for Old Men. Planet of the Apes for laughs.

The Creative Teams:

As with all anthologies the stories and pacing are uneven. The Highlights for me were Dandridge: A Christmas Ghost Story. It has kind of Tales from the Darkside feel to it. If they ever did a Christmas show on that series then this tale would have fit in nicely. Though it may have to be rated R if it were ever made. Also Max Normal: No Comics for Old Men. I have loved Planet of the Apes since I saw Charlton Heston yell at the Statue of Liberty: “God damn you all to Hell.” I was about 8 years old and have been following these films ever since, I even liked the Tim Burton version. And this story plays like how I would write a Planet of the Apes story if I ever had the privilege. The art is generally great in all of these stories and brings out the best in the author’s words.

In Conclusion:

This is generally a good anthology collection. A couple of 2 star stories but mostly 3 and 4 stars. I’m reviewing this one a little late, but for you last-minute Christmas shoppers this would be a good present for that comic book fan in your life. If you love Judge Dredd and twisted horror stories, especially with a Christmas theme you won’t go wrong adding this to your collection. *** (8.2 Rating)

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Writers – ALAN GRANT, DAN ABNETT, AL EWING, ALEC WORLEY, SI SPENCER, ALAN MOORE, IAN EDGINTON, JIM ALEXANDER, ROB WILLIAMS
GUY ADAMS

Artists – ARTHUR RANSON, ANTHONY WILLIAMS, HENRY FLINT, JON DAVIS-HUNT, KEVIN CULLEN, JESUS REDONDO, I.N.J. CULBARD, JOHN RIDGWAY, BEN WILLSHER, JOHN HIGGINS

Cover Artist – COLIN MACNEIL

Publisher – REBELLION/2000AD

Author Profile

Kevin Given

Kevin Given has studied with â€œ Longridge Writers Group â€ and â€œ Writerâ€™s Boot Camp â€ a speech/communications major from the University of Maine Presque-Isle/Orono sites. He has created the â€œ Karl Vincent Vampire Hunter â€ franchise which includes novels and comic books. They can be found on amazon, Indyplanet and Kindle. For a limited time you can get digital copies of â€œ Karl Vincent: Vampire hunter â€ # 1 and â€œ Files of Karl Vincent â€ # 1 for free on Indyplanet. Kevin is producing the third novel in the series â€œ Dracula Rising â€ (working title) and developing â€œ Foul Blood â€ into comic book form. Don't forget to check out the YouTube show " Comics: Let's Talk " hosted by Kevin Given