70s

REVIEW: Barbarella Holiday Special

By Kevin Given 6 years ago

Writer – Jean Marc Lofficier

Art – Jose Luiz Ruiz Perez

Colors – Bryan Wetstein

Letters – Jose Luiz Ruiz Perez

Publisher – Dynamite

“By the powers granted to me by the spirit of Christmas, I hereby take possession of this planet, which I name – Christmas.” Santa Claus

Synopsis:

The Erstwhile Saint Niklaus is expanding his empire and built a Christmas Planet. Only the type of clientele that Santa wanted isn’t exactly what he got! He wanted it to be a place to attract families with children, what he got instead, because of the location of the planet, was a bunch of unsavory types. Because of his reputation he made it clear that these folks were to obey the laws of the Christmas planet, especially the one about murder, but what he got instead was…

The Creative Team:

Jean Marc Lofficier attempts to put Father Christmas into the Barbarella universe. For the most part, he succeeds. The unsavory types at first obey the planet’s rules. But after a while, a murder is committed in Santa’s utopia. The chairman of the bank on Rigel winds up dead. Because of the Planet’s reputation of being outside the law. Santa hesitates to contact the Zeti police. He instead wants Barbarella to investigate the murder. I love a good noir mystery and this title is shaping up to be an awesome little murder mystery where Barbarella has to get help from the hologram of a spirit from Christmas past. Can Barbarella solve this mystery? She’s no detective as she tells Mr. Claus, but he is confident that she can figure it out with the proper help. Great stuff includes the appearance of the Guardian of The Republic and the list of suspects that they must investigate.

Jose Luiz Ruiz Perez brings a flamboyant style to this issue. His Barbarella is unlike any other. There is great attention to detail in his renderings which give this issue a superhero feel, unlike other Barbarella artists. Highlights include the splash page where Santa’s place is broken into and the visuals of the planet Heavyside.

In Conclusion:

It’s a different kind of Barbarella story, also a different type of Christmas story. A noir detective tale that should leave the reader enthralled. It’s a great tale which has implications that could expose a nasty negotiation and there’s more to this murder than meets the eye. Conspiracy, cover-up, and madness ensue. The reader will be surprised when the mystery is solved and it all fits into the whacky world of Barbarella. It’s definitely a story unlike any other Barbarella story and the eroticism, though it’s there, is actually downplayed this time around. *** (8.2 rating)

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