The Last Christmas

(Image, 2006)

A nuclear holocaust produces a post-apocalyptic world full of zombies and Mad Max-style “marauders,” but Santa Claus keeps coming for the last of the remaining good little boys and girls. That is, until all hell breaks loose at the North Pole and things suddenly get a whole lot worse.

Tweaking elements from classic Rankin-Bass Christmas specials and/or recasting Santa Claus as a gun-toting butt-kicker are, at least to some, an irresistible premise just ripe for a spoof, but such results are usually pretty dismal. Thankfully, Brian Posehn and Gerry Duggan know that, for such an outrageous premise to work, you have to show at least a little respect to good old Saint Nick. It helps take some of the sting out of the over-the-top mayhem and coal-black laughs they had (imagine a depressed, shirtless Santa drenching himself in syrup) at his expense. And, while this issue mostly sets up the plot, it’s well told and handsomely drawn, and there is plenty of fun to be had. It’s both effective and surprisingly affecting.

— S.A. Bennett

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