It’s nice seeing Grant Morrison simply being silly. To me, there is something inherently silly about Santa Claus to begin with, so for Morrison to treat Klaus as a kind of lighthearted Assassin’s Creed meets Robin Hood with a hint of magic seems fitting.
In the previous issue, Klaus realized he had to step it up and do something about the Nottingham-like town he’d wandered into to trade goods. Their “Sheriff,” Lord Magnus, works the men of the town to the bone in the mines and won’t allow any of the children of the town – except for his brat of a son – to have fun. That means no toys.
Magnus sneers, smirks, and screams from under his hood like a good villain should, and his son doesn’t fall far from the tree. Klaus has plans of his own, and we see him slowly becoming the Santa Claus we all know, though I’m not sure he’ll have a big, white beard and gut by the end – or maybe he will. I have no idea with Morrison. As Klaus ratchets up the conflict, some mystery is laid into place that may complicate things for our soon-to-be-jolly hero.
The great thing about this is that Morrison, unlike a lot of his work, is keeping it good for all ages. Grab it for your kids. Morrison’s intention here is to spread some fun for everyone.
Dan Mora’s artwork follows in line with Morrison’s intentions. He’s created a world that’s visually exciting and follows the action fluidly, embracing the over-the-top, fantastical elements while making sure a shark isn’t under his jump.