Black Cat #8 (Home For Christmas)

  

This Alfred Harvey collection of Black Cat reprints is supposed to be a holiday issue. But with many holiday issues, the contents inside doesn't always match the festive cover.

Looking at the cover, I imagine a hip 1940s apartment that's as fun as it is inviting. If I lived in the late 40s, this would be the domicile I'd probably choose. Thus, despite my misgivings with the series itself (what little Black Cat I've read, I haven't been a fan) I was lured to purchase this issue thanks to the yuletide cover.

Inside is a trio of stories. The first two tales have nothing to do with Christmas. In one tale, Black Cat's father is shot and held hostage in a race against time. The other involves a cowardly actor whose last act saves the life of our heroine. I thought the earlier tale was ludicrous. There's no way anybody would survive the back and forth cat and mouse trauma like Cat's wounded father. But the second tale was actually pretty good.

Our final tale involves Black Cat's alter ego. In real life, she's a film starlet named Linda Turner. Along with some of her famous friends, Linda visits an orphanage. Everything seems to be going swell until one boy reveals that his wish from Santa was to get to meet the Black Cat and Santa didn't deliver. Well, that kid picked the right group to confess his Christmas list with!

The story was heartwarming, but it was a little lame. No, it wasn't because of the incredible stroke of luck the little orphan child had. It was due to  Linda's famous pals. Though they weren't actually named, her friends were based on Groucho Marx, Bing Crosby, and Benny Goodman and his faithful (but stereotyped) servant Rochester. The jokes were lame and unless you were alive during the 40s, you probably wouldn't get them. As for the Groucho character, his awful barbs were pretty off-color for not only the time period but to be told to youngsters in a group home.

    This so-called holiday themed book was actually better than my previous encounters with Harvey's Black Cat, but it doesn't mean I'm going to run out and buy more books in the series anytime soon. It was good but not great with the art being typical of its time period.

   More than likely, I would've overlooked this book if it wasn't for the holiday cover. In a way, I wish I had. It's like visiting a relative's house whose door has a lovely wreath and lights on the door, but the only thing Christmas inside are some holiday cards from friends gone by. Deceptively inviting.

  Worth Consuming

   Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.