When I saw in a copy of Previews that this book was dropping, I promptly ordered a copy through my favorite LCS. It wasn't the star of the book that was why I wanted this book so much. True, it's touted as a holiday special. But even that wasn't what made this the Christmas comic I absolutely had to have of the 3 holiday one-shots from Marvel in 2024. The reason I had to have this book was because of the goats!
Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder were a pair of goats that stole every scene that they appeared in in Thor: Love and Thunder. In Marvel Comics lore, they are the goats that led Odin's sleigh, whenever the ruler of Asgard visited the Norse people of Midgard. This later inspires the reindeer that Santa Claus uses to make his midnight rides every year. And while I've always been down with this element of Pagan Christmas origins, that's not why this book was a must own.
No, it's because I own goats as pets. I always saw myself as a cat person. I never knew that I was also a goat person as well.
My impression of this special was that Alligator Loki assisted by Odin's goats were going to save Christmas. I couldn't have been more wrong.
This special consists of about a dozen shorts. With the exception of the first story, and possibly one winter time snowball fight caper in the middle, none of the other tales are Christmas themed nor set. Instead, all of those backups are 'reprints' of Alligator Loki stories from Marvel's digital comics service. The opener is supposedly brand new. It sees Alligator Loki and Asgardian Loki trying their very best to get into the holiday spirit. At least I think that was the case. All of the stories were done with little to no dialogue and most of the dialogue was done as emojis. Just like with Marvel Meow, I kept getting lost. I really needed some dialogue. I also needed an expert on current Marvel Comics.
Maybe I am wrong, but it seems like Loki is now a member of the Avengers. Or at least he's on good terms with them. Plus, is Loki now roommates with Thor? Can someone tell me why these two seem to be sharing a Manhattan apartment together along with Alligator Loki and Frog Thor. Or was that all just for the sake of Alyssa Wong's Alligator Loki series? Could it be that Alligator Loki isn't canon? I just wish somebody could answer my questions because the Marvel Wiki was zero help.
Had I known that this wasn't a real holiday special, I still would have ordered it. I just wouldn't have rushed like crazy to get my hands on a copy. Who am I kidding? With that adorable variant cover of Alligator Loki driving Odin's sleigh with Toothgnasher and Toothgrinder Nicoletta Baldari,I would have still been impatient waiting for this to drop. (Bless the guys at Books Do Furnish a Room for ordering me the variant cover, which was so freaking Disney and cute!)
Now can we just get a paper collection of the various digital Marvel Unlimited Infinity Christmas specials that have gone unread because I refuse to go paperless?! I'd pay good money for a hardcover edition of such!
Worth Consuming!
Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.
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