Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol is a favorite of mine. I make a perennial effort to enjoy the holiday classic in some way. A couple of years ago, I went to a school play. Last year I watched the historical account of it's creation in The Man Who Invented Christmas. This year I consumed A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story by European comics creator Jose-Luis Munuera.
Originally published in France in 2022, this 2023 edition by Cinebook Expresso was one that I ordered last year. But due to a shipping delay, I didn't get it until early January, 2024. So I waited almost a full year to read this book.
The big twist is that the role of Scrooge is gender swapped. In fact most of the characters are gender swapped. Ebenezer Scrooge is now Elizabeth Scrooge. The Ghost of Christmas Present is portrayed in the appearance of a boy while Christmas Present is a woman. Only Bob Cratchit and his family seem to be the only main characters that remain in their original sex. Marley too.
From the very beginning, Munuera's version is an almost word for word depiction of the original Dickens work. So much so that I started wondering what was the point of switching genders if nothing had changed. It wasn't until Scrooge is visited by the first of the three ghosts that we see any sort of deviation from the source text.
In the 1843 novella, Ebenezer Scrooge is despised by his father, as his mother died while giving birth to him. Here, Elizabeth Scrooge is hated by her father, as Mrs. Scrooge left him, resulting in the patriarch hating all women. That alienation of parental affection motivates her to become successful. It's Elizabeth's genius at numbers and finance that results in her becoming a shrewd businesswoman and one of the leading money lenders in all of London; if not also the most despised. In a male dominated later Victorian era England, it's no wonder that Elizabeth Scrooge is bitter against the world, in turn seeing the frivolity of the Holiday season as a waste of money and time. However, it's Elizabeth's strong feminist ideals that makes her miss the true meaning of Christmas.
When in the future, Elizabeth sees how people react in a state of almost rapture when they learn of her death. That doesn't bother Scrooge because everyone dies eventually and it brings her no closer to accepting Christmas into her heart. No, it's when she learns of Tiny Tim's tragic death does Elizabeth Scrooge change and she doesn't really even change all that much.
When Elizabeth returns to her present day, she basically becomes the secret benefactor of Tiny Tim's medical bills. Heck, she doesn't even become a second parent to the lady like Ebenezer does in the original. Yet, Elizabeth Scrooge now seems to be engaged in an ongoing war against God, threatening to do battle with the Creator should he prematurely take the life of Tiny Tim! No joke! She actually threatens God and the Ghost of Christmas Future!
Sure, now Scrooge makes donations to the poor and has a slightly repaired relationship with her only living relative, the gender swapped niece Winifred. However this Scrooge is not really any different to the rest of the world. She's still got a huge chip on her shoulder because she's the only female financier in a male dominated society.
I think one of the biggest problems with this book is how Munuera portrays Tiny Tim. He's not as endearing as Dickens made the iconic character. He doesn't have that dogged determination to make the best of things despite being inflected by some dread disease. Tiny Tim also doesn't express mercy on Scrooge. Not once does this version bid tidings to all by exclaiming 'God Bless Us, Everyone!' Instead, he calls Scrooge 'Stingy', at the Cratchit Christmas meal. I think had he bestowed Christmas cheer to his father's boss, Elizabeth Scrooge might have become more bonded to the child. Instead, she's more impressed by his business acumen when Tiny Tim tells his family that he was able to figure out the value of a fairy tale characters secret bounty.
I'm not sure who missed the point of Charles Dickens classic: Elizabeth Scrooge or Jose-Luis Munuera...
I thought Munuera's artwork was stunning. I thought I was looking at stills from an animated movie. It was so vivid and life-like. Marley's Ghost was so chilling looking. As for Elizabeth Scrooge, well she wasn't old enough to be Scrooge. In almost every presentation of A Christmas Carol on stage and screen, Scrooge is an old man. In this graphic novel, our Scrooge is maybe in her late 40s, tops. That was a big swing and a miss.
One might argue that making Elizabeth look old and spindly prevents her from being portrayed as a strong female character. I've known several old ladies who've scared the hell out of me. Maybe Munuera could have used them to convincingly change this Scrooge in a way that was more in line with Dickens's Scrooge!
A great first half. Amazing art. But the second half fell flat and the main character just didn't look right for the part.
Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.
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