Jingle Belle: The Homemade's Tale

Santa's rebellious daughter, Jingle Belle returns in this 2018 one-shot from IDW Publishing. Paul Dini crafts a beautiful story that builds upon the lore of Santa Claus.

Every year after Santa's annual run of toy deliveries, a mysterious woman scours the globe.

But this person isn't giving out more presents. Instead, she's looking for homemade toys that were rejected by their owners, offering them the companionship and love that they should have received on Christmas morning. 

The idea is a lot like the Island of Misfit Toys first visited in the 1964 Rankin/Bass holiday classic, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Only, this is for toys that were lovingly made by children and parents to be rejected for more illustrious presents such as a video game console or snow skis. 

Let me tell you that this story started out pulling, no tearing, at the old heartstrings. When that first toy gets overlooked by a sibling who'd much rather spend time in front of the hottest new video game of the year, I almost wanted to cry. But I didn't, because of the mystery woman who rescued the handmade horsey with such affection and then is welcomed by a sack full of fellow toys with such camaraderie, it dried those tears. Though it was still very sad.

You think that it's Jingle Belle who's rescuing the rejected toys. The twist was interesting and believable. It didn't feel like a cop out and it definitely wasn't a clone of the Island of Misfit Toys plotline from Rudolph. Sadly, it also felt like the end of Jingle Belle's story.

Things really seemed to wrap up nicely in a big shiny package with an even nicer bow. Especially for Jingle. Santa's got a new assistant with his deliveries. There's a new holiday tradition that guarantees no toy mass produced or one-of-a-kind goes unloved ever again. However, it's been 6 years since this book debuted and unless Paul Dini just all of a sudden gets a tremendously awesome idea that builds further upon that extremely happy ending, I doubt Jingle and her friends are ever coming back to comic book store shelves.

A perfect ending for a bittersweet story. I'm just not ready to say goodbye to this wonderful world created by the creator of Harley Quinn. Ooooo- that would be a fantastic idea! A crossover starring Jingle Belle and Harley. Oh, the holiday chaos they'd create. 

See! I just figured out how to bring this universe back without taking away from the ending! Please, Paul Dini - make this happen!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.