A Christmas Carol: A Ghost Story

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.

The Man Who Invented Christmas (2017)

I make it a point to enjoy some version of Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. The story has been a seasonal favorite of mine ever since I saw it performed by ducks, beagles and a mouse in Mickey's A Christmas Carol all the way back in 1983. For this year's version, I not only got a retelling of the Dickens' classic, I also caught a glimpse at the life of the famed British writer. 

It's 1843, London. After the success of the highly popular Oliver Twist 4 years prior, Dickens has issued a trio of works, all duds. The writer is buried under mountains of debt due to burning his financial candle at both ends. Forced at an early age into working at a factory when his family are thrown into a debtors prison, Dickens swears never to live in such poverty ever again. So while renovating a lush mansion with his wife and multiple children, the writer also gives generously to many social causes and charities. However, with the failed novels, Dickens' source of income has all but dried up.

The writer gets inspiration for a ghost story set at Christmas from a series of random events, including stumbling upon a funeral in which nobody came to pay their respects and the hiring of an Irish maid whose family traditions with Christmas intrigues Charles. There's only one problem with a book set at Christmas: in 1840s England, the holiday isn't really all that big of a thing and no publisher wants to publish the book.

Determined he's got a hit on his hands, Dickens decides to self publish the book. It's a desperate move that could see him and his family in debtor's prison should it fail. Plus in order to get the book into stores in time for Christmas, he's only got about 6 weeks to get it published. But first, he's got to write the thing!

The first couple of chapters flow easily. He imagines his characters interacting with him on a daily basis, letting the plot's course evolve naturally. It's when faced with blow-back at the death of a very popular character in the book does Dickens encounter writer's block. Added to the creative impasse is the trauma Charles encounters when his mother and father come back into his life. Now as his characters demand an ending, the writer learns that Scrooge isn't so much based on people he's met in his daily life; he is Scrooge!

As Dickens writes what will become known as A Christmas Carol, the characters he creates recite large passages of the book. I found myself quoting the book along with Scrooge, Bob Cratchit and others. This shocked me. I've always thought it's odd that characters in movies and TV can quote these lengthy passages of Shakespeare and other classics. Apparently, I can quote A Christmas Carol. Who knew?

The Man Who Invented Christmas seems to have not been a hit when it debuted in theaters back in 2017. It only netted about $10 million dollars worldwide. Coco, Justice League, and Murder on the Orient Express dominated the November box office. Throw in December's lineup with films like Pitch Perfect 3, one of the rebooted Jumanji films and The Last Jedi, this little Christmas movie didn't have a chance. Jump ahead 6 years and I came across this airing on a movie channel on Dish. I remember that my wife expressed interest in the movie when she saw the trailer back then. I was also interested. So, I DVR'd it and watched it over a cold and rainy weekend! The verdict- I LOVED IT!

While I had thought for some reason Steve Coogan was playing Charles Dickens, the film managed to really catch my interest. Dan Stevens was very good as the troubled writer. Yet when I think of Dickens writing this book, I don't visualize him being so young. Christopher Plummer was fantastic as Scrooge. Though I feel like an opportunity was missed not having Sir Patrick Stewart taking on the role, based on his annual theatrical performance of the work as a one man show. Jonathan Pryce is once again marvelous. (Note: he sure is in a lot of movies I like!) This time, he's Charles' father, who struggles with the loss of reputation and pride from his time in debtor's prison. 

I really enjoyed the film. Though it only has 1 real scene occurring during Christmas, this is very much a Christmas movie. A Victorian Christmas movie! Full of some of the best scenes from A Christmas Carol! And it was based on a 2008 book by Les Standiford. One of which I look forward to making it a part of next year's tradition of further exploring the world of a Victorian London Christmas invented by Charles Dickens!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.