Silent Night, Deadly Night #4

The sequel to the 1984 holiday horror classic comes to an end in this issue. I'm rather excited about it. For one thing, even though this miniseries erases SNDN 2 & 3 from canon, what unfolds in this issue prevents those events from being completely wiped from existence. See in those 2 sequels, Billy Chapman's little brother succumbs to his PTSD over his brother being a sadistic killer, so when Ricky gets college aged, he too wears a Santa costume and dispenses justice against those he declares 'Naughty.' In this official comics sequel, Ricky undergoes years of therapy, terrified by demented visions of becoming a psycho killer like big brother Billy. 

In other words, the events of parts 2 and 3 took place in Ricky's head! 

In my review of issue #4, I mentioned that I had a theory as to why Billy's eyes were turning as black as the coal on a snowman. Well, I was right about that, although what Billy turns into is never officially named. It's never explained why one of the kids at the orphanage where Billy and Ricky stayed as youths, undergoes a similar transition. But the way this story ends, things are set up for a sequel. And I'm okay with that! 

There's a couple of great twists to this story. Two great jump scares; one of which shocked the heck out of me and this was a comic book. Not a live action film! And though the artwork was pretty gory, it again was an improvement from those very rough first two issues.

The story ending is just satisfyingly enough that if the story ends here, I could live with it. But there's a promise of a sequel. I don't think it's going to happen this year as I don't see anything on the horizon. That too I would be okay with as you don't want to beat a dead horse. Even though that's probably exactly what Billy Chapman would do.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Silent Night, Deadly Night #3

The police force of tiny Eggnog, Utah are on alert. Anybody in a Santa suit doing the slightest thing illegal are getting round up. It's spreading security forces pretty thin which makes this issue's major massacre a cake walk for Billy Chapman, who returns to Ira's Toys some 40 years after his murderous spree of Christmas Eve, 1984. The new owner is throwing a bash for all the store Santas in town, as well as the helpers and Billy has come dressed in his holiday reds and bearing gifts... of death! 

The first about 10 pages seemed like a return to the slasher holiday classic and then Billy's rage triples and heads begin exploding, blood gushes and heads roll. As much as the level of violence went off the rails, it was still a good story. Plus the artwork has vastly improved. and yes, it's the same artist from the past 2 issues! I have a theory behind why Billy's eyes have turned jet black. I'll be interested to know if I am right. 

I was right about who the copycat Santa Killer was. I wasn't 100% certain as I can't seem to account for all the murders to the person who committed them. Thus, while I had my assumptions, I wasn't 100% certain. But I count it as a win that I guessed the secondary killer correctly.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Silent Night, Deadly Night #2

A lot happens in issue #2. 

Billy's eyes turn as black as coal and he escapes the low-security mental hospital, murdering indiscriminately. 

An orphan from the foster home that Billy and Ricky lived in as kids, seeks help from Santa. His eyes also turn jet black and he beats the living crap out of one of his tormentors. 

Ricky has a complete mental breakdown after what happened with his recent visit with Billy and storms out of the house he and his family are staying in.

A killer dressed as Santa kills a couple near lover's lane and then possibly kills a pair of dime store Santas.

Billy Chapman gets some much overdue revenge.

And the art just gets worse and worse.

First of all, the gore level jumps to 11 in this issue. It's very off-putting. The original film from 1984 and the sequel were known for being bloody and dark. It's kinda hard to hack someone to pieces with an axe and make it pretty. However, the deaths in this issue take a quantum leap in gore with eyeballs exploding and faces being punched to pulp. It's a level of gratuitousness I just don't want to see, like when they killed the dog in that issue of The Weatherman.

Thankfully, the artwork isn't all that great as the lack of realism helps to prevent me from having nightmares. I liken it to the very overcrowded type of stuff you would see in a college newspaper. Everything looks like it was done with an ink pen instead of pencils and it feels rushed. I know that I'm not a professional artist. With my carpal tunnel, I couldn't pass that correspondence art course test where you have to draw the pirate or the turtle (and everybody is scammed into believing they have the makings as the next Andy Warhol!) But to paraphrase Mr. Burns from The Simpsons, I know what I like and I don't like this (art.)

Still hooked on the story though. It's intriguing where the art work for the most part really disappoints.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Silent Night, Deadly Night #1

I start my 2023 Christmas comics reading with a sequel to a holiday classic... HORROR flick! It's Silent Night, Deadly Night #1 from American Mythology.

I've been waiting almost an entire year to read this book. Issue #1 debuted in November of last year with issue #2 dropping in December. That would have been okay for me to wait until then to read it. But issue #3 hit store shelves in late January AND the final fourth book didn't come out until Easter! So I waited...

Silent Night, Deadly Night is a fully sanctioned sequel from film creators Dennis Whitehead and Scott Schneid. Taking place 40 years after the first film, it appears that events from the second and third film in the series have been wiped away from existence. In fact, this miniseries also changes the ending of the 1984 splatter classic because Billy Chapman is still alive!

At the end of the original film, cops shot and killed Billy before he could exact revenge on the abusive Mother Superior who abused him and his brother as kids. Over Billy's dead body, little brother Ricky, proclaims that the head nun is ' Naughty '. And that's where movie series canon ends.

 As Billy's corpse is being wheeled out of the orphanage, paramedics detect a faint pulse and rush to save the crazed Santa dressed murderer. Thus for the next 4 decades, Billy Chapman resided in a low-security insane asylum, keeping mostly to himself, allowing his white hair and beard to grow long like Santa. Every Christmas, Ricky takes his wife and daughter to make a yule tide visit while Ricky wrestles with the demons of his past, fearful that he too might become a sadistic killer like his big brother.

Meanwhile, one of the kids from the orphanage who witnessed Billy's Christmas Eve assault has returned to the town of Eggnog, Utah. Now a famous horror writer, the man hopes to exorcise his own demons from the orphanage and the trauma of Christmas Eve, 1984. Only that's gonna be really difficult as someone in a Santa suit is stalking the citizens of Eggnog, killing those who wind up on this evil Kris Kringle's naughty list.

If you can wade through the fact that this book erases 4 sequels, two of which weren't really even connected to the Caldwell family anyways, fans of the slasher series will enjoy a bloody sequel full of irreverent humor and creepy jump scares. And that's perfectly fine as that's was the intention of the 1984 film that changed the rules for holiday horror. As for the art, it's rough. I don't understand why American Mythology does amazing work with their all ages material; yet their horror stuff looks like it was drawn by the cartoonists at a college newspaper.

For those of you who love their Christmases to be a little bit on the dark side, this is the chilling read for you.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.