Image Holiday Special 2005

December 7, 2006

Quick Rating: Good

A sampling of Image’s top creators with tales for the holidays.

Writers: Erik Larsen, Scott Kurtz, Eric Stephenson, Mark Smith, Chris Giarrusso, B. Clayton Moore, Jim Valentino, Benito Cereno, Brian Haberlin, Joe Casey, Jay Faerber, Glen Brunswick, Chris Eliopoulos, Robert Kirkman
Art: Erik Larsen, Scott Kurtz, Tim Seeley, Sunder Raj, Steve Seeley, Dan Hipp, Chris Giarrusso, Shawn Crystal, Greg Thompson, Jason Latour, Jim Valentino, John Wycough, Nate Bellegarde, Brian Haberlin, Gabe Bridwell, Cully Hamner, Tom Scioli, Richard Starkings, Jose Ladronn, Chris Eliopoulos, Charlie Adlard
Colors: Bob Pedroza, Jacob Blaake, Nick Filardi, Gabe Bridwell, Brett Evans
Letters: Jim Keplinger, Jimmy Betancourt, Cliff Rathburn, Ray Dillon
Cover Art: Frank Cho
Publisher: Image Comics

I’m a big fan of big, fat Christmas specials, and I love when a comic book company puts together a jam issue of their top creators and characters in such a book. Like any anthology, of course, the final products vary in quality, but overall the 96-page monster Image Holiday Special 2005 was a very satisfying book.

Most of my favorite Image titles were represented well. Scott Kurtz provided a great PVP story about the gang getting invited to the Image Christmas party – and gave us a chance to see the gang in color for once. Chris Giarrusso’s G-Man dug in his heels to combat the menace of the Christmas Tree of Doom (unaware that his foe has a softer side). Jim Valentino gave us a ShadowHawk tale about the young superhero and his father facing their second Christmas without the woman of their lives, the lost wife and mother. Jay Faerber’s Noble Causes provides a very amusing spotlight on the outcast of the book, Frost, who finds time to make a new friend. The Gray Area returns with a story that… well… doesn’t really have anything to do with Christmas, it just happens to take place on Christmas. (I’m not big on such stories – c’mon, if you’re in a Holiday special, give me some cheer.) Chris Eliopoulous’s Buddy Henson gives us a great, funny tale of the boy secret agent, and Robert Kirkman and Charlie Adlard give us a Walking Dead tale that shows us the first Christmas in a world overrun with zombies.

Other comics are also represented – The Amazing Joy Buzzards, Spawn, Mr. Glum and a Godland story that, frankly, kinda turned me off on the concept of the book.(Santa puffing on a hookah? That just doesn’t work for me.)

Finally, Eric Stephenson, Tim Seeley, Sunder Raj and Steve Seeley sprinkle the book with “Scenes From a Bar on Christmas Eve,” a series of one-pagers that show… well… scenes from a bar. The artwork here specifically is wonderful, and the stories are nice, good little snippets that satisfy quite well.

Your own enjoyment of this issue will vary, of course, depending on how big a fan you are of the creators and comics represented, but overall, I think it’s a pretty good collection. It’s a shame they didn’t do it again this year.

Rating: 7/10