DC’s ‘Twas The Mite Before Christmas #1 (One Shot)
Scheduled to arrive in stores: December 12, 2023
Cover date: February 2024
Cover: Ben Caldwell
Variant Covers: Saowee, Mitch Gerard
Reviewed by: Craig Boehmer
The Teen Titans in “At Home Alone in Titans Tower”
Written by Zipporah Smith
Art and Color by Logan Faerber
Raven feels alone over the holidays in Titans Tower. Trigon comes and transforms her into a child in time for Mammoth and Shimmer to break into the tower. Raven defends the Tower using tropes from the Home Alone movies.
Story – 2: The story is limited. Raven comes across as bratty at the beginning of the story, and unlike the movie Home Alone where the main character has a character arc, Raven doesn’t. She is bratty at the beginning and the same at the end.Art – 2: The art is obviously targeted towards a younger audience, and as a result doesn’t work great for a story about the Teen Titans. If the book is rated for 13+ it is weird that the art of the first issue would target the 8-11 crowd.
Harley Quinn & Amethyst in “The Princess Switch”
Written by Rob Levin
Art and Color by Bob Quinn
Amethyst and Harley Quinn switch places for a break.
Story – 1: I can’t stand Harley Quinn, and this story did nothing to dissuade me of that fact. It is Harley at her Harleyist.
Art – 4: The art in this issue is probably the best in the collection. There are a few really poorly drawn faces, but for the most part it looks good.
Lex Luthor in “Lex-Tacular Christmas Carol”
Written by Ethan Sacks
Art by Soo Lee
Luthor is taken on a series of Christmas Carol hauntings and discovers it was all a ploy by John Constantine, just to mess with him.
Story – 3: The story wasn’t terrible. There were some good character moments, such as Luthor helping a financially strapped employee.Art – 3: The art has an ethereal feel to it that mostly works for a tale about ghosts haunting someone. The figure work needs refinement though.
Batwoman in “Riddler on the Roof”
Written by Natalie Abrams
Pencils Marcus “Mas” Smith
Batwoman takes the Riddlers daughter out on a date to get her help in solving his latest riddle. They makes plans to meet up again.
Story – 2: I didn’t hate this story, but I have no real connection to Batwoman, this story then falls flat in making me care about her.Art – 1: The art, especially the figure work and face depictions, is not my cup of tea. The heads seem very small for the bodies which makes.
Booster Gold in “The Santa Copies”
Written by Jillian Grant
Art by Rebekah Isaacs
Booster Gold accidentally becomes a copy of Santa Claus, he then accidentally makes others copies of Santa.
Story – 3: It is fun to see Booster get into hijinks and problems. Plus the ending is a nice resolution.Art – 4: The art is really good in this issue, props to Rebekah Isaacs.
Superman in “Streaks in the Sky”
Written by Michael W. Conrad
Art by Gavin Guidry
Superman gets a suicidal man to help him as a way to help the man’s mental health.
Story – 4: I enjoyed this one a lot, obviously it was about Superman. My only quibble was that it seems to try too hard to hit with the emotional power of Morrison’s take on this similar conflict. I was really surprised to see that this was written by Conrad, I remember being really disappointed with their Wonder Woman run.Art – 3: The face work was off which lead to quite a few panels of very awkward expressions by the characters.
Bunker in “It’s a Bunkerful Life”
Written by Josh Trujillo
Art and Color by Andrew Drilon
Bunker is shown how the world would be without his existence.
Story – 3: I really like Bunker, and I love the movie It’s a Wonderful Life. This issue was a bit of a letdown primarily because the resolution was too quick, there was no real discussion of why the world would suck without him. The explanation is so important for a story like this, and it was too limited. That being said, we need more Bunker.Art – 4: The art was big and fun. I also loved the pink tinge to everything, harkening to his powers. The colours were appropriately vibrant for the setting and the story.
Bat-Mite in “Wonderful Toys”
Written by Sholly Fisch
Art and Color by Juan Bobillo
Damian gets into a fight with Bat-Mite in the Batcave on Christmas Eve. Bat-Mite’s zaniness is more than he can handle.
Story – 5: Best story of the collection, Bat-Mite’s reaction to learning who Damian is was priceless, and emotionally resonant. Damian’s reaction to Jason and Dick coming in was so true to character.Art – 3: The art is fine for a story like this. Bat-Mite’s zaniness looks good, and Damian’s fight against him is choreographed well.
Conclusion:
I did not enjoy most of this issue, to me a Christmas issue like this, 80 pages long, should be a tool to show off the best creators at DC to try to grab new readers. Instead it is a tool to show off new creators, none of which peaked my interest. The only story in here that I would read again was by Sholly Fisch. I love Sholly, Sholly’s back ups on Morrison’s New 52 run were a major reason I enjoyed that series so much.Cover Art – 2: Ugh… what is up with Superman’s face?Cover Art – 3: It’s a fine cover, if you’re a fan of Harley Quinn, you will probably enjoy it.Cover Art – 5: It’s Superman bringing cheer to kids… It’s a great image that I would like to frame and put on my wall. His face does look a little off, but I am willing to overlook it on this one.
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