Comic: "The Last Christmas"
Published by: Image Comics
Written by: Gerry Duggan and Brian Posehn
Artist: Rick Remender

Reviewer: Protoclown
Posted: 12/7/2008

Plot: In a post-apocalyptic future, Santa Claus must save the last boy who believes in him from evil mutants, thus saving the spirit of Christmas itself.

Review: I've always enjoyed Brian Posehn when I've seen him in TV shows and movies, so when I saw the first issue of The Last Christmas had his name on the cover, I decided to check it out. Unfortunately I ended up insanely disappointed because the book was absolute shit. I don't know how much he's to blame, because he did have a co-writer, but for something billed as a comedy book, it didn't provide me with a single laugh.

Any and all "humor" in the book is purely juvenile--things like: isn't it hilarious to see a nice guy like Santa toting lots of guns and killing zombies? Gee, isn't it funny to see that Santa sure does barf a lot after he's been binge drinking? Isn't it hysterical how the most incompetent elf has a bushy mustache and talks like an Italian stereotype? Isn't it a riot how one of Santa's elves is attracted to one of the human survivors and keeps making references to her breasts and ass? If you answered "yes" to any of those questions, I'm guessing you're not quite twelve years old. Because if you're an adult or possess any kind of sense of humor at all, you won't find anything to laugh about between all the boring, generic dialog, totally humorless situations and endless cliches.

For example, when Santa and his companions are flying in his sleigh to assault the mutants in San Francisco who are trying to kill an innocent boy, one of the elves polishes his weapon and thinks "this is my rifle, this is my gun" while Gary the Snowman sings "let the bodies hit the floor" over and over in his head. Does that sound at all funny? Because apparently it's meant to be. We're supposed to laugh just because of a reference to Full Metal Jacket and some crappy Drowning Pool song? I just don't see it. Recognition in itself does not elicit laughs.

Rick Remender's art is cartoony but competent, but there's nothing remarkable about it either. Maybe if the book wasn't meant for mature readers they could have found an audience, but by dropping F-bombs they completely remove the chance that any retailer would sell this to the one and only demographic that might actually appreciate a story this stupid. Steer far away from this book. Don't waste your time, but most especially don't waste your money on trite and disappointing garbage like this.

Overall rating:
(Scored on a 0.5 - 5 pickles rating: 0.5 being the worst and 5 being the best)