Marvel Classic Comics Series Featuring … #36
Published and © by Marvel, 1978
Title: “A Christmas Carol”
Synopsis: On Christmas Eve, a series of ghosts teach the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge the value of the holiday.
Writer: Doug Moench (adapted from a novella by Charles Dickens)
Artist: Diverse Hands
Review: Obviously, this reviewer is a huge fan of the Bronze Age’s storytelling style. But, occasionally, a comic serves as a reminder that the medium was still in its awkward adolescence. This lackluster Charles Dickens adaptation is one such example. There is simply no magic here, as Doug Moench’s word-heavy script leaves little for the visuals to do. Of course, the uneven art of “Diverse Hands” doesn’t exactly scream “meaningful collaboration.” This outing gains nothing from its juxtaposition of words and pictures, leaving this Christmas Carol a sorry shade of its superior source material.
Grade: D-
Cool factor: Bah! Humbug!
Notable: This issue includes a one-page “About the Author” essay.
Character quotable: “If I had my way, every idiot who goes about with ‘Merry Christmas’ on his lips would be boiled in his own pudding and buried with a stake of holly through his heart!” – Ebenezer Scrooge (bah humbug, indeed!)
Editor’s note: This review was originally published by Comics Bronze Age on Nov. 27, 2012.
