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JINGLE BELLE: THE MIGHTY ELVES
Highly Recommended (9/10)
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Oni Press
Writer: Paul Dini
Artist: J. Bone
Editor: Jamie S. Rich
Price: $2.95 US |
I've honestly had some
trouble with the Jingle Belle concept, unsure whether it was supposed to be for
older audiences or for a younger crowd (largely due to preconceptions about the
"Santa's daughter" concept) and usually finding the stories to be a mixture of
good fun and predictable fare. This is probably my favorite of the Jingle Belle
releases so far, however, as Dini avoids any of the holiday tie-ins and goes for
a straight-on parody/homage of underdog sports movies, which succeeds due to a
couple of fun cameos, a nice use of the setting, Jingle's always-outrageous
behavior and Bone's terrific artwork. Well worth picking up if you're looking
for a few good laughs.
Make no mistake, the basic plot is pretty
straight formula stuff... loser hockey team, hot new player who turns it around
and takes them to the championship, a conflict that threatens the championship
and, well, you know how it ends. But it's the way this plot is executed that
makes it fun, and there are laughs to be had on every page. Whether it's Santa's
good-natured optimism (giving way to some wagering), the contrast of Jingle's
juvenile delinquency or the make-up of the various sports teams, this works
largely because the setting and the characters make it feel new and fun, despite
the plot being an old chestnut.
Creating an effective juvenile delinquent
is a tricky tightrope to walk. If you go too far in making her sympathetic, you
make her bland and unbelievable, but if you go too far with the mischievous side
of her you run the risk of making her unlikable and too selfish. Jing is a nice
mixture, bordering sometimes on being too mean, but it works for her, because
Dini wisely sets it up where sometimes her mean-spirited wisecracks are nothing
more than pure, undiluted honesty. She may be a bit cruel, but she's right, and
more important, she's witty.
Of course, a lot of the jokes this time are visual, or at least married to the visuals pretty strongly. A familiar cartoon icon gets ground underneath a Zamboni in a darkly hilarious scene, Jing's violent playing style is shown in beautiful repetition and the use of various animals and mythical creatures (like elves) helps to establish the strange setting that the story takes place in. This is really a cross between those claymation Christmas specials and The Mighty Ducks,
and it takes the best elements of both.
Email Randy Lander comments about this review. |
