Jingle Bell Gift Wrapped One Shot by Paul Dini

By Dan Morrill On December 22, 2011 · Leave a Comment · In Comic Books

Written by Paul Dini

Colors by Felix Serano

Letterer Troy Peteri

Editor Filip Sablik

Published by Top Cow

It is so cool to see Paul DIni back in one of the most amazing comic book characters out there, namely Jingle Belle. Seriously, if you love cheese cake and awesomely drawn hilarious comic books, then the entire Jingle Belle series is not only worth your time, it is worth picking up in print. Right from the get go you might as well know that this review is going to be highly biased because much like any comic book reader, we tend to gravitate to those things we like, and I tend to think that Paul Dini is one of the more brilliant independent comic book people out there. Jingle Belle is one of the best (and hottest) comic book characters out there, and she is always getting into trouble.

At first I really thought this was going to be a remake of “The Grinch that Stole Christmas”, but I ended up being wrong. But it really does feel like the Grinch all the way through, as someone is trying to stuff a kid into a bucket in the first few frames of the comic book. But what ends up happening goes way beyond the Grinch story line. What happens when you break the parent’s rules, and find yourself grounded on the most party day of the year outside your birthday or New Year’s Eve? Seriously look around the house, is this where you want to be grounded when you could be out with your friends. Odds are highly likely your friends are texting you and telling you what an awesome time they are having while you are stuck with the parents, or worst, grandpa sleeping on the sofa with the remote control for the TV set in his hands. If you take the remote out of his hands, he will wake up and change the channel to the fireplace channel with tinny crappy Christmas music.

That means no video games, or even the all-day Firefly marathon on the Science Channel. The best part is when Santa is caught in a LIE and finds that he has to suffer the same punishment as Jingle Belle, on Christmas Eve. Seriously, can Santa make it through the fireplace channel with tinny music all night long where a couple hundred million children are waiting for their Christmas prezzies? We are all stuck at the North Pole, and who exactly is that Grinch looking character stuffing Christmas prezzies into buckets and running off with them. Not only that, like all family gatherings, no one is speaking to each other, there are axes to grind, things that were said that could never be taken back, and it is not happy silence around the holiday table. Is Christmas doomed? Where are the elves? Are we all going to die in a present missing Christmas because people can’t get it together long enough to make the holiday happen? You have to read this comic book to find out.

And yes, because I am a huge FAN (all caps for a reason similar to screaming that off the highest building here in Seattle) of Jingle Belle and Paul Dini, this one gets five of five stars without even having to think about it. I read it online, but need to find the physical copy from Top Cow because I want this in my collection along with all the other Jingle Belle comics. I was very happy to find this online, the problem is going to be finding it in stores. We are running minus on minutes to find it in time for Christmas, but this one is worth reading even if it is the digital copy.