When you’re comics icon Grant Morrison, you can pretty much write anything you want to. A hit list of classics as long as your arm (and with “Arkham Asylum: A Serious House on Serious Earth” rarely out of my sights since discovering it in my mid teens) it’s always an exciting prospect to see what he does next.
And when that next thing turns out to be the grim, frost-bitten origin story of a gruff Santa who’s built like a brick wall, you find yourself saying “you know what? Why not! Good on you, Grant.”
With our “Once Upon A Time…” introduction – well, how else was he gonna start this one? – our origin story begins. Even Jolly Ol’ Saint Nick needs an origin story these days. Though from the looks of it, we aren’t in store for much joy.
Calling upon Grimsvig Town (your Scandinavian pronunciation is going to be tested with this one) Klaus comes in from the onslaught of the cold and straight to the tavern. He’s a wandering trader at this point in his life, selling skins and furs and meat; all the essentials for any household.
It seems though, in the time that has passed since he last visited Grimsvig that things are not as he remembers; they’re worse, in fact. With the village now living under the tyrannical Baron (whose going straight on the naughty list along with his wife and bratty son), Klaus is soon set upon by his guards and accused of being a werewolf (ah, simpler, more paranoid times). But they are soon distracted by a child playing in the street. An argument ensues about the kid playing with “a toy” (it’s actually a stone, but you can see where this is going…) and after being chased out of town by the guards, Klaus turns the tables… by setting his friggin’ wolf on them!
I swear to Christmas I’m not making this up.
The art by Dan Mora (also of “Hexed”) is a real treat to look at, especially when it comes to the acid trip magic scene towards the end. And that’s a pretty decent way to sum it up; “Klaus” blends together in an interesting, easy to look at spell of a read, with its magical quality in its unusual take on a character you never expected would get this kind of treatment. All will be fine, just as long as you can get past the ridiculousness of the whole thing.
It’s the perfect stocking filler, if you’re looking for ideas.
Klaus #1 (of 6) arrives in comic shops on November 4th with a main cover by series artist Dan Mora for the price of $3.99 under Diamond order code SEP151100. Also available in a limited quality is a 10 Years incentive cover by Felipe Smith (All-New Ghost Rider), a Jackpot variant cover by Frazer Irving (2000 AD), and a retailer incentive cover by Chris Burnham (Batman Incorporated).
4 out of 5 Nerds
Marc
Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….
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