A Stocking of Mixed Presents: The Merry X-Men Holiday Special #1 Reviewed
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead]
We join the X-Men and countdown the days from December 1st through December 25th, Christmas Day. Jubilee and her daughter plan a trip to Hawaii, Gambit and Multiple Man have trouble getting presents for everyone, Jean Grey is forced to celebrate with Deadpool, Kitty Pryde makes a Hanukkah promise to her late father, Storm deals with holiday grumps, Nightcrawler has a gift for Old Man Logan, Cannonball and Smasher celebrate the holidays on another world, and more.
The Merry X-Men Holiday Special #1 contains 20 separate one-page stories, with a 21st story being given a five days and a few extra pages to play out. Each story has a different creative team, and most of them focus on a different X-Man, though a couple of team members get multiple stories.
There is a breakneck pace and a touch of wordiness prevalent throughout due to this format. I tend to like holiday specials (DC’s Nuclear Winter Special was quite good despite my own admittedly low expectations), but I’m not fond of this particular format. Numerous one-page stories from a cavalcade of creators isn’t going to grab me as a concept, but there are a lot of X-Men with a fanbase and often-expansive backstories existing for just about each one. Consequently, I can understand the impulse to make a special like this.
It’s a mixed bag, and it was almost guaranteed to be one given there are 21 different stories. Which ones you enjoy will partially depend on the X-Men you like and your sense of humor. There are some that are genuinely better than others and some that completely fall flat. The Nightcrawler and Old Man Logan, Beast, Wolverine, Gabby and X-23, and Jubilee stories are all quite good. The Storm, Nature Girl, and Jean Grey and Deadpool were underwhelming.
All of the art was, at worst, solid still. Marvel tapped into a deep well of artistic talent for this special, and it shows.
The Merry X-Men Holiday Special #1 was largely hit-or-miss. There were some dull and disappointing reads, but there were a handful of outright good ones too. If you’re a big fan of Marvel’s premiere team of mutants, then this is a worthwhile reed, and you can feel free to pick it up.
The Merry X-Men Holiday Special #1 comes to us from writers Chris Sims, Chad Bowers, Chris Claremont, Charles Soule, Jean Grae, Zac Thompson, Lonnie Nadler, Styles P, Poobs, Sina Grace, Cullen Bunn, Charlamagne tha God, Christopher Daniels, Kelly Thompson, Chip Zdarsky, Al Ewing, Anthony Piper, Leah Williams, Ed Brisson, Vita Ayala, Tini Howard, Rainbow Rowell, Seamus “Esoteric” Ryan, and Matthew Rosenberg, artists Marco Failla, Terry and Rachel Dodson, Ryan Browne, Shawn Crystal, Amilca Pinna, Luciano Vecchio, Cory Smith, Roland Boschi, Alitha E. Martinez, Ray-Anthony Height with Lebeau Underwood, David Lopez, Chip Zdarsky, PJ Holden, Anthony Piper, Marcio Takara, Pere Perez, Brent Schoonover, Kris Anka, Michael Shelfer, and Andy MacDonald, color artists Israel Silva, Chris Sotomayor, Jordan Boyd, Rico Renzi, Amilcar Pinna, Carlos Lopez, Dan Brown, Jay David Ramos, Antonio Fabela, Anthony Piper, Chris O’Halloran, Matthew Wilson, Federico Blee, Chip Zdarsky, and Tamra Bonvillain, letterer VC’s Travis Lanham, cover artist David Nakayama, and variant cover artists Rian Gonzales and Marko Djurdjevic.
