‘Malice & Mistletoe’ Comic Review

Malice & Mistletoe is a holiday tale spun with mayhem and murder—a dark, intriguing tale where Santa is warped into someone much scarier than the jolly old man that most people envision, and the Christmas village where toys are made, that everyone imagines as beautiful and snow-filled, is replaced by a network of killers, bad blood, and shady business.

Eldon Carrillo is offered an opportunity, a situation that isn’t really unfamiliar fare with stories like this. What makes Malice & Mistletoe unique is who this offer is coming from, and the ensuing tale winds together as we learn about Eldon’s past, the job he’s meant to take on, and just how resistant he is, and the darkness that he’s facing. This is not a story that has a protagonist—Eldon is everything but. With a sharp tongue and a hot head, readers will find themselves still rooting for our antihero as he embarks on a journey and takes on a job to reunite him with his son; this is a man who has nothing and everything to lose, all at the same time. It’s a paradox, of sorts, and that’s what is particularly interesting about this story.

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The art is awesome. Splashes of green and red shades pop in stark contrast to the black and white lines that fill the pages, giving Malice & Mistletoe a noir feeling that is only heightened by the tone of the story and the characters themselves. The lack of color makes it easier to focus on the story at hand and the red and green overtones only enhance it without being overbearing. And, of course, you definitely get the feel that it’s a holiday comic. If the fact that Santa is one of the main characters doesn’t tip you off to that, the colors and locale will.

Dark and gory, the storyline keeps the reader invested throughout each of the ‘books’ that comprise Malice & Mistletoe. It’s infused with mythology and lore involving Santa, reindeer, and elves, giving Christmas a backstory that hasn’t been looked at before in a lot of media. There are only a few rays of hope that shine through in this tale, and they’re brief at best—poor Eldon’s life has been wracked by suffering, and even when he’s offered a chance to ease that suffering he gets kind of screwed over. 

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It is weird, it is dark, and it is really cool. There are a lot of variations on holiday tales out there, and holiday horror is not a genre that is lightly touched upon. But Malice & Mistletoe takes what is a popular trope around Christmas and spins it into something frightening and interesting, providing an awesome backstory with characters who are well-developed and, while taken from pop culture, given additional depth and motive. Santa is terrifying, but not in an ‘actual monster’ kind of way—in Malice & Mistletoe he’s morphed into a powerful businessman.

Malice & Mistletoe is an impressive take on famous holiday characters and traditions that many celebrate. Mistletoe, in the story, has a totally different meaning from the Mistletoe that we’re familiar with. Santa is an extremely powerful force in the world, and not even because he controls the ‘naughty and nice’ lists. There are assassins, hitmen, and a network of espionage and unsavory characters. It’s a great comic for those not interested in the typical holiday fluff ’n’ stuff and who aren’t into the standard story about Santa. This new twist on a holiday tale is a great, gory read.

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