Cover Art: Ben Caldwell
Publisher: DC Comics
Price: $9.99
Release Date: December 12th, 2023
THE DISPATCH
’Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a…Bat-Mite?! Join all your DC favorites as they take on eight classic holiday stories in this year’s DC’s ‘Twas The ‘Mite Before Christmas #1! From Constantine and Lex Luthor’s Dickensian tale to Batwoman’s puzzling Hanukkah hijinks to your classic cocoa-swilling Christmas romance switch with Harley and Amethyst, this book is a perfect companion for cookies by the fire and extra sour cream on your latkes. So pull up a sled and get ready for plenty of ho-ho-holiday hope to get you in the spirit of the season!
If you’re interested in this comic, series, related trades, or any of the others mentioned, then simply click on the title/link to snag a copy through Amazon as you read the DC’s ‘Twas The ‘Mite Before Christmas #1 Review.
Writer: Zipporah Smith
Art: Logan Faerber and Dave Sharpe
HOME ALONE IN TITANS TOWER
This mini is meant to be a cute play at Home Alone in the Titans Tower. The artwork is reminiscent of Teen Titans Go but a bit more mature mixed with some anime. The story itself is solely meant to be fun and puts Raven in a little bit of a different light. Is this story alone worth DC’s ‘Twas The ‘Mite Before Christmas #1? Nope. Maybe mixed together with the others, this title becomes worth it!
Writer: Rob Levin
Art: Bob Quinn and Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou
THE PRINCESS SWITCH
Prepare for a wordy all-female story where (you guessed it) Harley and the Princess of Gem World switch places. And when I say wordy, I mean it was almost a prose. Harley has fun while the Princess learns to let loose in the end. It’s your quintessential “switch” movie but with DC Comic characters. Is this story alone worth DC’s ‘Twas The ‘Mite Before Christmas #1? Nope. is it better than the first? Nope.
Writer: Ethan Sacks
Art: Soo Lee, John Kalisz, and Becca Carey
LEX-TACULAR CHRISTMAS CAROL
It’s everything you thought it would be and so much more… as in Lex as Scrooge and “Production Bob” as Bob Cratchit. It’s predictable with a slice of stale humor seeing how Lex navigates the ghosts as well as the clever twist towards the end. So far, this was by far the best of the mini-stories yet it still lacked suspense, action, thrills, or any aspect of a superhero comic you’d be interested in. Sure, you’re not buying this Holiday Special for that necessarily, but it does play a part in the purchase. Nevertheless, is this story alone worth DC’s ‘Twas The ‘Mite Before Christmas #1? Nope. However, it raises the value more than the other stories for sure.
Writer: Natalie Abrams
Art: Marcus Smith, Norm Rapmund, Hi-Fi, and Travis Lanham
RIDDLER ON THE ROOF
This little edition gives us the Jewish side of the Holidays with Batwoman at the helm as well as the Riddler providing twisted brain teasers over Hanukkah. Other little nuggets are dropped throughout this mini-story such as Kate being Jewish (which I never really knew) and over-the-top Jewish puns about the Maccabees. And when I sat over the top, I mean they smack you clear in the face almost as if someone was told to put them in. Moreover, if we are splitting hairs over the forced Judaism, is Kate Orthodox or Reformed? There is a big difference, especially considering she’s gay and at a gay bar on a date in this issue.
The idea of forcing a Holiday Special with Judaism isn’t in itself wrong. However, maybe a different character could have driven the point home a bit more than Kate. Nevertheless, I suppose it fits since after doing research it shows she’s been written as Jewish since 2006. But when I think Hanukkah, I think Orthodox Judaism which would be strongly against Kate’s lifestyle choices. Yet, this little Riddler exchange gets a bit worse when we discover the problem solver as the Riddler’s daughter with the Hannakkuak puzzles as leading to Christmas gifts for his daughter. Hanukkah puzzle leading to Christmas gifts? Okay… Needless to say, I think this story was a bit too touchy, wordy, convoluted, a bit over the top, out of pocket, and a bit out of place. By far, this was the worst story so far and its forced nature made me put the issue down on first read and come back later.
Writer: Jillian Grant
Art: Rebekah Isaacs, Kurt Michael Russell, Ferran Delgado
THE SANTA COPIES
This Booster Gold story is cheesy but still entertaining. At first, I thought we’d be spoofing the Santa Claus just like a few of the other stories spoofed other musicals and films. But instead, this mini-story just turned into the usual slapstick, Booster Gold story with some pretty solid artwork. Overall, this one is up there as one of the best of the comic making it an entertaining little adventure. Nevertheless, is this story alone worth DC’s ‘Twas The ‘Mite Before Christmas #1? No sir.
Writer: Michael W. Conrad
Art: Gavin Guidry, Ryan Cody, and Becca Carey
STREAKS IN THE SKY
This was probably the most powerful and meaningful story of the bunch. This mini story deals with the negatives surrounding the Holidays and the impact loneliness, depression, and mental illness can have on someone. Leave it to Superman to try to save everyone! Conrad does an outstanding job showcasing what makes Superman so super and provides a little Holiday magic to the reader but in a different way that’s beyond tasteful as he handles a dicey topic. This specific story may not be solely worth the price of admission but it certainly does help as this vignette tops the charts in DC’s ‘Twas The ‘Mite Before Christmas #1.
Writer: Josh Trujillo
Art: Andrew Drilon and Lucas Gattoni
IT’S A BUNKERFUL LIFE
Remember Bunker? Honestly, very few people probably do. How about the Doctor Strange knockoff called Extrano? Well, what you get is another film copycat of “It’s a Wonderful Life” by having Extrano create a world where Bunker doesn’t exist. The reader gets to see a world deeply impacted by Bunker not being in it which is extremely far-fetched. Sadly, I just don’t see it. Bunker has barely been in the DC World as it is let alone seeing any kind of impact made by him not being in it. This story was frankly pretty silly and trivial and basically unnecessary. The purpose and intent of these characters in this Holiday Special just seemed forced and silly as well. Is this story alone worth DC’s ‘Twas The ‘Mite Before Christmas #1? Absolutely not. And with only one story to go, this Holiday Special doesn’t appear to be turning out very good.
Writer: Sholly Fisch
Art: Juan Bobillo and Dave Sharpe
WONDERFUL TOYS
Damian gets his first run-in with Bat-Mite that just kind of abruptly… ends. He leaves on his own without any rhyme or reason which is very uncharacteristic of fifth dimension imps. Damian does his best but ultimately succumbs to Bat-Mite’s games as he has an emotional moment with his mother to end the comic. What was the most disappointing aspect of this specific story was that I was really looking forward to Bat-Mite and his story. However, it wasn’t very long and wasn’t anything like what I expected. Plus, how did Bat-Mite have no idea who Damian was? As a practically omnipotent being who is Batman’s biggest fan, he somehow has no idea who Damian is. I don’t think so. Sadly, it didn’t add much value to DC’s ‘Twas The ‘Mite Before Christmas #1. Granted, in terms of each mini-story, this was by far not the worst. However, I certainly wouldn’t buy the comic for this story.
FINAL THOUGHTS
If I’m being generous, and with the Holiday Season quickly approaching, there were two stories that were pretty good, another two that were okay, and the rest were pretty bad (with two of those being extremely forced). Overall, DC’s ‘Twas The ‘Mite Before Christmas #1 is certainly not worth the buy. If you’re looking to get in the Holiday spirit, just watch an old Christmas favorite instead. For the overpriced price tag, I would recommend a hard pass on this issue.
I want to like these Holiday Specials. However, I think they might be better suited with one, big story instead that fits the theme than a variety sampler. If you’re standing in your LCS, just skim the Superman and Booster Gold stories. You’ll be done in 10 minutes max. And in all seriousness, Conrad should have done an entire issue of his story. Depending on how he worked it out, he could have gotten some serious awards for that. Just saying… Let me know what you think, have a great week, and God Bless!