DEATH COMES FOR THE TOYMAKER, Vol. 1 is a really Gothic take on Santa that I liked a lot

DEATH COMES FOR THE TOYMAKER, Vol. 1
DAKOTA BROWN (illus. Ryan Cody)
Magma Comix
$19.99 trade paper, available now

Rating: 4.5* of five

The Publisher Says: Death comes for us all. But for Gil the Toymaker, the visit is an eternal tragedy!

Every year the holiday gift giver visits children all over the world on a special night, but Gil’s immortality comes at a cost. Forced to do the work of Death, carrying a list of ready-to-harvest souls alongside his naughty and nice lists, Gil gives toys AND takes souls all in one night! But as the Toymaker reflects on the relationship he’s had with Death for several millennia, an associate reveals a scheme that may just put an end to Death’s contract (and, perhaps, Death himself!)

An epic twist on the traditional Christmas legend from writer Dakota Brown and artist Ryan Cody, for fans of original tales featuring familiar characters from mythology & folklore like Neil Gaiman’s American Gods or Bill Willingham’s Fables!

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA EDELWEISS+. THANK YOU.

My Review: It's #Booksgiving, so I man up and look through publishers' options for gifting to the comics fans on all y'all's lists. I usually enjoy it about as much as dentistry...and I am *mortally*afraid* of the dentist...but am occasionally pleasantly surprised. Those are the ones y'all hear about.

Like this really interesting take on the Spirit of Giving that my mother sold me on after I figured out that Santa was Dad in a weird suit in 1965. It takes the idea of personified Death, which is one of the few things in the Pratchettverse I really like a lot, and applies it to the idea of ritualized gift-giving.

total Hogfather vibes, no?

I'm not sure I really *got* the art, in that it seemed to me to be more somber than really called for in the story itself.

There's something...elemental...that I resonated with in these panels, however, so in the end I landed on a solid, happy four-and-a-half stars for a story that gives new heft to a deeply commercial holiday.

Have a teen giftee who's got an anti-capitalist 'tude? A seriously Goth kid not into the whole "ho-ho-ho" and "holly-jolly christmas" b.s.? Here's them a story that agrees with their world-view. It might also excite them to get curious about ancient myths and legends, which can only be a good thing. It's one I would buy for myself, and only misses five stars because it feels like it left off but didn't end.

That being a feature not a bug in sequential-art storytelling, I record it purely as an explanation not a cavil.