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NAUGHTY LIST
Marking the comic book debut of screenwriter, producer and novelist Nick Santora, showrunner of the of the hit series Reacher and veteran of a number of gritty actioners including The Sopranos, Law & Order, Prison Break and The Fugitive, NAUGHTY LIST is the Santa Claus origin story we’re sure you've never heard before.
With art by Lee Ferguson (SYMPATHY FOR NO DEVILS, Sam and his Talking Gun), colors by Pippa Bowland and lettering by Simon Bowland, the series imagines Santa as a bitter immortal who has outlived his family for hundreds of years. When his Naughty List is stolen, Sinterklass must hunt down and retrieve it before it’s used for nefarious purposes.
With art by Lee Ferguson (SYMPATHY FOR NO DEVILS, Sam and his Talking Gun), colors by Pippa Bowland and lettering by Simon Bowland, the series imagines Santa as a bitter immortal who has outlived his family for hundreds of years. When his Naughty List is stolen, Sinterklass must hunt down and retrieve it before it’s used for nefarious purposes.
128 pages, Paperback
Published October 11, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
December 23, 2022
Are you in the holiday spirit and ready for Christmas? Or, are you avoiding supermarkets and department stores because if you have to hear any more Christmas muzak you’ll explode? Are you anxiously awaiting January when your significant other will relinquish the tv remote that’s been locked on the Hallmark Channel Christmas movies since pre-Thanksgiving? If you are one of those who are feeling a bit dispirited during this festive season, may I suggest a possible salve to soothe that tinseled tone? THE NAUGHTY LIST can provide temporary relief. Just don’t share the story with your children, unless they have reached that cynical age in their teens when this tale would also appeal to them.
Imagine the origin story of Santa Claus as if it was written by The Grinch, although there is more than just a negative or bitter spin on the legend here. A well-intentioned husband and father in the Belgium of centuries past notices poverty-stricken children in the village and begins to carve wooden toys for them to bring a little joy into their life. This catches the notice of The Star (cosmic entity in the sky) which makes sure that Nicholas Sinterklass can continue to produce more toys, turning him into an immortal who cannot be harmed and providing him with time-traveling reindeer so that he can turn this into a world-wide enterprise. Sinterklass maintains his soft spot for the underprivileged and shunned and hires the little people who were outcasts. They help him build the toys and come to be known as elves.
Nicholas outlives his family and after six hundred years he grows more and more resentful of his lot in life. Along with the despondency, author Santora injects plenty of humor . . . and foul language (shame on you, Santa). Santa also maintains the Nice and Naughty List of legend, and his gifts for the naughty are inventive and nasty.
One day the List is stolen so Santa doesn’t know who should receive the bad gifts. He gets a new purpose in life when he sets out with trusted elf Plum to investigate who is using the Naughty List to brutally murder people. Things come to a head in Issue #4 with a ending of sorts but not a satisfactory resolution, leaving an opening for a Volume Two (which I would welcome).
You might think that writer Nick Santora is a bitter, negative person. However, in his message at the end of the story he reveals how much he respects his wonderful Christmas memories. Rather, he can’t understand why some people get so negative in December . . . . “so NAUGHTY LIST is Christmas getting tough and pushing back against all the complaints!”
The story is, as intended, fun, silly and a little weird . . and definitely not for kids.
Imagine the origin story of Santa Claus as if it was written by The Grinch, although there is more than just a negative or bitter spin on the legend here. A well-intentioned husband and father in the Belgium of centuries past notices poverty-stricken children in the village and begins to carve wooden toys for them to bring a little joy into their life. This catches the notice of The Star (cosmic entity in the sky) which makes sure that Nicholas Sinterklass can continue to produce more toys, turning him into an immortal who cannot be harmed and providing him with time-traveling reindeer so that he can turn this into a world-wide enterprise. Sinterklass maintains his soft spot for the underprivileged and shunned and hires the little people who were outcasts. They help him build the toys and come to be known as elves.
Nicholas outlives his family and after six hundred years he grows more and more resentful of his lot in life. Along with the despondency, author Santora injects plenty of humor . . . and foul language (shame on you, Santa). Santa also maintains the Nice and Naughty List of legend, and his gifts for the naughty are inventive and nasty.
One day the List is stolen so Santa doesn’t know who should receive the bad gifts. He gets a new purpose in life when he sets out with trusted elf Plum to investigate who is using the Naughty List to brutally murder people. Things come to a head in Issue #4 with a ending of sorts but not a satisfactory resolution, leaving an opening for a Volume Two (which I would welcome).
You might think that writer Nick Santora is a bitter, negative person. However, in his message at the end of the story he reveals how much he respects his wonderful Christmas memories. Rather, he can’t understand why some people get so negative in December . . . . “so NAUGHTY LIST is Christmas getting tough and pushing back against all the complaints!”
The story is, as intended, fun, silly and a little weird . . and definitely not for kids.
November 6, 2022
This had the potential to be fantastic but suffers from being all exposition. It's about Santa Claus if it was a curse. A thousand years ago Sinterklauss became Santa by wishing on a star and quit aging. However, his wife and daughter didn't and eventually died. Same with the elves and reindeer. Now he's super disgruntled and immortal. The end of the book finds out there's an evil troll out there who is killing those on the naughty list. Strangely that's where the book ends, just as it's about to get started. I'm hoping there's a sequel to resolve this.
September 1, 2026
A interesting take on Christmas where the "Naughty" list is stolen.....problem is, the story ends on a cliffhanger and is never resolved. Hope that is would eventually conclude, but still hasn't to this day 😡
July 27, 2023
this is an excellent read. A great story with some very cool artwork.
A fun twist on Santa Claus and the elves, reindeer everything.
I hope there is a volume 2
A fun twist on Santa Claus and the elves, reindeer everything.
I hope there is a volume 2
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews