By sheer coincidence, I watched 'Violent Night' only a day before reading 'Periwinkle'. Maybe it's a new trend to reevaluate Santa Claus in this modern time. Certainly I read another a few years ago, George O'Connor's 'Silent Night'. In that graphic novel, Santa is only busy working Christmas for a small part of each year, so moonlights as a private detective for the rest. In 'Violent Night', Santa, who's a drunken wreck in the form of David Harbour, is delivering presents when he finds himself in the middle of a home invasion and robbery, so turns into a reluctant action hero to save the day.

In this graphic novel, Santa has been reevaluated not by us but by those who used to work for him. He's also dead before the first page, killed by Krampus during a coup that freed him and the elves from centuries of servitude. Krampus is doing fine, given that he has a castle fortress of his own to run his operation out of, continuing his work to punish naughty children. He has a fresh batch when we first meet him, ready for the cages. And he even has Goya's 'Saturn Devouring His Son' right up there on his wall, even though it's supposed to be in the Prado.

The reason we have a story is that there's a target on Krampus' chest. He's the last of the traitors scheduled to face justice at the hands of an elf, the Periwinkle of the title, who's still unwaveringly loyal to the Saint, as his workforce called him, even after his death. Periwinkle has a list, inevitably a naughty list at a whole new level, and he's steadily working his way down it with a bloody axe. He already took care of Hazel, Mazarin and Clementine before this book began and Pumpernickel has his comeuppance in the opening chapter. And that leaves the Belsnickel and Krampus himself.

I like this concept. It's interesting to me that there seem to be a number of different people taking a fresh look at what Santa Claus truly means and translating that into something gory, violent and altogether horrific to Hallmark and the Lifetime Channel, but they're all seeing different angles. I appreciate the approaches of all three of the titles I've mentioned, but this one aims deepest into the mythology of it all.

Pumpernickel knows that he can't dissuade Periwinkle from taking his head and the fact that they happen to be brothers is of lesser importance to the latter than his vengeance, but the imminent corpse still gives it a final token attempt. Originally, he thought that everything that the Saint did was for the kids but, after centuries in his workshop and no doubt the perennial chipping away at a firm allegiance by Krampus, he gradually came to realise that the Saint was actually an "insatiable monster" who "hungered only for fame and glory". No wonder they staged a coup.

What's interesting to me is that none of those responsible seem to express regret. This wasn't the old Luciferian fall from grace, where many regretted choosing the wrong side once the battle was over. These elves still believe that what they did was right, that they freed themselves and others from the yoke of tyranny, rather like Americans on the Fourth of July, earnestly believing that the British were truly an enemy and relishing the nation they created on their own. Yet, Periwinkle is a lone force of vengeance with nobody on his side but the reindeer Prancer. In fact, Alabaster, who's closer to him than anyone in the world, fears that his quest is destructive and will consume him.

So, who are the good guys and who are the bad guys? Santa Claus is dead. Choose again.

If the strongest aspect to this book is the setup, the basic concept on which the writer, Scott Wilke, builds and to which artist Arturo Mesa brings vivid life (and death), then the colours are probably next in line. I could complain about how dark and shadowy some of these scenes are, deliberately so given the setting, but there are also vivid scenes a-plenty to cherish and Mesa moves between them with a firm eye for contrast. I remember driving through the forests of Tennessee at night, only for everything to suddenly erupt into bright neon for about a mile as we passed Pigeon Forge, home to Dollywood and countless crazy golf courses, before we were swallowed up again by forest and the darkness claimed us afresh. This sometimes felt like that.

The weakest aspect may be that it isn't always easy to tell which character we're looking at. It may be easy for us to distinguish between this human being and that one, but it's harder to tell when it comes to elves, especially when they're manifesting out of darkness with an axe in their hands. So I had to pay close attention to ensure I know which character was still alive after this particular slice and which was now in two pieces. By the way, some of the gore scenes are glorious and mirror the inventive death in 'Violent Night'. There are many similarities, even though I'm sure the two have zero connection; this went live while the film was in production.

There's a lot to like from both and, indeed, from 'Silent Night', three riffs on a theme. Each has an individual depth to explore and this one comes down to purpose. The Saint isn't still around for us to fairly determine the validity of Krampus's mindset. We can certainly decide about Krampus for ourselves and the Belsnickel too, master hunter that he is. Never mind Santa, he took some heads we surely have to wonder about. And, of course, there's Periwinkle to think about, especially given where the story eventually takes us and how the colouring changes because of that.

And so this is another recommended title from an Arizona author. Wilke is the author of a growing number of series, including 'The Legend of Everett Forge', a steampunk comic book that I'm aware of through his father cosplaying a character from it in some of the better half's steampunk fashion shows. He's also written a variety of others that I ought to start tracking down.. ~~ Hal C F Astell