With the holiday season in full swing and everyone gearing
up for Christmas and other winter holidays, lots of people are in the mood for
some good holiday specials. While Christmas themed comics are rather rare, some
options can be found. One such story is the light fantasy adventure comic
NorthStars. Can this book put you in the holiday spirit?
Let’s look at NorthStars.
STORY
The story takes place in the magical region of Polaris,
located in the area around Earth’s North Pole, and the residents of the town of
Snowville, where Santa Claus lives, are getting ready for Christmas. Our two
protagonists are Holly Claus, Santa’s daughter, and Frostina, the princess of the
yetis, while the dark Christmas demon Krampus appears as our main villain. When
Krampus steals a magical artifact that Santa needs for his Christmas
deliveries, Holly and Frostina take it upon themselves to get it back and save
the holiday.
The story is a nice little adventure. The girls do come
across some genuine threats and switch between either fighting through them
(with Frostina doing most of the fighting) or solving them with some creative
thinking. There are also some good jokes peppered throughout the story,
reminiscent of Adventure Time. While there isn’t any deeper story going on, at
least in this volume, traveling with these characters and learning more about
the world they inhabit and the kinds of other creatures and characters that
live in it is itself engaging.
CHARACTERS
The characters that get the most exploration in this story
are Holly, Frostina, and Krampus, as we see how they behave around others and
what their motivations are. Sorry if you expect to see Santa appear throughout,
but he only appears briefly at the start and in flashbacks. There isn’t much
character development in the protagonists, as Holly and Frostina aren’t challenged
in any big way, but since there are other comics in this series, this can be
seen as more of an introduction to the characters and the world. We learn a few
small things about the characters, like Holly being able to jump higher than a
normal person and Frostina being very strong, and we are sure to learn more
about them as the series progresses.
We also learn a fair bit about Krampus as portrayed in this
story. While Santa’s job is to reward nice people with presents (or coal if
they’re not so nice), Krampus goes out to punish the naughty, though sometimes
he goes too far with his punishments. Also, it’s said he wants to take over control
of Christmas from Santa and that’s why he goes through with his plan in this story.
He also has powerful magic at his disposal and can even summon creatures to do
his bidding. His basic motivations are laid out and he has room in the series
to grow into a threatening villain.
VISUALS
This comic has a colorful and cheerful art style, fitting
seeing the holiday it draws its inspiration from. A lot of characters and parts
of the setting make use of white, reds, and greens, which set in the Christmas
theme nicely. The characters look vibrant and interesting with a lot of
variation while still fitting in with the world of the story. Even some of the
elves in Santa’s workshop have distinct looks. Settings range from the quaint
snowy town of Snowville to the subterranean mushroom village of Undertown and
there are creatures from soldiers made of straw to ice dragons. It wants
readers to go further to explore more of this world.
FINAL THOUGHTS
NorthStars is a fun and entertaining comic that presents
itself as a Christmas-themed Adventure Time style story. There is a large world
to explore with interesting characters to lead you through it. While the plot
isn’t that deep, there is plenty of humor and clever scenes to keep you moving
through the story that will hopefully be expanded on in future issues.
SCORE: 4/5
REREAD VALUE: MODERATE
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What did you think of this review? Does this comic sound like something you want to check out? Make your voice heard in the comments below. Thanks for coming!
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