Scrooge and Santa GN
Publisher: Arcana Studio
Release Date: January 2011
Price: $14.95
Creator(s): Written by Matthew Wilson; Illustrated by Josh Kenfield
Format: 114 pgs.; Full-Color; Trade Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-89754-898-1
Age Rating: All-Ages
ICv2 Rating: 3 Stars out of 5

The CEO of Scrooge Enterprises is scheming to become even richer by kidnapping Santa and forcing parents to pay for Scrooge for the toys Santa gives away each year.  But when he ends up on the run from the police, his assistant Bonnie Cratchit and the ghosts who visit him annually must help him save Christmas.

Wilson and Kenfield’s reworking of Dickens' A Christmas Carol is fun and chaotic, if a bit too easily resolved.  Readers looking for fast-paced action will find it in spades; no one walks when they can zoom.  But Kenfield’s broad, colorful, cartoonish art keeps things moving along, doesn’t rely on words when a visual joke will work, and makes sure the action is clear to the readers.  Scrooge's inevitable change of heart isn’t completely believable, especially as motivated by the bratty Tim Cratchit, but Christmas stories have never been completely about reality, so that probably won’t bother most readers.  Other than one incident of mild cursing ("ass") and some comedic violence, there isn’t much to keep this from being appropriate for a wide range of ages, starting with older elementary school.  Children may not get all of the references, but they’ll enjoy the humor along with teen and adult readers.
 
--Snow Wildsmith: Writer and former teen librarian and ALA/YALSA committee member.