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"Christmas Corral"
Moonstone's Holiday Super Spectacular
Moonstone
Story: Mac Rauch
Art: Ken Wolak
Covers: Marat Michaels & Bob Pedroza (A), Michael Stribling (B),
Dave Aikens & Andy Bennett (C)
2007 |
Giant worms from the Andromeda Nebula
arrive on Earth to meet Jesus Christ.
Story
Summary
As Buckaroo and the Hong Kong Cavaliers prepare for a huge
Christmas rock and roll concert in the desert, they are suddenly
approached by a slithering swarm of giant caterpillars called
Wormen from the Andromeda Galaxy. Buckaroo rides out to meet
them and they tell him they are here to meet Jesus Christ.
Obviously, Jesus is not there to greet
them, but Buckaroo decides to show them the sculpture of the
baby Jesus from the manger scene which is part of the concert's
decorations. But the Wormen seem more impressed with Perfect
Tommy and Reno, who are both dressed in Santa Claus suits. They
must think Santa is a real life holy figure.
Suddenly the grounds are attacked from the air by Earthly
weapons, killing many of the Wormen, including the leader, their
queen. The remaining Wormen also die with the passing of their
queen, who has excreted a large egg in her death throes.
The Cavaliers discover a dud bomb that identifies it as a
product of Wackenbush Correctional Logistics, a private
contractor known to be rounding up aliens down on the border.
Buckaroo has a few of the interns hide the egg with a local
desert prospector named Mose. On the night of the concert,
Buckaroo is summoned to the old prospector's shack and he finds
the egg has hatched. He thinks WCL will be after the little
tyke, so Mose, along with the interns, agree to hide the baby at
a new location at an old silver mine.
Buckaroo returns to the concert grounds and is about to start
jamming with the Cavaliers when Wackenbush helicopters descend
on the crowd. But the band plays on anyway. And, up in the
desert hills, Mose and Calico, with the baby caterpillar,
witness more helicopters descending on the old shack.
THE END?
Didja Know?
The story's title, "Christmas Corral", is a play on title of
Charles Dickens' classic 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol.
The use of the word "corral" may also be an allusion to the
manger which is said to have held the baby Jesus shortly after
his birth.
On page 1 of the story, Li exclaims, "Holy, Shi-tzu!"
Obviously, this is a play on the epithet "holy shit" in the
English language. "Shi-tzu" is a breed of small dog that
originated in China.
On page 3, Buckaroo is riding a horse named Buttermilk. This
was also the name of his horse when he was a young boy
shortly after his father's death (as seen in
"A Tomb With a View").
It's theoretically possible, but highly unlikely, that this
could be the same horse still living, though the horse
depicted here has light fur and a dark mane and tail,
whereas the young Buttermilk was light-colored throughout
(and horses don't really go from light to dark in coloring as
they get older). In Against the
World Crime League, he rides a piebald horse named
Buttermilk that is said to have formerly been Penny's! In
"Return of the Screw" Part 2, Buckaroo is riding a
similar-looking horse to the one seen here, but it is called Old
Dan.
Li reaches for his holstered gun, which he calls a
Peacemaker, on page 3. The (Colt 45) Peacemaker is a
nickname for the Colt Single Action Army six-shooter,
manufactured from 1873-1892.
The Wormen claim to be from the Andromeda Galaxy. It is a
spiral galaxy, just as they describe, but it's actually
about 2.5 million light-years away from Earth, not one
million as they state here.
On page 4, panel 2, Reno is standing next to what appears to
be a mounted weapon with the name XT2
LAZAR printed on the
side. Possibly it is some kind of laser weapon; I can find
no evidence of a real world device by that name/brand.
What is the object that drops from the sky on page 8, panel
1 and what are the strange markings on it seen on page 9? I
assume this device is a remote controlled drone which is
what was attacking the concert grounds.
On page 9, Team Banzai realizes their Wormen guests have
been attacked by Wackenbush Correctional Logistics, a
private contractor known to be rounding up aliens down on
the border. This is a fictional corporation, but probably
inspired by the real world Wackenhut Corporation, a security
services firm; in 2010 they were bought out and the name was
changed to
G4S.
Notice that the initials of the fictional company are WCL...
The Wormen egg is hidden with an old prospector named Mose.
Possibly, the name is a variation of the Biblical Moses, as
Mose is considered an alternative version of Moses' Hebrew
name of Moshe.
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Episode Studies
