A Die Hard Christmas: The Illustrated Holiday Classic
by Doogie Horner, JJ Harrison (Illustrator)
Hardcover, 32 pg.
Insight Editions, 2017
Read: October 25, 2017
This is going to be short and sweet. The premise: Take Die Hard one of the greatest action films ever made, one of the greatest Christmas movies ever made, and an all-around pop culture touchstone and turn it into a (NOT for kids) rhyming picture book.
I’m not sure I really need to say more, do I?
Horner does an admirable job with taking the flick and turning it into a series of rhymes — it doesn’t feel like a gimmick. A lot of what he doesn’t grab, Harrison takes care of in the illustrations. It’s not perfect, things are left out, but with only 32 pages — you pretty much have to. Only 1 four-letter word, too (technically, 12 letters, but you get the point).
The art is great — although you could make the case that Harrison gave McClane too much hair. The art is dynamic, you can feel the action, the characters all look just right. Some samples of the illustrations are here on Harrison’s site.
One complaint? No Argyle. Which I guess makes sense given the limited space, but man . . .
This is a hoot — yeah, a novelty book, but well executed and well worth a read. Something to bring out every December (if you’re the type to do that).
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