Alex Burrows and Micah Farritor's severely abridged version of the story cuts this year's scene down to five panels. In the first, Scrooge is sleeping and a clock chimes one. In panel two, Scrooge wakes up. And in panel three, the Spirit appears and Scrooge asks who it is.
Panel four is the one above. The Spirit is relatively androgynous; perhaps leaning towards masculine. And it's neither young nor old, but middle-aged. I'm not crazy about that, but I do like the choice to give the Spirit flames for hair. That suggests the flickering nature of the ghost and also provides a source for the light emanating from its head. The holly branch is replaced by a garland that the Spirit wears as a necklace. The cap is there, but Scrooge calls no attention to it and it serves no purpose other than to be faithful to Dickens.
In the final panel, Scrooge asks the Spirit if it's the ghost of "long past." It says, "No, your past" and orders Scrooge to take its hand. Their hands touch in an inset panel and the following panel smash-cuts to the next scene, outdoors.
That means that the Spirit never touches Scrooge's heart, but I think Scrooge is going to be okay anyway. He doesn't have much to say, but his eyes are wide and submissive the whole time. He turned humble halfway through Marley's visit and still is. Earlier in the story, this Scrooge's defining characteristic seemed to be arrogance, but his confidence has been shaken by the ghosts and I'm betting he's going to be pretty easy to change. We'll see though.
1 comment:
This art evokes something "folk art" like, to me. I kind of dig it. But the much abridged story I do not like. Rushing through things takes away some of the impact, I think.
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