"Dear respected Christmasland owner,
I am responding to your ad
in "Spicy Menace" comic Volume 12, Issue 36.
Would I like to work in Christmasland?
You bet!
I have worked 19 years for MCS Custodial Services.
I am trusted with shipping dangerous chemical gases
all over the world.
I also work in schools,
where the vice principal says I'm a go-getter.
There is nothing I'm not ready to do
to earn a place among your Christmasland staff.
Season's greetings!
Bing Partridge."
? Christmas Eve will find me ?
? Where the love light gleams ?
? I'll be home for Christmas ?
? If only in my dreams ?
Mom?
Dad?
N-N-No, no, no, no, no.
No, no, no!
Aah!
Hey, mister.
I have something for you.
It's an invitation to Christmasland.
I knew it!
Are you naughty, or are you nice?
Nice.
Only those who truly deserve it can go to Christmasland.
Synced & corrected by kinglouisxx www.addic7ed.com
Vic?
What, you just leave me? No goodbye?
Well, I didn't leave you.
That's what Mom said. She said you left us both.
Well, then she misunderstood me.
Then help me understand.
Hold on. Okay. Let's just...
How'd you even find me here?
I shouldn't have had to find you, Dad.
Chrissy, baby, who is it?
Just hold on one sec.
You're right.
I should've done this different.
You know? I...
I had to get out of there.
You know, your mom and me,
we bring out the worst in each other.
She's better off without me.
It's for the best.
You should've told me.
I screwed up.
Sorry.
But I am here for you, Brat, you know?
Anything you need.
It's Tiffany Jones.
I shoulda known.
Were they drinking?
Yeah.
Maybe when he runs out of beer...
Eh, she's a bartender, for Chrissake.
He's in hog heaven.
Going to bed.
Vicki, how'd you find out?
And a play up the middle there on that last one.
Wind is blowing out towards right field, about 5 to 10.
I don't think it's gonna be much of a factor here today.
Mainly facing fastballs inside...
Some asshole's been painting dicks on the loading dock again.
Geez. I scrubbed them last week.
Yeah. Well, you're gonna be scrubbing 'em again.
Oh, my God!
And make some fresh coffee, will ya?
This stuff tastes like horse piss.
? I'll be home for Christmas ?
? You can plan on me ?
No!
Vic.
Vic!
You all right?
I mean, you ride out here like a bat outta hell,
and now you're, like, in outer space.
What was the name of that filthy doll you had
back in the third grade?
What?
Mousy?
Or was it Rabbity?
- Let's get outta here. Let's... - No. Petey?
Hey. The one you had until I lost it.
Are you sure you're not losing it now?
No, I'm not. What was its name?
He... He wasn't a doll.
It was a rabbit, and his name was Leonard.
So...
Hey, if you were gonna bust my balls,
uh, we coulda done this at my house, where there's weed.
So I could be, you know...
Okay.
Don't move.
Where you going?
Honestly?
I have no freaking idea.
Holy crap.
Craig!
Hey!
Hey, you all right?
You all right?
Wh... What was that?
What'd you see?
That, Vic.
Freaking... That.
- Just tell me what you saw, Craig. - I... I saw a bridge, okay?
I saw a bridge, okay? I saw it right there,
and I saw you go over it.
Good.
I tried to follow you, and...
Maybe I'm the only one who can cross.
- What? - Grab your bike.
Where did it take you?
Well, the first time I went over,
it took me to my father's lost watch.
The second time, his... girlfriend's house.
Just now?
Town landfill.
Leonard?
- Leonard. - Yep.
What the hell?
Okay, you don't ever cross that thing again.
All right? For anything. All right?
Okay, one... one day, you're finding stuffed rabbits,
and then the next day, uh, your dog is dead.
- I don't have a dog, Craig. I'm... - Okay, well, then it's you.
Then it's you. Then it's you instead.
I've never seen you so scared.
Honestly, Vic, I...
I don't know how you're seeing anything right now.
Vic...
Let's get the hell out of here.
Vic!
Let's go.
Yeah, thanks for holding, Donna.
Uh, could you grab the file
on the Hawkeye Farms case for me, please, Nadine?
Thank you.
Ah!
Library's got delivery now, huh?
Yeah, you wish.
Ms. Howard's had you on a "no lend" list
since the, uh, "Pride and Prejudice" incident.
That was six years ago.
- She tried to call the cops. - She did call the cops.
She tried to get me to file a police report on myself.
Oh, come on, Maggie. Not more Wraith talk.
Listen, there were only about 500 made.
Maggie...
No one really drives them.
They're more like a showpiece.
'Cause once they break, it's really hard to find the parts.
Mm. You want to go looking for Wraith parts now.
It's an old car,
had to have broken down at some point.
Find the parts, find the Wraith.
And Danny.
Peter Ives didn't take him alone.
Mm. According to your... Scrabble bag.
- I'm sorry. I'm sorry. - It's fine.
Look, Maggie, I know you were fond of Danny...
Am.
I am fond of him.
I taught him how to read.
Okay, well... you know, he's most likely, um...
There's a junkyard in Nebraska with spare Wraith parts.
Please.
Young Bing Partridge, the man of the hour.
We are overdue for a chat, sir...
probably the most important chat of your life.
Charles T. Manx, at your service.
C.E.O. of Christmasland Enterprises,
director of Christmasland Entertainment,
president of fun.
The hand of fate has brought us together, Mr. Partridge.
I was on my way here to locate a certain individual...
an individual able to find... a "Shorter Way"...
when I received your inquiry of employment at Christmasland.
You are the author of this missive, are you not?
Are you offering me a job?
Slow down, Mr. Partridge.
I am interviewing you for a future.
Unless you'd prefer to spend your remaining days
scrubbing away at crude depictions of male Galliformes.
Uh, what?
Cocks, Mr. Partridge. Cocks!
I need a new Chief of Christmasland Security
to protect the children of the world.
You do agree that children need protection, do you not?
I-I think so.
Then get in.
Time is wasting, sir.
Thank you.
Wow.
So, Bing, I have been watching you.
And I wonder, in your work at SOCHEMPHARM,
what are the gases to which you have access?
Oh, uh, oxygen, eh, nitrogen, helium...
some stuff called sevoflurane,
for dentists, mostly.
We call it "gingerbread smoke"
'cause that's what it smells like.
It's an anesthetic.
Yeah. You huff a little bit,
kind of do what people tell you to do.
You become open to suggestion.
Yeah. Huff too much, though,
and it just... it... it just knocks you out.
I see.
I got to level with you, Mr. Manx.
Ever since I wrote you that letter,
I've dreamed about Christmasland.
And it was, um... it was scary.
Scary?
Heavens, no!
What, is hot cocoa scary?
Are presents every day scary?
- No. - Mm.
Not scary like that, but...
but scary 'cause, um...
'cause I-I can't ever get in.
Well, only very special people ever get in.
Am I special?
That's why I'm looking you over, to find out.
Tell me, Bing...
when you dreamed about Christmasland,
did the moon wink at you?
How did you... How did you know?
Because maybe you do belong in Christmasland.
I'm so sorry, Mr. Manx.
I-I just...
I feel very tired.
I think I'm about to fall asleep.
Good.
The road to Christmasland is paved in dreams.
So...
Dad says we're better off without him.
Maybe we are.
No more handing over the cash after scrubbing toilets all day.
Maybe you could pick up an extra client or two...
Yeah?
...hire somebody to help you out.
- Ah! I've been thinking about that. - Yeah?
With you in the afternoons and on weekends,
and after you graduate, well, sky's the limit.
Vic!
Willa told me you're applying to RISD.
What a wonderful school!
Yes, we were just talking about Vic's future.
Mm.
Well, if you need anything at all, you let me know.
I have a sorority sister who works in the registrar's office.
Thank you, Mrs. Brewster.
Everything's bright and shining!
About half as much without your father's pitchers of beer.
See?
You haven't asked me about RISD.
RISD.
What even is that?
It's the Rhode Island School of Design.
It's a fine-arts college, a good one.
Well, it would've been nice to hear about it
from you instead of Angela Brewster.
That was embarrassing.
I want to go to college, Mom.
Sounds like your father's beer talk
filling your head with crazy notions.
- It's not crazy. - He's always the hero.
- I'm always the villain. - You're not the villain.
I know you're the one who kept the family together.
Mm, and a roof over our heads.
I know, Mom. You're the strong one.
I'm worried about Dad living with a bartender.
Don't be.
It's not your responsibility.
This sucks, Vicki. Your father's the one that left.
He's better around me.
I'm sorry, Ma.
Promise me one thing...
If there's hard liquor in...
in that house,
you come right back home, okay?
Love you.
Not bad!
My mom says I'm too old to be drawing with chalk
and that regular girls text with their friends.
Mine told me the same thing.
Who says we want to be regular?
I want friends.
Vic?
Your dad said you were sick but you'd be better in a few days.
I am better, thanks to you.
These are yours.
Yeah, I got them down to size for you.
I wrote my number in the cover.
I already have it.
Good. Call if you need any tips.
Or even if you don't. Okay?
You're leaving?
I'll be around.
We'll always be friends, okay, maggot?
Okay, weasel.
Oh.
Sorry!
Hey, Vic. Hold on!
Wait up.
Sorry, I didn't mean to...
No, no, no. What's going on?
What's up?
Come on. What's wrong?
It's just... me and Mom.
Yeah?
- Hey, Vic. - Hi.
Kind of a surprise.
Yeah, I know, um...
Sorry I was throwing myself around last night.
I was just...
surprised you left, is all.
It's okay.
Figure it out, you know?
We can put her in my craft room.
We can move some stuff around.
All right, yeah.
Okay?
Mom know you're here?
Uh-huh.
Here we have the laboratory.
Wow.
Yeah.
Do you not want me here?
Of course I want you here.
I'm just not sure this is
the best place for you right now, you know?
With your school and your college stuff...
Well, Mom doesn't want me to go to college.
At least you believe I can do it.
Hey, of course you can go to college.
Look, Tiff's...
kind of funny about people, you know, touching her crap.
Crap's right.
Hey.
This is her house.
Okay? Be nice.
And just, you know, don't touch anything.
It's you and Grandma.
That's supposed to be a surprise for me.
So, please, especially don't touch that.
Grandma loved Mom.
Everybody loved your mom.
That woman lit up a room.
Dad, I have to ask you something.
Mm-hmm?
Could you ever see us in a way, like...
you know, you could ever come home?
You and me and Mom?
Look...
Your mom and I grew up together, right?
Mm.
We had some good times.
Best of all, we had you.
Things have changed between us.
I can never go back there.
Okay?
You understand?
Yeah.
Okay, I'm gonna go smooth it out with Tiff, you staying here.
Thanks.
I'm sure it's cool, you know.
You, me, and Tiff.
All right.
Fella come in for some bodywork on a '38 Wraith.
Bended up left front fender,
needed to replace the brake drums.
Said he'd spun out on some black ice into a ditch.
When was this?
32 years ago come October.
Well, you seem sure about the date.
'Cause that's when my son and my grandson disappeared
with the car and the son of a bitch who owned it.
You remember the owner?
Yeah. Was a sickly fella, bad teeth, 'bout 80 years old.
And your son fixed his car?
Robbie got spellbound on that car,
even when it did spooky stuff.
Spooky stuff like what?
Goddamn thing started by itself.
Robbie'd say it was crossed ignition wires.
One day, I come home,
and Robbie Jr.'s yelling,
"Grandma! The car got Daddy!"
I come out.
The goddamn thing has Robbie pinned against the garage wall.
Robbie said it was his fault, thing rolled off its blocks.
That car had a mind of its own.
Yeah.
One day, I come home, and the car's gone.
My son is gone.
So is my grandson.
Well, I... I reckon people leave for all kinds of reasons.
They didn't leave, Sheriff.
My family was took.
But in my heart of hearts,
I know that little rat-face took 'em
somehow.
Well...
If somebody comes around asking for old Wraith parts,
give me a call?
A lot of good it'll do you, but yeah.
Christmasland.
Christmasland is to the west.
And once a year, Bing Partridge,
I take someone special.
Me?
All children are welcome,
but adults must first prove their worth.
I'll do anything, Mr. Manx.
I need you to help me save 10 children...
save them from monsters.
What monsters?
Their parents.
The bad ones.
If every day was Christmas for a child
instead of another day of misery and woe,
wouldn't that be wonderful?
Yeah.
Guess so.
But, excuse me, Mr. Manx.
Taking children from their parents...
isn't that a little bit like kidnapping?
Absolutely not.
It's a matter of rescue and retrieval.
Any child would give their teeth
to live an eternity in Christmasland.
There's something ahead I want you to see.
Tiff!
You know Vic's going to art school?
She's got a talent like you, babe.
Of course she does. She's your daughter.
Yeah, well, I need to get in first.
And when would that be?
Applications are due soon.
Mm, so you'd be on your way...?
Mm, next fall, if I get in.
What do you mean, "if" you get in?
If I get in.
You're a shoo-in.
Oh, shit.
- This is ridiculous. - Vicki, get in the car.
- Mom, you shouldn't be here. - Yeah, well, neither should you.
- Get your stuff. Let's go. - I'm not leaving.
You know she came here to try to save you?
Okay, you know what, Linda?
- This is not the right time. - Save him? From what?
- From this. From this. - Oh, okay!
She came here because she has a talent.
She... She wants to go to college.
- Oh! Vicki, look at me. - Come on. Come back in.
You stay in this flophouse with your drunk father...
- That's enough. Vicki. - ...the closest you'll come to college
is tending bar with a baby bump
next to the valedictorian
- of Margaritaville over here! - Okay, okay.
Pardon my French. I'm sorry. What's wrong with tending bar?
- Okay... - Linda, you clean houses.
Well, at least I don't wreck 'em.
How long you been banging my husband?
- Okay! You know what? - I give Chrissy the love he deserves.
Go ahead. You know you want to.
- And I don't push him to his limits! - Well, we agree on something.
Linda, just get back in the car. Just get back in your...
Fix it with your hands, drunk. Go ahead.
- All right, that's what we're doing here? - Linda!
Here, give her a preview of the coming attractions.
- You know what, Linda? - Stop it!
I'm calling the cops. I'ma call the cops, okay?
Is that what you want? You want me to call 'em now?
- No, no, no, no. no. - No, no, no, no, no, no.
- No, I do not want the police here. - This has gone on... no, no, no.
- Chris, the police... - I am not leaving without Vicki.
I'm not leaving without her.
- Vic! - I'm not leaving without her!
You can get in your car.
Vic!
Fix it with your hands, drunk.
....preview of the coming attractions.
I'ma call the cops, okay? Is that what you want?
You want me to call the cops?
Don't worry.
You're, uh... You're safe here.
Wh-Where am I?
Here.
Here, Iowa.
Iowa?
What? No, I'm fr...
I'm from Haverhill, Massachusetts.
Hm, well, you came a long way.
You are the Brat, right?
A-And I'm guessing the motorbike is your Knife
and that old bridge over there is your Inscape.
Of course! Sorry.
You look about that age.
This is still probably pretty new to you.
You probably think you're going crazy,
but you're not. You're not.
You're... You're a Strong Creative.
Wait. Do you have something for me?
Something someone left or lost?
Uh, yeah.
Yeah, I've been expecting you.
I'm not really supposed to even crash here,
but, uh, Ms. Howard takes pity on me 'cause I'm an orphan, so...
I think I've seen this place before.
My Scrabble tiles told me you were coming.
They can tell me just about anything, if I listen.
They can't give me proper nouns, though, like in Scrabble.
But nicknames are okay.
Hence "the Brat."
I'm Maggie Leigh, by the way.
Vic McQueen.
My dad calls me Brat.
Well, Brat, let's go take care of that knee.
I like your fish tank.
Thank you. It is a pain in the ass to clean.
So, uh, what did you call my bridge before,
when we were outside?
It's an Inscape.
It's a world dreamed up in your imagination.
Everybody has them, but only Strong Creatives
can pull theirs into the real world
- with the help of a Knife. - My bike.
Exactly.
Cuts the fabric between the real world and the world of thought,
and allows you to access your bridge.
Sorry.
Um...
So, every time I cross it, my... my head kills me.
My left eye feels like there's a needle in it.
That is the c-cost of your gift.
I didn't used to stutter before my bag found me.
I was about your age, maybe a little younger, but it varies.
It's like puberty.
I know what you're thinking.
Why you, right?
Or me?
But think about it.
Some people are movie stars.
Some people speak a dozen foreign languages
or are amazing cooks.
And some people are Strong Creatives.
People like us?
I'm a medium. It's a gift, but it's different.
I help interpret the static.
Thank you.
You said that you had something for me?
My tiles, they've been chattering about you for days.
What is the Brat here to find?
Oh, God, no. I don't...
It's creepy. I know.
"The Wraith." Is that something you lost?
No.
But I am looking for him.
It's a guy?
It is a serial child abductor.
He's a Strong Creative, too.
He took a kid I know.
You know, I think I should start heading out
before my bridge, or Inscape, starts to fade or...
Thank you!
Thank you so much!
Yeah, but my tiles say that
you're supposed to help me f-find the...
Thank you for all the help, Maggie.
I'm sorry you lost your friend.
D-Daniel.
His name is Daniel Moore.
He's 8 years old, Vic.
The Wraith killed his mother
and took him from the only home he knows, Vic, okay?
Please, just wait.
You are the only person that can stop him, okay?
The girl who finds lost things can find lost children.
Don't you see you've been chosen?
I don't want to be chosen.
Your tiles are wrong.
Vic?
Oh!
Haley!
H-How'd you do that?
Haley, listen to me.
You never, ever tell anyone about this.
Where'd the bridge go?
Haley, you've got to promise me.
You're squeezing my arm.
The bridge? That bridge is dangerous.
Okay? There's bats in there,
and strange places and... and strange people.
- Okay? - You're scaring me.
Good. Promise you won't tell.
Promise.
I promise.
I'm sorry.
It's okay.
What are you doing out here, anyways?
Mittens ran away.
He'll come back.
He always does, doesn't he?
Let's go home. I'll give you a ride.
Helmet on.
Hop on.
Squeeze my waist real tight.
Don't let go.
Mr. Manx!
Ah!
There's a dead girl in the ice!
Not dead.
Not yet.
Maybe not for many years.
What is this place?
This, Mr. Partridge, is the Graveyard of What Might Be.
These are all children
who, if I do nothing,
will have their childhood stolen by their mothers and fathers.
All of them...
...beaten with chains,
fed cat food,
sold to perverts.
Consider this one.
Lily Carter.
Turned to a life of sin by her father.
She never had a chance.
Her childhood ended before it even began.
If only there had been another
to take her off to Christmasland.
You could line all these parents up
and put a bullet in their brains, for all I care.
Or a nail.
I wish I could have saved you back then, Bing.
Will you help me save the others before it's too late?
Yes.
Good.
Let's go back to the car for some hot cocoa.
Then we have work to do.
There is someone who might threaten the magic
and wonder of Christmasland, someone in Haverhill.
Tell me, Bing Partridge...
what do you know about the Shorter Way?
Synced & corrected by kinglouisxx www.addic7ed.com