Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Shiver of Christmas Town returns to the enchanted lands of Halloween Town and Christmas Town for an all-new tale of adventure that will have readers in stitches!It all begins with the unveiling of Dr. Finkelstein’s newest creation, specially designed to be the scariest creature ever to celebrate All Hallow’s Eve. But something has gone awry in the process, and the final result is more cute and cuddly than fearsome and menacing. The disappointed scientist hands the newcomer over to Sally for safekeeping, who dubs it Shiver for its freezing breath. Meanwhile, the Mayor has tasked Lock, Shock, and Barrel with teaching the residents of Christmas Town how to trick-or-treat, as the two realms have embarked on a new campaign to share their holiday traditions. With Christmas Town celebrating Halloween for the first time ever, the trio are taking their assignment seriously — perhaps a bit too seriously! In an effort to make their pranks extra lifelike and terrifying, they decide to “borrow” some ingredients from Dr. Finkelstein’s lab — and end up with much more than they bargained for in the form of the deceptively adorable Shiver!

Written by Torunn Gornbekk, Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Shiver of Christmas Town #1 is cute and fun return to the world of The Nightmare Before Christmas but lacks the magic that was the stop motion animated musical movie. While not bad, the comic feels a little disjointed at times with its storytelling, attempting to recreate the flow of the dialogue and the music which is difficult to capture on the comic page.

The story is cute enough with a new creature created by Dr. Finklestein and Lock, Shock, and Barrel tasked to teach everyone about trick-or-treating. While Shiver, the new creature is clear as far as story and what the debut adds, the trio trouble maker’s task is a bit more muddied as to the why of their actions or why they’re event asked with what they’re to do… Instead it feels more like a drive to get them involved in some mischievous behavior and re-introduce Oogie Boogie who has mysteriously returned.

And that return is an example of the issue with Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Shiver of Christmas Town #1. While it’s set in the world of the animated film, it feels like it relies on far more than the movie to really enjoy. Beyond Shiver, more individuals are introduced with little explanation as to who they are and why we should care. It feels like there’s been previous series that should have been read, so it’s not quite clear if that’s true or not.

The art by Edu Menna is nice with lettering by Jeff Eckleberry. The characters look great and in some ways the visuals capture the stop motion nature of the film. The world has its creepy but also cute and inviting aspect. The comic looks good capturing the film and world well though the art doesn’t quite excite. It’s a solid adaptation of what has already come.

Tim Burton’s The Nightmare Before Christmas: The Shiver of Christmas Town isn’t bad at all and there’s potential in the fun but it feels like it attempts to capture the flow of the dialogue from the film which was driven by the musical nature of the movie and that doesn’t quite translate to the comic page. It comes off a little stilted in some ways. The lack of some details too hurts the comic making readers wonder about them and distracting in some ways. But, overall, there’s some potential here to bring back the film as a series of monthly comics much like other Disney launches at Dynamite. As a fan of the film, I’ve got my hopes, but this might be one to wait until it’s collected.

Story: Torunn Gronbekk Art: Edu Menna Letterer: Jeff Eckleberry
Story: 7.0 Art: 7.25 Overall: 7.0 Recommendation: Read

Dynamite Entertainment provided Graphic Policy with a FREE copy for review

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