Jingle Belle
Jingle Belle is a cartoon character created by Paul Dini. She's Santa Claus' spoiled teen-age daughter. The stories depict Jingle's usually contentious relationship with her famous father.
Jing appears in a number of comic books, all written by Dini and illustrated by a wide roster of comic artists, including Stephen DeStefano, Bill Morrison, J. Bone and Sergio Aragonés. The books were first published by Oni Press, starting in 1999. The summer 2001 one-shot special, "Jingle Belle: The Mighty Elves" was nominated for an Eisner Award for Best Humor Book. There has also been a spin-off series, Mutant, Texas: Tales of Sheriff Ida Red. From 2004 until 2007 the series was published by Dark Horse Comics. In 2008, the character moved to Image Comics's Top Cow Productions as the first title in a new line of comics all created by Dini, Dinicartoons.
In 2000 Jingle Belle appeared in a series of animated shorts, available on JingleBelle.com. There is also a lot of Jingle Belle merchandise, including a Jingle Belle statue, a Christmas ornament, a lunch box and a t-shirt, featuring artwork by Bill Morrison.
The name Jingle Belle is a reference to both the Christmas song "Jingle Bells" and the Memphis Belle, a B-17 bomber whose pin-up-style nose art inspired the character. "Belle's Beaus", a 2004 story set partially during World War II somewhat acknowledges this link.
Comic books
- Oni Double Feature #13 (Summer 1999)
- Jingle Belle (two-issue miniseries, Winter 1999)
- Oni Press Summer Vacation Supercolor Fun Special (Summer 2000)
- Jingle Belle's All-Star Holiday Hullabaloo (one-shot, Winter 2000)
- Jingle Belle: The Mighty Elves (one-shot, Summer 2001)
- Jingle Belle: Jubilee (one-shot, Winter 2001)
- Jingle Belle: Winter Wingding (one-shot, Winter 2002)
- Jingle Belle (Dark Horse series, four issues beginning winter 2004)
- Jingle Belle: The Fight Before Christmas (one-shot, Winter 2005)
- Jingle Belle: Santa Claus Vs. Frankenstein (Top Cow One-Shot, Winter 2008)
- Jingle Belle: Grounded (as part of the Top Cow Holiday Special, Winter 2010)
- Jingle Belle: Gift Wrapped (one-shot, Winter 2011)
Collected editions
- Jingle Belle: Naughty and Nice (ISBN 1-929998-08-2; collects the original miniseries, the short story from Oni Double Feature #13 and a new color story)
- Jingle Belle's Cool Yule (ISBN 1-929998-36-8; collects Jingle Belle's All-Star Holiday Hullabaloo, Jingle Belle: The Mighty Elves and Jingle Belle: Jubilee)
- Jingle Belle: Dash Away All (ISBN 1-929998-61-9; Winter 2003; original graphic novel plus a short story co-written with David Mandel)
- Jingle Belle (ISBN 1-59307-382-8; collects the four-issue Dark Horse series)
A fifth volume, Stocking Stuffers, was scheduled for December 2010 publication by Top Cow, but was removed from the publication schedule and most of its contents combined with the 2010 Top Cow Holiday Special. A solo reprinting of the Harvey Award-nominated story "Grounded" appeared in December 2011's Jingle Belle: Gift Wrapped one-shot along with four new stories.
Crossovers
- Blue Belles A four page crossover between Jingle Belle and Blue Monday (comic) by Chynna Clugston who also did the Winter Wingding cover. It was collected in Volume 3 of Blue Monday: Inbetween days.
- A crossover book The Bakers Meet Jingle Belle was released in December 2006 from Dark Horse Comics. It was drawn by noted cartoonist Kyle Baker and features a meeting between Jingle Belle and the family of characters based on Baker's homelife.
Jingle Belle appears in Matt Groening's style in "The Simpsons Winter WingDing #1". She introduces a new gift to Santa Claus, which turns out to be The Robot Santa from Futurama.
External links
- JingleBelle.com, the official homepage for Jingle Belle and Paul Dini