Rebirth Holiday Special- "Light In The Dark" Review: Finally, A Chanukah Story!

The solicitation for the DC Rebirth Holiday Special teased a "Chanukah crisis" for Batwoman. What could it be? Has a nefarious supervillain been weighing down dreidels, causing uneven and unfair distributions of gimmels? Are latkes everywhere getting burned? Has Darkseid come to her doorstep to preach about the joys of converting to Anti-Life? Let's find out together in "Light In The Dark!"

At the beginning of the story, Batwoman is feeling depressed. She and her father had a longstanding tradition of meeting up in a diner for a retelling of the story of Chanukah and cherry pie. As a fan of both pie and Chanukah, I can relate to this. In fact, Chanukah is one of my favorite Jewish holidays, along with Purim.

After an encounter with a mysterious baddie and some criminals, she contacts her old friend Kit for some help. I'm not sure if Kit has appeared in the pre-Flashpoint DC universe, but I do know that she is already awesome. I hope that she appears in the upcoming Batwoman solo series. Kit is a mysterious hacker, kind of like Oracle, and located in Gotham City.

I too have known the horrors of the spinny wheel of death.

Together, they manage to foil the plot and save the life of "Tributary". The three of them end the story back at The Corner Diner with a hastily-bought menorah, pie, and Kate beginning to tell the story of the Maccabees.  It's a great story, simple and filled with hope. I love being with my family during the holidays and it just so happens that the entirety of Chanukah falls during my winter break this year. If I had to nitpick, then I do wish that the story of the Maccabees was actually told, but I know that there wasn't a lot of space in the special.

I also like the little short preceding the story with Harley Quinn's attempts to combine Christmas and Chanukah at the Justice League's Christmas party. I honestly didn't know that Harley was Jewish. Technically, Judaism is passed down through the mother's side, but the story implies that her father celebrated Chanukah, so I'll let it slide.

Guilt? What guilt? Did you mean to say 'gelt?' I'm a college student, I don't know anything about guilt! -remembers that at the time of my initial reading of the story I had finals going on- Okay, so I have guilt. Sue me.

I am elated to see more well-written representation for my religion in the DC Rebirth era, and I hope it continues well into 2017 and beyond. Happy holidays, everyone!

Zachary Krishef is an evil genius. Do not question his knowledge of Saturday Night Live trivia or Harry Potter books.