Christmas Fun Facts! From Advent to Xmas, Interesting Trivia and Amazing Fun Facts About Festive Holiday Traditions From Around the World by Marianne Jennings

 Another holiday tradition that I maintain for just myself is to read a holiday 'fact book'. This started when I was very young when my mom would buy me these really cool books that explains Christmas traditions around the world. There would be recipes and activities and games. But above all, there would be knowledge.

I've read several over the years. A couple of years ago, it was a magazine devoted entirely to the life and times of Santa Claus. Before that, I read a holiday Uncle John's Bathroom Reader and countless others. Realizing that I was without such a work this year, I immediately went to Amazon and found this book. 

By Marianne Jennings, it was a good read in which I did learn more about many festive subjects that I knew about before while still managing to discover some new aspects about one of my favorite holidays! New information came to me about holiday foods from other countries. I got a more clear understanding of Solstice and some other pagan customs that became canonized. I never even thought to wonder how the International Space Station celebrates the holidays in orbit! The author's look at Christmas in Australia, where it's hot and sunny, was fascinating. She covers so much about the land down under, that instead of peppering this book with Aussie Christmas customs, she could have made an entire chapter. 

Amazon lists this 2023 book as being 212 pages long. However, it's actually about a dozen or so pages shorter than that. That's because there are some pages that are left half blank. I come from the school of writing and design that empty space is wasted space. I understand that all that blank space is a formatting issue, because you only seem to have these issues right before encountering a photo on the next page. But couldn't Jennings either make the pictures smaller or still figure out a way to add more material to those empty parts?

The author likes to include 'fun facts'. Surely, she had some more factoids somewhere in that Santa's sack of information of her's! Jennings writes in the back that she hopes to make a second volume and I would like that very much. She requests readers to include traditions from her readings and I've got quite a few not covered in this edition. I bet there's one New Year's tradition that my grandmama perfected that Jennings had never even heard of!

I just hope that if a second volume is forthcoming that the writing is a bit more polished. I noticed that the first third of the book had every other paragraph ending with an exclamation point. Just about every tip about staying Earth friendly during the holidays in the sustainability chapter felt repetitive and I get it. I find myself using similar phrases and Ideals as I write nearly 365 reviews, mostly about comics and graphic novels a year. It is one reason why I will drop a mystery writer in a heartbeat if they basically follow the same manuscript with only the murderer and their weapon being the only thing different during each book.

I don't think that will be a problem if Marianne Jennings does in fact publish a companion. There are a ton of holiday movies that weren't even hinted at! Songs too! What about the national gingerbread competition in Asheville, NC? Yes, Virginia There is a Santa Claus? The Macy's Thanksgiving Parade? And what's the deal with egg nog? There's enough out there to do 2 more volumes of Christmas Fun Facts!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Dell Giants #39 'Walt Disney's Merry Christmas'

I found this 1960 Dell Giants over the summer at a used book store. The cover was hanging by a thread and prayer. But otherwise, it was in really good condition. None of the holiday activities were scribbled in and all of the pages were intact. That alone was a Christmas miracle considering how many crafts and games juvenile readers were encouraged to partake in.

This special opens with Donald and his nephews pondering what to get Uncle Scrooge for Christmas. They instead get tricked by their rich relative to board a rocket ship bound for the moon. Only Scrooge forgot to set the ship's coordinates and they wind up stuck on the North Pole!

Then Mickey Mouse plans an ice skating event to raise money for Christmas presents for the local orphanage. The star athlete has refused to go on, leaving Mickey scrambling for a replacement. It comes in the form of Goofy, who turns out to be a real pro; as long as he skates in his sleep. Now too afraid to go back to sleep, Mickey hires a hypnotist to break Goofy's subconscious hang ups.

Brer Rabbit goes around the countryside asking for items to decorate his Christmas tree and winds up becoming an ornament himself in a trap set by Brer Fox. Gyro Gearloose teams with the Three Little Pigs when the Big Bad Wolf creates some gadgets, based on Gyro's blueprints, to kidnap the piggies for a Christmas dinner to remember. Dale becomes a private investigator in hopes of raising money to buy a Christmas present from Chip. He ends up becoming his own client when his deer slayer hat goes missing.

My favorite story was a Disney crossover. True, a couple of the other stories I mentioned had some unlikely pairings that I consider unexpected. But it wasn't as massive as my personal fav. It's got Dumbo and Daisy Duck's nieces helping Gephetto and Pinocchio solve the mystery of the missing dolls. Every time Gephetto completes a toy, it immediately disappears. With time running out before Christmas, the girls become bait to get to the bottom of all this and discovered that the person swiping all the presents is the Witch from Snow White! 4 different franchises all coming together in 1 tale. I loved it!

A couple of the stories in this book could have been set at different times of year. Christmas might have just been added as a place holder for the action. But the final story was absolutely not set anywhere near the holidays. Minnie Mouse and Clarabelle the Cow are reporters for the local paper, sent overseas to cover the birthday party of a princess. Only when the girls get to the palace, they learn that the princess has gone missing! It's a charming mystery. I just don't understand what it's doing inside a Disney Christmas special.

Lots of fun. Festive... mostly. All of the stories were entertaining. But half of them could've been more at place in a winter special which was something Dell did put out from time to time. Very Disney and it's something that I very much welcome into my holiday comics collection.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

ALF #13

I found my first Scrooge of the season. This 1989 issue of ALF has a holiday cover with the furry alien covered in Christmas wrapping and that's just about it for holiday cheer. 

There are 2 stories inside. First, ALF soups up his space ship into a rad race car in order to challenge a drag racer and claim a large cash prize. Then ALF activates his old cleaning droid to repair some of the damage he made in the previous story. Only the robot goes a little crazy and places the entire house into lockdown until it can determine if the Tanner family are a threat to ALF's comfort and safety.

There is a special insert. It's a holiday card from ALF and his human family. This is the only Christmas themed material in the entire book. This also includes ads! I suspect that most copies of this issue is missing that centerpiece as this was a book geared towards children. 

This issue was published right around when Marvel was shuttering their all-ages imprint, Star Comics. Though this issue says Marvel on the top left corner, there are still subscription ads for the few remaining kids books being published by the House of Ideas as Star Comics. There's also a coming attractions page that bears the Star Comics moniker. 

In my opinion, Star Comics was one of Jim Shooter's best ideas. I loved these books and despite being in my very late 40s, I am trying to collect the entire imprint run without having to take on a major loan to do it. I would have been perfectly happy with this book if it had a cover that reflected one of the 2 non-holiday stories contained within. I've read that towards the end of the Star imprint, Marvel was trying to use up all of the artwork that they had paid artists for. That could explain why this issue had a Christmas cover despite not being a Christmas comic. Unfortunately, it got my hopes up for a festive read and for that, I must rate this book accordingly.

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Four Gathered on Christmas Eve

Mike Mignola, Eric Powell, Becky Cloonan and James Harren join forces in this Victorian era holiday horror from Dark Horse. 

A quartet of undesirables gather together every Christmas Eve because misery loves company. Over some mince pies and warm wassail, they tell ghost stories while insulting each other. 

Don't expect these spooky tales to take place during the holidays. One story is about a voyage to Mars that you might expect from Jules Verne, if he was a student of Edgar Allan Poe. Another is an epic poem about a rogue and unrequited love. Good stories all around, very much set in the framework of the song lyric: 'there'll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago.' I just wish that they were all set at Christmas. 

At least the framing story was. This 2022 hardback has a great twist ending that would have made William Gaines jealous.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 25

We made it to another Christmas. I'm rather sad to see this one come. It seemed to have happened way too fast this year and I am just not ready to let it go. 

To me, Christmas is about the birth of a child. It's meant to honor the birth of Jesus Christ. Yes, I know that he probably was born during the summer. Yes, I also know that various churches adapted secular holidays and traditions to fit with the narrative of the nativity. But it doesn't stop me from believing. 

For my final charity spotlight, I am going local, and possibly a bit controversial. Pregnancy Support Services (PSS) in the Chapel Hill/Durham area offers free, confidential support including pregnancy testing, limited ultrasounds, and material assistance like baby supplies, alongside parenting education and emotional support for those facing unplanned pregnancies. They provide a safe, judgment-free environment with medical and emotional support, and connect clients with local resources for housing, food, and employment. PSS is a Christian nonprofit that also offers post-abortion care and services for men. 

They do a special fundraiser called a Baby Bottle Blessings. In it, supporters raise money by filling a baby bottle with loose change. My family have supported this cause for many years. Even before I met my wife and this is our 27th Christmas together. 

PSS has been around since 1982. A group of believing doctors and nurses felt that there was a need for an alternative to Planned Parenthood and that no woman should have to face pregnancy alone and without support. I've never felt that they condemn their potential patients. Instead, they offer struggling mothers-to-be and their families hope for bringing in the next generation of children into a fallen world. With Christmas being about the birth of a child, how else best to celebrate this by ending this year's Advent supporting a charity built around the birth of children in a way practiced with care and compassion by that very child who's birth made this holiday at all possible over 2 millennia ago. 

If you have felt led to support PSS, please donate here!

Archie Christmas Spectacular 2025 #1

I've said it once and I will say it again: the Archie Christmas Spectacular is the holiday release I look forward to the most. Maybe it's a longing for nostalgia in my getting older. Maybe it's because I love Archie. Maybe it's because I love Christmas. More than likely it's all 3!

This year's offering features Dan Parent, my pick for the definitive modern era Archie creator. Parent has a love of classic Archie while not being afraid to embrace modern norms. Case in point: the fan favorite Kevin Keller, Riverdale's first gay character. While Dan Parent has been quite progressive, his all-new story features a trio of classic Christmas characters from Archies past.

Christmas fairy Sugarplum insults Jingles the Elf when her first pick for her date to the North Pole Christmas Dance- Archie- is snapped up by Santa's daughter Noelle. In response, Santa's helper promises revenge.Jingles snatches up Veronica and he does it by deception, transforming himself into a hunk. Sugarplum ups the ante by turning herself human and bringing Reggie to the North Pole. Soon, it's a love triangle of Yule tide proportions with Archie and the gang smack dab in the middle!

This special also features 4 additional stories which are supposed to be reprints but were all new to me! Dan Parent pens and pencils 3 of them and they all pay tribute to the publisher's rather large and somewhat forgotten cast of supporting characters.

Betty and Veronica flashback to the Little Archie days thanks to being hypnotized. Foes from Sabrina the Teenage Witch's past threaten to disrupt Riverdale's New Year Eve festivities. The last pair of stories star Jughead's cousin Wilbur Wilkins. Wilbur and Archie both go ice skating only to be outdone by Juggie. Then in a story penned by Tom DeFalco, Wilbur has trouble finding the perfect gift for his secret Santa. Featuring dozens of characters from over 80 years of Archie Comics, it was a real Who's Who and it had a great punchline.

I did find that a couple of the stories were a bit clunky; especially the all-new tale. I just don't think 5 pages is enough for an epic level opener. The Halloween special had this problem too. If the high ups at Archie ever read this review, I hope that they might consider devoting more pages for the all-new feature in the holiday specials. I think 8-10 pages would be acceptable and if the cover price had to go up 50 cents to do it, I would be okay with that.

Massive kudos once more to my favorite LCS. They've been managing to get me the classic variant covers for the holiday specials lately. Once again, I got the cover I wanted. It's an all-time Christmas classic by Dan DeCarlo. I must have been really good this year!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars. 

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 24

It's Christmas Eve! The most magical night of the entire holiday season. Why? Because it's the night Santa comes to most, but not all, of the children of the world. That being said, it's too late to support the charitable cause that I selected for today. However, after I discuss it, hopefully it will encourage some of you give it some love and attention next year.

Operation Santa is run by the United States Postal Service. For over a century, the USPS has worked with Santa Claus to help the Jolly Old Elf make it a merry Christmas for children in need all over the United States. 

Here's how it works:

• Kids write to Santa Claus with their wishlist.
• Santa posts the letters online where families can select one and help Santa make their wishes come true.
• Once gifts are purchased, wrapped and shipped, a letter goes to the children from Santa thanking them for their letter and answering any questions the child might have for St. Nick.

You can adopt just one child or an entire family. The choice is yours. It's also up to you if you want to buy everything on the child's list or maybe your budget is a little bit tighter and you need to pick in choose. But if you customize, please try to get things that the child might actually enjoy. If they ask for a Batman Batcave playset that costs $100 and all you can afford is $35, don't buy them Avengers toys. At least get them something Batman related. An action figure of the Dark Knight and his main for the Joker can go a long way for a needy child.

The deadline for this year's Operation Santa has passed. Yet it's not too late to plan ahead for next year! Be sure to check it out and bookmark it here. It'll be another holiday season before you know it.