Limited Collectors Edition C-43 'Christmas With the Super-Heroes' Facsimile Edition

The fan favorite tabloid treasury returns in this facsimile edition! 5 holiday classics presented in oversized fashion with remastered art and color.

• A pair of Scrooges seek to force Santa to privatize or face a total cease of magical operations. Meanwhile Lois and Clark are leading a toy drive sponsored by the Daily Planet and those two haters of Christmas have decided to put the newspaper out of the toy  business as well. Enter the Man of Steel to save Christmas not just for Metropolis, but all the children of the world!
• On Christmas Eve, Batman gets summoned by the Bat-Signal to sing Christmas carols with Commissioner Gordon and the GCPD.
• Set during World War II, Wonder Woman is assisted by a Douglas Fir of all things, in uncovering a Nazi spy ring near the Canadian border on a snowy Christmas Eve.
• The House of Mystery's Cain spins a tale about a holiday intruder in true DC horror fashion in 'Night Prowler!'.
• Set during his spandex wearing days, the Sandman and his sidekick Sandy stumble across a mob scheme involving a department store Santa.

All 5 stories were reprints. Amazingly enough, I had only previously read the Batman story. Written by Denny O'Neil with art by Neal Adams, I've read this story previously in several retrospectives on the amazing work these two did in the 70s for DC. I've probably also read the House of Mystery story and just don't recall as I have several HOM omnibuses. But as for the other 3 stories, they were brand new to me!

The Superman story is from a comic book titled Superman's Christmas Adventure. It is something that I wasn't aware of until I got this. The story is pretty long which has me wondering if I got all the material from that book or if there's more that I am going to want to add to my ever-growing Christmas comic collection. (Turns out, I don't!)

I'm also wondering about the Wonder Woman story. This month, DC is re-releasing a facsimile edition of a classic 1940s Christmas issue of Sensation Comics. I know that my favorite LCS has a copy on order for me. I'm just wondering if the story from this 1975 reprint is from that issue or not. It doesn't make sense to me that DC would release the same story in the same month in 2 different facsimiles. But if so, unless there is a lot more holiday material in it, I don't want to spend money on the same thing in 2 different formats.

Speaking of money, this recreation saved me some mega bucks. It unfortunately doesn't come with a mid-70s cover price of $1.00. However, $12.99 new was a much better price to pay than asking prices of anywhere between $60 and $100 that I have seen online and in the wild. Besides, this WAS a reprint of Christmas reprints. I didn't have to have the original. I just wanted a copy to call my own. But did somebody trim the cover to this book wrong? The filler material is a good 1/10 of an inch larger than the cover on both the top and the bottom. That doesn't seem up to specs to me...

Featuring Jack Kirby, Joe Simon, Len Wein, William Moulton Marston and many other comic book legends, this brought back so many memories of when my parents would give me with a Christmas themed comic book or two to read on Christmas Eve in anticipation of St. Nick.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Christmas 365 #4

Mikey Way's 2024 holiday satire comes to a close. I wish I could say that I was a big fan of the ending. However, things got a bit too surreal at the end. 

After a war between Peter and his supervisor for the best year-round Christmas pop-up theme park, a Mr. Beast type influencer gets involved and promises to fund a mega-sized theme park for Christmas if the two men will bury the hatchet. The social media star buys up Peter's entire neighborhood and does put on quite the extravaganza. But he pretty much chokes out Peter and his boss from any real say in the project. That might actually be a good thing because to this media guru, it's safety be damned. Especially when he insists on having a real life Yeti at the park: a very ornery gorilla that has been painted white and itching for an escape.

I think I get what Mikey Way is trying to say here. It's easy to try and make a huge display for your community and lose yourself in the details. Plus with how obsessed with clicks and likes, our society will basically do anything for that endorphin rush of digital popularity. Its just once the Christmas Yeti escapes from his cage that things go seriously off the rails. 

Issues 1-3 were entertaining social commentaries on modern Christmas celebration excesses. It ends with a surrealist farce that has holiday magic wrapping everything up like a Frank Capra movie. I just don't think we had to trounce through a Marx Brothers movie to get there. 

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 23

The holidays are tough. There's the stress of making it the perfect Christmas, either for yourself or a loved one. Maybe it's the last one you will spend with a loved one. Maybe it's the first one without that special someone. Maybe concerns about your health might mean this is your last Christmas season. Perhaps you lost your job, your passion or a beloved furry member of the family. 

Regardless of what may be keeping this from being a Merry Christmas, it doesn't hurt having someone to talk to. 

I was going to talk about suicide rates and the holidays. But upon doing some research, I discovered that it is actually a myth that suicides rise during the holidays. Apparently, the peak season is Spring! 

But if you are feeling hopeless and believe that death is the best option, regardless of the time of year, it doesn't hurt having someone to talk to. 

That is why for today's featured charitable cause, I have selected 988, the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline. 

I've never used the service personally. But I had a best friend who I wish had. I miss Todd, a lot.

If you are in need of mental health, support or just a friendly voice of guidance, please call 988. You can also text, chat or if hard of hearing, reach a trained volunteer here.

Maintaining such an national service is not cheap. Phone bills, web maintenance, and training of volunteers takes resources. Along with time, patience and compassion, it also takes money. If donating to 988 is an important cause to you, please click here.

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 22

On today's date in 1808, Beethoven debuts his Fifth Symphony to a crowd of patrons in Vienna. I'm really glad that there was another key date in music history falling on a date in my Advent. I had planned on covering today's important music charity a few days ago, when my students alerted me to a cause that was important to them. Hey, better late than never, right?

The charity I have chosen for today is the Save the Music Foundation. I'm not musically inclined. My artistry is in other things like culinary and crafts. As much as I love music, I just can't make the notes on paper come alive. However, that doesn't mean that I don't see the value in music programs in elementary, middle and high schools.

So why are music programs important? Along with boosting confidence and self expression in children, studies have shown that kids who play an instrument do better in science, math and enhance their cognitive function which in return, helps boost testing scores. With this information, why in the world do state and federal governments want to shut down school music programs???

The Save the Music Foundation was founded in 1997. VH1 executive John Sykes started the charity after he acted as a principal for a day at a public school in Brooklyn. During his tenure, Sykes noticed that the school's music program was in disrepair and in danger of being scuttled. Inspired to save the program, he worked to found VH1's Save the Music. In 2019, the organization rebranded, dropping the sponsorship name in order to become a separate entity. Since its founding, the Foundation has raised over $75 million dollars, purchasing technology, equipment and qualified teachers for almost 2000 schools nationwide and Puerto Rico. The majority of the funds come of grants. Countless millions of children have benefited exponentially thanks to the protection of school music programs.

If helping a child develop social and school skills through a love of melodious sounds is music to your ears, then please donate to the Save the Music Foundation here.

Christmas 365 #3

Peter's slimeball supervisor stole some of his holiday ideas and attempted to make his own year-round Christmas theme park. But he lacks the Christmas spirit and creativity of Peter and his family. The small attendance at the rival Christmas festival really shows that. However, that hasn't stopped Peter from becoming obsessed in creating the greatest Christmas themed pop-up ever. His Halloween themed Christmas is scaring the neighborhood children. He's sent his son out to spy on his rival. And Peter is shutting out his family, especially phone addicted daughter, who was the creative force behind the Rockwell family's success at all this. 

Perhaps the most heartfelt issue of this 4-issue miniseries. I know what it is like to want to create the best, most memorable outdoor holiday display for your wife and her family and get bogged down into competing with the other neighbors. It's a combination sin of coveting and pride that I can get carried away with. Trying for a perfection that will never come is another issue I succumb to. 

I also understand how it is too feel unappreciated at your job. Perhaps you have a rival and they crap all over you and yet if you confront the billy, it's you who gets in trouble. For Peter, crushing his supervisor by putting on a much more popular holiday display is his way at getting back at his boss for all the conniving and taking of credit for his work. Nobody can fire him for waging an off-hours war to top his boss with bigger and better displays. The only problem is that when you let loose of your principles and convictions, you lose yourself in the process.

Plus Peter has unresolved dad issues. Don't we all.

I'm looking forward to the conclusion. But with a cover that shows Peter and his boss being attacked by a ramping gorilla atop a Rockefeller Center sized Christmas tree, I have no idea what Mickey Way has in store! It promises to be wild!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 21

It's the Winter solstice! The longest night of the year has had an impact in the cultural formation of countless civilizations as well as their holiday/wintertime traditions. Many of the Native American tribes would use the Winter solstice as a time of reflection, fasting and prayer. They saw this time of year as just a curve for the yearly cycle of the seasons. Things would start to look more prosperous from this moment on!

That is why I have chosen to focus on a cause that needs to become a reversal trend for the indigenous people of North America. For women and children, especially girls, of the Native American tribes, they have become targets for sex trafficking, kidnapping and forced labor. In 2023, 293 indigenous children were reported missing or kidnapped. That number is actually thought to be much higher due to under-reporting because of fear and intimidation. A recent student concluded that roughly 8 in 10 Native American women had been sexually assaulted or raped. This is considered 9 times higher than the national average! Again, it's also believed to be higher due to a lack of reporting from the victims. In Albuquerque, it is believed that 85% of all women murdered in that metropolitan area are Native and indigenous people. That number could be even higher as well.

So why such large numbers and why are so many crimes against indigenous women and children being under reported? Aside from the intimation and fear??

For one thing, the issue of jurisdiction is muddied. Tribes and reservations have separate law enforcement agencies apart from state and federal agencies. There is a lot of confusion. There are some things that the FBI could assist with but law enforcement might not know that they can. Or a victim or their family might go to a local police department and be told that it's out of their jurisdiction. After being turned away too many times, hope is lost and the offense goes unreported. Plus tribal law enforcement is so understaffed, as earnest as they are, there just isn't enough manpower to devote to each crime.

Criminals and predators know that the odds are in their favor in not being caught. They understand all about the boundaries of jurisdiction and the lack of manpower. So they continue to target native and indigenous women and children. That's where today's featured charity comes in...

The National Indigenous Women's Resource Center seeks to advocate and educate about the epidemic of missing, endangered and murdered Native American women and children. They provide resources for families that are in need of help finding missing family members, as well as provide legal assistance. A grassroots advocacy program, the NIWRC is operated by various tribal members. They are a part of the Domestic Violence Resource Network and have successfully lobbied for female tribal members to be covered under extensive domestic violence protection bills passed by the United States Congress in the past few years. A brilliant effort to eliminate those jurisdiction overlaps! Another important effort of the NIWRC is the operation of a safe house for battered indigenous women and their children. 

If supporting the safety and protection of Native women and girls is a cause that speaks to you, I encourage you to donate to the NIWRC here. And if you are a person experiencing any sort of abuse from a partner or spouse, please seek help. 

Resources for the National Sexual Assault Hotline are: 

Phone: 1-800-656-4673

Or you can email or chat through the website RAINN.org.

Spread the Joy: Advent 2025: Day 20

My bride is back again to talk with you about another amazing charity. This one is really personal for both her and myself. Here's Jan to explain the importance of Autism Speaks...

For about 40 years, I have had a passion for learning about and supporting those with autism.  My summer job was a camp counselor with 5-10 year olds with special needs, many of whom had autism.  And my first professional job as a social worker was a residential facility for people with profound disabilities, again many of whom had autism.  Over time, the autism thread wove through other aspects of my life, and today, many of my favorite people are autistic, including my godson and some special friends from church.  So Autism Speaks is a cause near and dear to my heart.

Their mission:

Autism Speaks is dedicated to creating an inclusive world for all individuals with autism throughout their lifespan. We do this through advocacy, services, supports, research and innovation, and advances in care for autistic individuals and their families.

• Ensure access to reliable information and services across the lifespan
• Support research and innovation that drives towards improved quality of life and well-being for individuals with autism throughout their lives
• Leverage our assets through advocacy, partnerships and collaboration to support, extend and convene the work of service providers
• Accelerate delivery of solutions for adult quality of life needs, including transition, employment, housing and health and wellness
• Live and promote principles of diversity, equity, access and inclusion both in and outside of the organization

With an estimated 1 out of 31 children being diagnosed with autism, chances are you know someone who is autistic, someone who loves someone with autism or have autism yourself.  Autistic individuals are just that-individuals, each bringing their own light to the world.  Unfortunately, the world is often not very autism-friendly.  Autism Speaks works every day to change that.  

If you can envision a world where all people with autism can reach their full potential, then please donate to Autism Speaks here.