Christmas Comic Posters

I could have bought and read this book 2 years ago. It sat on the graphic novel book shelf of my favorite comic book store all this time. The title threw me. I thought a poster book was just that- a collection of posters to hang on your wall. I certainly judged a book by it's cover!

What Christmas Comic Posters actually is is a collection of front page of select British Christmas comics offered to the public from roughly 1884 to 1941 Back when newsprint was the dominant source of news and entertainment, a variety of newspapers would offer weekly inserts of comics. Yearly, those inserts would get the yule tide treatment and be offered as a separate purchase to readers young and old. 

The papers used in this book are from the collection of Denis Gifford, who in 1991 was one of the leading authorities in British comics. Gifford also writes the little blurbs about the comics on the following page. And that's where we get the poster book name from. 

See in the UK, art books are designed with the attributing info on the back so that if someone really liked the image, they could remove the picture from the book without damaging information about the remaining images. I'm kinda okay with this idea. Only if you were intending for the pages to be removed, I would've opt with perforated paper!

The majority of the characters are relatively unknown to non-British citizens. There is a cameo of Charlie Chaplin. Beano and Dandy, which some American comic fans might know of, have entries in this book. But the addition I was most excited about was the inclusion of Mickey, Donald, Goofy and friends from a comic called Mickey Mouse Weekly. 

Now to talk about the elephant in the room. No- I am not talking about the actual elephant on this book's cover. But the cover does offer a hint to what I am going to discuss. Readers should keep in mind that this book is about humor and art from the pre-Civil rights era. During this time, a very popular toy in England was a doll called a Golliwog. Generally a black male with white rimmed eyes, giant red lips, frizzy hair and vintage clothing; the Golliwog was a kind of minstrel Ken doll. 

Today, the Golly as it is sometimes referred, is considered a very racist character. Even the name is offensive. Up until just a couple of minutes ago, I didn't even know that these toys had a name. So, I am not reporting on this information to be offensive. As with many of my reviews, I like to teach about the history of comics and pop culture along with give my opinion. And that's what I am doing here. 

If you wish to own a copy of this book, you should note that a image of the doll appears in roughly 80% of these holiday comics. It's not front and center mind you. You kinda have to do a 'Where's Waldo?' that search for them. But they are just one of several things considered out of date or 'cancellable' found in this book.

I thought the overall book was beautiful. The intricate detail on everything. They just don't make art like that these days. If you love the artwork of Richard Scarry, George Perez and Frank Quietly, you should enjoy this book. I only wish that Mr. Gifford would have focused a little more on the characters that star on the previous page instead of the publication history. Maybe even discuss that troubling history of some of the imagery included. Other than that, I enjoyed this book.

Yes, I know that there's a lot of outdated concepts here. Some sexist. Some racist. A few are topical to the day and jokes that just don't make sense to a 21st century Yank. And if you are wondering who that Father Christmas bloke is- that's Santa Claus, silly!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.