The Three Stooges Stocking Stuffer #1

With just a couple of days before Christmas, American Mythology pulled out a holiday classic starring the Sages of Slapstick- the Three Stooges. 

As there are 3 Stooges (technically), there's a trio of holiday themed stories. 

The first story has Larry, Moe and what I think is Curly Joe. I say that because the artwork looks a lot like the Three Stooges cartoon from the 1960s and Curly Joe was the 3rd Stooge for that incarnation of the fellas. This story is classic slapstick as the guys attempt to trim the tree to disastrous effect! 

Story 2 is a Hanukkah yarn. The guys are left in charge of a very expensive diamond crusted dreidel at a Hanukkah street festival. But when the luxury top is accidentally gifted to a young girl, the boys will do everything in their power to retrieve it! Even if it means destroying the entire carnival!

The final story has the fellas playing guardian angels to a young boy on Christmas Eve. This lad seems to be the object of quite a bit of danger. Thankfully, he's got not 1 but 3 heavenly protectors on his back!

I loved the awesome twist to that final story. And the Hanukkah tale was very funny. (Though I did think using photographs of items instead of drawing them was a bit of a cop out. Plus, would a Hanukkah festival use temple menorahs, which have only 7 candles?) Both seem to utilize Curly. Though the Hanukkah story might use the Stooges from the 2012 live action film; seeing as rap music and other cultural elements weren't around in the 1940s. Still, I wasn't 100% with this Christmas comic and it all comes down to 1 thing- No Shemp!!!

My wife says that I'm the only person in the world that says Shemp is my favorite Stooge. I don't think that's true seeing as American Mythology put out a Shemp special a couple of years ago. Still, I would have liked it if at least 1 story had my favorite Stooge in it. Especially because the listing for this book promised an appearance from Shemp!

According to the Previews listing- 'Join Moe, Larry, Curly, and even Shemp with tales that will fill your Christmas with chuckles and your Hanukah with hilarity!' Even with the 3 classic one-page gags, there's no Shemp! I feel like somebody told me there's no Santa Claus!

A very fun read. Only not 100% what I was promised!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

UPDATE- December 27th, 2021

I actually heard back from the staff at American Mythology. They told me that the reason for there no being a Shemp story is that due to the pandemic, the creative team behind that tale had to drop out. By the time it happened it was too late to fix the previews on this book.

As I work in the restaurant industry, I completely understand the struggle with labor shortages. Often when someone calls out sick, you have to cancel reservations or trim the menu. I didn't realize that this sort of thing is also happening in comics.

I must say that this whole episode has caused me to respect American Mythology Productions even more! They're even going to send me a free digital comic for this! Another reason to love and support smaller indy comic publishers.

I seriously doubt I would have gotten such a great response if this was DC of Marvel. So from now on, Make Mine AMERICAN MYTHOLOGY!

NEW RATING: 9 out of 10 stars!