Holiday Tales to Astonish #1

I must have been really good this year. Or Marvel must have gotten tired of me complaining. Because this year, the House of Ideas released not one, not two, but 3 Christmas specials!  

Holiday Tales to Astonish #1 was the first one that I read. It's regular cover by Luciano Maher elicits memories of that pair of tabloid sized holiday specials from the 1970s. It really got me right in the holiday feels. Thankfully unlike those classics, of which I'm still on the hunt for one of them, there's no reprints here. Instead, we get 3 great all-new seasonal stories that represent Christmas, Hanukkah and New Year's.

The Fantastic Four star in the Christmas themed story. Don't worry, Ben Grimm is still a member of the Tribe and his faith is represented at the beginning. However, the Festival of Lights is saved for story #2. In the opener, Reed Richards is getting reports of traces of plutonium popping up in Manhattan. Investigating a possible nuclear weapon being armed, the FF instead run into Doctor Doom, dressed as Santa Claus and playing the role of the Grinch by stealing toys from the boys and girls of the Big Apple.

The middle story goes back in time to the Chris Claremont/John Byrne era of the Uncanny X-Men. It shows Kitty Pryde's first Hanukkah at the Xavier School. Don't worry, classic Hanukkah issue Uncanny X-Men #143 is still canon. We just catch a glimpse of what transpired during the other 7 days of Hanukkah. 

The final story occurs on New Year's Eve. When his girlfriend comes under the weather, Miles Morales gets invited to a different countdown to the New Year party by folks he didn't realize considered him a friend. When the Peter Parker Spidey and Hydro-Man interrupt the festivities, Miles learns an important lesson about the personal sacrifices a superhero has to make. 

All three stories were exceptionally written. The art varied. Pat Olliffe is definitely a graduate of the John Byrne school of uncanny art. It felt like an lost tale from one of the greatest partnerships in Marvel history. Dylan Burnett's work on the Spider-Men story was fair. It has more of that teen graphic novel look to it. Not as detailed but still pleasant on the eyes. But what in the world happened on that Fantastic Four story?

Phil Noto was the artist. Normally, his work is amazing. Noto does stunning work on the various Star Wars titles he contributes too. Especially his covers. Maybe that is more of his forte, because the art for the opener was a hot mess. Look, I know that I don't read that much modern Fantastic Four. But what is up with Johnny Storm's porn star mustache? Just because Mr. Fantastic can assume very fluid shapes, that doesn't mean that he should always be drawn like that. And I know that Wolverine is short. But he's not a midget. A lot of long-established Marvel fans criticize the current offerings of art as really bad. I tend to be more forgiving. However, with the first story, along with some of ads for upcoming 2025 projects, I could see what they're talking about.

Speaking of 2025, I cannot wait for the 5 What If... Galactus one-shots coming up in January. They look epic!

Great reading. Varying art. 100% holiday themed. Thank you Marvel for putting out an honest to goodness holiday special! It was a great gift for the fans and I hope it's a tradition that continues for years to come!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Adventures in Advent: Advent 2024, Day 21

If you follow my Advents annually, you'll know that I devote one of my days to the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah. My wife is half Jewish and we celebrate the festival of lights by putting up a fire safe menorah (because we have cats) and decorate one of the trees in our yard with blue and white lights and decorations.

But 2024 is a bit of an anomaly. Hanukkah begins on December 25th and I always make sure to focus on the birth of Christ on my Christmas Day Advents. I also partially plan out my Advents weeks in advance and I've got my next 4 days set. Thankfully I didn't have a calendar selected for today and I'm able to continue my annual look at Hanukkah.

You might think that they don't make Hanukkah Advent calendars. Well, you'd be wrong. Instead of being 12, 24 or 25 days long, Hanukkah Advent calendars are only 8 nights- NOT DAYS- long. That's because of the miracle of the Temple in which God stretched out the oil for the lamps to last slightly over a week. Plus as with all Jewish days, they start a new at sundown- not midnight.

#1- Astor Chocolate sells a Hanukkah Chocolate Calendar. Filled with chocolate coins, called gelts,  made of dark chocolate and milk chocolate which is the currency of choice for the most serious of dreidel players. 

#2 on Etsy, seller Ohhappydayconfection offers a Hanukkah Countdown comprised of cookies and gummy candy. 

3. With seller Cubinizer on Amazon, you can make your own Hanukkah Countdown. You receive 8 small linen sacks that are numbered and bear classic Hanukkah images. Fill them with treats and goodies. Reuse yearly. 

4. Poshmark and other online sellers has felt  and fabric calendars similar to the one I had as a kid and reviewed for Day 1. It's a multicolored felt countdown equipped with 8 numbered candles. Each night you add a flame until you have the whole octet blazing.

5. Why should the humans have all the fun? Middle sells a Chanukah Countdown Calendar for cats! This countdown features 8 boxes being Hanukkah images filled with an assortment of balls, stuffed mice and more. Made of sturdy material, the boxes can be refilled and reused every year.

6. Make all 8 nights of Hanukkah a movie night (or TV marathon) with the Pop 'N Dulge Movie Night Popcorn Set. You receive 5 bags of corn for popping including a blue and ruby variety as well as 5 seasoning packs. I know that this adds up to 10. But 3 bags of popcorn are of the classic golden variety, so I think for 2 nights you're supposed to highlight the flavor packs and not the popcorn. Anyone for an Adam Sandler film festival?

7. Knitting your thing? Teeny Button Studio from Louisiana has an Advent where for 7 nights, you get a mini skein (length of yarn) of certain colors and for night #8 you receive a full sized speckled skein for a festive project.

8. Celebrate Hanukkah in luxury with Budhagirl's Hanukkah Advent calendar. Over the course of 8 days, you receive a variety of metallic all weather bangles from the noted French jewelry maker. A combined value of $350, the Advent is a bargain at $250 retail.

And there you have 8 Hanukkah Advent calendars. With 4 days until the double holiday, there's still time to get in on the action if you act now. And just so you know, I'm not a paid endorser for any of these companies. I just happened to be looking for Hanukkah gifts for my bride and this is what I came across. Best of luck and Shalom!

The Simpsons: Homer For the Holidays

Enjoy the holidays with America's favorite family... in comic book form!

While most would incorporate the Simpsons with Halloween because of their annual Treehouse of Horror episodes, Christmas is synonymous with Bart, Lisa, Marge, Maggie & Homer. That's because their first full-length episode ever was a festive tale titled 'Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire.' Technically, that was really The Simpsons Christmas Special and not the first episode. Yet, both Fox and fans have determined that the holiday special was the pilot and thus considered the premier of The Simpsons animated sitcom. The rest is 35 years plus of television history.

This was one of my last Christmas and holiday themed reads for 2023. If I had realized how much Hanukkah material was in this book, I would have started on this one a few weeks earlier. Of course! Krusty the Clown is Jewish! How could I forget how much of an icon to the Festival of Lights Krusty is. I didn't say he was a positive icon. But so many episodes of The Simpsons involve Krusty's ancestry and faith as a Jew, that it's natural here to have several stories and segments devoted to the celebration of those 8 crazy nights. 

Homer for the Holidays is not the definitive collection of Simpsons holiday comics. This collection was published in 2010. Bongo Comics would continue releasing Simpsons comics for another 8 years. That's not including titles devoted to individual Simpsons characters such as Bart and Lisa. I know off the bat that a Treehouse of Horror story in which Lisa dreams that her live Christmas tree enslaves the people of Springfield wasn't included in this book. And while a couple of New Year's themed adventures are here, there aren't any Thanksgiving stories and Bongo produced at least 1 Turkey Day set issue.

In the past 2 years, Harper Collins, operating under the defunct Bongo imprint, have been releasing omnibuses devoted to all of the Simpsons Treehouse of Horror annuals. I'm hoping that after Volume 3 releases next autumn that maybe an omnibus of November-February holiday tales might be forthcoming. It would save me a lot of time and money and I'd buy it, even though I've already collected and read a sizable chunk of Christmas and Hanukkah Simpsons comics. 

Just something to put out there to the publishing team behind those massive Halloween collections.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

DC's T'was the 'Mite Before Christmas #1

This year's annual holiday release from DC Comics is representative of the complaints many of the fans of the publisher have been grousing about all year. The story telling is pretty darn good; but could be better. The artwork has devolved collectively. And the DCU is just too full of lame characters in an attempt to diversify it's lineup in order to appease every demographic.

As with 80-page giants of year's past, there are 8 stories inside. Batwoman outsources some help when the Riddler terrorizes Gotham over the 8 nights of Hanukkah. Superman gives a dose of his signature hope and optimism to a young man in crisis on a lonely Christmas Eve. Batmite makes a holiday visit to the Batcave where he encounters Damian Wayne for the very first time to disastrous effects. Lex Luthor is visited by a trio of spirits while the Raven is left home alone at Titans Tower during an attack by members of the Fearsome Five. Harley Quinn and Princess Amethyst switch roles for the holidays as a techno-virus turns Booster Gold into a clone of Santa Claus. And then there's a D-level former member of the Teen Titans who feels sorry for himself and receives a dose of It's a Wonderful Life. 

All of the stories except for that last one were of a quality ranking for a 6 or higher. The Superman, Lex Luthor and Raven stories were 9s or better. Booster's tale, the Harley switcheroo and Batmite stories were decent. The Batwoman story could have been better. Yes, it is very heavy on LGBTQ+ themes. But that's not why I ranked it low. The solutions for the Riddler's puzzles were really confusing and that art of the last page looked like it was drawn by somebody else. It just didn't look right from the rest of the story.

The one story that stunk was indeed a part of DC's Pride line-up. But again, that's not why I gave that story a 2 out of 10. It was a lame story about an even lamer superhero named Bunker, who I've never heard of in 40 plus years of reading comic books. That being said, I refuse to believe that someone as virtually unknown as Bunker would really be the catalyst to saving the DC Universe from Dominators. I could think of dozens of low-level characters who would have more of a direct impact over the DC Universe if they weren't born than Bunker. Ragman. Obsidian. Crazy Quilt. CALENDAR MAN!

I'm also shocked that of these 8 stories there's not 1 tale starring a black or Asian character. 

Another thing missing has to do with something I applaud DC for at least making a small effort to include. As I mentioned, the Superman story involves a young man who is about to commit suicide on Christmas Eve until the Man of Steel stops him. Inside the back cover of this book there are a couple of phone numbers and other contacts for suicide prevention including the Jed Foundation for teens and NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness). As one who experienced a best friend killing themselves (and was a huge DC fan), I appreciate DC Comics including those contacts. But why didn't they include 988, the new, easier to remember phone number of the National Suicide and Crisis hotline??? I asked my wife about this omission and her being a social worker was appalled at 988's absence. 

I liked a majority of this book. The Ben Caldwell cover and the clever pun to A Visit From St. Nicolas with the book's title were awesome. It's just that there was too much focus on characters that aren't big names in DC Comics. I can't believe I am gonna say this but I think it would be best if DC killed off 50% of it's cast of characters. And not for a brief snap like with The Infinity Gauntlet. Kill off all of the C and D list characters. Get rid of all of the legacy characters. Keep it to one Flash, one Robin, one Superman for 5 years. (Multiple Green Lanterns would be allowed. Just not as many as usual.) Write good stories that focus on quality instead of quantity. You can still have black, Asian, gay/queer, and Latino characters. Just make the field of players smaller for a little while in order to appeal to readers who want to be entertained. I understand that people need to feel represented in the media they enjoy. But just because I have a pair of adopted goats, I don't need DC to create a superhero who has a Nigerian Dwarf for a sidekick to feel like I have a place in this world. 

T'was the Bat Mite Before Christmas had good storytelling. Now DC should get back to great storytelling instead of trying to check boxes to make everyone happy. And while you're at it, recruit some new art talent. This holiday special was definitely NOT a feast for the eyes. 

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

A Hard Candy Christmas: Advent 2023 DAY 7

As I do every year with my Advent, I devote a day to Hanukkah. Tonight will mark the first night of the Jewish holiday and this year with what is happening in Israel, I hope that despite your political feelings, you'll understand that I celebrate the holiday due to my wife's heritage. Tonight's post isn't to infuriate but to celebrate. And to remember...

The school I went to for grades 1-5 had an annual Christmas pageant. The theme every year was 'Christmases Around the World'. First grade celebrated Mexico. I think third grade was England. One grade did Sweden, because I remember that every year one girl would dress as Saint Lucy and walk around the stage with lit candles in her hair. But the grade everybody wanted to be in for the program was fifth grade as that was the year you'd celebrate Hanukkah.

All of the girls in that class would sing the Dreidel Song while all the boys got to participate in the most holiday of activities- gambling! Let's face it. The dreidel game is a gateway drug to betting on sports and playing cards for money. Each boy would get a handful of chocolate coins covered in gold foil called gelts. Then in groups of 4, while the girls sang, we'd play dreidel for the coins. And we got to keep AND eat what we won!

The rules of the game are simple and not much is needed to play. But if you don't have a dreidel, then you're pretty much out of luck. 

There are 4 sides to the dreidel with a Hebrew symbol on each face. After each participant puts a gelt into the pot, a player spins the top. If it lands with nun facing up, the player gets nothing and the next turn starts. Everyone antes up before each spin. If player #2 spins a gimel, he wins all the candy in the pot. If they spin hei, they win half of the pot. If they spin shin, they have to add another gelt to the pot. You basically play until somebody wins all the gelts or in the case of our holiday show, until the song stops. I don't remember how much I won. But I know that for the rest of the program, I was snacking on chocolate.

Gelts are a requirement in our household during Hanukkah. Not that my wife plays dreidel. Heck, I don't even think we have a dreidel anywhere in our house. It's become a tradition because her grandmother would gift her a bag of the chocolates every year and though Jan didn't understand the meaning behind the confections back then, it's been a way for us to keep her few Hanukkah traditions alive. 

Grumpy Cat: The Grumpus and Other Horrible Holiday Tales (Family Comic Friday)

Although the world was only graced with 7 years of life of Grumpy Cat (real name: Tarder Sauce), the spirit of the prickly puss lives on. In a brand new collection of holiday stories, Grumpy Cat and her ever so positive brother Pokey, celebrate Christmas, Hanukkah and Three Kings Day in ways only feisty feline could. The title story of the Grumpus is Grumpy Cat's Christmas time warning to her brother that the holidays is not a season of glee but doom! Later we learn that cinnamon is Grumpy's greatest foe. Witness as aliens make first contact with Grumpy and Pokey in order to learn about Christmas. A malevolent spectre warns Grumpy of potential Christmas future troubles before this collection wraps up with Grumpy filling in for Old Saint Nick.

There have been Grumpy Cat (And Pokey!) comics before. But from what I can tell none of them were holiday specials. That means that the complete Grumpus and Other Horrible Holiday Tales is 100% all-new material! And I had a humongous amount of fun with this book!

There are a number of tales involved in this book including Steve Orlando, Derek Fridolfs and Silvia Bancora. Each story has differing art as well as differing ways of story framing. One tale is done in rhyme. Another is told partially. I'm thankful for that variety as I think if all the stories were told in a similar fashion, it would have gotten a tad stale. The main thing is that throughout 9 different tales, the snarky catatude of Grumpy and the wide-eyed wonder of Pokey never wavers!

Recommended by Amazon for readers aged 12-14 I think that there's something for everyone. Think the Grumpus, which is a Grumpy Cat version of Krampus or the Ghost of Christmas Future is too intense for the young readers in your life? Just skip those tales for the all-ages fun of the 'Grumpy Cat Vs. Merry Martians' or the hilarious chaos of the Hanukkah entry. Then in later years when those readers get old enough to read those slightly more intense Christmas Carols, it'll be brand new material for them!

A new holiday classic from a beloved feline icon. I miss Grumpy Cat.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The 25 Baubles of Pop Culture! Advent 2022 Day 18

Tonight marks the first night of Hanukkah. As with every Advent I do, I devote a day to the Festival of Lights as my wife is half-Jewish. For this post, I am going with the most Jewish sitcom in all of pop culture, Seinfeld. And yes, you heard me right. Instead of using the random generator, for this post, I did the selection. Let's begin.

In terms of officially licensed ornaments, there aren't very many. The main one I can find is this decoration from Hallmark. Released just this year, this ornament represents that puffy pirate shirt Jerry is forced to wear on a talk show. I don't really know why this is such an iconic scene from the series but people seem to  really love that episode. I like it because it bears the iconic read lettering over a yellow field logo of the sitcom.

There was another Hallmark ornament available and it's devoted to my favorite episode of the series- the Festivus episode. But I saw so many Festivus ornaments from Etsy type sellers that I liked better. If you want to see the official Festivus ornament, Google it.  (Hint- it looks like an ugly sweater) As for me, I'm sticking with the small business man!

Festivus was a holiday George's dad created in opposition to Christmas. Known as the holiday for the rest of us, Festivus involved hanging up a metal pole instead of a tree, airing of grievances towards your loved ones, capped off by the feats of strength. The late great Jerry Stiller really sells the absurdity of the made up holiday and that's why I am sharing this resin ornament of Frank Constanza bearing the Festivus pole from online seller, Christmas Mouse.

If you are looking for an ornament that you just can't look away from, may I suggest this one of Kramer's portrait. Produced on Pixel by a seller know as Doc Braham, this wooden ornament is available as a rectangular looking painting or in fun shapes like star, oval and Christmas Tree.

I also want to share this ornament created by a seller on Etsy devoted to the made up company, Vandelay Industries. When George's unemployment is about to run out, he lies to his case worker that he's interviewed with Vandelay Industries, a maker of fine latex products. Of course, the ruse doesn't pan out. But that's okay because George eventually lands a fairly sweet job working for the New York Yankees. 

For the DIY ornament, I'm going to talk you through making your own Festivus pole. You will need 2 1/2 pieces of balsa wood plank, a 3 inch long metal rod with a hole on top (can be found at Home Depot), a small piece of thin ribbon and some hot glue. First, take the planks and glue them into a cross-section. Then thread the ribbon through the eye of the metal rod and tie off. Next, glue the base on the pole into the center of the plank cross section. Now you are ready to use for the airing of those grievances when not hanging from the limb of your tree. And yes- I understand the irony of that last statement!

By the way, Festivus is held on December 23rd.

Flash Gordon Holiday Special One-Shot

Spend the holidays with Flash Gordon in this amazing 2014 special from Dynamite Entertainment. 

There are 3 tales in this book. Story #1 has Flash and Dr. Zarkov visiting the people of Arboria. Being Flash's first Christmas away from planet Earth, he wants to play Santa to some of his allies from the galactic war against Emperor Ming. However, to Flash's surprise, Arboria already celebrates a primitive version of Christmas and the kiddies are all ready for a nightly visit from... Jungle Jim!

Story #2 returns to Earth. Here, one of Ming's stranded Beast-Men foot soldiers is trying to survive a Central European winter all alone. It just happens to be the 4th night of Hanukkah and it just goes to show you that a little warmth, some friendship across species and a couple of latkes can go a very long way!

Our last adventure stars Dale Arden. We get glimpses of Dale's previous 2 New Years Eves and how it contrasts with her new life as a freedom fighter on the frozen planet of Frigia. 

All 3 stories were fantastic. The only thing I had trouble with was instead of definitive endings, each story just bleeds into the next. That makes for a pinch of confusion and fear that maybe I've got another one of those blasted issues that has a printing order error. I also would have liked the Dale story to have Flash more involved in it. But the biggest issue for me was the seamless transitions that are secretly deceptive.

This issue has definitively peaked my interest in Jeff Parker, Evan 'Doc' Shaner and Jordie Bellaire's 2014-15 Flash Gordon miniseries. Shaner does the cover and Bellaire assists with some of the finishes. But there isn't any Jeff Parker here. Yet, if his story is 1/4 as excellent as this special, then I know that I am in for a treat. 

Oh! And I must give love for the use of Jungle Jim as an alien Santa Claus. Jungle Jim was an early creation of Flash Gordon's father Alex Raymond. So to throw JJ into this special as an Easter egg was an unexpected angel topper to my tree!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Gudetama: Surviving the Holidays

Gudetama. Pronounced Goo-De-Tah-Mah.

He's an anthropomorphic egg from Sanrio, creators of other such characters like Hello Kitty and Badtz-Maru. Along with his assistant, the egg-yolk leotard dressed Nisetama, Gudetama provides people advice throughout various holiday conundrums. 

Since this book covers Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and New Year's, my original plan was to read bits and pieces of this book over the course of the next 45 days. However, this book doesn't follow any sort of calendar. Gudetama might help provide gift assistant with the employees at a local office party. Then he helps a family hosting a foreign exchange student experience Hanukkah before then helping a girl whose family gets really competitive playing games during Thanksgiving. I understand that Gudetama is a Japanese property, but I am pretty sure that they celebrate the traditional 'ber month' holidays in the same order we do in the States. 

Thus what I am trying to say is that I was hoping this book would have a survival guide section for Turkey Day, then another for the Festival of Lights, before slipping into Christmas, Kwanzaa and a quick trip through to the new year. I would have read each section as we reached the appropriate holiday. But since it didn't happen that way, I read this book in the course of one fun filled night. 

Written and illustrated by Wook-Jin Clark (Flavor), this book perfectly captured the holidays and the many troubles that come along with them. My first real introduction to Gudetama, I thought he was hilarious as a kind of protein packed version of Garfield, only not quite as snarky. Nisetama, while clearly an annoying soul, was a great foil to Gudetama; playing the Nermal role. I only wish this book was done in sections so as I could enjoy these two characters over the course of an entire holiday season.

And if Oni Press was to bring Gudetama back for another helping of holiday delights in the future, I would gladly put the egg and his human friend on the guest list for another round of cheer.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

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.

The Simpsons Holiday Humdinger

Did you ever have a book that for one reason or another, you didn't read it because you thought you had already read it. Yet, it turns out that nope, you really hadn't?! Well, that's me and The Simpsons Holiday Humdinger.

Because of it's tabloid-size, I kept this book in another part of my collection where I keep books that I've read before. Recently, I've gone on a Simpsons Comics re-reading kick and as I am now into my holiday reads, I figured the time was right to re-read this book. Only, I haven't read this before. 

The Simpsons Holiday Humdinger is over 250 pages of the residents of Springfield celebrating the holidays. Which holidays you ask? Seemingly, all of them! We've got Grandpa getting confused and celebrating Christmas in July. Bart converts to Judaism in order to cash in on the 8 nights of presents found in Hanukkah. Doctor Hibbert explains the special meanings behind the 7 days of Kwanzaa. And then we've got lots of Christmas time fun what with Comic Book Guy marking up the prices of the ultra-hot Itchy & Scratchy interactive toys and Lisa & Bart crafting a new holiday special to replace the Happy Little Elves.

I've read the Bart Hanukkah story somewhere before. Either as part of one of Winter Wingdings annuals or maybe a reprint in the monthly series that ran for an impressive 250 issues. I'm thinking that this collection (along with Homer For The Holidays, which I know for sure that I have never read) are treasuries of old Simpsons comics. But there's also a lot of short 1-4 page gags that I'm really not sure about. The art for those look newer and there's never any sort of credits of the writing/drawing team like on the full-length stories. 

The Treehouse of Horror treasuries seem to be in this similar vein. They've got reprints along with all-new material. So I may need to get all of the Wingdings even if I do ever manage to get Homer For The Holidays. I guess I'm not really complaining. I don't ever seem to get upset if I buy reprints when it comes to my holiday books. 

Sadly, the holiday fun with Bart, Lisa and the rest was over too soon. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Santas From Around The World: The Southern United States- The Holiday Armadillo (Advent 2020, Day 17)

Since we are on Day 7 (actually Night 7) of Hanukkah, I wanted to return to the festival of lights to showcase a recent addition to the melding of Jewish and Christian holidays known as Christmukkah. Without further ado, here’s the HOLIDAY ARMADILLO!!!

From the TV Show Friends, the Holiday Armadillo is Ross Geller’s attempt to bring his son Ben a visit from Santa. But being so close to the holidays, Ross can’t find a Santa outfit to rent. The next best thing he can find is a gigantic armadillo concert. So instead of St. Nick, Ben is visited by the Holiday Armadillo, Santa’s half-Jewish friend who covers all of the Southern States… and MEXICO!

Things obviously get even more kookier as Chandler shows up as Santa! Ross, who was trying to use the time as a chance to introduce his son to Hanukkah, wants Chandler to vamoose. Naturally, Ben wants the Armadillo to leave instead. But a wise Chandler agrees to stay but only if the Holiday Armadillo will tell him AND BEN of the first ever miracle of lights!

And then Superman arrives on scene!

It’s something you must see to believe…

For today’s recipe, this is very similar to one my grandmother used to make. They’ve got a great sugary crunch factor. Plus, they have an eggy-custardy flavor that I just adore. Enjoy this Southern Butter Cookie recipe from Southernliving.com.

Santas From Around The World: Global- Hanukkah Harry (Advent 2020, Day 10)

Tonight will mark the first night of Hanukkah. As my wife is half-Jewish, the festival of lights is observed to some degree in this Madman’s household. Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, finding gelts at our traditional shopping won’t happen as the long-time Durham, NC peddler, Morgan Imports closed its doors for good this Summer. Oh, don’t worry. We’ll find those chocolate coins.

Somewhere.

Hanukkah Harry was given life in December, 1990. Jon Lovitz appeared as the curmudgeon replacement for Santa. With Santa sick with a stomach flu, Hanukkah Harry takes over gifting all of the good little Christian boys and girls with gifts. Only these gifts are more noted for what Jewish kids receive during Hanukkah. Stuff like socks and slacks. At least Hanukkah Harry didn’t forget the gelts and a dreidel!

Hanukkah Harry is dressed like a traditional Rabbi. Only his hat is blue and lined with fur like Santas.

Harry’s workshop is located on Mount Sinai. Instead of a sleigh, this gift giver drives an old wooden cart, like they do in Fiddler on the Roof. And forget about reindeer. Hanukkah Harry has a trio of flying donkeys named Moische, Herschel and Schlomo. 

And if the Easter Bunny ever needs a substitute, Harry got no problems spreading cheer during Easter either. 

While a fictional creation of SNL, Hanukkah Harry has become a new addition to many Jewish families with some parents dressing up as the holiday grumpus to pass out Hannukah delights to boys and girls who stayed of the Kosher naughty list. With the character being referenced on several TV shows and recently deemed the personification of Hanukkah by NPR, it looks like Hanukkah Harry might just be here to stay!

By the way, we celebrators of all things Jewish do really eat cookies during Hanukkah. Due to the importance of oil in the story of the miracle of lights, a good ole fried donut does the trick for us! Here’s a recipe from Better Homes & Gardens for Sufganiyot- a jelly filled donut that is fairly easy to make.

Enjoy!

Teen Titans Go! #25 (Family Comic Friday)

I was never behind on my holiday comic reading this year. But as always, when trying to stay on top of an Advent, I got behind on my reviews. But that's okay as I was needing a book to review for Family Comic Friday this week anyways.

This issue is from a couple of years ago. But it wasn't until sometime this year that it officially became a part of my collection! As with just about any and all ultra-serious comic collector, I am really behind in adding books to my database. So yes, for almost 2 years this comic languished in my to-add pile. But that changed this year!

I was set to read this during the first week of December. But after about 3 pages into the opening feature, I decided to wait until December 22nd, the first night of Hanukkah, 2019! 

In the first story, Colossal Boy of the Legion of Superheroes travels from the year 3000 to observe the first Hanukkah. But an error in calculations has the time travelling teen winding up at Titans Tower in 2017 instead of Second Century BC Jerusalem. Fearful that Colossal Boy could stomp them flat with his enormous feet, the Teen Titans decide to play along and recreate the first miracle of lights. In typical Teen Titans Go! fashion, the results are hilariously flawed!

In the back-up story, the Teen Titans are convinced that Batman is secretly Santa Claus! Not even Robin can refute the evidence that points to the Dark Knight and Kris Kringle being one and the same! So it's off to the Bat Cave for a Christmas Eve investigation. 

If you are a fan of the 'TV Knight' episodes of TTG, then you're going to love this caper. But my favorite was the Hanukkah story. Scooby-Doo Team-Up living legend Sholly Fisch crafts both tales and I got a lot of laughs out of both. But I favored the story that featured the Chosen People. Being married to a Jewish Princess, maybe I'm biased. But there's no denying how hilarious that first story was.

I also loved the cover! So much that I made it my FB icon for the first couple of evenings of the Festival of Lights. 

Overall, this was a great issue that covered 2 of the 3 most important holidays of the season!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Classic Toys from a Madman's Youth: Advent 2019 Day 22

Tonight marks the first night of Hanukkah. As with every Advent that contains an opening eve of those eight crazy nights, I devote today's post to my Jewish princess. Today, I am talking about one of my wife's all-time favorite toys: The Emergency! Board Game.

Based on the TV show of the same name, this 1973 board game was produced by Milton Bradley. The board was a winding maze of roads that lead to various locales. When you landed on certain spaces, you drew a card it which the 911 dispatch told you of an emergency. 

A child is choking at the park!
An elderly gentleman is having a heart attack at the apartments!
A woman has gone into labor at the super market!

With your miniature fire truck playing pieces, you used a spinner to race to the scene and then make it to Rampart Hospital as soon as possible. Once the patient was safely taken to the emergency room, you were to head back to headquarters for your next adventure. The first squad to complete 3 rescues won the game!

My wife had this game as a little girl because Emergency! was her favorite TV show. I think if you asked her now, it probably still is. Unfortunately, for one reason or another, she lost the game. 

Years later, I found her a copy of the game for sale on eBay! I think I got it for her for Christmas. I'm pretty sure I did. I might have gotten it for Valentines. Or our anniversary. Or her birthday. Or just because I love her. Maybe Hanukkah? Nah! I would have gotten her gelts for that. 

Anyways, you can be sure that as soon as she opened her present, we had to play the game. As board games go- it's a pretty simple game with a Candyland premise. But when it comes to board games from the 1970s- being based on a franchise product, the Emergency! board game was really good. 

Board games based on TV and movies from 1960-1989 often are not fondly remembered for being player friendly. The artwork on the box is memorable. The board might be pretty awesome. But game play is often confusing, difficult or boring. Sometimes all three! Case in point- the Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four game. Oh my god, was that one of the most headache inducing games based on a licensed product ever!

As my Advent gift for you today, here's a tour of the actual L.A. station in which Squad 51 was based out of on the 70s series. Be sure to note that a rerun of Emergency! plays on the TV in the lounge. It's very meta!

Enjoy!

(Note: I realize that for a Hanukkah post, I have included images based on Christmas. Do you know how impossible it is to find Hanukkah images of the TV show Emergency!? If you are a fan of Roy and Johnny and you have the skills to make some sort of Jewish holiday themed Emergency! images, please share them with me and I'll replace them holiday pics I put up in this post!)

Happy Hanukkah, 2018!

Rugrats: C is for Chanukah (Family Comic Friday)

I hope everyone had a fantastic Thanksgiving. Now that we’re done with the turkey and football, parades and such, it’s time for Family Comic Friday to focus on the holidays This week we begin reviewing  holiday specials for 2018. But before we get ready for a visit from Santa, we must get ready for the festival of lights. To help us, we’ve got some little tykes with big imaginations. It’s Kaboom’s Rugrats: C is for Chanukah.

Rugrats: C is For ChanukahWritten by Daniel Kibblesmith, Cullen Crawford
Illustrated by Kate Sherron
Published by Kaboom! Studios.

(Note: There are dozens of ways to spell Chanukah. I will be using ‘Hanukkah’ as my family spells it during our traditional festivities, unless referring to the title of the book.)

I was absolutely thrilled when I first heard about this comic. To my knowledge, there’s never been a Hanukkah special. There’s been Hanukkah stories in the pages of DC, Marvel and even Archie holiday specials. But as far as I can tell C is for Chanukah is the first of its kind. (At least from a major publisher.)  I’m sure that this has made Mr. Adam Sandler’s day and eight crazy nights!

Rugrats is the perfect vehicle to introduce people to Hanukkah. In 1995, the Snick cartoon made history introducing millions to the Jewish holiday of Passover with 1995’s A Rugrats Passover. Now Tommy, Chuckie, Angelica and the twins Phil and Lil introduce the miracle of Hanukkah to families in this hilarious special.

The kids and their families embark in a week-long winter vacation. Watching the Reptar Chanukah Special, Tommy and friends get a very weird education into the holiday’s origins. Thus during this vacay, Tommy’s grandparents, the Kropotkin’s decide it’s the right time to start teaching the kids about Hanukkah.

Unfortunately, Mr. Kropotkin isn’t exactly the best storyteller and he tells the babies of a golem monster that eats bad little children when the lights go off. Thus, Tommy and friends decide to go on the offensive. With flashlights in hand, can the Rugrats survive 8 whole nights with a Hanukkah monster on the loose? Where’s Reptar when you need him?!

One of the best things about the Rugrats cartoon was how the babies got things wrong and try to solve their dilemmas with their overactive imaginations. Writers Daniel Kibblesmith (Valiant High) and Cullen Crawford do a fantastic job capturing that sense of wonder in this book. I wouldn’t be surprised if Nickelodeon decided to adapt this book into a 30-minute animated special. I would watch it!

The book was laugh-out-loud funny! The dialogue was perfect. Thankfully, Chuckie’s very annoying father, Chaz, has a part of this story that was kept to a minimum. I’m also glad that the Christmas Vs. Hanukkah rivalry between Tommy’s grandfathers wasn’t as big a deal as the trade solicitations advertised it as being. I think that would have minimized the importance of Hanukkah.

I loved the art in this book as well. Artist Kate Sherron (Amazing World of Gumball) does a fabulous job making everybody look like their 1990s counterparts. But I also appreciate how the artist renders the Reptar TV special and the children’s daydreams in different art styles to keep the excitement fresh and engrossing.

I really wanted to personally own a copy of this book. Holiday comics are one of my favorite things to collect and read. C is for Chanukah would have been a perfect addition to my collection. However, that just isn’t meant to be just yet. I went to several comic book stores the day after the book dropped and each store was sold out!

This is one of the few times where I will tell you that if you can’t find it in print, go digital! The book retails for $7.99. However, it’s bigger than a regular 24-page comic and it’s just so funny and informative at the same time! If you come from a mixed Jewish/Christian family like I do or you have friends who are curious about the Jewish people and their cultures, I highly recommend this book! Make it your Hanukkah present to them!

Now if someone would only make a Kwanzaa holiday special, my collection would be complete… almost. Who am I kidding? I’m never gonna stop hunting for a new holiday special!

Rugrats: C is for Chanukah debuted in print and digital platforms on Wednesday, November 14th.

Hanukkah, 2018 begins the evening of December 2nd.

A Classic TV Christmas- Advent 2017 Day 12

Over the course of this year's Advent, I've been going in relative order from the early days of television through the 60s and now the 70s. But I have to jump ahead to the early 2000s. But there's a very good reason why. 

Tonight marks the first day of the festival of lights. Hanukkah, 2017 and you know what that means...that's right it's time for the Holiday Armadillo!

For tonight only, we jump ahead to December 14, 2000 and our show is Friends. In The One With the Holiday Armadillo, Jewish Ross is getting his son Ben for the holidays and wants to introduce him to Hanukkah. But Ben is so set on Santa coming. Desperate to make his son happy, Ross scrambles to find a Santa suit. Unfortunately, it's the day before Christmas Eve and all of the costume shops are out of red suits. So, Ross rents the next best thing- a giant armadillo costume!

Bearing gifts, Ross announces himself as the Holiday Armadillo; Santa's Jewish representative to all of the mid-western states... AND Mexico!!! The Holiday Armadillo is about to tell Ben the story of the first Hanukkah when his brother-in-law Chandler comes bursting in as Santa. 

After convincing Chandler, that he needs to leave, Ben gets upset and demands that Santa stay and the Armadillo leave. Defeated, Ross starts to go when next door neighbor Joey bursts in dressed as Superman! Thankfully after the initial chaos, things calm down and Ross is able to finally tell the story of the Maccabees and light the Hanukkah menorah with his son.

This episode is a favorite in my mixed Jewish-Christian home. There's been several times I've quoted Ross' speech about the first Hanukkah, even going so far as to use the Holiday Armadillo's voice. Since it's the best part of the episode, and because I'm only allowed to provide a clip of this highly copyrighted show, my Advent present for today is the complete sequence with the Armadillo, Santa, and the Man of Steel.

Enjoy- and until tomorrow, Mer--- uh, Happy Hanukkah!