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.

Zor Saves Christmas #1 (Family Comic Friday)

The holiday sequel to the Ringo Award nominated miniseries. Zor is a magical being made of tears. When someone touched by Zor's magic is in their greatest distress, he comes to life through their falling teardrops to save the day.

In this Christmas one-shot, little Zoe is doing her very best to make it a merry Christmas. It's the first one since her mother died and Zoe and her father are trying to make new traditions together. This year, they're going to visit Santa at the local mall. 

Santa must be in high demand this year. Or he's gotten really strict. He's requiring a ticket to get to sit in his lap and tell him about your wishlist. Unfortunately, Zoe's has lost her ticket and with the mall closing in 30 minutes, she's in danger of missing her meeting with Santa. Crying buckets, Zor is activated by Zoe's tears and he's found the missing ticket. Unfortunately, so has the Mall's resident mouser and Mr. Cat has no intentions of letting it go without a fight. 

The story was charming. Zor is a great character with awesome powers. This truly was a magical tale by Rob Potchak. I just wish that the artwork was consistent.

The humans all look very stiff; almost like they were made by a 1990s Microsoft Paint program. Except for Santa Claus. He's lively, cheerful and almost jumps off the page! Zor exhibits so much fluidity. Fitting since he's made for liquid. And I just loved his nemesis who's only doing what a cat does and isn't inherently evil or anything like that. Interestingly enough, one of the reviews on the back cover likened this story to a Pixar movie. That seems fitting since the humans have always looked off in those films.

So far, it's is one of top 2 holiday comics of the year. Something that the whole family can enjoy. From Keenspot, the publisher who brought you the many comedic adventures of Grubbs, make Zor Saves Christmas a new Christmas tradition with your children!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Marvel Super Special #39: Santa Claus: The Movie

1985's Santa Claus: The Movie is not only considered the worst Christmas film of all time; it holds a distinction of being placed on the lists of many from film critics worst films ever made. Still, that didn't keep me from having this magazine sized Marvel comic book adaptation on my wish list for many years.

I remember going with my mom to see this in theaters in '85. I had just turned 8 and I either saw it during Thanksgiving break or Christmas break. The sets of the North Pole and the costumes of the elves and Santa were stunningly beautiful. But I recall how weird that the movie looked on the screen. Something was off and finding out years later that this was an American/British production, that explains it.  But as a form of entertainment to a 2nd grader who loved the magic of Christmas, it wasn't a terrible movie.

Along with the use of video tape instead of celluloid, one element that has critics cringing is the blatant product placement. At the time, it didn't seem so weird to me. But having re watched the film years later, the film feels like a 90 minute commercial for a lot of international products. The 5 minute long scene where McDonald's diners are gleefully devouring burgers and fries in front of a starving homeless boy seems cruel. Even if it is just a movie, that scene doesn't convey an image of Mickey D's caring about the little guy. 

With McDonald's sponsorship, there was a lot of marketing for the movie. But instead of toys, they gave out book adaptations of segments of the movie. There were also some record read-a-longs, coloring books and I want to say a sweatshirt or t-shirt tie-in. But no toys or candy. Though considering how dangerous the candy is in this story, maybe that was a good thing.

I think Marvel either missed a great opportunity to not release this as a giant sized movie special. Or they dodged a gigantic bullet. With the film bombing domestically (it was a big hit in the UK) and only a magazine edition of the comic book adaptation, not a lot of Marvel Super Special #39 were produced. Marvel didn't lose too much on this book and today, this issue is a highly sought after addition to Christmas comic book collectors collections because of how rare it is. Not to mention, the heftier price tag. 

I've seen people asking anywhere from $60-100 for this book. Too rich for me. I consider myself very lucky (or on Santa's nice list), finding it in near mint condition for less than $20! This was a fine adaptation. I think it benefited well from not being tied up with so much licensing and that allowed writer Sid Jackson to really capture the intended magical feel of the story. The artwork by Frank Springer was very good with some great likenesses of most of the cast. Petra Scotese's color palette fully captured the bright and lively hues I remember so vividly being a part of the film.

A true diamond in the rough. Normally, adaptations don't do justice to a movie. But this one actually surpasses the original product!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Santa Claus Vs the Nazis

Santa Claus Vs the Nazis!

It originated as an eComic on the digital site AcesWeekly.com in 2012 and then became an eBook in 2016. Thanks to popular demand it was reformatted a year later and collected into a graphic novel hard cover which quickly went out of print. Sometime last year it was announced that a trade paperback was coming for sale on Previews. However, I was only able to get a copy in the States just this past Spring. The reason? Imports and tariffs were blamed. But I think it had all to do with Diamond going kaput and my favorite LCS probably had to go all over the place to get their hands on a copy for me.

I'm really, really glad for all the trouble. While on the surface this seems like a comedic work, the whole idea and image of Kris Kringle punching the crap outta Hitler, the subject matter is actually taken fairly seriously. And to some degree, with historical accuracy.

In 1939, Russia invades Norway. The Norwegians turn to Germany for help. Thanks to the Nazis, the Russians retreat. However, this now means that Norway is under Nazi occupation as Hitler is not the type of leader to just give up territory.

The action takes place Christmas a year later. Santa is recruited by Winston Churchill to assist in the war effort. Apparently, Claus has interfered in the events of World War I (or some other skirmish around that time.) Horrified by those memories, St. Nick refuses.

A few weeks later in early 1941, a Nazi scout in the Lapland region of Norway discovers Santa's workshop. If the Fuehrer can control the magic of Santa, he'll be able to produce unlimited weapons and conquer the world. Santa is incapacitated to the point that he's immobilized but the magic of Christmas still thrives through the craftsmanship of Santa's elves. A pair of his helpers assisted by Rudolph, flee to London where Churchill begins a secret mission to liberate Santa's base of operations.

So far, the story has my attention. But it encapsulates me into a secret hidden part of Christmas lore when it's revealed that Queen Elizabeth secretly was the leader of a clandestine British commando unit under the alias Liz Windsor. There are a bunch of other Easter eggs hidden throughout. At least I hope they are Easter eggs. For example, one of the members of the special forces unit is a guy by the name of Fleming. His first name wouldn't happen to be Ian, would it?

Writer Benjamin Dickson also gets really creative with the legend of Santa and his compatriots around the world. In the Netherlands, Santa is assisted by a character named Black Pete, who was like the original Elf on the Shelf. He'd report to Odin and later Sinterklaas on who was good and who was naughty. The naughty children, Pete who would whip and sometimes kidnapped the worst offenders. 

Here, Dickson has the character portrayed as the black youth Peter, whom Santa Claus freed from slavery in the Caribbean and is the Big Man's second in command. Once I made the connection between the character in this book and the figure of European folklore, my love for this book went into overdrive!

A brilliant book that is such an off-the-wall holiday idea, I can't believe that I didn't come up with it. But it's not a lighthearted tale. And NOT for the kids! If only the promise of return of Father Christmas in 'Santa Claus in the Land of the Soviets' was real and not a joke a la a Marvel movie.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The Terminator: Santa Claus is Coming to Town #1

A fun thing I like to do is come up with comic book Christmas specials that I don't think would ever be published. It's something that I have done since high school; except for a few years when I wasn't collecting, I sorta let the tradition slide. Well, the book that I read yesterday is one that I don't think I would have come up with in a thousand years if I really took the time to think about it.

Dynamite Entertainment's The Terminator: Santa Claus is Coming to Town is the licensed property holiday special that I didn't know that I needed. But boy, did I ever!

After a drone detects human activity, Skynet dispatches a Terminator to investigate with lethal force. The android locates a Resistance scout team hiding out in the ruins of a mall. Being that it's December 24th, the robot selects clothing that is supposed to make it easier to blend in with the human populace. It winds up selecting a Santa Claus costume, complete with hat and accompanying beard!

This has got to be one of the most wild, unusual and yet oddly satisfying Christmas specials that I have ever read. And yet, do you really expect me to believe that Skynet is so stupid an AI that it will program its Terminators to dress up as Santa Claus because the date is December 24th? If this issue was set during Easter, are we to expect that the Terminator would dress up as the Easter Bunny? (We NEED a Terminator Easter special with Arnold dressed up as the Easter Bunny!!!)

Don't expect to see Schwarzenegger in this book. The Terminator used here is clearly a T-800 from it's muscular synthetic flesh to the classic metal skeleton underneath. However, this Terminator is black and bald. I am thinking that Dynamite doesn't have the rights to use Arnold's likeness...

Still, it's a pretty intimidating Terminator. The first 3 pages where we witness the T-800 coming onto the scene and taking assessment of its surroundings was super cool. So were the moments of intense action when the android and the scout team clash. I could so hear that 'Dum dum dum de dum' theme from the original 1984 movie in my head during those moments.

My opinion of Kendall Goode's artwork of the scout team was a little bit mixed. They looked less from the iconic live action film franchise and more set from a 1990s animated series on FOX Kids on weekday afternoons. It's not terrible. And if Goode had made it where those first 3 pages matched the old school animated look of the rest of the book, I would be completely okay with it. Did perhaps somebody else work on the first couple of pages and then have to drop out? Or maybe they had to sub in to make a publishing deadline? Regardless, there is a little bit of visual disjointedness here.

There was another aspect that I almost judged poorly for this one-shot. Good thing that I decided to research a bit before I did. I haven't watched many of the newer Terminator movies. So for me, Judgement Day is always August 29, 1997. That's when Skynet becomes self-aware and takes over the world thanks to a coordinated nuclear strike. However, as we passed 1997 and more Terminator movies come out, that number keeps getting pushed further and further back. Anyways, I know that it seems like stores are setting out Christmas stuff for sale earlier a little bit each year. But in no way was there anything holiday related for sale or decked out at your favorite mall unless they had a Hallmark store selling Christmas ornaments in during the late summer of 1997. I know. I used to work at Suncoast at the Crabtree Valley Mall at that time.

Thus, in this timeline, Judgement Day occurred probably sometime around November or December. It would explain all the Christmas stuff and the Terminator getting the Santa costume from 'Santa Land'. 

I had a lot of fun with this one. I'm actually glad that this was a one-shot. I think making it a miniseries would have tarnished the quirky charm of the oddball holiday special; up there with Santa Claus Conquers the Martians or Lee Majors in The Night the Reindeer Died (IYKYK). A good plot. Excellent action. Good art that just doesn't happen to be consistent throughout. This one is sure to make 2025 a Christmas to remember!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Jingle Belle: The Homemade's Tale

Santa's rebellious daughter, Jingle Belle returns in this 2018 one-shot from IDW Publishing. Paul Dini crafts a beautiful story that builds upon the lore of Santa Claus.

Every year after Santa's annual run of toy deliveries, a mysterious woman scours the globe.

But this person isn't giving out more presents. Instead, she's looking for homemade toys that were rejected by their owners, offering them the companionship and love that they should have received on Christmas morning. 

The idea is a lot like the Island of Misfit Toys first visited in the 1964 Rankin/Bass holiday classic, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. Only, this is for toys that were lovingly made by children and parents to be rejected for more illustrious presents such as a video game console or snow skis. 

Let me tell you that this story started out pulling, no tearing, at the old heartstrings. When that first toy gets overlooked by a sibling who'd much rather spend time in front of the hottest new video game of the year, I almost wanted to cry. But I didn't, because of the mystery woman who rescued the handmade horsey with such affection and then is welcomed by a sack full of fellow toys with such camaraderie, it dried those tears. Though it was still very sad.

You think that it's Jingle Belle who's rescuing the rejected toys. The twist was interesting and believable. It didn't feel like a cop out and it definitely wasn't a clone of the Island of Misfit Toys plotline from Rudolph. Sadly, it also felt like the end of Jingle Belle's story.

Things really seemed to wrap up nicely in a big shiny package with an even nicer bow. Especially for Jingle. Santa's got a new assistant with his deliveries. There's a new holiday tradition that guarantees no toy mass produced or one-of-a-kind goes unloved ever again. However, it's been 6 years since this book debuted and unless Paul Dini just all of a sudden gets a tremendously awesome idea that builds further upon that extremely happy ending, I doubt Jingle and her friends are ever coming back to comic book store shelves.

A perfect ending for a bittersweet story. I'm just not ready to say goodbye to this wonderful world created by the creator of Harley Quinn. Ooooo- that would be a fantastic idea! A crossover starring Jingle Belle and Harley. Oh, the holiday chaos they'd create. 

See! I just figured out how to bring this universe back without taking away from the ending! Please, Paul Dini - make this happen!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Dell Four Color #950- Frosty The Snowman

This Dell Four Color from 1958 stars the second most popular character to star in a Christmas novelty song, Frosty the Snowman.

There's 5 or 6 short stories in this book. Though really, they read like chapters. For instance, Frosty is gifted a new scarf by a new friend he meets and throughout the remainder of the book, Frosty is drawn wearing that new accessory. The book begins with Frosty spending time with his forest friends. After gifting them a Christmas feast of carrots, lettuce and seeds, Frosty meets a little boy who cannot afford a fancy sled. So the lad made his own out of an old wooden barrel. Determined to help the little fella out, Frosty heads to the North Pole to ask Santa to make him a sled for Christmas. However, Christmas might be cancelled because Santa has run out of the magic star dust needed to make the reindeer fly. 

My last holiday read, but not review, for 2024. I really enjoyed this book. Being almost 70 years in age, the pages were fragile and I was seriously afraid that the cover would come off. But the Christmas magic inside the book never faded. 

I couldn't tell you who wrote this book. Nor who illustrated it. From a time when many comic book creators didn't provide their credentials, either purposely or by company policy, the artwork for Frosty was a tad generic. But his forest friends and Santa Claus looked so friendly and festive. The storytelling was quite creative. One of Dell's comics devoted to its youngest of readers, it was of a quality found in a Little Golden Book. And I mean that as a high compliment.

If you are a collector of holiday comics and you can find a copy of this either in the wild or at a shop/Con, it's really worth owning. Just read while wearing kid gloves - literally!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8.5 out of 10 stars.

Should Eldritch Horrors Be Forgot (Santa Saves Christmas, Book II) by Ben Wolf

The Santa Saves Christmas trilogy ends with the inclusion of Atlanteans and characters from the mind of H.P. Lovecraft. 

Thanks to the many time portals and fractures left open during Santa's battle with Father Time, ancient Atlanteans are coming through a wormhole in the Caribbean wing of the Atlantic. Along with their arrival, the ruins of Atlantis are rising to the surface, causing catastrophic flooding around the globe. Called in by the United Nations to assist in negotiations with the king of Atlantis, Santa Claus and old friend Vladimir Putin seek to find a peaceful way for all races to coexist without sending a large chunk of dry land into the bring deep. 

However, all chances for peace are off the table when a new object begins to emerge off the coast of Australia: the evil elder God, Cthulhu! As nothing in the present day is able to defeat the Eldritch horror, Father Time's predecessor, the Time Raptor travels through time and the multiverse to assemble a ragtag team of warriors, assassins and a dragon or two to defeat the ancient evil once and forever!

Yes, the mystery character that I've been trying to not spoil in my previous two reviews of Ben Wolf's Santa Saves Christmas series is Russian president, Vladimir Putin. Since all 3 books were written before Putin began his lengthy and seemingly endless assault on Ukraine, he's sort of like an anti-hero. He's bad and has done evil things, but he's also willing to save not only Christmas, but his beloved Russia from countless crises. Plus it helps to have the leader of the largest country in the world in order to gain unprecedented access to top secret technology or to get your foot in the door of the UN Building.

Should Eldritch Horrors Be Forgot was my least favorite of the trilogy. I still liked it. It just that it really felt like Ben Wolf was being really self-indulgent here. They're be these scenes where a character, very tongue in cheek would reply 'Who writes this stuff?' Once was clever. Twice was an inside joke. But at a pace of about once every 3 chapters felt really out of place; especially since neither previous book did this.

Something Ben Wolf adds at the end of each book is a 'shameless plug' in which Santa and other characters rave about the author's other works. At about page 200, one of the new characters brought over by the Time Raptor, was using a weapon that sounded really familiar. Yet, it's not something from What The Frost? or It's Beginning to Look A Lot Like Raptors. So I grabbed my copy of this book and headed into our office and consulted Amazon. Sure enough, all of these new characters are from other books written by Wolf. Thus, the author wasn't just being immoderate. He was also giving readers a clue about how his other works tie-in.

I'm not sure if some of Ben Wolf's other books are my cup of tea. Many are more fantasy heavy for my taste. However, his standalone Western, Unlucky, about the gunslinger Dalton has peaked my interest. 

Also, thanks to my Amazon research, I discovered that there's a new book in the Santa Saves Christmas series. It's digital only. However, it promises to address the elephant in the room with the presence of Putin in these books. Especially as Russia's current political situations has made their president's role in these books a little more troubling. hey, I've got something to look forward to next Christmas reading season!

Lastly, I got to talk about my favorite character in the series, the cowardly but entrepreneurial Snoot. I almost replaced him as my favorite character with Putin of all people because he got ultra slimy. (Also, if an author can make a sadistic tyrant likable, he must be a good writer.) Snoot now has a girlfriend in the Uber rich business woman Gen. They're obviously having a physical relationship. But Snoot kept making everything with her about sex, even when she's trying to help save the world. It got as annoying as Wolf's love of having every character respond to Snoot's comments with eye rolls. Folks can show disgust in other physical ways.

Thankfully, Gen puts Snoot in his place before the book's end. Hopefully, we'll see a little more character growth in the online book and hopefully further adventures of Santa saving the world. Just take it down a notch with the repetition. I would hate for a great thing to become stale.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Dell Giant: Christmas in Disneyland #1

Instead of gifts from Santa, a little boy and girl ask Santa to take them on a magical trip to Disneyland in this 1957 Dell Giant. 

Santa obliges, telling the children an assortment of stories based on the various lands and rides throughout the park. The Carl Barks classic 'The Black Pearls of Tabu Yama' starts things off with Uncle Scrooge and his nephews marooned on a deserted island at Christmas. Chip n' Dale must rescue Jiminy Cricket from the clutches of Br'er Bear, who forces the wise insect to teach him how to become Santa Claus. Mickey and Goofy attempt to deliver a payload of gold to a group of miners before Christmas Eve. The L'il Bad Wolf thinks his papa is making him a snow blowing machine to help him in his snow shoveling business. And in the surprise of all surprises, Peter Pan and Tinkerbell attempt to rescue Santa Claus who has been kidnapped by the dastardly Captain Hook!

I was extremely excited about that Peter Pan story. The 1953 Disney classic plays into the story of how my wife and I met. I had no idea about the existence of this story. It was such a great read and I loved seeing the Tick-Tock Crocodile fly after getting sprinkled with pixie dust.

There were also several arts and crafts activities and a fun and games section in the back. Considering that this issue is nearly 70 years old and only 1 of those pages was torn out, probably by some child who had zero idea how collectible old comics would one day be, I consider myself very lucky. I paid less than $10 for this issue and if that page hadn't been missing, the book would probably have been priced out of my price range. 

On my wish list of Christmas comic books, I've got issue #38 of Gold Key's Walt Disney Comics Digest. The front invites readers to enjoy 'Christmas at Disneyland'. I have a feeling that the contents of this special are reprinted in that digest edition. I'm still keeping that book on my wish list. However, as I now own this book, in 99.% entirety, obtaining the Gold Key book is on the back burner for now.

Sure, this was a big ol' commercial for Disneyland which had opened less than 2 years prior in California. But the whole thing was jammed packed Christmas fun starring many of my favorite Disney characters and it's a treasured addition to my Christmas comic book collection!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Adventures in Advent: Advent 2024 Day 24

Santa comes tonight! For the penultimate Advent calendar of 2024, I returned to Solgarden in Mebane, North Carolina. They sell a really neat looking Countdown to Christmas which is 3-D printed and extremely clever.

The main structure is a red chimney. At the very top stands Santa Claus. Throughout the length of the chimney, there are these green planks that are numbered 1-24. Each day, you remove the plank with the corresponding number until on the 24th where you remove the final piece and Santa Claus plops right down into the fire place. 

It's rather brilliant. I'm not sure who manufactured it and I think the asking price was around $50. 

This calendar is very similar to the piece that inspired this year's theme. It's a wooden countdown of Nakatomi Plaza from the Bruce Willis holiday classic Die Hard. Starting from the top, the numbers start at 1 with 24 at the very bottom. Each day, as you get closer to Christmas Eve, you take the small figure of Alan Rickman's villainous Hans Gruber just a little bit closer towards going splat onto the parking lot below. As my brother in law says 'It's not Christmas until Hans Gruber falls off of Nakatomi Plaza.' With this Advent, he'd be right.

Before I dive into my Batman Advent gift for the day, I want to explain why I didn't choose to focus on the Die Hard advent yesterday or any other day. Why the honorable mention of sorts? Originally I was going to feature the Hans Gruber calendar for the 23rd and today be about Santa as I normally do. But as I got to thinking about it, I didn't want to feature two nearly identical concepts back-to-back. A last minute editorial call, I switched things up to keep things from getting stale. I hope you'll forgive my indulgence and enjoyed my picks regardless.

Sleigher: The Heavy Metal Santa Claus

When Santa Claus is unexpectedly killed, his son is called to take over the family business. Forging his own way as a heavy metal rocker, the man known as Sleigher, does his new job with a musical flair. On Christmas, Sleigher delivers gifts to all the good little boys and girls of the world. The other 364 days out of the year, this new Santa battles the forces of evil that seek to pervert the spirit of Christmas. Those Sleigher defeats are held captive within the confines of Santa's sack, which obviously have magical properties.

When an ancient race of Christmas mischief makers called the Yule Lads assault Santa's workshop, they steal the bag, releasing countless holiday villains, along with their mama, back into the world. With their escape, the Christmas spirit of the world's populace is replaced with a selfish hedonism.  With the help of Sleigher's grandfather, the Coca-Cola style Santa Claus, and his Elves with an attitude, the Heavy Metal Santa will face a foe so vile, that if allowed to roam the world, there definitely won't be a Christmas next year.

This 2016 volume opens with a lecherous priest trying to put the 'Baby, It's Cold Outside' moves on an innocent choir boy. Thankfully, Sleigher intervenes. However, with this kicking off the story and this version of Santa Claus being heavy metal, which is traditionally a very anti-church genre of music, I was afraid that this was going to be a book that really skewers Christianity. However, I was pleasantly surprised. Does Sleigher talk about raising hell and gestures with devil horns and stuff? Absolutely. But does he love Christmas and take pride in being the new Father Christmas? He sure as hell does!

If the blurb on the last page of this story is true, Sleigher was supposed to be an annual miniseries in which the hero would seek to return one of the escaped yule time prisoners back into his magic pack. Krampus was to the the antagonist for the sequel. Yet, for reasons I've not been able to uncover, Action Lab never returned to this property.

I suspect it might have something to do with the name of the series. Sleigher is of course, a great name for a Christmas heavy metal themed series. However, there's already has been a band named Slayer since the early 80s. I'm wondering if the band's lawyers sent Action Lab a cease and desist over name similarities. Or maybe sales weren't that great. Comic book history is full of promises of forthcoming issues, specials and sequels that never materialized because of poor sales. I just wish I could uncover the reason there never was another season of this irreverent but hilarious holiday comic.

By the way, this comic marks the 4th time this holiday season alone in which Vladimir Putin is a character! I didn't know he was so affiliated with Christmas. Strange. A very strange coincidence, if you ask me...

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

The Smurfs Christmas (Family Comic Friday)

The Smurfs Christmas is a festive collection of several shorts. 3 directly involved Christmas. One mentions writing letters to Santa and is set during wintertime. Another involves snowmen, which are holiday icons. And then we've got that one story that involves a very hungry ogre.

Story #1 sees Santa down with a case of the flu. Knowing Gargamel is a sorcerer, Claus seeks a potion to help him complete his rounds. The dastardly medicine man finds opportunity to kidnap Santa and become the Jolly Old Fatman in hopes of infiltrating the Smurf village and stealing some for his Christmas dinner. 

Story #2 finds Gargamel captured by a hungry ogre. Thinking quickly, the fiend convinces the ogre that Smurfs make better tasting meals. There's quite a bit of tension as the Ogre with Gargamel still in his clutches, inch closer to Smurf village!

Story #3 starts off with a the Smurfs building snowmen. With warmer weather in the forecast, the snowmen come alive, trying to make it to the safety of the frigid Northern lands. But an encounter with Gargamel results in the snowmen betraying their Smurf creators.

Story #4 has the Smurfs exploring their nearby territory. Things are awfully quiet with all the woodland creatures taking warm refuge from the winter weather. All this quiet results in Sleepy Smurf cuddling up in a dormouse hutch. As the rest of the Smurfs write their letters to Santa, Sleepy Smurf and friend find themselves unknowingly the target of a hungry poacher- because they're sleeping through their entire predicament!!!

Story #5 stars Lumberjack Smurf who while looking for the perfect Christmas tree, almost chops down a talking pine. Turns out that the verbose tree is actually a little girl who was turned into a conifer by a witch. 

The final tale is a reunion between Gargamel and Santa. Faced with being on the naughty list again, the wizard can earn a gift for Christmas if he delivers gifts to all the Smurfs. But should he fall into temptation, Gargamel will be turned into an earthworm!

When I grew up, religious groups proclaimed the Smurfs to be agents of the devil. There's a little bit of magic in the book. It's mostly Gargamel's doing. Papa Smurf does refer to a book of prophecy in the Orge story. But by the end of it, he burns the book wanting to make his own destiny. There is some Looney Tunes level slapstick. That's mostly at the hands of Jokey Smurf and his love of those exploding gift boxes. 

What got on my nerves was the progressive use of the word 'Smurf'. It's gently sprinkled into the vocabulary in the first couple of tales. By the end of this book, it literally peppered it to the point of overuse. I mean, it smurfingly smurfed getting on my smurfing smurfs! (Hopefully, you get my drift...) It's a Christmas tree! Not a Christmas smurf!!! I don't care what the back panel on the book says...

This was a great assortment of holiday and winter time Smurfs stories by their legendary Belgian creator, Peyo. But why was that ogre story thrown in? I would have been with just those 5 other stories alone in order to make this a more cohesive collection. The only reason I can figure out for addition of the ogre oddity is that this book is about 55 pages long. Without the 8 pages of 'The Ogre and the Smurfs ', this 2013 offering from Papercutz would barely clock in at 47 pages. I have the paperback edition which at $5.99 is a steal. But I bet the smaller page count just wouldn't have been feasible for Papercutz', hardcover edition.Lots of seasonal fun with a small detour in the middle. Sure to delight generations of Smurfs fans.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Adventures in Advent: Advent: 2024, Day 18

It's time for some more Advent calendars that I found during a recent shopping trip to Mebane. Back at Solgarden, after I discovered the Advent I reviewed on Day 14, I found this set of scratcher Advents.

They look like a cross between the board bingo games you'd play with as a kid in the back of your parents card and a lottery ticket. Each board came with 25 numbered circles which when scratched would reveal an image. I noticed 3 distinct themes, 'Icons of Christmas', musical instruments and dogs. To better capture the calendar aspect, the back of the board had cardboard cutouts in which an easel type stand could be erected so that the calendar could stand up by itself.

I seemed to only have taken 1 photo of the icons calendar. I tried to Google the others in order to show what they look like to no success. However I learned that many companies make scratch-off Advents. Many just reveal a random image. But there's some really neat ones that when the proper window is scratched off, it challenges you to do something festive and fun. For example, the Starry Night Scratch Off Advent Calendar from Pinhole Press encourages you to do things such as 'Go Christmas Shopping' and 'Watch A Holiday Movie'. 

Some similar Advents inspire you to help others. The Scratch Off Kindness Advent from Catholic Supply of St. Louis has you perform little random acts to spread the joy of Christmas, such as 'Donate a Toy' or to 'Hug Someone.' The interesting thing about this calendar is that there are no numbers on any of the scratcher circles. You get 5 sheets of scratcher stickers that you place however you want on the blank Advent calendar. Once all 25 are affixed, you could go in order from left to right or make it completely random and scratch whichever window you like! I'm actually thinking about buying one for next year. It's seems really fun!

Monster Fun Christmas Special 2022

Rebellion's revival of the classic 1970s UK horror humor title celebrates the season of giving. From 2022, if this feels like a British version of The Nightmare Before Christmas, you'd be right. Here you've got vampires, devils and Frankenstein's monster taking part in Christmas festivities.

Not every segment was Christmas themed. The android Steel Commando story was a continuation from the previous issue. Since it was playing off a cliffhanger, I was okay that it wasn't a set during the holidays. However, the Leopard From Lime Street was working off of a continuous plotline and they managed to celebrate Christmas. True, the amount of Christmas detrimental to the plotline was about as debatable to if Die Hard is a Christmas movie or not.

The main title of this book is Monster Fun and I had a lot of fun reading this tabloid sized read. Despite being heavy on creatures of the night, there's a healthy dose of Santa Claus. Being a British comic, I was surprised that Krampus only appears in 1 story. As for the primary punchline, it was Brussel sprouts! I didn't realize until after reading this issue and later doing some research, but Brussels are an English Christmas dinner staple. But why all the hate? The once hated vegetable has undergone a revolution in the States. I wonder if the Brussels across the pond haven't been hybridized to remove their bitterness...

I didn't plan it, but my holiday readings for this year have been very heavy on books from Europe. Since it's turning out this way, I'm getting a pretty good idea of what titles are on task for my upcoming 2024 Christmas comic book reads. If anything, I got inspiration as well as a few laughs out of this international read.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Raptors (Santa Saves Christmas, Book II) by Ben Wolf

Book 2 of Ben Wolf's 'Santa Saves Christmas' trilogy starts off almost immediately after the events What The Frost? It's Christmas Day. Dinosaurs are running amok in Moscow and Santa Claus might have something to do with that. As he arrives in Russia with his trusty triple barreled shotgun, a whip made of a strand of holiday lights and his genius tech-savvy elf Snoot, Santa comes face-to-face with a new terror: a talking Utahraptor with the ability to bend time called the Time Raptor. 

Feeling strongly that dinosaurs deserve another chance as the dominant species on Earth, the Time Raptor has opened a series of quantum portals back to prehistoric times, herding dinosaurs of all shapes, sizes and levels of death and destruction to make sure that this is mankind's last Christmas ever!

All of the main characters from the last book are back. Mrs. Claus and several of the elves have bigger roles this time around. And it doesn't read like book 2 is a rehash of the first volume. But it sure started that way. 

While dinosaurs are not the main antagonists of the first book, they do play a big roll in the third act. Having Santa Claus and his allies battle the thunder lizards again felt stale. I would have liked the opening 30-40 pages of this book a whole lot better if we hadn't already had dinosaurs already. The Time Raptor was an interesting twist. However, there's a scene where the new villain goes to Jamaica in order to feed and what the Time Raptor does or more specifically doesn't do, pretty much told how the book was going to end.

What really saves this book is the banter. Snoot is hilarious. Santa's unlikely ally in the battle against the dinosaurs is a great character as well. But I don't want to spoil who that character is. New developments in Santa's time piece which allows him to slow down time in order to make all his deliveries in a single night where pretty cool and we've yet to see everything that specialized stopwatch can do.

I liked what I read enough, despite the slight repetitive nature of the presence of ancient reptiles (or birds, depending your school of thought), to order the third and final book before I finished this one. I had about 120 pages to go and I didn't want to waste a day or two waiting to know what happens next. Though at the time of this review, I've not read as much of that last book as I'd like as holiday happenings and a couple of unexpected events have eaten into my reading time the past couple of days. But at least I've not been left in the cold unable to see what comes afterwards. I'm just going at a much slower pace than I want right now.

Another fun book filled with holiday laughs and Jurassic Park level gore.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Adventures in Advent: Advent 2024, Day 14

I went shopping in Downtown Mebane, North Carolina with my wife and her family. While there, I came across several Advent calendars that stuck my fancy. At Solgarden, an eclectic shop of clothing, antiques and funky items you didn't know that you needed was this awesome Advent that brings Santa Claus closer to your home with each passing day.

The majority of the calendar is a wooden track with the numbers 1-23 marking tiny holes. A small red house at the end is designated #24. Every morning, you take a ceramic Santa inside his sleigh, with metal runners and place him in the corresponding day. On Christmas Eve, Santa makes it to the top of the house. Along the side of the piece in embossed red letters is the phrase 'Here Comes Santa Claus.'

This Santa tracker is manufactured by Demdaco. There was a price for it at Solgarden. A quick Google search revealed a MSRP of $65.00! That's a bit too rich for my blood. But it was really cool.

Adventures in Advent: Advent 2024, Day 13

Today's featured Advent calendar is another from my past. This one was owned by my grandmother and at the time I didn't know it was considered an Advent calendar. I just considered it a countdown to Christmas calendar, which I know is basically what an Advent calendar is. However, it wasn't until the other day when I was scrolling my Facebook feed that I learned that this was marketed as an Advent.

Sold in the 1980s by the Avon company, the Countdown to Christmas Advent Calendar with handmade mouse was an annual staple offered by the famed cosmetics company. If I remember correctly, one of my grandmother's aunts sold Avon from her beauty salon. So that must be how she got it. The idea with this calendar, which was made of fabric stuffed with filling, was that Santa and his wife are enjoying cocoa by the fire in anticipation for Christmas. Underneath the scene are 24 pockets with a tiny mouse. Each day that you got closer to Christmas Eve, you put the mouse in that corresponding slot. Why a mouse? I think it has something to do with the line about 'not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse' line from T'was The Night Before Christmas.

This calendar was found by an antique shopper and posted on a group for those who like finding treasured memories at second hand and antique stores. Their photo helped trigger the memory of this item that hung every year either in my Grandmother's den or living room, depending on her decorative mood. In the days since writing up this blog post, at least 2 other shoppers have found Avon mice Advents at 2 other thrift stores nationwide!

I learned researching this item that some fans have created an alternative way to get closer to Christmas. Instead of moving the mouse to a new pocket each day, they've instead bought extra mice. Once you have 24 mice in all 24 sleeves, it's time for Christmas. Sellers on Etsy, Amazon and eBay sell packs of 3-5 mice in order to achieve this method of using the Avon Advent. It's up to you whether you want your rodents to all look like the 80s original or have a slightly differing style appearance.

Adventures in Advent: Advent Day 9

Not every Advent Calendar gives you something to enjoy. Some encourage you to spread the joy all December long. The Acts of Kindness Advent calendar is part storybook and part exercises in mindfulness.

Made up of 25 flashcards, the story stars a cast of adorable furry animals such as a reindeer, a mittens loving kitty and Santa Claus. That days card tells of the kind acts the characters perform on others. Then the reader is encouraged to execute that same act to others.

Designed for families with young kids, each card is assigned a date. So this deck can be used over the years. Since it's reusable, after the first year, the level of spontaneity diminishes. But as child will remember their favorite elements of the Advent deck, a degree of excitement will build as they get closer to performing the assignments of their favorite acts of kindness towards others.

Available on Amazon from fun and games creator Uflognirz, this kit retails for $19.99.

21st Century Santa Stories #1

I meant to read this book last year when it came out. But for some reason I didn't get to purchase it until after the holiday. Maybe it was a shipping delay. But for some reason, I was late to the party for this one-shot anthology from American Mythology. 

There are 4 stories in this book. The first story ponders what would happen to Santa if Christmas was cancelled. Now, normally, you'd think that St. Nick would have an early vacation. But the twist on this story is that Santa only gets paid if there's a holiday. So without his annual stipend, Kris Kringle is forced to make ends meet until next year's holiday season. 

Then a bunch of homemade ornaments meet the newest decoration on the tree, a cute little puppy. But when an accident causes Santa's milk and cookies to be ruined, the baubles panic thinking that they've ruined Christmas.

Then a young boy is taught to pray to Saint Nicholas for protection over his father who's at sea on a merchant vessel. Unknown to the child, dad's praying too because his ship has just sunk and he's about to plunge into the bring deep.

Lastly, a pair of brothers, and one sleepy sister, use modern technology to try and capture Santa Claus.

This issue ends with a couple of interactive one-pagers for kids. I particularly liked the form letter to Santa. That was kinda funny. An unexpected addition was a glimpse at all of American Mythology's Three Stooges books over the years. I greatly appreciated it as I saw that there's a couple of holiday themed specials that I don't have yet. (I'll need to update my wish list.)

Overall, a very good book. The prayers to Santa story was a little weird. But then again, I don't live in a predominantly Catholic nation where intercession with Saint Nicholas is common. So I learned something there. But I also experienced some heartache inside this book.

In the opening tale, there was a single panel that just broke my heart. In need of cash, Santa has to sell his reindeer. The look on Donner's face just killed me. He looks so loving and proud at Santa, who's refusing to sell one of his team for no less than $500. I just couldn't tell if Donner had no idea that someone was about to buy him or if the reindeer was hopeful that for such a large sum of money, Donner isn't going anywhere. The whole swirl of mixed emotions and uncertainty over the outcome of that scene just made me so sad and I just can't shake its effect on me.

The main cover by Roy Allen Martinez is just so wonderful. It should rank up there as one of the best holiday covers of all time. However, I don't think that's going happen with this being an Indy book that flew under a lot of comic book lovers radar.

I wouldn't mind a second volume. Just don't play with my heartstrings when it comes to Santa's reindeer.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Krampus! #5

The final issue of this series wasn't supposed to be this way. Writer Brian Joines had intentions for this 2013 5-issue miniseries to be an ongoing series. Issue #5 was supposed to end the opening story arc. The real villain behind the theft of Saint Nicholas's remains would have been revealed and the next story arc would have Krampus going after them. Some new Santas would be introduced. A new holiday would be added to the mix. 

However, sales after issue #1 began to slump. For a series about Christmas to drag on into February and March, the fan base just fizzled out. Things just end with the big reveal. There was faith that a one-shot special would be forthcoming in the 2014 holiday season. However, jump ahead 10 years and we're no closer to a resolution of that characters original plans or what Joines had in store for Krampus. 

These days, we see publishers issuing seasonal miniseries on a weekly basis. Last year, DC Comics released the Batman/ Santa Claus: Silent Knight miniseries over a series of 4 weeks. They're looking to capture lightning in a bottle with a 2024 sequel. Then you've got Image who hasn't seemed to learn it's lesson issuing the Christmas themed serial killer horror title The Deviant well into the Spring and early summer of this year. I've been told that sales really dropped off after January as fans felt like the series was taking forever to complete.

I thought that Krampus! #5 ended well. But that setup leaves me wanting a completion. It's possible that Image might green light a conclusion. But after a decade of silence, I really doubt it will ever come to pass. You at least get a conclusion to the main story line. But if you want to have a definite conclusion that doesn't leave you in a perpetual wait for an ending that will very well never come, skip the last 3 pages of this story and head directly to the letters page 

Worth Consuming!

Rating 7 out of 10 stars.