The Pilgrims and the First Thanksgiving (Family Comic Friday)

2007's The Pilgrims and the First Thanksgiving from Graphic Library is an educational comic book that does a fairly decent job explaining a controversial moment of American history. While it doesn't mention that the Pilgrims choose Cape Cod to settle because they ran out of beer and ale, we do get perspective on an often forgotten part of the First Thanksgiving story: the Native Americans!

It was always a mystery to me how Squanto knew English. Turns out that the Pilgrims weren't the first Europeans in the area. Fishermen and slavers had been coming to the cape for years prior. Also, Squanto is an Anglicized pronunciation of the name.

There was also a certain amount of caution on the side of the Indians. The white man was known to bring disease with them and Chief Massasoit didn't want his people getting sick from them. (Smart man!)

A lot of detail is out into the massive amount of food that went into the Autumn feast of Pilgrims and natives. We often get that lesson in grade school. But did you know that the event lasted 3 whole days? And there were shooting contests and axe throwing competitions in between meals? 

There's an educational section in the back of this graphic novel. In it, you get a glossary of terms, an list of further reads and an interesting 2-page article about the aftermath of the First Thanksgiving. I'd always thought that the Pilgrims were the same as the Puritans. Turns out that they weren't and man, were those Puritans mean and evil! The Pilgrims kept a 50 year peace with the Native Americans. The Puritans show up, start stealing land and within a year, the whole tribe is wiped out in a massive conflict.

Direct quotes from historical figures are supposed to be on a yellow background. But the hue is so light, I could barely figure out those segments. I also felt like the artwork was a little more simple than a typical graphic novel. However, it could be because artist Peter McDonnell is more of a children's book illustrator than a comic book artist. I think that's more of a matter of taste than actual quality.

The Pilgrims and the First Thanksgiving was an informative read. It was a timely read for the holiday. I got this recently on Amazon for a very good price. Kids will enjoy reading about the history of the fourth Thursday in November while parents and guardians will delight that the young readers in their life are learning! It's too late for this year. But if you know of a child aged 7-11 who loves reading comics, this is a read that they can enjoy next year while they wait for the turkey and trimmings to finish cooking!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Flare #31

I bought this 2006 Thanksgiving themed issue last year. I either bought it after Thanksgiving or I never got around to it. I'm not familiar with the character of Flare. Nor am I with its publisher Heroic Comics, formerly Hero Comics. 

After a little research, I learned that Hero Comics was created in the mid-80s, after gaining the licensing rights to Hero Games' Champions role playing game. When the publisher began to focus more on cheesecake than meat and potato plots, Hero Games pulled its license and a name change to Heroic Comics came about. Several characters also had to undergo name changes. But Flare was not one of them.

Flare was the result of Nazi genetic testing after World War II. Scientists fleeing to South America, continued to create their master race of soldiers and Flare and several of her siblings were test subjects. Exhibiting powers of flight, light manipulation and the ability to change her appearance, Flare and many of her kin revolted against their genetic overlords and became heroes in America.

In this issue, there are 3 stories. The first tale is Thanksgiving themed. It sees Flare meeting her boyfriend's family for the first time. All seems well until the boyfriend's little sister throws massive shade at Flare for being a rich, privileged white girl.

The middle story is a rather odd story about 2 teen girls, who after a massive session of reading comic books, turn into their heroes, the wholesome Flare and the murderous Tigress. Things get rather erotic between the two and it's very unsettling as these are teen girls. What the frick were the writer and artist thinking?! Thankfully, the pair change back into their regular mortal selves before I had to throw this book away for becoming kiddie porn. 

The last story was surprising, based on how PG-13 heading into R territory the last story was. It sees Flare in costume going to a children's hospital on Christmas Eve to deliver presents. While there, she also takes out a Bible and reads the Christmas story from the Book of Luke: the very same verses Linus reads in A Charlie Brown Christmas!

I was impressed. The first story deals with faith and prayer and thankfulness. The last story actually recounts the birth of Jesus. So, what was the deal with that middle story? It just didn't fit and it almost broke several state and federal laws.

I'll keep this issue, only for the bookends. But I just don't know if I can give this book a high rating because of the filler!

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Droopy #2

This is the second release of that 1995 Dark Horse Comics miniseries devoted to Tex Avery's Droopy. Last month I reviewed the supposed Halloween issue, based on the cover. For November, I read what the cover promised to be a Thanksgiving themed story and this time Dark Horse delivered.

The main story is set at Plymouth Rock during the time of the Pilgrims. It sees Droopy and foe Spike the Bulldog competing to find the best dressed turkey for Thanksgiving. The prize is a kiss from the mayor's daughter, who is played by the vivacious ginger haired Red Hot Riding Hood (AKA Red) ( Also AKA Miss Vavoom in the 90s). 

Spike is the main focus of the story as the turkey he's got his eyes on has no intention of becoming Thanksgiving dinner. Droopy is more of an afterthought in what is supposed to be his story! It's rather odd, if you ask me. Though things do end with Droopy winning his prize as well as a great sight gag in regards to the turkey being the best dressed- in a tuxedo!

The second story was an early Christmas present! It stars Red, along with the eternal horn-dog Wolfie. Here, Wolfie is doing everything he can to get on Santa's Nice List. Last year, because he was too much of a pig around women and Santa gave him a lump of coal. This year, Wolfie is being a good boy. Now if he can just get through his last shift as a department store Santa, he'll get lots of great stuff from Ol' Saint Nick. Unfortunately, his normal co-worker playing his Elf assistant is sick and so Red is called into as a substitute and she's dressed as the most inappropriately dressed worker to ever grace Santa's workshop!

Based on the backup feature alone, I gotta say that this 3-part Droopy series is NOT for kids! Lots of double entendres. Red's posed so seductively, in one panel you can literally see all the way up to Nebraska (Ask Sharon Stone to explain that reference.) As a collection of Tex Avery toons were being concurrently being released on VHS, this miniseries was a promotional tie-in of sorts. I think that adults were expected to be the main audience of the tapes and so this series was aimed more at the mature set. Not sure how much of a success this comic book was. But I would not be surprised in the least to find out some parent group had a fit about the contents of the second tale in this book!

Bawdy but thankfully seasonal this time. See you in December when I finish the mini on what is promised to be a Christmas themed book starring Droopy, Spike and Red.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 our of 10 stars.

Snoopy's Thanksgiving

Fantagraphics celebrates Thanksgiving Peanuts style in this hilarious 2014 collection of strips from Charles Schulz. 

First, Snoopy ventures out West to visit his brother Spike who lives in the desert with a bunch of bunny-eating coyotes. Then Charlie Brown tries his luck selling Thanksgiving wreaths before Woodstock has a panic attack that he's going to be the main course at this year's Thanksgiving dinner. 

Silly birdie. Doesn't Woodstock know that his friends eat jelly beans, milkshakes and toast for Turkey Day?

There's a few one page shorts as well as a couple of strips blown up and spread out in separate panels over several pages to give readers just over 60 pages of Thanksgiving fun. I'm surprised that this was published by Fantagraphics. Not that they couldn't produce this or anything about the quality. It's just that the format looked more like a series of books about Snoopy and friends that the greeting card magnate Hallmark used to produce in the 90s and early 00s. I'm now wondering if Fantagraphics was tapped to produce those books for Hallmark much like how Dynamite Entertainment and Dark Horse are publishing Marvel's outsourced material...

If you're stressing about having the relatives over for the holiday, then take a much needed break and enjoy the exploits of a boy named Charlie Brown and his dog.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Walt Disney's Autumn Adventures #1

I could have finished this book earlier. I started in in mid-October. However, once I realized that there was some Thanksgiving themed stories, I decided to wait until now to complete.

Walt Disney's Autumn Adventures #1 doesn't just cover Halloween which is what I thought based on Chip and Dale hauling a gigantic jack-o'-lantern on the cover. Had I been a bit more keen, I would have noticed Gyro Gearloose using one of his new inventions to capture a turkey! No, this really is a book that runs the entire Fall season gambit.

The book is essentially divided into 3 sections: the coming of Autumn, Halloween and Thanksgiving. In the first part, Huey, Dewey and Louie get in trouble playing hooky during the first day of school in a Carl Barks classic while chipmunks Chip and Dale contemplate going south for the winter.

In the middle section, Donald's nephews and the Junior Woodchucks explore a haunted house owned by Uncle Scrooge in a DuckTales themed Halloween romp. Readers get to marvel at the genius of Barks once again when Donald tries out Gyro's latest invention: a jet powered broomstick, to disastrous effect. 

Thanksgiving stories include the Three Little Pigs and Li'l Bad Wolf feeding some turkeys when the Big Bad Wolf decides to use it to his advantage in another attempt to eat the piggies. Meanwhile, Pluto must save Horace Horsecollar's prize winning turkey from poachers after Mickey's dog accidentally lets the bird loose.

From the early 90s when Disney was self publishing it's own comics after the shuttering of Gemstone. It was a very brief affair that later lead to Marvel and then IDW publishing Disney comics for a time. Unfortunately, I can't accurately date this book as there's no copyright inside the book. However I do know that before they went defunct, Disney released another Autumn Adventures the following year. I'm on the lookout for that...

I had no idea that Len Wein was the EIC here. Based on his resume of horror works, heading Disney's comics division seems odd for him. Apparently, Wein brought some DC talent with him as Marv Wolfman among others is listed as one of the writers of a couple of other releases for the month in the back of this book.

A wonderful Fall holiday read that lasts the whole season.

Worth Consuming!

Rating:9 out of 10 stars.

Walt Disney's Uncle Scrooge "Maharajah Donald": The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library Vol. 4

I actually finished this book about 2 months ago. However the theft of my goat was heavy on my mind and I was too distracted to review it at the time. Only after doing some organizing of my piles of books to review did I realize that I had overlooked this very fun entry in the Complete Carl Barks Library.

The title story sees Donald taking a trip to India. He's supposed to be going alone. Except his nephews Huey Dewey and Louie stowaway. Once in India, Donald is unexpectedly made the ruler of a small kingdom in a caper that combined hijinks, international law and a hint of racist stereotypes.

As I've mentioned before, Barks' works are indeed peppered with cultural stereotypes and prejudices that would make today's youth request the cancellation of the amazing cartoonists career. Thankfully, Disney and Fantagaphics has decided not to cull away these works in hopes of creating dialogue about how much our societal norms have changed as well as point out how much further we've got to go.

There's holiday stories a plenty in this book. The nephews win a turkey for Thanksgiving. Only it's a live bird and the boys are too attached to it to kill it. In a fantastic Christmas set story, Donald is a lighthouse keeper who forgot to buy gifts for the boys. A looming maelstrom prevents Donald from going ashore on Christmas Eve. So any chance of a Christmas to remember rests on an albatross tasked with delivering a letter to Santa.

Now all of these stories come from comics that are quite valuable and really hard to find. But it's the inclusion of the Donald Lighthouse story along with a tale in which involves Donald, an atomic bomb and a sneaky spy are what makes this book really worth it's cover price of $35! Both stories are freebie premiums that mostly found their way into the waste bin. The Christmas story was given away by various toy stores and department stores during the 1946 holiday shopping season. The Atomic Donald adventure was part of a 4-issue set of minis included in a box of Cheerios cereal.

Oh, and how can I forget Donald's houseboat adventure titled 'The Terror of the River'. His experience with a river bound sea monster contains some of the most epic images crafted by Barks! It's breathtaking!

Maharajah Donald contains some of the earliest Donald Duck stories produced not by Disney, but Carl Barks as well. There's only 3 volumes of earlier material out there. There's no sign of a sophomore slump or early development kinks here. Without Uncle Scrooge, who's still a couple of years away from debuting at this point, many of the stories in this volume are about as close to the adventuresome duck epic formula that made me such a fan of the Disney Ducks back in the 1980s!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Walt Disney's Donald Duck "Balloonatics": The Complete Carl Barks Disney Library Vol. 16

I'm learning that as I read my way through the complete works of Carl Barks, the 'good duck artist' is not one to let a good trope die. In not one but two stories, Donald Duck becomes a part of the hot-air ballooning community. 

First, the nephews are trying out some new miniature dirigibles made by Gyro Gearloose, which wreak havoc on Donald who's trying to get some very much desired R&R. In typical Donald firebrand fashion, the boys' Uncle gets revenge. And by revenge, Donald goes overboard with a hot air balloon in his likeness and about double the size of any inflatable you might see at the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade. Plus, it's armed to the teeth!

Story #2 has Huey, Dewey and Louie find a hunting falcon that's just too timid to be a hunter. As the boys try to help the bird find his confidence, Donald enters a contest by being held by the Duckburg Parachute club in which he hopes to win the prize for most original sky dive. Hopefully that will involve the use of a hot air balloon, some vintage balloonist digs and one nervous bird of prey.

Other adventures starring Donald, his nephews and sometimes their spinster uncle, Scrooge McDuck involve a hunt for a sea monster, searching for precious stones in the desert and an investigation into the mysterious destruction of test rockets. There's a classic Turkey Day story in which Donald and cousin Gladstone Gander compete for a chance to earn Thanksgiving dinner with Daisy. It's a tale I've read before but I don't mind a re-read. It's one of Barks' all-time best tales!

There's a couple of stand-out segments in this volume. The complete reissue of Dell Four Color #1161 'Walt Disney's Grandma Duck's Farm Friends', has Barks' presenting a quartet of stories set at Donald's father's family homestead. First, the farm gains a new resident in the form of a gigantic elephant that Uncle Scrooge was gifted from a dignitary. A new chick on Grandma's farm causes mischief along the country side when he's revealed to be a genius with good intentions but some poorly planned ideas. Gladstone makes a visit with intentions of becoming a matador. Then finally, with the nephews visiting Grandma, disaster hits in the form of both a blizzard and the appearance of the Beagle Boys on the lam from the law!

Lastly, readers get to enjoy a half-dozen Junior Woodchuck stories guest-starring Uncle Scrooge in 4 of them! These tales were from when Barks had officially retired from comics. Gold Key had lured the creator back to script duty, but arthritis and age had made it impossible to carry on his quality of work. At the time these stories were published in the 70s, original readers complained of how uninspired the artwork appeared. With their reprinting, Fantagraphics presents new artwork by Danish artist Daan Jippes. The remastered artwork looks like that of Barks and yet, there's something modern about it. Barks was known to be a minimalist when it came to backgrounds. Jippes crafts a masterful background in every panel! Really jarring stuff- in a good way!

The new tales have an Uncle Scrooge more full of piss and vinegar than many of us are used to. His inclusion in those Junior Woodchuck stories were crafted right as the world was about to celebrate its first Earth Day in 1970. (So in a way those stories are holiday themed!) Scrooge McDuck is more like a robber baron, than a penny-pinching businessman, in these stories to the point of almost unlikability. Thankfully, Huey, Dewey and Louie and their scout troop pals save the day and Scrooge's soul in these very different Duck tales. 

With this volume, I'm not sure of a couple of things. For one, why is this a Donald Duck book and not an Uncle Scrooge edition? Would it have even been so bad to have had this volume starring the nephews instead of Donald or Scrooge? Also, if this is a collection of the complete Carl Barks' works of the residents of Duckburg, why the time jump? The Grandma stories were published in 1961. Barks' ecological stories were published a decade later. This is volume 16 of a 26 volume collection. So why put the Junior Woodchuck stories here and not in volume 25 or 26? I'm not complaining about their inclusion. I just don't understand the thought process of the editing team as to having them here and not later on down the line.

A great read that just confuses me as to why certain stories are published out of order if this was supposed to be a omnibus of Carl Barks works about the Disney ducks.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

The Spirit Archives, Vol. 3

I could have finished this book in September. Only there was a Halloween story. So, I took a break until the week before All Hallow's. I read that seasonal tale and progressed until I hit the Thanksgiving story. Hitting the breaks again, this was my last Turkey Day read for 2023. I then kept reading until there came a Christmas caper! So I waited until I got a little bit closer to Santa's arrival. And then I forgot all about this book. 

I had picked up a collection of all of Will Eisner's Christmas Spirit stories. I think after I did the review, I probably got all mixed up in my head and combined that book with this one and just moved on. Thankfully, working on my comic book inventory and filing, I realized that I still had this book to finish. To my delight, I didn't mind all the delays because I really, really love The Spirit. 

This collection is early Will Eisner Spirit. At book's start, the Spirit has only been running in syndicated Sunday newspapers for a year. This edition marks the beginning of year 2 of the Spirit. Eisner's genius is showing through. However, many of those iconic villains have yet to be introduced yet. Arch-enemy, The Octopus and femme fatale P'Gell are about 5 years away from becoming a part of the Spirit's Rogue's Gallery. Childhood love turned law breaker Sand Sarif won't come back into the former Denny Colt's life for another decade. Despite some of these notable absences, there are still some memorable characters to be found inside.

The pint-sized P.S. Smith causes trouble for the Spirit and baddies alike for at least 2 hilarious stories. Spirit sidekick Ebony White has a number of misadventures with his cousin and other family members. And we can't forget Commissioner Dolan's daughter Ellen, who is madly in love with the Spirit. She works so freaking well as the Gal Friday and Kate Hepburn to the Spirit's Cary Grant/Spencer Tracy. But she's also great on her own; especially in a romp where Ellen joins an all-women's football team that's playing a team that is nothing but tough guys in drag attempting to beat the point spread!

By the start of break #1 in my reading of this book, I took to Amazon to buy up a couple more volumes. I knew that my wife wasn't going to get me these for my birthday or Christmas, so I was clear in buying up a couple of books. Thanks to remembering that I needed to review this collection, I went back to Amazon to snag a couple more. These Archive editions are not cheap. They retail for $49.99 and many are either out of print and that means whatever copies of those I manage to find are not cheap. But hopefully, I wind up with all 26 volumes and the complete run of original Will Eisner Spirit stories in my possession.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

The New Archies #20

Only the cover and the first story are Thanksgiving themed. However, considering my recent luck with Thanksgiving comics turning out to either be busts or minimally set during the holiday, if at all, I count this as a win. 

Pop's Chock'lit Shop is holding a raffle for a Thanksgiving turkey. Jughead gets a sneak peak at it and the thing is HUGE! Naturally, Juggie buys a slew of tickets in hopes of winning the thing. But he has a change of heart when he learns about a little girl, whose family is in dire straits, that spends her last 4 bits to buy a single ticket. 

The other two stories were good as well. Boy genius Eugene invents a machine that reveals people's innermost thoughts. Being that the gang is all in junior high school and that means tons of drama, it's not exactly a machine that wins the user of the device any friends. The final story has all of the boys getting jealous of the compliments Jughead gets from wearing his hat. So they all end up wearing lids too in order to look cool. Only Mr. Weatherbee offers some sage advice that has everyone but Jug playing the fool!

I loved The New Archies as a kid and I still love them. They didn't exactly take off with fans when they debuted in 1987. But I actually was a fan. I didn't understand the concept as to why the gang from Riverdale had to change, but I liked them all!

The idea behind them was first to be a new take on a classic property, having the kids de-aged from high school to middle school. White boy genius Dalton was replaced with Eugene, who was black. Eugene was given a black girlfriend named Amani. Neither character has ever returned to Archie books to my knowledge. More modern situations and themes were added to the mix and the focus of the stories was less on the love triangle between Archie, Betty and Veronica and more on the angst of being a budding teen.

The other reason for the change was a legend I had heard a while back but can't seem to recall where I learned it; nor can I confirm it. Supposedly, NBC wanted to make an Archie cartoon. However, CBS still owned the rights to the ageless teens. Thus, DIC Entertainment Corporation worked to make The New Archies as close to different as possible as to prevent a lawsuit for copyright infringement. Not that really any of that mattered because within 4 months, the cartoon was cancelled. The comic book lasted a little bit longer. It hung around until 1991, with a total of 22 issues and 14 digests being released on a non-regular basis.

Most who remember the series in any format, look at The New Archies with disdain. I have fond memories of getting issues for free at visits to my dentist. At least with the books being so infamous among Archie fans, these books aren't very expensive buy- IF YOU CAN FIND THEM!

There are a total of 3 stories in this issue. That makes my Thanksgiving average with this issue a .333. Maybe a little higher if you count the cover. Heck, Hall of Fame worthy hitters in baseball consider themselves lucky if they can average .333 in a season. Plus that first story was such a home run...

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Chase #6

This was such a disappointment. I had been sitting on this book for a year because of its cover which was inspired by Norman Rockwell's iconic Thanksgiving scene 'Freedom From Want'. Yet there's nothing Thanksgiving at all about the story!

Chase is about Cameron Chase and her 'Alice in Wonderland' like experience as the newest agent at the Department of Extranormal Operations. In this issue, Chase is on her last day of injury leave and has decided to spend that final day with her little sister. But first, a trip to the office to check on things. Of course, such a thing is never a good idea, as a demon released from an inter-dimensional portal on the 6th floor has wreaked havoc and now Chase is stuck in the elevator with the power out. 

With no place to go, the Chase sisters have a chat. It's here that Cameron reveals to his sis that their father was a low-level superhero named Acro-Bat and that he was murdered by a sadistic cape killer called Doctor Trap!

The book was good and I might very well be interested in reading the whole 10-issue series of Chase because of it. Yet, I consider such books with deceptive Thanksgiving covers and no actual holiday meat inside to be a Tofurky! I guess I wasn't really lied to. The story does go into the past and shows happier times with the Chase family. There's little Cameron on the cover. Papa Chase is dressed as Acro-Bat. And the murderer does lurk in the background, readying himself for a chance to strike. Still, I bought this book thinking it was a Thanksgiving read, as other comic book websites list this as a holiday book, and I got gypped out of the experience of watching characters in the DC Universe dine on turkey with all the trimmings.

A high quality book that I rate harshly for being fooled by the cover.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Vision and the Scarlet Witch #6

This is the issue I've been hinting at since I began reading the Vision and Scarlet Witch minis. I was originally going to read these comics earlier in the year as part of my annual reading challenge. I think I needed to read an Avengers book or something like that. When I was looking things over, I discovered that this issue was set during Thanksgiving. As I don't have very many books set during Turkey Day, I decided to hold off on reading these until November. Imagine my surprise as two issues have been set during Halloween. It's been an unexpected holiday extravaganza!

So what is this issue about? Wanda and her husband decide to host Thanksgiving at their new house. Members of the Avengers, Wanda's physician Doctor Strange, brother Pietro and family and friends are all invited. That includes papa Magneto. The former villain is treated to a chilly reception as Magneto has burned a lot of bridges. This leads Magneto to leave early. Only he doubles back when he discovers that a group of foes are hiding in the former Avengers' back yard awaiting to strike. It's the original lineup of the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants. But wait, how can there be 2 Magnetos and 2 Quicksilvers?!

This holiday set story was worth the wait. I knew with this being a superhero story that this wasn't going to be a total love feast. I knew that there was going to be some action and excitement. But there was enough turkey and trimmings to make this story festive enough for my liking.

Plus somebody must really like me because I learned at the end of this tale that issue #7 is set during Christmas!  It's a holiday miracle! I normally wait until the day after Thanksgiving to start reading Christmas comics. But as this issue ends on a cliffhanger, I'm gonna treat myself with an early Christmas present and read the follow up early.

You don't have to read the 9 previous issues that lead up to this giving of thanks. But it helps. I understand why this book is consistently included in lists of the best Thanksgiving comics of all-time and it's not because of how few Turkey Day reads there are in comicdom.

A true classic!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 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.

Turkey Day One-Shot

I closed my 2022 Thanksgiving comic book readings with this 2021 horror one-shot from Source Point Press.

A small town in Illinois is about to host its annual community theater Thanksgiving pageant. This year's organizer promises a huge surprise is in the works. Meanwhile, an alien invasion force has landed in a nearby field chock full of turkeys. Taking over the brains of the delicious fowl, the alien army waddles over to the theater house in order to make their first kill, though the theater goers think this is all staged as part of the big surprise. Truly, this will be a Thanksgiving Day to remember when everyone realizes that these guys aren't here to just 'talk turkey'.

I bought this book right after Thanksgiving last year. So I've been waiting just about a full year to enjoy this sci-fi black comedy. This book was grim, gory, irreverent, and fun as hell! I loved just about every moment of it; though the story did take a turn I wasn't expecting at all. And I thought that homage final page, which was just darn near perfect. 

I did briefly think that this book made a slightly wrong turn adding in a certain former POTUS in a cameo towards the end. Just seeing his face made me feel for a brief moment of 'here we go again' with some sort of political statement. But the use of this character for 1 panel was actually pretty funny and it added to the dark humor tone of the story. 

I'm going to let you dear readers in on a little secret: I am terrified of turkeys. They're mean. They're evil. They'd kill you if they had the chance. But over the past year, I've made friends with a turkey at a local farm. Though she has a different name, I've started to call this bird 'Swanson' after the turkey TV dinner. Over this time, I've come to realize, 'Swanson' is a salt & pepper hued turkey. All the turkeys in this comic and countless viewed videos of poultry on human violence have been perpetrated by brown feathered turkeys. Thus, I change my stance that only those brown feathered foul are direct ancestors of velociraptors! 

Being a comedy, did this book do anything to make me less afraid of turkeys? No, not really. In fact, when the alien leader plucks out a turkey's eye in order to take over its brain, I wasn't mortified like in previous books where other adorable animals are hurt or killed. If anything, I think the use of turkeys are things of holiday horror are a thing of brilliance and I would strongly recommend to SyFy channel getting the rights to this comic and turning it into next year's Thanksgiving movie ASAP! It's campy like Sharknado and bloody like The Evil Dead. I'm sure doing so would make this the next Turkey Day classic for generations of families to come!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Felix the Cat & Friends #2

I got a Tofurky!

After being enamored by this beautifully darling cover of a Tom Turkey being the guest of honor of a Thanksgiving made up of peanut butter and jelly, I was tricked into an issue that has absolutely nothing to do with giving thanks! 

In 1989, Felix the Cat was to experience a brief resurgence with audiences thanks to an animated feature film. However, as is the case with many films, financing with distributor, New World Pictures, fell through and the movie ended up being shelved. Then in 1991, Don Oriolo, the son of the creator of the 1950s cartoon TV series starring Felix, was able to work out a direct-to-video deal with Buena Vista Home Video for the movie to finally see the light of day. Despite great efforts by Oriolo to market the heck out of the film with t-shirts, posters, calendars and pins, Felix the Cat just didn't connect with audiences like reigning fat cats of the day Garfield and Heathcliff were doing at the time. 

This comic book series was one of Oriolo's attempts at returning Felix the Cat to his days of greatness. Oriolo self-published a full-color comic, with assistance from Harvey Comics (Richie Rich), starring Felix and other characters such as comedic foil The Professor and his nephew Poindexter and Felix's gal pal Kitty. 

While there is not anything Thanksgiving related in this book, there are a trio of fine quality stories starring Felix and friends. In the first story, Felix gets a job at a soda factory. As a result with a mishap with the carbonation machine, the gato becomes the first feline on the moon. But he's not the planetoid's only inhabitant.

Story #2 has Felix becoming the owner of a magic treasure chest. But instead of finding lots of great things, Felix discovers that the chest can make things disappear. Cue the money making opportunities that await!

The last adventure involves Felix and an Inuit character named Vavoom. He's looking for a job and Felix is willing to help Vavoom with his employment search. Only Vavoom's thunderous voice causes him great trouble finding a job!

I couldn't tell you who was behind the stories or artwork. There's no credits posted for anyone other than Oriolo as presenter. However, the artwork is crazy clean and the stories, while a tad far fetched are smartly written. I know that early versions of Felix had the character carrying with him a bag of tricks. While he's not carpet-bagging here, the magic element is front in center in every story.

As for the character of Vavoom, I know some of you might think having an Inuit/Eskimo in a cartoon could be problematic. However, based on his costume, I thought he was a squire from medieval days having come to stay with Felix from some adventure through time. It wasn't until I researched some for this review that I learned who the character really was. I'd say based on my assumptions and the fact that Vavoom doesn't come across as being from the Great White North at all, I don't think there's anything to be afraid of in this department.

Issue #3 shows Felix standing out in the freezing cold looking at island getaway pamphlets in a travel agency office window. A good rule of thumb is that an issue with snow/ice on the cover without a superhero/villain with cold powers on the cover, is going to be Christmas themed. Based on this book not living up to the cover, I am a bit hesitant to fork over a couple of bucks to find. However, the quality of the contents of this issue does assuage some fears of throwing my money away. 

Maybe we'll see in the near future. But I am going to grade hard now on my seasonal disappointment. 

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.

Post Halloween Left Over Thanksgiving Special #1

More Halloween than Thanksgiving, this excessively long-titled book features early work by Art Baltazar and Franco! 

The Post Halloween Left Over Thanksgiving Special stars Baltazar's character of Cray-Baby and Franco's assortment of monster characters that occupy the town of Weirdsville. I'm not really sure what Cray-Baby is. To me, I thought it was more of a twist on that Bat Boy character from the Weekly World News. Added to the mix is Chris Yambar's Mr. Beat, a sort of beatnik that is kinda a father figure to other characters.

Of the 3, Mr. Beat was my least popular. Not because I'm a devotee of Baltazar and Franco and thus biased. I am on both. My disdain of Mr. Beat is because of his liberal use of the R-word. Yes, I know this book came out over 20 years ago and things were different enough for it to be 'okay to say' the R-word. But I still don't like it. 

Only 2 stories are Thanksgiving themed. Although one might not be the case at all. That questionable story has a witch on the hunt for a young boy with a pumpkin for a head. She wants very much to make a pumpkin pie out of it. Pumpkin pie is very much a Thanksgiving staple, so that's why I consider it a Thanksgiving event. 

The second Turkey Day tale is called 'Franksgiving'. Here, Frankenstein's monster is on a rampage until a kind family invites him to Thanksgiving dinner. A silent tale. I really enjoyed its twist ending. 

The majority of the vignettes and shorts were funny. For a Thanksgiving special, I wish there was more Thanksgiving. But I guess it's better than nothing.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The Kilroys #15

Experience Thanksgiving 1948 in this classic from Al Hartley (Archie's One-Way) and others. Taking the Archie Comics formula and adding a family dynamic, The Kilroys was a sitcom on paper! Published by the basically now unheard of American Comic Group, the Kilroys were made up of Pop, Mom, son Natch, daughter Katie and rounding out the cast was Natch's kooky pal, Solid Jackson.

There are a total of 4 stories in this book. The first story is the only one set during the season of giving. Starting months prior to November, Mr. Kilroy brings home a turkey in hopes of fattening it up in order to save money on Thanksgiving dinner. But as Gertrude grows, the bird becomes a part of the family. Now with Thanksgiving just a couple of days away, who's going to be the one to give Gertrude the ax?

Story #2 is at least set during the winter. So, I felt that after the Turkey, I got to enjoy a lead up to Christmas with this farce involving Natch and Jackson attempting to go ice fishing. Tale #3 sees Mr. Kilroy needing to sell tickets to his lodge's barn dance. In order to meet his quota, Pop tasks his kids with selling his tickets- which they all do. Only, the tickets got sold on credit!

The final story doesn't star the Kilroys. Nor does it feature the art of Hartley. But that last story was also completed by a comic book legend. It's Milt Gross (Milt Gross' New York) and the story features one of his most beloved creations, the madcap Count Screwloose. In this story, the Count attends a fancy soiree as the self-appointed entertainment of the night. This yarn has typical Milt Gross screwiness and to a point that was fine. But the story felt like something was missing because at one point, the cops arrived and then they disappeared without any explanation. It's almost like 2 stories got mended together but in the process some of the plot gets jumbled.

The copy of this issue I bought was only a couple of dollars. As a result, this book, which is right around 75 years old, is fragile. The cover, which had a coupon on the back removed, was also detached. The center spread page had detached from the staples. And the edges of the rest of the book were really ruffled. Needless to say, this book will be a part of my permanent collection. But this will probably be the only time it ever leaves it's protective cover.

A fun look at post-war America. And pre-code comics! A few laughs and nothing overly cheesy. I did think the trio of one-page prose stories were lame. I understand why they needed to be included- in order to fulfill first class postage requirements. Still, I see them as the biggest thing detracting from the overall quality of this book.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

The New Archies #11

In 1987, Archie Comics in collaboration with NBC, developed a new animated series based on the Archie gang. As several teenage versions of the Archies were done previously on rival station CBS, producers decided to retool the kids from Riverdale. Archie, Jughead, Betty and Veronica were de-aged from high schoolers to middler school students. Dilton was absent; replaced by an African-American clone named Eugene. And a completely new student named Amani (Eugene's girlfriend) was added to the roster.

When The New Archies project was announced, I being only 9 years old, didn't understand the need to reboot everything. It confused me even more as educators Mrs. Grundy and Principal Weatherbee looked completely the same. It's only been recently that I learned that concerns over CBS and/or production company Filmation, still having rights to the Archies property was the reason for the adjustments. Thus, my decades-long bias against these guys has abated over time. Having not one but two Thanksgiving themed issues definitely helped.

Only the first of the 3 stories in this book is Thanksgiving themed. But it was a good one. Archie laments that his folks have decided to go the dining out route for their Thanksgiving dinner. So Betty invites Archie and Jughead to dinner with the Coopers. Not to be outdone, Veronica also invites the guys to break bread with her family. Good thing Betty's event is at 1 and Ronnie's is at 5! Too bad Archie doesn't have 2 stomachs...

In the other two stories, a surprise history test prevents Archie from going on a date with Betty and Veronica. So, Reggie takes his place! Then the Girls of Riverdale Jr. High compete for the title of 'Dream Queen' in a delightfully sweet story that highlights Big Ethel!

There was a familiarity with The New Archies and another franchise that was developing at this exact same time. NBC's Saved by the Bell was in its early stages as a Disney property known as Good Morning, Miss Bliss. When the show fizzled after a brief 13-episode season, NBC reclaimed the franchise and it became the classic late 80s-early 90s Saturday morning live action series Saved by the Bell. By having both students and staff transfer from jr. high to high school in both realms, I feel like producers over at Bayside might have been inspired by the people in charge of Riverdale. It's definitely a possibility, this theory of mine!

All 3 tales had that classic Archie charm. A Turkey Day themed word search added to the festive mood. And there were a few other surprises peppered in. Finally (for this season), I had a Thanksgiving read that I enjoyed!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars

Scooby-Doo #114 (Family Comic Friday)

Depending on how you consider when the week begins, we're just 2-3 short days away from the Thanksgiving holiday week beginning and just a touch bit further away from the official start of the 2022 Holiday Season! I couldn't be more excited. Time away from work, a chance to put my knowledge of exterior lighting to the test and of course a chance to read holiday comics. 

I really wanted to get started early. So I went to MyComicShop.com, the web page of Lone Star Comics. Lone Star does this really cool thing where the post theme lists of comic titles in order to help just about every collector out there. 2 weeks ago, they had a list of available Thanksgiving books and I snatched up several that I felt were affordable within my price range. I bought some old titles, new stuff and some adult stuff. Above all, I bought some Scooby-Doo stuff! 

This issue contains 3 stories. Unfortunately, only the cover and the first story are set during Turkey Day. In the opening mystery, the Mystery Inc. crew are on their way to Daphne's aunts house for their annual Thanksgiving feast. Almost there, the meddling kids spot a man running in terror. Then a few brief moments later, they witness Daphne's uncle being attacked- BY A GIANT TURKEY!

Folks, this is my worst nightmare. I am scared to death of turkeys. Those suckers are mean. I've personally seen them chase down a child and viewed videos where these big birds will go after law enforcement agents and mail carriers. If ever there was an argument that birds come from dinosaurs, the turkey is the de facto winner of said disagreement. 

The second story takes place on the Moon! Yes- the detectives are summoned to a space station on the moon where a werewolf is attacking crew members! Episode 3 takes place at a Chinese restaurant. The owners recently bought some ancient armor that might be cursed because the ghost of a Chinese warrior is not only scaring off customers, it might have also kidnapped the niece of the owner as well!

When it comes to this issue, I've actually been waiting almost a full year to read this one. The copy I bought last year was missing a couple of pages due to a publishing error. My replacement didn't arrive until after Thanksgiving. Thus, I held on to it as at the time, I only had 1 other Thanksgiving book in the wings for this current reading season. But boy- was I disappointed with this read! Despite the fact that this book is over 20 years old, don't read any further if you don't want any spoilers.

With the Turkey story, we're to believe that the guy running in fear is the one behind the mask of the giant fowl. Not the mysterious research corporation that wants to buy Daphne's family plot. But there's no way that guy could have run away, put on the costume and then beat up the uncle! Not in that amount of time! There had to be a second culprit. 

With the Moon story, I knew who the villain was as soon as I met them. Same goes with the bad guy behind the kidnapping and haunting at the restaurant. The problem with both these stories is that there seems to be a substantial amount of missing evidence in these stories. Velma knows what's happening. But for some reason the viewer is not made privy to what clues are being uncovered by her.

Here's what I think the problem is with this entire book: it's only 32 pages long and that's just not enough room to squeeze in 3 coherent and plausible mysteries. The editors at DC should have reduced it to only 2 stories and added 3-4 more pages with more apparent clues and less speculation. Sure, I bet the powers that be thought that a kid's attention can't be held for more than 8-10 pages per story. But kids are smarter than you think and they know when something has been dumbed down to them. AND THEY HATE THAT!

And the Moon? Really? Weird things happen on a space station and the Mystery Inc. folks are who NASA calls? Not buying it!

The artwork was good and there were some really smart moments. For example, one of the lunar werewolf victims mentioned that the attack happened during a full moon to which Velma states that on the moon, it's always full. That little statement just blew my mind! However, those kind of moments were few and far between.

Parents, the holiday season is upon us. There's going to be a few kid approved Christmas reads coming. I know Archie has one or two planned. I seem to recall that American Mythology has a Zorro Feliz Navidad special in the works. However, from what little I have seen, it appears that 'horror holidays' are the main theme of publishers this year. So, feel free to explore the internet for some Christmas Comic Book reads. At last count, I've documented nearly 1000 holiday themed comics and a huge majority are appropriate for the whole family. As the great reading advocate LeVar Burton once said- 'if your kid loves comic books, then dammit, buy them comic books!' And if the young reader in your life loves the holidays, then gosh darn it, buy them holiday themed comics! 

Just be sure to save a few for me...

Rating: 4 out of 10 stars.

Spider-Gwen #14

I've got to remind myself that when I read a book starring the Gwen Stacy Spider-Woman that her story takes place on another earth. She's not from Earth-616. These aren't the characters I am used to. 

It wasn't until a couple of weeks ago that I even knew this issue existed. A Thanksgiving tale, I promptly ordered this book after doing further research for some Turkey Day reads to get into an early festive mood. After a sucky last couple of school years, I am doing everything possible to stay positive and say no when I need to say no and temporarily step away from it all. This early jump on the holiday season is one of my ways of practicing some self care. 

This issue is essentially 1 complete story, told in two parts. The first part has Gwen Stacy spending her first Thanksgiving away from her father. Captain Stacy has taken the fall to prevent Gwen from being arrested as the vigilante Spider-Woman. Aiding the family is a very corrupt Matt Murdock. Changes in fate have resulted in the blind lawyer secretly taking control of New York's criminal element as the Kingpin of Crime! And for some reason, Murdock has taken an interest in Gwen!

After a fateful meeting with May Parker, Gwen, still mourning the death of Peter Parker, runs into an old friend- a Jessica Drew from some other earth that occupies the Spider-Verse. 

With the arrival of this Jessica Drew as well as a very childlike version of the villain Porcupine, things change tone. For one thing, the art goes from rather streamlined and from the portfolio of Paul Pope-looking to kinda cartoonish and something out of MAD Magazine. I preferred the first style, by regular artist Robbi Rodriguez (Spider-Women). I'm really not sure why the artwork is taken over in part 2 by Chris Visions (Scarlet Witch). However, I can attest that it really wasn't warranted. And since there wasn't an announced change in artists, it was rather striking.

It took me a couple of minutes to figure out that this was the same story. The artwork change was just that so differing, I thought briefly that I was reading a sneak peak of some forthcoming Marvel title. On the plus side, the second half of this story had more of a Thanksgiving day theme.

So technically, I think this is my first real encounter with Gwen Stacy and her world of Earth-65. I've encountered the character in other Marvel titles and animated features. But when I've experienced Spider-Gwen, it's always as a supporting player. This strange new world intrigues me. I think I like a Matt Murdock who isn't on the side of the angels. Should I come across any further Spider-Gwen titles at my local library, I think I'd have zero issue grabbing a couple for a read. Even though this series is 7 years old, it's got a lot of peaked interest in this Madman all of a sudden.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars. 

JSA Classified #33

I completely forgot that I needed to read this one. 

I read the previous issue during my 2021 selection of Thanksgiving reads. But despite the cliffhanger, I held off on completing this until it was December because the cover to this issue promised a Christmas themed tale. In reality, I should have just read this right after issue #32 as 90% of the story occurs just as Solomon Grundy and then Vandal Savage have totally disrupted a Thanksgiving Day parade. 

The whole debacle was another of Vandal Savage's attempts to become even more omnipotent. See, the Alan Scott Green Lantern ring is powered by something called The Starheart. By getting Alan to use his ring against Solomon Grundy, Vandal Savage was somehow leeching The Starheart of it's powers. Somehow, this gem personified the spirit of Scott's deceased daughter Jade. And in a bizarre tug-of-war of wills, Jade flip-flops from agent of evil under Vandal Savage and beacon of light when influenced by Green Lantern.

It's all a very interesting tag-team match-up that the WWE should one day explore. 

I don't really understand everything Vandal Savage was trying to do and I really have no clue how he was pulling it off. That was about the only aspect of this issue that I didn't enjoy. Things on Turkey Day don't end so happily for Alan Scott. But when we flash forward to Christmas, it does perk up a bit. 

A good holiday read that one should experience closer to Thanksgiving than by December 25th.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.