Betty and Veronica Christmas Spectacular (2014)

Riverdale is as timeless as Christmas as Betty and Veronica prove with the help of the supporting cast.

“It’s in the Cards” uses the commercialism of Christmas to bring new spirit to the holiday and sets the stage for the stories to come. Included are a mix up on Santa’s naughty and nice list, Jughead’s wishful gifts and Veronica teaches her father the value of a dollar.

Archie Comics provided a gift to fans with this digital offering in 2014. A quick, but appreciated, read.

Jack “King” Kirby does the art chores for an early Marvel Christmas card.

Superman (1987) 165

Ripped from today’s headlines Superman 165 is a prophetic tale questioning leadership at the highest levels.

Dramatic? Maybe. Festive? Yes.

Comic book giants Ed McGuinness, Humberto Ramos, Rob Liefeld, Mike Wieringo, Art Adams, Ian Churchill and Joe Madureire tag team as Jeph Loeb III follows Superman while he consults fellow Justice Leaguers about the election of Lex Luther to the Oval Office.
Almost 20 years later the American public is asking many of the same questions Superman puts to his colleagues regarding an unpopular head of state.

Lest we lose track of what this site is about, Superman 165 also gives you an opportunity to see what the Man of Steel believes his friends want/need for Christmas saving the best for last as he and Lois take time for themselves.

It’s their first Christmas and one of confusion as the toublesome tykes attempt to make sense of the season.

Presents grow “up” from the floor of the closet, snow grows “down” from the sky. The toddlers tackle the turmoil only to find the true meaning of the Christmas by giving it away.

Merry Christmas are the last words uttered by the Frankenstein monster’s new-found and short-lived friend as a Salvation Army Santa tinkled his bell. Doug Moench never told readers if she received her wings as the grenade exploded while she tried to save a faux president.

No Christmas cover or hint other than snow that this would dovetail into Christmas.

Todd the Ugliest Kid on Earth 8

Not sure where to start with this one other than this is where the series ends.

Todd the Ugliest Kid on Earth received high praise during its abbreviated run with lush illustrations and biting satire covering every aspect of American life from sitcoms to Comicon.

For the final hurrah Ken Kristensen and M.K. Perker send Todd to hell – literally – to save Santa and Christmas. Toss in Joan Crawford emceeing a parent therapy meeting, enough racial epithets to make even my Dad blush and golden virgins and you’d be as confused as I was after finishing the issue – even after three re-reads.

The disclaimer on the cover says it all: Waning – This happy Christmas cover has absolutely nothing to do with what’s going on inside this book. However, the artist has always wanted to do a holiday cover and here it is. Merry Christmas from the crew of A Distant Soil.

Four shorts bookended by Christmas tales. No Christmas cover, though.

The first born of Marvel’s First Family makes his own adventures away from his famous parents, uncle and Godfather. Most of Franklin’s sugar-fueled adventures involve good intentions, but quickly pave the way to frantic escapades.

Captain Atom (1987) 13

Buyer beware:  the cover is far more festive than the issue.

If a first-time reader as I am/was, the soliloquy synopsis from the primaries does little to prep for the story. Or entertain for that matter.

The issue finally picks up when 1980s greed brings about arson on an old tenement building inhabited by squatters and homeless. Captain Atom saves the day in true Christmas fashion and is celebrated while a death causes ruminations for the antagonist.

Not the best of what’s out there, but still an attempt to bring the season into the DC Universe.

Superboy isn’t alone in the super powers department for Christmas 1990. Magic, cable television and fevered dreams bring Smallville a “Christmas Wish,” from writer John Moore, art by the incomparable Curt Swan and inks by Ty Templeton.

Merry Christmas from one of the final Superman-family works by the artist who defined the Man of Steel for three decades. Swan died in 1996 at the age of 91 after completing art chores on Alan Moore’s non-canonical “Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?”