The Teen Titans add a little holiday fun with some Tannenbaum tropes:

Sergio Aragones, the master of Mad marginals, remembers the wassailers who infused Christmas spirit upon their neighbors by lifting high their voices with Christmas carols.

Carols, or noels, became popular in the 19^th century despite having been around for hundreds of years prior.

Senor Aragones has only been around since 1937, but has made an impact with his gifted quirkiness first displayed in Mad Magazine. His influence spread as National Periodicals hired him in the 1960s to illustrate such titles as The Adventures of Jerry Lewis, Angel and the Ape, Inferior Five and Young Romance. His most famous creation is Groo, the Wanderer, a pastiche of Robert E, Howards’ Hyborian Age-barbarian, Conan.

Christmas was very symbiotic for the Ducks in 1990 with Donald’s promise linked to Uncle Scrooge’s dilemma.

Hoping to avoid the hustle and bustle of holiday shoppers, Donald offers to buy the boys anything. As long as it comes from one of his handpicked catalogs. The nephews plow through the pile settling on one gift they wish to share with the town.

Walt Disney’s Uncle Scrooge (1990) 251

Somehow a carnival catalog has made its way to the stack. The boys are wanting the Ferris wheel. Bound by his promise Donald turns to the only duck in town who can afford the gift.

Scrooge agrees, under the condition Donald and the nephews go north to escort a 100-foot pine back to town center. The fir will be featured as Duckburg’s Christmas centerpiece.

Uncle Scrooge’s sudden generosity stemmed from the previous season’s stinginess. An embarrassing encounter moves Scrooge to offer the largest tree and biggest feast in town history.

His opponent enlists the aid of the Beegle Boys to ensure the promise is unfulfilled. Still, all ends well for Scrooge, Donald and the boys by books finish.

This marked the first time Disney characters were published by a Disney publishing company. The license had returned from Gladstone, a Bruce Hamilton Company. Gladstone published the title from October 1986 to April 1990.

The license returned to Gladstone in 1993. Uncle Scrooge continued his adventures under their guidance until issue 318 in 1999. During that time the series was honored as a nominee for Best Continuing Series in 1995 and winner of Best Serialized Story (issues 285-296) that same year and nominee for Best Title for Younger Readers in 1996 all for the Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards.

She-Hulk and Red She-Hulk have helped us celebrate the holiday season in the past.  Like any good tradition, She-Hulk is back to help decorate the tree courtesy GenzoMan.

While there’s no Christmas colored cover, I wanted to start December with a Batman comic book.

Again, comic books and Christmas are synonymous. Batman tops the list of those comic book titles. Mom and Dad bred those habits that have become traditions into me early.

The origins of this Web site lies in the stockings of my youth. Rushing down the stairs to tear open those over-sized, white trimmed footies for the comic books. Those held my attention, kept me sane, while I waited for breakfast to end so as to start the main course of presents.

Batman (1940) 285

For some reason, maybe ‘cuz it doesn’t have a seasonal cover, this book never made its way into any of my stockings. I’m sorry to say. Batman 285 would have been a very welcome addition to my meager collection back then.

By the end of the Bicentennial, when this was published, I was on the tail end of my affair with Mego’s World’s Greatest Super Heroes. How I wish we could rekindle that relationship. I tossed it away so casually, moving on to Kenner’s Star Wars toy line. Even super hero comic books would take a back seat to George Lucas’ opening salvo in the soon-to-be nine-part epic.

Back on task, Batman 285 is a typical Bronze Age tale of excess. “The Mystery of Christmas Lost” is courtesy of villain Dr. Tzin-Tzin who has the power to possess the psyche of any who look into his eyes.

Batman must stop the cruel criminal from stealing Christmas 1976. Holiday imagery abounds as the Dark Knight trails the villain. Maybe the best scene is Batman battling a bear on a Christmas tree.

Of course he is able to halt Tzin-Tzin’s scheme and return Christmas to the people of Gotham.