Serving up a holiday treat for 2013 were the people from Archie Comics Publications, Inc., with this 164-page monster hidden behind the wistful looks of Betty and Veronica.

With his name on the book’s cover, it’s only proper Archie Andrews stars in the opening salvo of stories. A Christmas Story has the ginger-headed teen heart throb saving the big day when Santa’s reindeer go on strike. His closest friends prove to be behind the plot when their selfish ways overtake common sense.

Tree Wishes displaces the indigenous inhabitants of Archie and Jughead’s Christmas tree. Both sides come to an agreement to enjoy the holidays in cohabitation.

The gang gather to discuss disappointing presents from parents in Holiday Hang-Ups.

World of Archie Double Digest (2013) 34

Veronica is bitten by the green-eyed monster in A Stitch for Time! She feels too much attention is paid to Betty for a thoughtful gift given from the heart.

The Breaking Point provides a reunion for a memory of Christmas past.

Betty’s Riverdale Tinkerbell works to help Veronica earn a good deed at Christmas time in Christmas Miracle.

Taking a break from the stories, readers are given a page of personalized ornaments for each character.

Foot-Loose and Fancy Free is the beginning of reprinted filler pages as the book steps away from its Christmas theme. The tale originally appeared in the 1965 series of Archie, issue 40.

Hi There, Archie, Ol’ Pal! is a one-page puzzle from Archie 239 in 2009.

Weather or Not and Doubt About are one-page gags.

Miss Beazly co-stars in It’s No Joke, Archie 99, 1982; as Archie is asked to take Mr. Weatherbee a cup of hot tea.

A misunderstanding has the adults upset in And All that Jazz from Archie 157, 1986.

Retail Whirl is from the following year from Archie 258.

Betty headlines in a different version of A Quiet Place.

Plot Plight is a calm before the storm of the mid to late 1960s. The students and staff throw Mr. Weatherbee a party celebrating his 25^th anniversary as principal.

Also appearing from 1983 is Forget Me Not. Mr. Weatherbee and Archie find each other at the mall and disaster ensues.

This is followed by reprints Messerpiece, The Good Old Days, Hiccup Hangup, Fit to by Tidy, The Stars, Spaced Out, Jib Jab, Teenage Life in the Stone Ages, Aunt Juggie’s Advice to the Lovelorn, Footwear of the Future!, Archie’s Aquarium, Discovery of Time, Aunt Juggie’s Tips on Etiguette and Boy Magnet.

The issue finishes with two holiday themed puzzles Beazly’s Yuletide Message – a connect the dot page of fun – and Pop Tate’s Christmas Sundae.

In I’ll Take the Wrap Betty and Veronica tease the boys by telling them they cannot tear the paper on their presents while unwrapping them.

Finally, Making Brownie Points is a story of two children who steal Veronica’s Christmas gifts, but are found out in the end.

At 128 pages, the November 1 release of this 25-cent giant may give the reader enough time to finish it by Christmas.

Dell Publishing Co., released this ad-free Christmas comic in 1950. Included were stories, puzzles, holiday sheet music and more.

The book begins with Bugs reclining beneath a leafless tree waiting for Christmas to arrive.

His musings are interrupted by a bird bearing a letter. Intercepting the post, Bugs learns it is addressed to the local chimney sweep. Upon opening the missive, the local sweep learns Santa wants all the chimneys cleaned before he arrives Christmas Eve.

Bugs offers to help the daunted sweep and the two set about their chores.

In the process Bugs ruins Elmer Fudd’s trimmed tree. To make amends, the bunny sets out to cut down a fresh one.

While in the woods, Bugs meets a shepherd looking for Santa Claus. Bugs learns the shepherd builds miniature mechanical men who help make the presents.

At the shepherd’s shop, Bugs discovers a giant robot who then rampages through the countryside until Bugs provides some kindred spirit to calm the construct of iron.

All’s well that ends well when Bugs returns to Elmer’s with a replacement tree and the gang stops by to put presents underneath.

The story is followed by a two-page spread of a game version of the previous story.

Bugs Bunny’s Famous Funnies (1950) 1

Porky Pig shares the spotlight with Bugs in the second story. This fantastical tale has nothing to do with Christmas unless you count the avarice both share as they search for the mythical money tree.

Their journey takes them to a far-away kingdom and back courtesy of a magical pencil.

Two pages of Fascinating Facts About Christmas follow.

Sylvester the Cat is up next. His furry fanny is tossed to the snow on Christmas Eve in this nameless story.

His fortune seems to change when he meets Angus Macrory looking for a watch dog that same night. Sylvester uses his feline charms to convince the Scotts man he can do as good a job as any canine.

However, no good job goes unpunished, or something like that. Sylvester finds himself back in the snow when he stops Santa from making an unannounced delivery.

Party Pastime is a prose tale starring the Looney Tunes gang.

Bully Trouble stars Henry Hawk outside the Christmas season. He must find a way to solve his bully troubles so he can make a soapbox racer.

The holidays return with Sniffles and Mary Jane’s Christmas Eve adventure.

Mary Jane is able to shrink to mouse-size and join Sniffles under the tree to wait for Santa. They doze off and are mistaken for dolls to be delivered to other children. Handy elves save the eve and both return home for Christmas morning.

Emler and Daffy Duck team for a story better suited for President’s Day. The lazy drake finds himself a slave to Elmer when he can’t fly south for the winter. A non-politically correct ending stalls a whip-wielding Elmer.

Bugs takes a wrong turn at “Albee-Kirkee” to find himself sunning at the South Pole. Twerpo the penguin takes a liking to Bugs who doesn’t return the feelings. But, Bugs can’t allow his admirer to become dinner and cross dresses to save Twerpo.

Bugs decides to stay when he learns days are six-months long and the Aurora Australis will keep him warm.

Little Pancho Vanilla teaches his papacito a lesson when the elder matador tries to force his profession on his son.

The book finishes with another prose short and a printed version of the 1949 Holiday for Drumsticks short starring Daffy.

Marvel Comics trumpeted its Marvel Value Stamps in the debut of the latest in-house promotional machine, the Bullpen in comic books covered dated March 1974.

Touted as an early holiday present the now (in)famous Marvel Value Stamps, an off-beat promotion mirroring the main stream’s Green Stamps or other bartering badges, readers were regaled with the wonders to come.

The article went on, in true Marvel idiom, “…one of these glitzy mini-posters—each featuring a different Marvel star or starlet—will appear in virtually every one of our mixed-up original-material mags—and in many of our collectors’-item reprints, to boot!”

Marvel Value Stamps ran in two series. The first offered renderings of readers favorite heroes and villains. The second, series B, were smaller pieces of a larger image to make up 10 different posters. Each were spread through various Marvel Comic Book titles.

Both series consisted of 100 pieces. The first could be pasted in an official 16-page Marvel stamp album offered in-house for 50 cents, to cover postage and handling. Included was a free, full-color poster.

What made the promotion so sinister was the fact anyone wishing to participate would need to cut up their comic books. Maybe the most infamous instance is Incredible Hulk 181. Philatelists traded the grade of their Hulk 181 to clip a Shanna stamp. Basically, the choice cost collectors an estimated 80-percent of what the unscathed book would be worth normally.

When all 100 stamps were collected, the album could be returned to Marvel Comics for a discount for entry to various comic book shows around the country. In addition, completists could take 10-percent off official Marvel merchandise sold by the company. This could be done in perpetuity.

And, in theory.

The two promotions ran from 1974 to 1976.

Visit Marvel Value Stamps The Unofficial Index for more information.

Marvel Stamp Album

Alan Scott is a ghost of Christmas past, but not The Ghost of Christmas Past.

JSA Classified (2005) 33

Scott first appeared in All -American Comics issue 16 as the Golden Age Green Lantern. While no criminal could escape nor cosmic event stop his war on injustice, indifference did bring his career to an end.

Following the second World War, people tired quickly of heroes. Publishing companies scrambled to fill their books with new fads and forgot.

By the late 1950s, a new generation was ready for colorful characters to return. Flash was the first. Green Lantern followed. Not Scott, but a Green Lantern for a new age.

Eventually Scott’s memory, and form, were resurrected as heroes from one Earth would cross over with heroes of another Earth. An Earth from the past. Green Lantern met Green Lantern in, well, the book of the same name (1960) 40.

Other attempts were made to keep the Golden Age heroes from appearing in our universe, but failed. Writers – and fans – wanted them back. A company-wide crossover allowed them to return.

All of which brings Scott/Green Lantern to this point in time, 2008, and the return of a formidable foe, Vandal Savage. In the previous issue, Savage had plotted his revenge in bringing back the image of Scott’s dead daughter, Jeanie Lynn Hayden, aka, Jade.

Scott is able to overcome the grief of what he believes is the return of Jade and finally defeat Savage. His reward is a warm evening with friends and loved ones as they celebrate Christmas.

With all thoughts focused on what’s gonna be under the tree this year – or how you’re gonna pay for it – don’t forget man’s best friend.

National Mutt Day, celebrated July 31 and Dec. 2 each year, is designed to alert people of the furry four-legged, non-pedigreed, possible future soulmates roaming without a home.

The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA for short) estimates approximately 3.3 million dogs are placed in shelters every year. Most never leave.

To tug at those heartstrings, Dynomutt, Dog Wonder; is leading the pack today.

Dynomutt (1977) 1

For those not in the know, Dynomutt was a short-lived Hanna-Barbera creation borrowing from the Batman mythos debuting in 1976. Wonder Dog was a robotic dog sidekick to the square-jawed Blue Falcon airing on ABC Saturday mornings.

Marvel Comics published a bi-monthly comic book that lasted six issues from November of 1977 to September 1978.

The titular character was half of The Scooby-Doo/Dynomutt Hour for the 1976-77 season. He was relegated to a quarter of that hour during Scooby’s All-Star Laff-A-Lympics during the 1977-78 season.

Sixteen episodes made up the original season with a mere eight during his Laff-A-Lympic team-up.

Though brief, Dynomutt was put on the rerun rotation through 1980, first as Dynomutt, Dog Wonder and then as a second feature for The Godzilla/Dynomutt Hour. He would appear on Cartoon Network through the 1980s.

His memory was kept alive on Bommerang beginning in January of 2008 and continuing through March of that year. He returned in 2009 and remained in reruns till 2015.

All 16 episodes were released on home video by Warner Home.

Dynomutt and Blue Falcon would further guest on Scooby Doo! Mystery Incorporated’s episode Heart of Evil and co-star with Mystery Inc. in the original, straight-to-video Scooby-Doo! Mask of the Blue Falcon in 2013.

Those wishing to celebrate National Mutt Day beyond page and screen may do so by adopting a mutt of their own or at least volunteering at a local shelter.

Fearing the reason for the season was being overshadowed, Rev. Lovejoy’s sermon on Christmas and commercialism cause Ned Flanders to revoke his – and his family’s – belief in Santa.

The Simpsons Winter Wingdings (2008) 3

Surprisingly, it’s Bart, with Lisa, who bring belief back to the Flander’s household in Yes, Flanders, There is a Santa Claus. Though, it does come with a lesson.

In Scared Straight…to Jail, Bart has finally turned the corner. Homer sends his first born off to the big house – just to teach him a lesson. It’s Bart who proves to be the professor, though.

With no Hanukkah mascots to merchandise, Krusty draws on his dream team of devisors. The end result is star studded with a special guest appearance of Kang and Kodos in Not a (Green, Slimy) Creature Was Stirring.

Attempting to lose weight, Homer takes an experimental sleep potion in Hibernation Homer. Paul Dini puts the Simpson patriarch through his paces – and the winter holidays – as the snoozing Homer plugs St. Patrick’s Day and Easter.

None are the wiser come spring.