Batman 33 (1940)

If you haven’t done it yet, finish reading this THEN go take down your Christmas tree. Today is National Take Down Your Christmas Tree Day.

Batman 33 (1940)

It’s also the Feast of the Epiphany or Three Kings.

Western Christianity celebrates this as the day the Magi, or three Kings, first saw the Christ child. Some traditions designate today as Little Christmas. The traditional date of the feast is January 6. Yet, it has been celebrated in some countries on the Sunday after January 1.

While Robin does his best Chevy Chase impression on the cover, the issue brings only one holiday story to the table. In the Search for Santa Claus, the Dynamic Duo spend Christmas Eve keeping a Santa clone from misadventure. Three faux Santas visit three locations, a children’s hospital, an orphanage and a theater; to spread yuletide cheer. One is a missing relative of three would be killers hoping to eliminate a branch of the family tree from a fortune in inheritance.

The opening story stars the Penguin in Crime on the Wing.

If you don’t have a Batman Golden Age omnibus, maybe find this story in digital form as a reward for taking the tree down for another year.