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.

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.

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.

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?”

This companion comic to EC’s original Mad only lasted 12 issues, but is still loved by fans today.

Panic proved promising from the start with a send up crime noir story, television satire, fairy tale and comedic approach to Christmas. More specifically the holiday chestnut Night Before Christmas. Bill Elder took much liberty with the imagery while leaving verse intact for this 1954 maligning of the holidays rounding the poem out with a Christmas card from EC’s stable of talent and ringmaster William Gaines.

Scooby-Doo (1997) 67

When Ebenezer Scrooge is forewarned of ghosts to come, who’s he gonna call? That’s right: Mystery Inc.

A brief investigation of the bedroom where Scrooge was confronted reveals smudges on the floor leaving the gang to believe the threat was not a dream.  With the stage set, Shaggy and Scooby are volunteered to pose as Scrooge for the night. As promised the CEO and President of Scrooge Inc. Accounting, Tax Preparation and Loans is visited by three ghosts.

What the plan doesn’t anticipate are Fred, Velma, Daphne and Scrooge all locked in the closet they plan to spring their trap from.

We’ll leave the unmasking to the tale’s reader.

In addition to the haunting holiday yarn the book leads with a 10-year anniversary return to the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan Olympic fiasco only with ghosts and different skaters. And no real violence. So, maybe not an anniversary tale, but one reminiscent.

The Tick Big Yule Log Special (1997)

Arthur is suffering from an identity crisis at Christmas time. The Tick tries to turn the tide on his little buddy’s yule time troubles as only he can, but it’s a case of mistaken identity that cures the Moth’s moroseness.

This book has it all as the Tick adopts a Santa persona and accidently foils a rouge elf’s schemes to marshal the children on the naughty list against the Jolly Big Guy.

Angels, explosions and misunderstandings make for a rousing Christmas tale that could only happen to the Tick.

Flip the book over and Arthur teaches the Tick about Hanukkah.

Remember, this is when the Tick was becoming a semi-household name with his own Saturday morning animated half hour, Ban Dai licensed likenesses and happy meal toys from Carl’s Jr. and Taco Bell. The Tick even had his own video game.

Interest waned toward the end of the 1990s hastened by the Columbia TriStar Television series that even Patrick Warburton couldn’t save.

However, shining like the fabled star The Tick survived in his original medium and continued to offer holiday specials collected in The Tick’s Giant Christmas Cavalcade released in 2010.