This was a hard choice. At least as to when to use the comic book.

It’s very suited for anytime in December if no other reason for the cover alone. Events take place beginning December 23 and culminate on Christmas Eve makes it a candidate for December 24.

I guess what made my mind up is the fact it also serves a greater purpose by commemorating a day that’s much harder to find a comic book related for: International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

We’ve done it before. Not once, but twice, but it doesn’t make it any easier finding a third example in the world of four color.

So, when I happened across Superman (1987) 64 and started reading the book, I had to take advantage of the opportunity.

Each December Superman is faced with the impossible task of answering letters of help from persons around the world. For 1991, the Man of Steel has allowed Lois Lane to chronicle the Herculean task.

The first few are from treasure hunters asking Superman to lend his talents in the search for oil or making of diamonds. There are others that can’t be helped, though their woes are worthy of his attention.

What he can do is help a 65-year old Auschwitz survivor be reunited with her sister.

Mrs. Agnes Schommer is a widow of limited means living in Chicago. She had only recently learned her older sister, Ellie, is still living, but is not well. Superman is able to clear her stay at the American Embassy in Germany so the two can reunite.

The reunion only takes three pages of the book, but are poignant when it is remembered approximately 60 percent of the Jewish population was liquidated by the Nazi’s between 1933 and 1945. That’s an estimated six million people.

This does not include the others targeted and considered Holocaust victims. They would number an additional 11 million people.

January 27 has been chosen as a day to commemorate victims as it is the day Auschwitz was liberated.

Dust off your favorite Christmas special and celebrate the day. Not only is it the Eve of Christmas Eve, but it’s National Christmas Movie Marathon Day.

   After nearly a month of holiday traditions, we can finally incorporate a non holiday with our Advent calendar.

     My personal favorite is A Christmas Story. I was first exposed to the Yuletide rib tickler courtesy of my parents. They had recorded it offa HBO sometime around 1985.

   It was always welcome and when TBS began with the 24-hour marathon it fast became the soundtrack to Christmas Day.

    The exploits of Ralphie and family is closely followed by Christmas Vacation. As I mentioned a few days ago, mom’s favorite was White Christmas.

     And, let us not forget those beloved specials that we waited all year to see each holiday season. The first was Mister Magoo’s Christmas Carol that aired in 1962.

    Rankin/Bass tossed it’s animated hat into the mix with Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer in 1964. A Charlie Brown Christmas premiered the following year. The Grinch That Stole Christmas first aired in 1966.

   And, more followed.

   To this day new specials are offered as are holiday themed movies.

   So, join us, and this Funko snowman-themed Penguin from Batman’s rogues gallery who bears an unsettling resemblance to Rudolph’s narrator.

Department store Santa’s used to be a dime a dozen. Now, they’re kind of a thing of the past. Like Santa’s who stood on street corners ringing bells asking for loose change for their charity of choice.

They still show for a special day or two at the mall. Kids still queue for a stop on his lap and a quick photo op. Santa stills ride herd on Christmas parades. Once designed to kick off the shopping season, these loiters along sidewalk streets are now more ornamental and traditional.

Yet there was a time when a visit to Santa Claus at the store was an event. He was the destination. It was your opportunity to get that wish list to the man responsible for making it come true.

And, all this started sometime about mid 19th century. Not in department stores, but candy shops.

Whatever the case, candy store owner James Parkinson is credited with hiring the first commercial Santa. His Philadelphia shop hosted the man in red for Christmas 1841. By 1846 three other Philly shops were sporting Santas.

As department stores began to pop up on the urban landscape in the 1860s and ‘70s, so did Claus clones.

As the new century dawned, so did a new tradition.

With store Santa’s became the norm during the holiday season, department stores began to up the ante. By 1920 Gimbel’s sponsored the first Christmas parade in Philadelphia.

Another followed in 1923, but the granddaddy of all holiday parades began in 1924 when Macy’s entered the field.

Post World War II and increased disposable incomes brought more and more shoppers to stores. To lure them in, department stores built larger and more elaborate displays even using real reindeer.

If these faux Kris Kringle’s ever return is not something we can answer now, hopefully they won’t be anything like Santa Joker here.

I guess someone somewhere eats gingerbread. By and large it seems to be more of a decoration than delicacy.

Like fruitcakes.

We have those innovative Germans to thank for gingerbread’s origins. Monks would whip up spiced cakes for feasts. Later, Queen Elizabeth I would popularize the confection by commissioning it to be made in the likenesses of visiting dignitaries. But, it was German-born Prince Albert who brought the tradition of hanging gingerbread men from the Christmas tree.

With the rise of The Brothers Grimm’s fairy tale of Hansel and Gretel, so did the popularity of gingerbread houses and the practice of decorating them.

So, the practice of gingerbread men has endured throughout the centuries and continents. Enough so, we have a gingerbread Aquaman offered up in memory of the spiced treat.

Clement Clark Moore is one of America’s earliest influencers.

With his hastily jotted poem, The Night Before Christmas/‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, the 19th century professor of Greek and Hebrew literature at General Theological Seminary imbedded many of our current holiday beliefs in ourselves.

The precept of presents was one of the major contributions. Santa Claus’ appearance was another. Along with jolly St. Nick’s use of reindeer as transportation and his modus operandi for entering and exiting an abode.

A Visit from St. Nicholas, as the verse was originally titled in 1823, cemented his use of a magical sack to hold all the gifts. It also moved Santa’s visit from Christmas Day to Christmas Eve. The slight time shift removed some of the religious stigma from the forming holiday.

Here Batman, having settled in for a long winter’s nap complete with cap, looks disgruntled at having been woken.

…if for no other reason than to thank the Atlanta-based soft drink giant for giving us the Santa Claus we know and love today.

That jolly elf whose belly is rumored to shake like a bowl of jelly wasn’t always red and round. Much like Wolverine before Hugh Jackman, St. Nick was a more economical size, maybe to better fit down those chimneys.

And, he wore robes.

As a Saint of the Catholic Church, St. Nicholas was depicted in the more traditional robes of gold, red and blue.

When Santa made his way to America in the 19th century he was known to wear fur-trimmed clothing, but in Earth tones or with a patriotic flavor.

Thomas Nast, German-American cartoonist for Harper’s Weekly, is credited with giving Santa his red, fur trimmed suit. It is believed he chose red to contrast with the white snow.

The Santa Claus we know and love today is the by-product of advertising. Artist Haddon Sunblom’s depiction, based on his friend Lou Prentiss, came about in the 1930s.

Sundblom would base many of the characters in his holiday Coca-Cola paintings on those around him. From his neighbor’s daughters to the neighborhood florist’s poodle in 1964.

Here the Man of Steel shows he’s one of Santa’s helpers during his busiest time of the year.

And, if you’re you remember the carbonated nod to an old advertising jingle from the top of the page, I don’t feel so old.

For all the people who have risked life and limb hanging lights on the house eves, today’s offering is for a you.

Today we explore origins of exterior illumination.

Like so many of our current habits, decorating with lights began with the Germans who took it to England and then brought it to the new world.

The tradition began with the Yule log some time in the 12th century. It’s design was to ward off the long, cold winter nights.

The Yule log was later replaced by candles on a fir tree. While pretty, decorators soon discovered flames and dry trees were a combustible combo.

It would be Thomas Edison’s friend, Edward H. Johnson, who was the game changer. In 1882 he wrapped a string of electric lights around a Christmas tree and plugged them into a wall socket.

The practice would take almost another decade to catch the eye of President Grover Cleveland who lit up the White House tree with electricity.

By the dawn of the 20th century strings of 24 lights were available to rent. In 1903 they cost an equivalent of almost $350 making private ownership prohibitive.

As with all technology, lights have become affordable and available to everyone.

Funko shows a little whimsy with Wonder Woman and her version of the holiday tradition.

….underneath the mistletoe last night.

Like most traditions, mistletoe is a holdover from before Christmas. Mistletoe has its origins in Saturnalia, when  the tradition of kissing under the plant began.

In 18th century England the tradition was expanded to include plucking a berry from the mistletoe after each kiss. It also stated those who kissed under the holly would marry.

The custom of smooching under the sprig continues to symbolize love and peace as it did when first hung.

Poison Ivy is the perfect host for today’s tradition, though her kisses have little to do with love.

He really is the most famous reindeer of all. How hard is it to remember Dasher, Donner, Vixen, Comet, Cupid and, okay, I admit, I can’t name the others off the top of my head. 

They are, after looking them up, Prancer, Dancer and Blitzen. Sorry guys.

Of course we’re talking about Rudolph.

Rudy has his origins in advertising. The red-nosed reindeer was introduced in 1939 as part of a Montgomery Ward department store in Chicago promotion.

To save money, the store commissioned an original story as a present to customers. The prior practice had been to purchase published books to pass out.

Robert L. May, the youngest of nine, offered a tale that may have been born In the author’s youth. Often picked on as the runt of the litter, Rudolph’s early misfortunes mirrored some of May’s troubles.

The glowing nose was inspired by a fog settling over Lake Michigan as viewed by May from his office window.

A decade later May’s brother-in-law, Johnny Marks turned the tale to tune and Gene Autry recorded it. Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer became a number one hit on the Billboard pop singles selling 2.5-million copies the first year.

Over time, the song has sold 25-million copies and continues to climb.

Here Flash dons the beacon nose and antlers to spread good cheer for the season.

Does anyone really eat candy canes.

Apparently so. Candy canes are the number one selling, non-chocolate candy in December. One point seventy-six billion are manufactured annually with 90-percent of them sold between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The bulk of those are sold the second week of December.

Now, how many are eaten and how many are used for decoration is debatable.

Originally, candy canes – or their fore runners – were created to silence choir boys.

The choirmaster of the Cologne Cathedral in Germany would dispense the confectionary treats during the Living Crèche Ceremony. The tradition that began in 1670 migrated to the United States with August Imgard of German and Swedish descent in 1847. Wooster, OH, had the honor of of hosting the occasion.

The red stripes and peppermint flavoring were added at the turn of the 20th century.

Today Catwoman sports her Jim Lee designed costume that debuted in the Hush story arc complete with candy cane.