It’s another holiday mystery for the Scooby and the gang in Nutcracker Not-So-Sweet.

Agnes DeMillions needs help to save the Geoffrey Ballet Company’s rendition of A Christmas Carol. The ghost of the Nutcracker is threatening one of the stars of the show, Rudolfo Kaspenov.

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Matters come to a head opening night when the Nutcracker ghost strikes in front of packed auditorium. Some trickery and trusty trap by Fred bring the villain to justice while Daphne dances in a dream come true.

The Nutcracker and the Mouse was written by E.T.A. Hoffmann in 1816. The Prussian author’s tale is a whimsical, and fictional, account off Marie Stahlbaum’s favorite toy, a nutcracker. It comes to life to defeat the evil mouse king then takes the girl to a magical kingdom.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky, Russian composer, and Marius Petipa and Lev Ivanov, choreographers, translated the story into a ballet based on Alexandre Dumas’s adaptation.

A Christmas Carol is a novella by Charles Dickens. It was originally published in 1843. Though released December 19, all copies were sold out by Christmas Eve. Maybe the greatest legacy of the story is the use of the term Merry Christmas. Having been vocalized as early as 1534, Dicken’s usage cemented it in Victorian vernacular. It has been continued ever since.

The second feature, Mascot Madness, take the gang back to school to foil a ghost dead set on keeping tradition alive.

Scooby-Doo and the gang have been a part of the four-color world since 1970, a year after they were unveiled on Saturday morning television. The original series would last 30 issues, published by Gold Key Comics.

March of Comics would feature the gang in four issues beginning in 1971 in issue 356. They would appear once a year until issue 391 in 1974.

Charlton Comics picked up the license from Gold Key in 1975 with an 11-issue run with Scooby-Doo…Where Are You! Marvel Comics would publish nine issues entitled Scooby-Doo from 1977 to 1979. With the animated Saturday morning feature Scooby’s Laff-A-Lympics, they would showcase the Great Dane in 13 issues of Laff-A-Lympics from 1978 to 1979.

Harvey Comics tackled the franchise next with a few issues reprinting stories originally run during the Charlton years. The exception would be Hanna-Barbera Presents All New Comics in 1993, a one-shot.

Archie Comics added Scooby to its stable of characters from 1995 to 1997.

DC is currently Scooby’s wrangler having taken possession of the license in 1997. The titular Scooby-Doo is currently the longest-running comic featuring the gang.

Cartoon Network Presents ran 24 issues with a Scooby and Scrappy-Doo story in each book.

Scooby-Doo! Team-Up lasted 50 issues before it was shut down, 2013 to 2019.

Scooby Apocalypse ran 36 issues, 2016 to 2019.

The most recent incarnation is The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries debuting this year.

Anyone who knows me or has read much on the Web site knows Christmas and Batman are symbiotic. For me, at least.

Growing up, Batman was my favorite hero. Not Adam West. Nothing against the dearly departed, but I learned to love Batman from the source material.

Batman as a grinning goof of Golden Age reprints or the soon-to-be christened Dark Knight living in the shadows of the Denny O’Neil/Neal Adams era I grew up with. Toss in some Carmine Infantino with the new look and they were all my Batman.

And, who is the Batman’s greatest villain?

His rogue’s gallery is only rivaled by the Flash’s or Spider-Man’s. This is a fanboy’s dream argument; who has the best rogue’s gallery?

That’s for another time and forum.

For our purposes, let’s talk about the Joker.

Ah, yes, the Joker. That evil clown to scare children. A psychopath to scare the adults.

Plus, he’s Batman’s oldest recurring nemesis.

It just all fits.

So, to give me an omnibus of Batman’s greatest villain during the Bronze age in which I discovered both and it’s one of the best comic related Christmas presents ever.

Thank you, Jeff.

Looking at this, people are gonna ask what the Joker omnibus has to do with Christmas. It’s not a Christmas comic book nor does it contain even one holiday story.

No, it’s a Christmas gift.

Much like the Batman issue 260 I droned on about in 2018, this is a gift that will always be associated with Christmas.

When I first learned of the omnibus, I wasn’t sure if it was worth $99.99 to me. There are so many good stories, but I have all but Justice League of America (1960) 77, Wonder Woman (1942) 280-283 and the unpublished The Joker issue 10.

The unpublished issue was tempting, but I just couldn’t justify a Benjamin for that one comic book.

I do love that series. I bought several when the first hit the stands in the mid-1970s and finished the series sometime in the late 1990s.

Just looking at the other issues, included is Batman 251 with the rebirth of the killing Joker. Detective Comics issues 475 and 476 is the Laughing Fish story. Brave and the Bold (1955) 111 is one of the first Batman/Joker stories I ever read and has one of my favorite Batmobiles.

And, so many, many more stories.

This is a treasure in so many ways. I’ve loved the excuse to re-read these classics. As much as I’ve enjoyed reading the new material. My greatest pleasure, snuggled under the covers, my wife tucked beside me and cats warming my legs; has been the unpublished Joker story. It may be continued and I’ll never know the ending, but to have an unread Bronze Age Joker story is a rare treat that will probably never be repeated.

So, thank you, again Jeff, for this gem of a gift. Amid the year of Covid and lack of guests, it shone as bright as my super hero Christmas tree in 2020.

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

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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.

A tabloid-size dose of holiday season was brought to you by DC Comics for 1978.

Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer stars in Only Two Days to Christmas as presented by Sheldon Mayer in two acts. The first being Baddy Bear’s Big Blunder.

Rudolph has his nose set for a celebration when presents are wrapped a full two days before Christmas eve. Santa warns Rudolph of the consequences should they wake Baddy Bear while he is hibernating.

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Of course, the noise level rises enough to rouse the sleeping bear. Still drowsy from his dozing, Baddy Bear succumbs to a series of events leading him to believe his den has been invaded.

Santa and gang are recruited to find the culprit leading to Act 2:  Rudy and the Hopeless Heroes!

A war ensues until the blunder can be rectified and all is well once more. A Merry Christmas from the principles and a star for Rudolph is a good enough finish.

Mayer serves up a second helping of Rudolph with Giant Problem.

Rudolph’s friend, Grover, creates a device that will transport anything anywhere. While attempting to demonstrate on Santa’s sleigh, the machine malfunctions and sends his ride into the Forbidden Forest.

Hero that he is, Rudolph follows the sleigh’s trail only find a giant Eskimo has claimed it for an ice skate.

Santa steps in to resolve the issue and Rudolph finds himself at the front of the line, leading the gang as they begin their annual travels.

The book closes with puzzles.

First up is a maze to Funland.

Santa poses for a few illustrations while eagle-eyed youngsters are encouraged to find the twin Clauses.

Rudy’s Party Riddles offer some jokes to tell around the Christmas tree.

Santa’s Safety Target Game, a lesson in how to make party hats from wrapping paper and connect-the-dots rounds out the tome.

Giving Thanks is the inappropriately named Thanksgiving story from the 2008 JSA Classified book.

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Alan Scott makes a pilgrimage to his daughter’s grave for some introspection. In the meantime, fellow Justice Society Members Flash and Wildcat hold down the JSA’s Thanksgiving Day parade float.

Not long after Green Lantern joins them, the Superman balloon floating above explodes showering all in a pink dust. Before it can settle, Solomon Grundy attacks.

Lantern deals with the threat, leaving fellow Society members to handle crowd control. Both problems dealt with, the trio dissolve leaving GL to face the real menace, Vandal Savage.

The story is continued in a Christmas issue that will be dealt with next month. For now, take time to enjoy those around you while you can. While this is a time known for thanksgiving, every day is, too.

The JSA first appeared in All Star Comics issue three. Their gathering marked the first team in comic books. The theme would be copied over time, most notably when the Justice League of America was formed in 1960.

Penciler Fred Ray must have seen the storm clouds on the horizon with his prophetic cover for Superman 12. Within six months the United States would be part of the global conflict now known as World War II.

The nameless sailor and soldier share the cover with Superman, but it’s those in the flanking uniforms who will are honored today, Veterans Day.

Being the title character, Superman, in his alter ego as Clark Kent, opens the book on vacation. He and Lois Lane are on a cruise ship when they meet Nan Wilson who has inherited an island. Intrigue follows when it is discovered the island is being used as secret submarine base by hostiles.

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In the second story, Clark Kent’s article on deaths that appear to be suicides are proved wrong when Superman takes over in the Suicide Murders.

Another propaganda story in The Grotak Bund has Superman saving America from sinister foreign powers. In this story, The Grotak Bund is working to hinder the American defense system by sabotaging factories.

Safe Job gives Superman a breather with a simple detective story. The hero discovers a robbery at the Chalmers Real Estate Company was an inside job.

Lex Luthor brings the book to a close in The Beasts of Luthor, 13 pages of science-fiction inspired artificial animal husbandry. Lois and Clark team for a story on a scientist from the island of Baracoda where giant animals are manufactured. It becomes known its all part of a plot using the animals to conquer the world.

Originally known as Armistice Day, Veterans Day is observed annually on Nov. 11 to honor military veterans. It is held on Nov. 11 in part to remember the close of World War I that ended at the 11^th hour of the 11^th day of the 11^th month in 1918.

It was named Veterans Day in 1954.

Superman was excused from the second world war under the excuse he was powerless against magic which could be wielded against him in Europe.

In reality, he didn’t exist and if he had, would have been able to stop the fighting in one day. It was also decided he would not be featured in either of the theaters so as not to take away from the real men fighting and giving up their lives.

Yet, America’s greatest (fictional) hero has long been featured with and honoring the real heroes.

Though on sale Nov. 19, 1946, the cover of Comics Cavalcade issue 18 is the only reference to Thanksgiving.

Wonder Woman and Octavia of Venturia are kidnapped by the power-mad Manilus in the opening story, The Menace of the Rebel Manlings.

Manilus, a former lab assistant, has been dosed with Vitamin Z gas. The resulting effect was an enlargement of his brain. Apparently, an enlarged brain causes delusions of grandeur and the wish for world domination.

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The full story has been reprinted in Wonder Woman:  The Golden Age Omnibus volume three.

The Galloping Greenbacks is a Flash vehicle, co-starring Winky Moylan, Blinky Boylan and Noddy Toylan.

Uncle Josh was afraid of money. When short, the old guy would go into a trance and wake up flush with cash. Of course, that led to paranoia and a fear of being sent to jail should his gain be illegal. Signal the Flash and the end to a mystery.

Green Lantern is the final headliner in The Meaning of “D.”

A wealthy man is convinced he owns everything, but must steal something beginning with the letter “D,” to save his wife. It’s up to Green Lantern and Doiby Dickles to foil the phony fortune teller.

The book is rounded out by six Mutt & Jeff one-page gags, features and Hop Harrigan in Seek and Hide! Or The Airmail Trail. Harrigan is the creation of Jon Blummer. He was one of the busiest characters of the Golden Age appearing in All-American Publications, radio serials and film serials.

Comic Cavalcade was published from 1942 to 1954.

The anthology series featured Green Lantern, Wonder Woman and Flash as the heavy hitters with filler stories sprinkled between. Comic Cavalcade moved from the form fitting figures of the mystery men to funny animal stories in 1948 when super heroes fell out of favor.

To entertain your guests, or host, here are a few Turkey Day facts: approximately 45 million turkeys are sold for Thanksgiving annually. That’s over 18-percent of the total turkey population raised each year.

California consumes the most fowls with 675-million pounds on the day.

The total calorie intake for a common Thanksgiving meal is 2,500. The average recommended calorie intake for one day is between 1,600 and 2,400.

A chunk of that may be from desserts eaten. Apple is the favorite, unless from the south where pecan takes top billing. On average, 18.9-million pies are purchased for Thanksgiving.

October ended in a gluttony of a sugar-saturated reign of cosplay. There will be more sweets ahead as ovens bake a mixture of apples and pumpkins surrounded by dough and confectionary goodness. But, there’s still a day set aside specifically for the dieter’s downfall: National Candy Day.

Short of finding someone twirling a pole, we’re calling on Wonder Woman’s Golden Age sidekick Candy. Etta Candy.

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Miss Candy debuted in the pages of Sensation Comics issue two during the winter of 1942. The baby daddies were William Moulton Marston and H.G. Peter.

Candy was drawn more with a compass than ruler. Marston gave her an oversized sweet tooth that led to an oversized waistline. She was also given a quick wit and sharp tongue as part of her sassy demeanor.

Candy’s father and mother were, get this, Hard Candy and Sugar Candy, respectively. They resided on the Bar-L Ranch in Brazos County, Texas. Brother Mint Candy served in the armed forces during World War II.

Etta became a sidekick of sorts. She and fellow sorority members at Holiday College teamed with the amazon throughout the Golden Age of comic books in various adventures.

With a new writer, Robert Kanigher, during the Silver Age, Etta’s page count dwindled. Not until the 1980s did she return as the weight-conscious whiner Kanigher created.

George Perez and Greg Potter were much kinder following the original DC Crisis. Etta became romantically involved with Steve Trevor, even marrying Wonder Woman’s former love interest.

With The New 52, Etta was relegated to a secretarial role that lasted through DC’s Rebirth. She was also given a makeover as an African-American.

At present the origins of National Candy Day are unknown. However, if you need an excuse for that guilty confectionary pleasure, use Nov. 4 to indulge. This is a holiday for everyone.

Which, was not always the case. Until the industrial revolution, candy was a costly indulgence due to the price of sugar. Since 1979, the world as produced more sugar than it can sell.

Doff the hat, toss the bandanna, let the world see the chrome on the dome, today is National Bald is Beautiful Day.

More and more men are celebrating the freedom from morning grooming, trashing the combs and reveling in their new found time. No longer must they spend the extra time and money shampooing and coifing.

While Yule Brenner may be the first choice as spokesman, he never graced the cover or interior of a comic book. No, the logical choice is Superman’s number one archvillain Lex Luthor.

Luthor’s criminal career can be broken down into three eras. He began as a red-haired “mad scientist and manipulative warlord,” according to the forward in Lex Luthor A Celebration of 75 Years.

His follicelly-challenged appearance first came to be in the Superman newspaper strip then Superman issue 10, courtesy of artist Leo Nowak, though he first appeared in Action Comics 23 with a full head of red hair.

The loss of his hair was addressed in Adventure Comics 271. The Silver Age story also provided a new origin for Luthor. In the tale, young Luthor was a fan of Superboy, even building a club house/museum dedicated to the Boy of Steel’s exploits.

When an accidental fire began at the club house, Superboy put the blaze out with a puff of super breath. Luthor was uninjured, but his hair had fallen out due to a mixture of fumes from Kryptonite he was studying and the blow from Superboy.

The feud was on.

Luthor continued to battle Superman throughout the Silver and into the Bronze ages.

It wasn’t until after Crisis on Infinite Earths he became more of a business man. Writer/artist John Byrne retooled Superman and Luthor. The villain became a mashup of Ted Turner and Donald Trump with a dash of Marvel Comic’s Kingpin.

Using his considerable fortune for leverage, Luthor launched himself into the world of politics as the new millennium arrived. A botched attempt at weapon’s trading and a bounty on Superman’s head backfired leaving Luthor a fugitive and to abandon the Oval Office.

Writers continued to reinvent Luthor throughout the ensuing Crises, events and company reboots.

Luthor has accompanied the Man of Steel outside the printed page to the silver screen, the small screen and video games

While our choice for spokesman for National Bald is Beautiful Day has such a rich history, the day itself does not.

To celebrate, well, do whatever you want; read some back issues with Luthor as the protagonist, shave your head or compliment someone who has.

On Dec. 17, 1903, mankind truly mastered three dimensions as the first controlled powered and sustained heavier-than-air human flight took place.

While Dec. 17 would seem the logical choice for National Aviation Day, it’s really today. In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed into observance National Aviation Day using Orville Wright’s birthday, Aug. 19, 1871. Today is the day a grateful world recognizes the pioneers of flight.

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Acting as chairman for the day former test pilot Hal Jordan.

Introduced in Showcase issue 22, October 1959, Jordan embodied the Silver Age Green Lantern as brought to life courtesy of fathers John Broome and Gil Kane.

The writer/artist combo made Jordan a combat pilot cum test pilot for Ferris Aircraft. It was while training for the company he was summoned by a dying alien, Abin Sur, to become his replacement for Sector 2814 as part of the Green Lantern Corp.

Jordan appeared in two more issues of Showcase before granted his own title in July-August 1960. Gardner Fox would join Broome as co-author of the scripts beginning with issue 17. Together, with editor Julius Schwartz, they crafted adventures until 1970.

With issue 76, Dennis O’Neil and Neal Adams began the legendary Hard Traveling Heroes saga. The wunderkinds teamed Jordan with fellow Justice Leaguer Green Arrow and set them on a path across the United States. For two years, until issue 89, the green-garbed duo tackled such topics as overpopulation, bigotry and drug use.

As with the rest of the DC Universe, Jordan had to survive Crisis on Infinite Earths. He did and returned in the third volume bearing the Green Lantern title.

By the early 1990s Jordan was living on borrowed time in the DCU. A multi-part storyline turned him to the dark side. He adopted a new identity in Parallax and was replaced by Kyle Rayner.

In the new millennium, Jordan was allowed to wear the ring once more. He has continued to be the most recognized of the Green Lantern Corps, having lived through the New 52 and DC Rebirth.

Proclamation USC 36:I:A:1:118 allows the sitting president to proclaim August 19 as National Aviation Day each year. If desired, the President’s proclamation may direct all federal buildings and installations to fly the U.S. flag on that day.