And, lest we forget, everyone should show their teacher a little love on Valentine’s Day.

Often there is that unrequited interest a student will show for their instructor. As long as it doesn’t progress to the point of the Police’s Don’t Stand So Close to Me, there’s no problem. Teachers actually receive the most Valentine’s Day cards each year. Next are children followed by mothers and wives.

The tradition of exchanging cards in the class room began more than 70 years ago. If you’ve been following the postings this Valentine’s season, you’ll have seen cards dating as far back as 1940. It was recorded that Fred Roth, a fourth grader in a small farming town in Lewiston, Minnesota, gave his sweetheart, Louise Wirt, a Valentine’s Day card in 1917. He may have started the tradition that continues to this day.

The card reads, “Forget me not!

I ask of thee

Reserve one spot

In your heart for me.”

The two would eventually marry. The card has outlasted both and now is in the possession of their granddaughter.

Geoffrey Chaucer penned Parliament of Fowls in 1382. The poem was a dream vision of birds searching for their mates:

In modern English:

“For this was on Saint Valentine’s Day

When every bird comes to choose his match

Of every kind that men may think of

And that so huge a noise they began to make

That the Earth and air and tree and every lake

Was so full, that not easily was there space

For me to stand – so full was all the place.”

The earliest reference to February 14 as a celebration of love is in the Charter of Court of Love. Issued in 1400 by Charles VI of France at Mantes-la-Jolie was to host a feast, love songs, poetry competitions, jousting and dancing for members of the royal court. Included would be a portion of the festivities where lovers disputes would be heard and ruled upon.

1940 Superman Valentine

Jumping ahead a few centuries, The Young Man’s Valentine Writer was released by a British publisher. The volume was a primer for young lovers to compose amorous verses. By this time a limited number of cards were pre-printed to be sent to loved ones. In 1835, 60,000 Valentine cards were mailed within the United Kingdom.

That number would increase to 400,000 when postage rates dropped in 1840.

Valentine’s Day has only found more traction with the passage of time until it celebrant spent in excess of $25 billion dollars in 2024. That breaks down to over $181 per person.

The Superman card representing the continued countdown came from an era where much less was spent on sappy salutations, but the point came across anyway.

Wonder Woman is featured on this 1978 Mark 1 and DC Comics collaboration for a little steamy come on.

With Superman raking in big bucks from the big screen, Wonder Woman was tackling the small screen. The Lynda Carter vehicle would run three seasons, 1975 to 1979, on, first ABC, then switching to CBS for seasons two and three.

Her origins date back to 1941 and All-Star Comics issue eight. The Amazon was the creation of polygraph inventor William Moulton Marston with the suggestion she be a woman by his wife, Elizabeth.

Much of her early career would be shaped by Moulton’s somewhat speculative personal life and marriage arrangement with his wife and live-in friend Olive Byrne.

Early issues featured both male and female domination situations, but any overt connotations were neutered by the Comics Code when it began to police the field.

Over the years Diana Price/Wonder Woman would be linked to some of the biggest names in DC Comics, most notably Superman and Batman, but more the Man of Steel.

Yet, her true love of decades was Steve Trevor.

Here’s another sheet of DC Valentines with some thought behind it.

The Batgirl is very corny, but has come cool cache, too. Superman, Robin and Aquaman are ones you pass out to people you aren’t worried about impressing.

Plastic Man on the other hand…

Well, be careful who receives this one or you may get a restraining order in return.

While we’ve discussed Superman and Aquaman’s loves, the other two are more intertwined. Batgirl and Robin, Barbara Gordon and Dick Grayson, have a long history of romantic involvement. Their involvement extends from from the printed page to small screen.

And, since women love the bad boys, let’s throw one of the founding members of Batman’s rogues gallery in for good(?) measure.

Edward Nygma,..

Wait, does a name like that make you wonder about predestination?

Anyway, Edward Nygma, or E. Nygma, first donned his green togs in Detective Comics 140, October of 1948. Bill Finger and Dick Sprang are responsible for the criminal mastermind hobbled by the obsession to incorporate riddles and puzzles into his crimes.

His Golden Age appearances were limited to his debut and Detective Comics 142. Presumably the Riddler was a guest of the state until the Silver Age when, upon his release in Batman 171 he continued his criminal career.

Since then, Nygma has made up for lost time never far from a comic book appearance throughout the ensuing ages and crises.

And, if you’re curious as to the answers on the Valentine, it’s printed upside down in the lower left hand corner and the title of today’s post.

Okay, I kinda wanna try these out myself.

DC’s Super Friends was still airing in the 1980s when these hit the shelves. The show’s full tenure ran from 1973 to 1985. It’s original incarnation would premiere and rerun through 1977 when an annual renewal would continue till its demise in ‘85.

Apparently one of the licenses sold would lead to these Uber cool Valentines cards that were almost too good to give away. This sheet features the Joker, Batman, Superman and Aquaman.

Each have had their share of romantic partners, Joker with Harley Quinn/Harlequin. Harley has the distinction of first being introduced on Batman: The Animated Series.

Batman/Bruce Wayne with Julie Madison from way back in Detective Comics 31. Vickie Vale who first appeared in Batman 49. She would go on hiatus from the Bat titles between 1964 and the early 1980s. Selina Kyle/Catwoman who was introduced in Batman issue one. Talia Al Ghul from Detective Comics 411. There would be others, but the above mentioned were the ones who got away.

Unlike his playboy counterpart, Kal-El/Clark Kent/Superman has only had eyes for one woman: Lois Lane.

Arthur Curry/Aquaman is pretty much a one-woman hero himself. That honor falls to wife Mera.

If you’ve looked outside to see what the weather is like, you’ve already celebrated today’s non-holiday.

Today is Observe the Weather Day which has its roots in the birth of astrology in Babylonia around 650 BC. Around 360 BC scholar Aristotle jotted down weather patterns in his book Meteorologica. Fast forward 60 years and Indian astronomers began developing techniques to predict weather patterns. In 1854 Naval Officer Francis Beaufort and Robert FitzRoy start their campaign for forecasting to become a science, giving birth to weather observation as known today.

The Flash (1959) 110

And, that in a nutshell, is a history of weather forecasting.

Today’s emcee will be Flash foe Weather Wizard, first appearing in The Flash 110.

Created by John Broome and Carmine Infantino, Weather Wizard – aka Mark Mardon – originally wielded a wand crafted by brother Clyde to control weather patterns. The wand eventually drove Mardon insane, but DC’s New 52 cured him, allowing his return.

As part of The Flash’s Rogue’s Gallery, Mardon has appeared outside of comic books in a plethora of multi-media formats.

So, depending on the weather, choose an appropriate activity for the day which might include a review of today’s man of the hour and a little Weather Channel to fully appreciate the strides made to keep you warm and dry.

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.

December 20th: five days and counting…

As mentioned yesterday, time goes by so slowly when you’re a kid. Especially with Christmas coming. There’s just no justice.

Which leads me to today’s ornament, the Hall of Justice from 2020.

Hoyt Curtin’s theme heralded the opening in an undulating brass section beating out a backbeat as William Woodson intoned:

“In the Great Hall of the Justice League, there are assembled the World’s Four Greatest Heroes created from the Cosmic Legends of the Universe!
Superman!
Wonder Woman!
Batman!
Aquaman!
And those three junior Super Friends, Wendy, Marvin and Wonderdog!
Their mission: to fight injustice, to right that which is wrong, and to serve all mankind!”

Super Friends aired on ABC from Sept. 8, 1973 to Aug. 24, 1974. A total of 16, one-hour episodes were featured and re-run until the fall of 1977.

The series was produced by Hanna-Barbera and National Periodical Publications (or DC Comics), based on the Justice League of America comic book. All characters, but Wonder Woman, had been featured on Saturday morning television as envisioned by Filmation in the late 1960s, but were victims of legislature that found children’s animation too violent. The heroes and their adventures were toned down for the new decade.

Hall of Justice

Superman and Wonder Woman were given a test drive on, of all cartoons, The Brady Kids while Batman and Robin were teamed with Mystery Inc. on two episodes of The New Scooby-Doo Movies. This was prior to the ‘73 Super Friends show.

While the big four were the featured heroes, Flash, Plastic Man and Green Arrow each made guest appearances.

In 1977 Super Friends was renamed The All New Super Friends Hour, then changed to Challenge of the Super Friends in 1978. In 1979, it was rebranded as The World’s Greatest SuperFriends before returning to simply SuperFriends from 1980 to 1983, then Super Friends: The Legendary Super Powers Show in 1984 and, finally, The Super Powers Team: Galactic Guardians in 1985.

In the wake of Warner Bros. successful Batman and Superman animated franchises, Justice League was launched on Cartoon Network May 29, 2004 followed by Justice League Unlimited airing for three seasons.

More recently the League has been featured on direct-to-BluRay feature length animations and shorts.

All this to honor what is – surprise, surprise – one of my favorite ornaments. Too bad Robin wasn’t shown a little more love originally. Wendy, Marvin and even Wonder Dog were given a mention in the opening salvo but, much like Chewbacca at the end of Star Wars who didn’t receive his medal, Robin was ignored.

December 19th: Six days and counting…

By this time, we’re all wishing time would speed up a bit. Remember growing up when Christmas was on kid time? Everything worth being excited for took so long to arrive. And, when it did, it was over far too quickly.

The same is true with adult time, but our perception of time passage has sped up a bit.

As discussed earlier, The Flash has been able to time travel. His cosmic treadmill allows him to visit the past and future. Which is how the Silver Age Flash, Barry Allen, met the Golden Age Flash, Jay Garrick in The Flash of Two Worlds in Flash (1959) issue 123. Other incarnations include Allen’s nephew Wally West and grandson Bart Allen.

This wooden representation was crafted by Jim Shore through his Enesco partnership.