“We are now on our way to Jerusalem where the Son of Man will be handed over to the chief priests and the teachers of the Law of Moses. They will sentence him to death and hand him over to foreigners, who will make fun of him and spit on him. They will beat him and kill him. But three days later he will rise to life.”  Mark 10:33-34

Louise Simonson, Mary Wilshire and Bill Anderson flesh out the Easter Story marking the last days of Jesus’s life.

If Marvel had published this earlier in my lifetime, all those Easter Sunday’s sitting on hard pews wondering what confections and presents Peter Rabbit had left for me would’ve gone much faster.

For 33 pages the reader is given the Biblical account of the Son of Man’s final days on Earth. No matter beliefs, the story is a strong and compelling one. It brings the hubris of man to heel, showing the greed and vanity evident in even the most pious of practitioners.

Basically a collection of “good/bad girl” art wrapped in a very non-traditional Easter tale of fornication and cannibalism.

Zombie Tramp crashes a small town’s Easter celebration dressed in something more from the Hugh Hefner collection than the standard department store bunny suit. During her visit she is thrice mesmerized by a Caligulastic cult leader on a mission from (his) God.

There are several gags to make the reader smile. My favorite had children finding Easter eggs in the folds of the fat woman.

Otherwise this fast read allows the heroine to avenge herself and the hypnotized town folk to foil the festivities culminating in a sacrificial bonfire and orgy.

Probably not a good idea to hide this in the hymnal to read during Easter services.

Zombie Tramp Easter Special (2017) (Trom Cover)

Zombie Tramp Easter Special (2017) (Celor Limited Edition cover)

Zombie Tramp Easter Special (2017)

Originally the Joker’s moll for a one off on Batman: the Animated Series, Harley Quinn has exploded in the pop consciousness in the past five years.

No one knew the impact the character would have when she first appeared on B:tAS in 1992. It was – to the month – another year before her first appearance in comic book form, Batman Adventures 12 where she shared the cover with Batgirl and Poison Ivy for “Batgirl Day One.”

Harley wouldn’t receive her own series until 2000 in her self-titled comic book running 38 issues.

By 2014 she was poised for her meteoric rise that had been a slow avalanche at first. Her second series was one of DC’s New 52 titles with a holiday special following that December.

The first of three stories, “Bad Toy,” allows Harley to revert to her psychologist origins to repair a little girl’s and her father’s relationship.

“Get Yer Cheer Outta My Ear” is a short romp in madness caused by a holiday bug and cured by Santa and sweets.

“Killer Time” rings in the New Year with a grey hair as Harley tries to halt Tyme (read the story).

Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palimotti pen the three tales with various artists giving life to the written word. Darwyn Cooke pencils and inks the final story.

Harley Quinn Holiday Special (2014) (New Year’s cover)

Harley Quinn Holiday Special (2014) (Christmas cover)

One of only two issues not written by creator Bob Budansky, this 1993 offering serves up two stories, “Tricks of the Trade” and “Insomnia.”

In the first Harold Pruitt deals with the defection of his best girl, unexpected unemployment and mounting bills along with the normal pressures of the holiday season.

Rather than finding a lamp to rub, Pruitt finds a credit card to swipe unleashing a spirit promising to fulfill all his wishes. For a price.

Jyn, the “genie,” sends a minion to do his bidding which runs afoul of the Sleepwalker. As in all Marvel tales a fight ensues causing mayhem enough Pruitt renounces Jyn. The denunciation does not end the evil spirit’s reign on Earth and the Sleepwalker must find another way to dispatch the demon.

In the second story the Sleepwalker must overcome the insomnia – hence the name – of his human host to foil a museum robbery and avenge an attack on the night watchman.

Sleepwalker debuted in 1991 and ran 33 issues reading like a poor man’s Sandman in tights with a dash of DC’s Spectre in evidence. Bundansky has been credited with creating the character in the 1970s, long before it saw print, maybe giving the edge to The Spectre as inspiration, but with the popularity of the Sandman title it could be Marvel was hoping to hop on the DC’s coattails once more.

A non-traditional Christmas story solicited during a non-traditional Christmas time, February through August 2006.

The Last Christmas is the brain child of Garry Duggan and Brian Poshen as brought to page by Hilary Barta. Most know Poshen and Duggan’s names from their collaboration on Deadpool and Poshen’s hangdog face from Big Bang Theory in his role as Bert the geologist.

Together the pair crafted a post-apocalyptic world where Christmas, and humanity, is on the verge of extinction. Only the belief of one boy keeps the legend of Santa Claus alive during his self-imposed exile while subsisting on rum, pancakes and suicide attempts.

Not for the squeamish. In total, the five books provide enough death and destruction to keep even the most devout Rob Zombie fan happy.

The Last Christmas 1

The Last Christmas 2

The Last Christmas 3

The Last Christmas 4

The Last Christmas 5

Okay, a little late with the St. Patty’s Day offering, but never one to disappoint Four Color Holidays brings readers a special from 2013.

Dr. Sela Mathers, Doctor/Professor of Literature – with a minor in fairy tale fantasies come to life – decides on a girl’s night out – alone.

The dark and stormy night leads her to a pub where she finds herself the attention of three strangers all with stories to tell. One drink leads to another as do the tales, “Candy from a Baby,” “Marriages of Jenna Normandy” and “The Will.” As she was drawn to the pub, the story tellers are drawn to Mathers.

By the fourth Irish Whisky Mathers realizes the coincidences are more than that and really the work of a Leprechaun, though the real villain of the story is revealed as greed.

I’ve always been leery of the title based on the cheesecake covers, feeling Grimm Fairy Tales was more sex than substance. However, if this is any indication of the interior work, I may rethink reading these. Deep down Grimm Fairy tales has one of DC’s “House” book anthology feels with a dash of X-Files.

Grimm Fairy Tales: St. Patrick’s Day Special 2013

Grimm Fairy Tales: St. Patrick’s Day Special 2013 (Cover B)

Grimm Fairy Tales: St. Patrick’s Day Special 2013 (MegaCon Exclusive Cover 1)

Grimm Fairy Tales: St. Patrick’s Day Special 2013 (Moore Editions Exclusive Cover 1)

Grimm Fairy Tales: St. Patrick’s Day Special 2013 (Moore Editions Exclusive Cover 2)

Having inspired the Star Wars universe, Flash Gordon took to the space ways for the 2014 holidays to inspire Christmas on the planet Arboria in the first of three short stories.

Flash tells of the traditional trappings celebrated on Earth while the natives contrast with those of Arboria’s Khris-Mass. Myth and nature meet to create a memorable merging of both holidays as Arboria’s youth tout the feats of Jungle Jim, possibly an amalgam of Santa and Tarzan?

Stories return to Earth with Juhrg the Beast-Man finding salvation from his solitude in Wonders and Salvations. Practitioners of the Jewish faith find they are still persecuted in the future, but a child leads his family from the darkness of ignorance.

Finally, Dale Arden revisits previous New Year’s eves before her excursion to space learning from the past to help the present in Resolutions.

Flash Gordon Holiday Special (2014) (Cover B)

Flash Gordon Holiday Special (2014)

 

DC offered a varied selection of characters and situations for the 2010 Christmas special.

Featured characters include Anthro, Jonah Hex, Green Lantern, Superman, The Spectre and Legion of Super Heroes.

The stories stem from tolerance of holiday celebrations outside the standard Anglo-American, Judeo-Christian beliefs.

As a whole, the tales seem born as much from the transition DC was preparing for with Flashpoint that led to the New 52, while America was transitioning with a president still finding his footing.

The issue’s tagline read, “Six tales spanning, space, time and today’s top talent.” A little overreaching, but a worthwhile effort for $4.99. There have been better and there were worse.

The black and white cover variant reads, “They keep coming back…” Not sure if they mean the zombies or genre.

George A. Romero had no idea the forces he would unleash with his 1968-independent horror flick done on the cheap – $114,000. The cult classic would go on to earn 150 times its budget and was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Film Registry.

Night of the Living Dead Holiday Special (2010)

Night of the Living Dead Holiday Special (b&w variant) (2010)

Night of the Living Dead spawned five direct films from 1978 to 2010, all directed by Romero with two remakes by other directors.

This holiday special uses the basic premise of Romero’s zombie paradigm and adds the Golden Age EC formula of death and revenge in the plot.

Night of the Living Dead Holiday Special is not for the kiddies. The violence is mild, but Mike Wolfer made sure there was lots of skin showing making this an R-rated feature.

Regular and most variant covers promote a Christmas theme, but Mars Attacks the Holidays levels its sites on Halloween, Veterans Day and Thanksgiving as well as Christmas.

Mars Attacks the Holidays (Cover A)

Mars Attacks the Holidays (Cover B)

Mars Attacks the Holidays (Cover C)

Mars Attacks the Holidays (Cover D)

Mars Attacks the Holidays (Cover RE)

Fred Hembeck handles Halloween with a 1950s teen party akin to the same era’s drive-in B movie.

Bill Morrison and Tone Rodriguiez piggyback on Orson Wells’ War of the Worlds broadcast. Veterans dating back to the War Between the States celebrate the first Armistice Day by whupping up on the landing party routing a full-scale invasion.

American culture is roasted in a battle of Michael Bay excesses when Thanksgiving is attacked.

Christmas rings down the curtain on both the book and year with post-apocalyptic survivors recreating a Christmas Eve from 1914 when No Man’s Land served as a multi-national pitch for one evening of peace before the bloodshed was renewed.