A short-lived parody series from the Marvel bullpen, Spoof asked the question, “What if…Famous People were Santa Claus?” for Christmas 1972.

Steve Gerber penned the seasonal story showcasing, then, Vice President Spiro Agnew as Santa before assigning the role to John Lennon. The hawk and dove approach to Christmas was peppered with caricatures of popular figures of the time like John Wayne and Charlie Brown.

Wrapped around the Christmas take was pop culture send ups of Blackula entitled Blechhula! written by Stu Schwartzberg and penciled by Marie Severin.

The book closed with Maykus Wellby, M.D., a take on Marcus Welby.

The title would last one more issue before cancellation.

Prior attempts at humor magazines included Marvel’s first stab in 1953 with Crazy. The title ran for seven issues before folding. It was resurrected in 1973 with reprinted material from the 1960’s Not Brand Echh! book. The comic book version lasted three issues before transforming into a black and white magazine. That version lasted from October 1973 to April 1983.

Not Brand Ecch! was a humor comic book mainly lampooning the super hero industry. It would run from August of 1967 to issue 13 in May 1969. Issue 14 would be published as part of Marvel’s Legacy numbering in 2017.

Marvel made another attempt at a humor title in 1974 with Arrgh! The book lasted five issues focusing on horror.

Willard Scott and Deborah Norville introduce Marvel’s 1989 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade float. Melba Moore dishes out a performance of her “Holding Out for a Hero” amid Cap, Spidey and the Silver Surfer posing. Emma Frost tosses in a few kicks for good measure.

Costumes look like a rehash from the 1987 offering.

It’s a case of mistaken identity that gives a little boy his best Christmas ever.

Spawn 39 is lacking in the title character, but that’s what makes “Noel” a seasonal story. Christmas Eve is a waiting game for most children. It’s a toss-up as to whether the evening is longer waiting on Santa to arrive or for the night to pass to morning.

Five-year old Gregory is passing Christmas Eve 1995 alone. Mom, Phyllis, is trying to make ends meet and sis, Nadine, has snuck out hoping to meet a man. Gregory is left with the Christmas classic Rudolph to babysit him.

As the time draws near Gregory hears commotion on the rooftop of the apartment building where he lives. Creator and writer Todd McFarlane and penciler Greg Capullo alternate the action to show what is happening with what Gregory believes is happening.

A careless crook drops some of the ill-gotten booty which Gregory finds and gifts to his mother believing Santa had left it for her.

By story’s end, all are happy by the hearth, but the titular character who remembers what his life used to be.

Spawn (1992) 39 newstand edition

Spawn (1992) 39

 

Leaves are turning, stores are pimping Christmas and sale ads are hawking turkeys. Must be Thanksgiving.

And, it is.

Almost.

Along with football from the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions, there’s the over eating and family squabbles. To kick the day off is the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. As the culinary bouquet wafts from the kitchen, those not involved beyond devouring the dinner are watching the second-oldest American parade unfold in the living room.

For three hours.

The parade began in 1924 in Newark, NJ, then transferred to Macy’s in New York City. Character balloons began appearing in the parade in 1927. It went on hiatus during World War II, 1942 to 1944. The parade was first broadcast on network television in 1948.

Being a part of New York City, Marvel Comics was represented by Spider-Man in 1987. Attached was a camera that has become known as the Spidey-Cam.

Also introduced that year was a Marvel Universe float featuring a multitude of heroes and villains.

Scott Niswander offers a history of The Superman Parade Balloon featured in Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. For more of Scott’s insightful videos, click the Nerdsync button.

Fan favorite Mark Dos Santos looks at life in Gotham City from Norman Rockwell’s point of view. Santos tips his hat to artist Rockwell who captured American life on the cover of The Saturday Evening Post for five decades. For more information on Santos and his other creations, click here.

 

A 2006 one-shot, The Bakers Meet Jingle Belle is another romp through a Paul Dini-demented Christmas season.

Santa Dad hijacks Jingle for another Christmas Eve spin. As usual his pixie-offspring is less than enthusiastic about the annual around-the-world romp. During one stop Jingle makes a break for it and finds herself mistaken for a last-minute nanny for the night.

To prove she’s really Santa’s daughter, Jingle steals Santa’s sleigh and takes the tykes to the North Pole. There they revel in the magic that is Christmas while their parents fight last-minute shoppers at the mall.

By book’s end the mood is mellow as seasonal magic sooths fraying nerves and flaring tempers.

Jingle first appeared in 1999 for Oni Press in “Sanity Clauses.” The short story led to a two-issue mini entitled “Miserable on 34th Street”/“Santa’s Little Hellion.”

Dini’s creation has bounced from distributor to distributor, most recently landing with IDW. The company released a collection entitled Jingle Belle: The Whole Package! and a one-shot for the 2018 Christmas season, Jingle Belle: The Homemades’ Tale.

It being November 1st, let’s start with a first. Also known as Donald Duck issue seven, Four Color Comics 178 has the distinction of hosting the first appearance of Uncle Scrooge McDuck.

Donald Duck and the nephews, Huey, Dewey and Louis; are dreading Christmas. None have the finances for food or festivities. Donald’s wealthy Uncle Scrooge could change that – if he wasn’t such as skinflint.

As fate – and writer/creator Carl Barks – would have it, Scrooge is whiling his time away thinking up a way to trick his nephew. He decides on inviting Donald and the boys to his cabin on Bear Mountain, hence the story title “Christmas on Bear Mountain.”

Scrooge wishes to humiliate his nephew. To do so he buys a bear suit which Scrooge plans to don at the appropriate moment and scare Donald.

In the meantime, Donald and the nephews take the bait and arrive at the cabin. The only thing they lack for a true holiday is a Christmas tree. Pines are scarce so they chop down a hollow oak and drag it back.

Unbeknownst to them a bear cub is hibernating in the tree. The warmth of the cabin wakes the cub and he begins foraging for food. The mother, still in the stump, awakes and follows the web prints to the cabin.

Scrooge arrives to find an idyllic scene where Donald has fainted on the mama bear who is snoozing by the warm fire. The nephews are content to play with the cub and all is well.

Scrooge has the group formerly celebrate Christmas at his mansion where Donald is rewarded for his seeming bravery.

Barks packs a lot into 36 pages for the December 1947 comic book.