Mark Evanier scripts the second, and last, of Garfield’s Christmas stories.

“Elf Esteem” showcases Odie’s good heart as Garfield attempts to help the wayward little person in his quest to right a wrong. Everyone is smiling by the end with Santa rewarding the good deeds.

The second story, “Nermal and the Three Bears,” puts a new spin on an old fairy tale.

Garfield 32 rounds out the holidays with Christmas pin-ups of the Arbuckle household and a couple newspaper strips reprinted for good measure.

Super Friends (2008) 22

Santa isn’t the only one who gets letters for Christmas.

A wheelchair bound little girl is visited by the Super Friends for Christmas Eve and learns handicaps are mainly those of the mind.

“All I Want for Christmas” is a touching story, but the best wishes given for those suffering hard times in 2009 really hit home for me. That year was hard on my son and me, but with the help of good friends and family the end of the first decade of the new millennium dawned bright as the curtain rang down on the year.

Let this be well wishes to everyone, especially my cousins and their children who lost a dear one the beginning of December. It may not get easier, but it does get better.

The cover says Christmas, but the interior reads like a Twilight Zone anthology intermixed with late ‘80s video game and Now Comics merchandise ads.

Looking for Santa? Don’t call these guys.

Mad 44

If ever there was a finer magazine…

Alfred E. Neuman and the usual gang of idiots bid farewell to the 1950s with the final issue of 1959. Short of the cover the only seasonal offering are three pages of Custom Made Christmas Cards satirizing the era.

MAD magazine was a staple for the times for over three decades. Still in publication the book has lost some of its teeth even buckling to economic demands and sporting legitimate advertising. But, in its day MAD had no equal. It was the benchmark against which society was judged and no cow was sacred. God rest ye, William Gaines.

When I was growing up I worked on a horse farm in Virginia. They didn’t act like this.

That said I gotta admit the book wasn’t bad. Like a Pixar film many of the jokes are aimed at both the young and old alike. While I don’t see myself becoming a Bronie, I would recommend this as a stocker stuffer.

Twilight is snow-bound at the train station en route to Pinkie Pie’s Hearth Warming Eve party. To pass the time stories loosely related to Rudolph, The Nutcracker Suite and Twas the Night Before Christmas are read. Of course there’s a happy ending.

Recently, David Santiago shared a heartfelt message with the Back Issue Magazine Facebook Group.  With his permission, we’ve reprinted it here.

Thank you, David, and Merry Christmas.

When you’re a kid who grew up in a family where money was tight and sometimes Christmas was just a regular meal, you tend to appreciate the holiday and some of the little joys that come from it. One Christmas, we were struggling to pay bills and just put food on the table. There were no presents and certainly no one was in the mood for ornaments or even a beat up tree that came from Charlie Brown’s house. One night, I went to my room and stayed quiet as I looked out the window. I could sulk, at least. While feeling bad that there was nothing to do to help alleviate the families’ financial straits except worry (I was only 13 and I had an ulcer), I decided to pull out my comics and let my mind flow into a world of fantasy, and a world where I didn’t have to worry or be scared about what might happen tomorrow. The first comic I pulled was a Christmas comic digest. It was full of stories that were corny, but also filled me with hope. That is what Christmas is about, hope and faith. I pulled out every Christmas comic I had and had my own little Christmas, one just for me with no fears of where we’d find the money to pay the bills. As with all things, the bills got paid, and thanks to a bonus my dad got, we had a smaller than usual Christmas, but still one of the best. I lost many of my comics by the time I got to high school, but I would find this comic a few years later in a marked down box of comics. It was titled Christmas With The Superheroes, and it had many of the stories I read that night. To this day, I keep a copy near me on my desk. It helps to remind me that even when everything feels like it is falling in and there’s nothing to look forward to, there’s always hope, and hope comes to us in different forms, even as a comic book. 🙂

It’s impossible to deny the charm of Mike Maihack’s Supergirl & Batgirl team-up comic strip. Balancing a cheerful, impulsive Supergirl with a serious, more sullen Batgirl, the strip provides some fun, light-hearted holiday stories well worth reading. Be sure to visit Mike’s website for more of his art and comic work.

Scripter Mark Evanier, best known for Groo the Wanderer and the television series Garfield and Friends, provides the holiday tale for the festive feline who barely has to lift a paw for a happy ending in “The Never-Ending Tale of Santa Mouse.”

No mention of Christmas in the second story, “Snow Problem!” Just a record snowfall that prompts Jon and Odie to build a 30-foot snowman that Garfield magically brings to life.

Nuthin’s ever easy in Easy Company. Not even Christmas.

For three decades Sgt. Rock and Easy slogged their way up from Africa to Italy and onto the beaches of Normandy. By issue 414 the Pittsburgh-born Top Kick was nearing the end of his tour of duty; the series concluded with issue 422. Fittingly creator Robert Kanigher, with art from Andy Kubert, gave readers a Christmas story in the final days of World War II.

In “The Shining Star” Rock witnesses a Christmas miracle and at least one day without death.

Tarot: Witch of the Black Rose is more likely to be found in a stocking hung from the bedpost rather than the chimney.

Not a reader of the title my best description would be what if Russ Meyer wrote a comic book about wiccans, witches and supernatural creatures. A titillating title where the characters don’t remind you their eyes are, “up here.”

Odds are if you’re reading this book you’re already on the naughty list.