Clement Clark Moore is one of America’s earliest influencers.

With his hastily jotted poem, The Night Before Christmas/‘Twas the Night Before Christmas, the 19th century professor of Greek and Hebrew literature at General Theological Seminary imbedded many of our current holiday beliefs in ourselves.

The precept of presents was one of the major contributions. Santa Claus’ appearance was another. Along with jolly St. Nick’s use of reindeer as transportation and his modus operandi for entering and exiting an abode.

A Visit from St. Nicholas, as the verse was originally titled in 1823, cemented his use of a magical sack to hold all the gifts. It also moved Santa’s visit from Christmas Day to Christmas Eve. The slight time shift removed some of the religious stigma from the forming holiday.

Here Batman, having settled in for a long winter’s nap complete with cap, looks disgruntled at having been woken.

Superman and Batman have been linked to each other since 1941. They first appeared in the same comic book, All-Star Comics (1940) seven in 1941.

They had shared covers on World’s Fair Comics and World’s Finest, but All-Star issue seven paired them on a mission with the Justice Society to raise $1 million dollars for war orphans. However, they would not share the same panel.

It wasn’t for another 11 years that DC’s big two would meet – for the first time.

Superman (1939) 72

It would take an over-booked cruise ship to pair Superman and Batman. Superman (1939) 76 thrust Clark Kent and Bruce Wayne together as they shared a room on an ocean liner. When a tanker exploded near their cruise ship, they were each found out in the moon light’s shine through the portal in their room.

They would promise to keep each other’s secret as the teamed to help with the disaster.

History would be repeated when DC kicked off their New 52. This time in Justice League (2011) one.

In other media, Batman and Superman met at different times and for different reasons.

They would join forces even before their comic book encounters during the Adventures of Superman radio serial story arc Mystery of the Wax Men in 1945.

Another first would be for the Superman: The Animated Series two-parter World’s Finest. Together they thwarted Lex Luthor and the Joker.

Yes, they did meet on the big screen, but the less said about that, the better.

It would be interesting to know when these costumes were paired for sale allowing kids to have their own World’s Finest adventures.

Of the 365 days in the year – 366 during Leap Year – today is tailor made for myself, Jeff and most readers of this page.

Today is Find Your Inner Nerd Day.

Most of us need not dig that deep.

If you’re here, it’s probably out of more than curiosity. Hopefully it’s to share in the culture we embrace.

In celebration of Find Your Inner Nerd Day, we’re turning the dial back on our television sets to Dec. 10, 2010, for the 11th episode of the fourth season of Big Bang Theory. More specifically, The Justice League Recombination.

If you tuned in that Monday evening, you were one of 13.24 million viewers.

Even though the episode aired before Christmas, it commemorated New Year’s Eve. The gang, plus Penny’s early on-again, off-again boyfriend Zac, gathered at Stewart’s comic book shop to celebrate with a costume contest. Dressed as the Justice League, Sheldon, Leonard, Howard, Raj, Penny and Zac took first place as the countdown began for 2011.

For 12 seasons – 279 episodes – Big Bang showed us it’s all right to fly that geek flag with pride. We watched kindred spirits live in the spotlight a life many of us hid in the shadows. They moved (super) hero worship, D&D and Japanese animation from the back of the bus to a front row seat. It was a revelation – and revolution – making Star Wars t-shirts fashionable.

Big Bang Theory took a season to gain traction, but by its fifth season had a premiere viewing audience of 14 million. The show was in the top 10 for seven of its 12 seasons. It reached number one during the 11th.

It was nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series between 2011 and 2014. Jim Parsons would take home the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Comedy Series four times and the Golden Globe for Best Actor in a Television Comedy Series.

Coincidentally enough, Find Your Inner Nerd Day was founded a month prior to Big Bang airing, Aug. 23, 2007.

Find Your Inner Nerd Day was founded by Christopher Reaves Messina when he posted a tweet that created the modern hashtag. Since that time, #FindYourInnerNerd has become a digital hotspot to meet and greet those with similar interests and discuss fandoms and other geek topics.

Oh, and the name “nerd” was created by none other than Dr. Seuss in his book If I Ran the Zoo.

Fly the colors high today – and every day – as we celebrate our individual and shared interests. This is a life meant for us.

The Beatles sang about ‘em. We’ve all read ‘em. Today we celebrate ’em. Today is Paperback Book Day.

Paperbacks have been around since the 19th century. Reduced manufacturing costs allow for a smaller price point and more affordability. This has made paperbacks popular since their introduction to a mass market. They also allowed publishers to offer books that normally wouldn’t be top sellers without fear of big losses.

Again, we’re not worried about marketing trends other than how they benefit our collecting habits.

Newspaper strips were the first to receive the paperback treatment. Reprints of favorites became spin rack fodder at drug stores and other non traditional outlets. Mad Magazine followed offering a huge library including both original material and reprints.

I looked and couldn’t find much information for Signet’s Batman reprints. They are, really, the forerunners of the trade paperbacks that didn’t become popular until the late 1980s and early 1990s.

Signet’s first outing capitalized on the popularity of the 1966 Batman television show. Batman, the initial book, was released the same year as the TV series using Golden Age material to fill the interior. First up is/was a brief origin as originally told in Batman (1940) issue one. Next, The Batman Wars Against the Dirgible of Doom from Detective Comics (1939) 33, Web of Doom from Batman 90, Fan-Mail of Danger! from Batman 92, Crazy Crime Clown! from Batman 74, The Crime Predictor! from Batman 77, The Man Who Could Change Fingerprints! from Batman 82 and The Testing of Batman! from Batman 83.

Signet’s second outing was the novelization of three previous comic books: The State-Bird Crimes! From Batman (1940) 58, The Crime Parade from Detective Comics (1939) 124 and The Black Cat Crimes from Detective Comics 122.

For the third and fourth volumes, Signet returned to reprinting comic books. The third book featured Joker stories including The Challenge of the Joker from Batman (1940) 136, The Joker’s Winning Team (Batman 86), The Joker’s Millions (Detective Comics 180, The Joker’s Journal (Detective Comics 193) and Batman, Clown of Crime (Batman 85).

Penguin took top billing for book four with a Catwoman tale to finish the book. Stories included The Parasols of Plunder (Batman [1940] 90, The Golden Eggs (Batman 70), The Penguin’s Fabulous Fowls (Batman 76), The Return of the Penguin (Batman 155) and The Sleeping Beauties of Gotham City (Batman 84)

A fifth book was released adapting the 1966 Batman movie.

Other books would follow, Marvel with Lancer Publishing the same year. Both comic companies would continue to release paperback reprints through the 1970s and into the 1980s with Tempo, Pocket, Tor and others.

Each foray is a curious venture offering previously hard to find books to fans as well as tapping markets maybe untouched before.

My mother was a Philatelist and I’m not ashamed to say so.

While there aren’t as many philatelists as in years past, there’s still a core group who will appreciate today. What is today? Today is National U.S. Postage Stamp Day.

The first postage stamp issued in the United States was on July 1, 1847. Prior to the stamp, a letter could be mailed without and paid for upon arrival. That changed in 1855 when stamps became mandatory.

The first two stamps issued featured likenesses of Benjamin Franklin and George Washington. Since then, stamps have been adorned with everything from flowers to works of art to, yes, even super heroes.

DC Comics heroes Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Flash, Plastic Man, Supergirl, and Hawkman were featured on a sheet of stamps issued July 20, 2006.

Marvel followed suit a year later, July 25, 2007, with Spider-Man, Hulk, Namor, Thing, Captain America, Silver Surfer, Spider-Woman, Elektra, Iron Man and Wolverine.

Both Scooby-Doo and Batman have a long history together and with Four Color Holidays.

It’s no secret I’m a huge fan of both. Combine ‘em and it’s like peanut butter and jelly. Like chocolate and peanut butter. Like bacon and peanut butter toast sandwiches.

Don’t judge.

As they have a history with me, they have a history with each other. A history that dates back to the early 1970s and The New Scooby-Doo Movies.

Hanna-Barbera paired the two in what may have been a demo outing seeing as the animation studio would debut The Super Friends less than a year later.

Their first outing, The Dynamic Scooby-Doo Affair, aired as the second episode of the series in 1972. They would team again the 15th episode, The Caped Crusader Caper.

Each episode featured Scooby, Mystery Inc., Batman and Robin. Their common foil, Joker and Penguin.

Batman: Brave the the Bold would pay homage to the team up nearly 40 years later with Bat-Mite Presents: Batman’s Strangest Cases! The episode aired April 1, 2011.

They would reunite in the direct-to-DVD Scooby-Doo! & Batman: The Brave and the Bold in 2018.

That was followed by What a Night for a Knight during the first season of Scooby-Doo and Guess Who? the following year.

And, that was just in animation.

Mystery Inc. would join the DCU(?) in November of 2013 with Scooby-Doo! Team-Up. The series ran 50 issues with Batman and Robin appearing in the first three.

The remainder of the run would feature various characters from DC and Warner Bros. including Ace the Bathound and Harley Quinn.

Most recently – and ongoing – are The Batman & Scooby-Doo Mysteries published in 12-issue cycles.

All this to celebrate National Take Your Dog to Work Day.

Much to Scooby’s chagrin, “What rog?” we’ve used him as our, ahem, spokesperson. But, it’s all for a good cause.

Each year, the Friday after Father’s Day, employees across the country are urged to celebrate with their canine and workplace friends. There is an ulterior motive however.

National Take Your Dog to Work Day is to be used as an inspiration to adopt these four-legged besties from shelters and human societies.

The day began in the United Kingdom in 1996 and was adopted in the United States by the Pet Sitters International in 1999.

What better way to commemorate and cement a relationship with a furry friend than bonding with some Scooby Snacks and reruns of the mutt of the hour.

Unless you’re me and have two incredibly handsome and fuzzy cats who spend more time on my lap than they do on their feet.

Like an excuse is needed for a pizza party, but just in case welcome to National Pizza Day.

We’ve visited this non-holiday on several occasions, usually with the X-Men, but have included those teen heroes in a half shell, too.

Pizza Hut has hosted the party each time and today is no different.

The Wichita, Kansas, native has plumbed the four color field often to entice us comic book fans to stop in for a slice. To date, this is the earliest cross promotion we’ve found.

In 1977 America’s largest pizza franchise partnered with DC Comics to offer six reprints featuring the big three from the Golden Age.

Batman, issues 122 and 123; Superman 97 and 113; and Wonder Woman 60 and 62 were reproduced almost exactly as they were when first published. The main differences being size and advertisements.

If anyone has any information on how these were obtained through Pizza Hut or how they were issued, please let us know.

First, take time out for a pie and some hero worship of your choice.

Happy Birthday, Batman here on what is officially Batman Day.

Gotta admit he’s still looking good as an octogenarian, but he’s had some help over the years.

Of course none as helpful as the men who made him. Maybe none as influential as co-creator and almost unknown father figure Bill Finger.

Long thought of as his soul creative source, Bob Kane had out-and-out lied to remain in the spotlight. When Superman first inaugurated the men in tights genre, DC Comics rushed to populate the field. Kane was offered a substantial financial reward for the creation of a follow up hero.

His initial offering more resembled Superman than Batman. Kane would admit privately Finger provided 50 to 75 percent of the Dark Knight’s finishing touches. He would also christen his alter ego as Bruce Wayne.

Finger would pen the first script for Detective Comics 27 as well as Batman issue one.

Conducting many of the early writing chores, Finger would be instrumental in the creation of the Joker, Penguin, Scarecrow,  Riddler and many other villains.

He was also a force behind Batman’s second-in-command, Robin. Finger gave life to the Boy Wonder allowing Batman someone to talk to rather than have panels cluttered with thought balloons.

Finger would die in obscurity, alone, in January 1974. He was last seen alive January 14 and his body found January 18. Finger died of a heart attack.

Efforts by his granddaughter and fans finally allowed Finger to receive the recognition he was denied in his lifetime.

In September 2015 DC Entertainment announced Finger’s name would join Kane’s on the film Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and the second season of Gotham. His first official recognition would come the following month on both Batman and Robin Eternal issue three and Batman: Arkham Knight Genesis three.

Happy birthday, Batman, and welcome to your much deserved day in the sun Bill Finger.

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.

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.