Does anyone really eat candy canes.

Apparently so. Candy canes are the number one selling, non-chocolate candy in December. One point seventy-six billion are manufactured annually with 90-percent of them sold between Thanksgiving and Christmas.

The bulk of those are sold the second week of December.

Now, how many are eaten and how many are used for decoration is debatable.

Originally, candy canes – or their fore runners – were created to silence choir boys.

The choirmaster of the Cologne Cathedral in Germany would dispense the confectionary treats during the Living Crèche Ceremony. The tradition that began in 1670 migrated to the United States with August Imgard of German and Swedish descent in 1847. Wooster, OH, had the honor of of hosting the occasion.

The red stripes and peppermint flavoring were added at the turn of the 20th century.

Today Catwoman sports her Jim Lee designed costume that debuted in the Hush story arc complete with candy cane.

December 17th: Eight days and counting…

Yes, we just had Catwoman ready for the tree a couple days ago, but this is The New Batman Adventures Catwoman.

And, a new addition to my super hero tree.

Complete with makeover for the new series that ran on Kids‘ WB from Sept. 13, 1997 to Jan. 16, 1999. TNBA was the successor to Batman the Animated Series which had just finished its 1992-95 run.

The New Batman Adventures were streamlined to easier facilitate animation and mimic Superman: the Animated Series which began airing a year earlier. In 1996 through 2000 the two partnered for become The New Batman/Superman Adventures.

While the series was curtailed before the new millennium, it did serve as a template for the 2001 and 2003 video games, Batman: Vengeance and Batman: Rise of Sin Tzu, respectively.

Catwoman was revamped with an all-black bodysuit similar to the one to be used in Batman Returns. Most of the other rogues gallery received an upgrade as well.

Appropriately enough, the new series kicked off with Holiday Knights, three holiday-themed vignettes beginning December 22 with Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy, followed by Batgirl and a straight out brawler between Batman and Robin and the Joker on New Year’s Eve.

December 15th: 10 Days and counting…

Still looking good for her age, Catwoman – aka Selina Kyle – debuted in Batman issue one of 1940. She was granted some time off between 1954 and 1966 when the Comics Code Authority was enacted. These issues involved the rules regarding the development and portrayal of female characters that were in violation of the Comics Code.

Since her revival, Catwoman has been portrayed in all media, most notably by Lee Meriwether in the 1966 Batman movie, followed by Michelle Pfeiffer in Batman Returns in 1992, Halle Berry in Catwoman in 2004, Anne Hathaway in The Dark Knight Rises of 2012 and Zoe Kravitz in the 2022 version of The Batman. Julie Newmar and Eartha Kitt also embodied the femme fatale for the late 1960s Batman television series. Camren Bicondova and Lili Simmons adopted the role for Gotham.

Her brief bio is offered on the back of the 2012 Hallmark box: “Since a troubled childhood left her to fend for herself, Salina Kyle has taken to the streets, adopting the purr-fect guise for a skilled cat burglar. Stalking slyly through the night, the feline felon known a Catwoman leaps through Gotham City with acrobatic grace, robbing from its citizens and playing a dangerously seductive cat-and-mouse game with Batman. And he’d better be on his toes because this kitten’s got claws…and a whip!”

A festive crossover to celebrate the opening of Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker in USA theaters. Artwork by Abraham Lopez (aka ArtistAbe).

Forget resolutions – embrace the revolution.  Poison Ivy, Harley Quinn, and Catwoman bring in the New Year in Batman: Li’l Gotham (2012) #4, a digital-only effort later reprinted in Batman: Li’l Gotham (2013) #2 and Batman: Li’l Gotham TPB Volume 1.  Artwork by Dustin Nguyen, written by Nguyen and Derek Fridolfs.