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.

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.

December 13th: 12 days and counting…

I admit I do not have these but am intrigued at the selection. I can certainly understand the Flash, Batman, Superman and Robin, but I’m mystified by what appears to be Alfred in the lower left-hand corner of the box. Not that I’m taking anything away from Batman’s trusted compatriot.

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Let’s face it, Alfred has been the keeper of Batman’s secret as long as pretty much anybody. In addition, he’s been the Dark Knight’s doctor, confidant and voice of reason longer than anyone else.

Alfred Thaddeus Crane Pennyworth, originally Alfred Beagle, first appeared in Batman issue 16 in 1944. While Don Cameron and Bob Kane, writer and penciler respectively, are credited as the faithful butler’s parents, there is strong evidence to suggest Victor McLeod, Leslie Swabacker and Harry Fraser gave life to Alfred for the 1943 Batman serial. DC Comics asked the trio to take a back seat and allow Cameron to write the original Alfred story prior to the serial’s release.

This five-piece festive set is courtesy of Kurt Adler.

As early as 1200 the tradition of a tooth fee has been around.

With a heritage as lengthy as that, it’s only appropriate there be a National Tooth Fairy Day.

By today’s standards, children average four dollars a tooth. Only three percent of children find a dollar or less under their pillows and eight percent or more find a five-dollar bill.

Not a bad return on something they’re purging anyway.

Here the Teen Titans battle the Tooth Fairy while looking for their lost teeth.

As the big day – and big guy – approach, let’s celebrate some of what may soon be under the tree with Stupid Toy Day.

Hopefully your childhood was an endless parade of playthings. Just the right toy to make the day special whether it dates back to tin or plastic, wind up or battery operated or just imagination driven.

As early as 1840 Americans experienced the doll craze. Dolls became the first mass-produced toys in the country. Teddy Bears followed in the early 1900s. Barbie became a franchise then the All-American Hero, G.I. Joe. Trains, cars, boats, airplanes, rockets, whatever could be miniaturized and incorporated into young hands became a toy.

We all have those faithful favorites that brought smiles to our faces and took hours from the clock.

For me it was Mego’s Greatest Super Heroes and Kenner’s Star Wars line that closed out my childhood.

Whatever the toy, may the memories stay fresh and the smiles broad.

Batman wasn’t always a creature of the night.

In the 1950s and ‘60s he treaded the slippery slope of the Comics Code Authority, leaving the comfort of the shadows to step forward into the light.

Light has much bearing on today’s non-holiday, National Color Day.

Detective Comics (1937) 241

National Color Day was launched in 2009 by General Motors to hail its new Chevrolet. It’s been a part of the calendar since – even if we didn’t realize that.

Until today.

While initially a car campaign, National Color Day has become an opportunity for people to understand the significance of color. Hues often represent feelings and moods. Colors can bring us up or down.

Sir Isaac Newton started the ball rolling with the color wheel. His discovery of the spectrum of light allowed scholars to study color for the first time. Johann Wolfgang Goethe is credited with the advancement of color in the psychological aspect. Jule Duboscq invented the first colorimeter to measure wave lengths absorbed by a particle. Alfred Munsell invented the photometer to measure luminance.

Interesting color facts include: blue is the most popular, as voted by 40-percent of the world’s population.

Red is the first color an infant can see, maybe due to the fact it has the longest wavelength.

Pink is said to relieve anxiety and stress because it has a calming effect.

The color yellow can cause nausea, but green has a calming ability.

Batman pulled from a color palate resembling the rainbow for issue 241; from pink to orange to yellow to purple.

The caped crusader doffs his traditional grim garb for more dapper duds after Dick Grayson injures his arm rescuing a girl’s life. While saving the victim, the young ward sees the criminals faces and is eventually able to track them down with the help of Batman.

Readers learn at story’s end Batman chose his colorful costumes to draw attention away from Robin and to himself. His fear was people would see both Dick Grayson and Robin had hurt arms and make the connection.

The book contained two companion stories, The Man Who Couldn’t Touch the Ground and The Impossible Manhunt!

Open wide, the eyes that is, and enjoy the brilliance the day has to bring.

The DCU celebrated Halloween 2019 with a trade paperback of reprint material issued the previous two years entitled A Very DC Halloween.

The first half of the trade is pulled directly from DC House of Horror (2017).

Keith Giffen gives readers Bump in the Night with a retelling of Superman’s arrival on Earth. This time it doesn’t end well.

His next offering is a slasher tale featuring the ghost of Wonder Woman in Man’s World.

Another ghost story, Crazy for You, features Harley Quinn haunting a man into killing his wife.

The Last Laugh is more original as Giffen debates the yin and yang of vigilantism.

Blackest Day is a zombie apocalypse on Earth with plot by Giffen and script by Brian Keene.

Ronald Malfi scripts Giffen’s Stray Arrow with Green Arrow as a vigilante killer.

A Very DC Halloween (2019)

Two-Face is featured in Unmasked, a story by Giffen and Wrath James White.

Uttering Shazam takes the speaker to darker realms in The Possession of Billy Batson.

Swamp Thing stars in The Spread, as taken from Swamp Thing Halloween Horror Giant issue one. This Walmart exclusive was a 100-page special offered in 2018 with an original story followed by reprints from previous Halloween specials.

The remainder of this book is filled with stories from 2018’s Cursed Comics Cavalcade in the order they originally appeared, the first being Gorehound.

Batman saves the final girl who – spoiler – is really the killer.

Siren Song is a tale of myth and mystery starring Wonder Woman.

Alien zombies spoil Guy Gardner’s vacation in Life Sentence.

Demon Etrigan possesses a man a woman hires Jason Blood to find in Yellow Jack.

A ghost from the Phantom Zone haunts Lois and Clark in Strange Visitor.

The Monster in Me pits a doppelganger of Green Arrow against himself on a long, hot night.

Black Lightning and Katana get some love in Mercy Killing as they protect a young girl from a demon.

An unlikely pairing of Solomon Grundy and Robin share top billing in The Devil You Know. Professor Pyg threatens three runaway girls under the protection of Grundy.

Finally, Halloween Hayride is a simpler story showcasing Zatanna. The magic mistress plies her trade to stop an older brother from scaring his sister.

With this many stories to pick and choose from, there are plenty of tricks and treats.

For those about to embark upon the remainder of your lives, happy National Graduation Tassel Day.

May 17 is the day. Across the nation a parade of graduates will be commemorating today, or a day like this soon enough, taking their tassel and moving it right to left in a symbolic recognition of their academic achievements.

Those earning graduate degrees will mirror that motion, moving tassels from left to right.

We will symbolize the day with a three issue, mini series published July to August 2003, Titans/Young Justice: Graduation Day.

The trilogy was important for several reasons; not the least of which were the deaths of Donna Troy and Omen. It also meant the end of both title books allowing for new Teen Titans and Outsiders books to begin.

While never officially offered as a reason for cancellation, it’s long been rumored Young Justice was given the axe to make way for a new Teen Titans title to compliment the then new Teen Titans animated series on Cartoon Network.

Unlike the above-mentioned story, most graduations are a time of celebration. Nearly four-million high school seniors graduated last year. That same number are expected to graduate from college in the coming year.

About 66.2 percent of those high school students will attend college. The most popular college majors are Business, Health Professions, Social Sciences and History, Engineering, Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Psychology, Communication and Journalism, Visual and Performing Arts, Computer and Information Sciences and Education.

About 136,000 of those high school graduates will enlist in the armed forces.

The Titans began as the Teen Titans in 1964. Over time they changed team members and affiliations. Marv Wolfman and George Perez launched the uber popular The New Teen Titans in 1980 which became Team Titans then the Teen Titans again in 1996 followed by the Titans of this story arc.

The Titans returned in 2008 and were rechristened once more for the New 52 and five years later for DC Rebirth and are currently under the Infinite Frontier banner.

Young Justice was formed in 1998 with members Superboy, Robin and Impulse. They would be joined by Wonder Girl, Secret and Arrowette.

The title would be relaunched in 2011 in an unrelated series as a literary version of the animated show. The comic book would conclude with issue 25, a month before the cartoon ceased to air.

Sometimes life is puzzling enough, so here’s a day to celebrate our confusion.

National Puzzle Day was created in 2002 by Jodi Jill, no stranger to creating conundrums. Jill is a professional quiz and puzzle maker, offering her handiwork to classrooms.

Our representative is one of Batman’s colorful rogue’s gallery, The Riddler. Created by Bill Finger and Dick Sprang in 1948, Edward Nigma first appeared in Detective Comics (1937) 140.

Nigma delights in leaving puzzles and riddles prior to conducting his crimes to foil the Caped Crusader. The obsession usually leads to his capture.

During his early years in the waning days of the Golden Age, The Riddler was a straight up costumed criminal matching wits with Batman and Robin. His modus operandi continued into the Silver and Bronze ages until he would be updated for new breed of readers in modern times.

Detective Comics (1937) 140

Nigma would become more of a broker of information until his reformation following a blow to the head resulting in the Riddler falling into a coma. His new profession was that of a private consultant helping to solve a murder. He would later become a detective.

Another head trauma returned Nigma to his villainous ways just prior to The New 52. In both this reboot and DC Rebirth, the Riddler spends a good portion of his time in Arkham Asylum, until his eventual escape.

For long-time fans, the Riddler will forever be Frank Gorshin and his live-action antics on the 1966 Batman television series. The veteran actor received an Emmy nomination for his portrayal.

Cory Michael Smith was the living embodiment for the Gotham series airing 2014 to 2019.

The late Ted Knight voiced the Riddler in Filmation’s Saturday morning The Batman/Superman Hour. Michael Bell did the honors in Hanna-Barbera’s Challenge of the Super Friends as well as the 1980s version of Super Friends.

John Glover gave the character voice in Batman: The Animated Series, The New Batman Adventures, Superman: The Animated Series and Batman Beyond.

Freddy’s Robert Englund was the voice of the Riddler in 2005’s The Batman. John Michael Higgins did the honors during the Batman: Brave and the Bold run.

He was given life by Jim Carrey in Batman Forever in 1995. The big screen box office bomb is a forgettable appearance.

What to do for National Puzzle Day shouldn’t be as, well, puzzling. Catch up with a crossword in the local paper, find a digital dilemma online or just read up on the green-clad cad with the penchant for puzzles.

Continuing with the celebration of International Hoof Care Week, we introduce Bat-Cow, one of Grant Morrison’s more bizarre re-creations.

And, that’s saying something.

Batman Incorporated (2012) 1

She was originally featured as part of the Tiny Titans’ Pet Club and the Just Us Cows. An ordinary cow, she stole a cowl from the Bat Cave. Thus, she began her career as Bat-Cow.

Bat-Cow’s in-continuity debut was Batman Incorporated (2012) issue one. While the updated Dynamic Duo trailed Professor Pyg, they found the soon-to-be bovine bat-family member. Believing the beast to be tainted with a mind-altering toxin, Batman took it back to the Bat Cave for testing.

Robin, Damian Wayne, took a liking to the animal and made it a pet. She now lives on the Wayne estate in a barn.

Bat-Cow has no super powers, but is distinguished by a bat-shaped patch on her face and star-shaped brand on her side. Her nick name is the Battlin’ Bovine.

Dairy cattle spend much of their life standing. They require special treatment so they do not become lame or experience sore feet, foot rot or toe injuries. Those who specialize in the care of hooves are known as farriers. They care for hooves by trimming them and putting shoes on them, if necessary.

The American Farriers Journal began hosting its annual International Hoof-Care Summit in 2003. The American Journal also founded National Farriers Week, held the second week in July.

International Hoof Care Week is held the third Tuesday in January, running through Friday.

To celebrate, read more about Batman’s bovine buddy in Tiny Titans issues 17, 21, 23, 28, 38, 40, 43, 45, 48 and 50; Batman Incorporated (2012) 1, 3, 6, 7, 9 and 13; Robin Son of Batman 1, 9 and 10; and Batman and Robin 35 and 40.