As the first Monday of November, today is Color the World Orange Day.

Harley Quinn/Gossamer (2018)

Today is a day set aside to educate the populace on an illness still poorly misunderstood. Today is a day to better understand Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, also classified as Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD), a rare ailment that targets society’s middle-aged members.

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome is a neurological discomfort that includes heightened nerve impulses in a specific body site. Medical specialists speculate the condition is a result of a dysfunction in the central nervous system. An injury to the leg or hand can also bring on the syndrome. A triggering of the immune response can cause injury-related CRPS, which may lead to symptoms such as redness and swelling in the affected area.

The first known situation was documented in 1812 by a British surgeon who published a case report of a soldier wounded by a bullet in his upper arm.

Commemorating the day is Warner Bros. Looney Tunes’ hulking orange monster: Gossamer.

Gossamer debuted in the 1946 animated short, Hair-Raising Hare. Created by Chuck Jones, the legendary Mel Blanc voiced the mainly silent, shaggy monster.

He returned in 1952’s Water, Water Every Hare, reprising his henchman role. Gossamer had along layoff not appearing until 1980 in Duck Dodger’s and the Return of the 24½ Century. It also marked the introduction of his name.

Gossamer would next appear in 1996’s feature film Space Jam.

Harley Quinn/Gossamer (2018)

In A Hairy Predicament! Gossamer is found washed up on the beach following Hurricane Randy. Harley’s fondness for all things fuzzy moves Gossamer in with her menagerie of misfits.

An attack by an oversized robot leads Harley to believe the Joker has made another attempt on her wellbeing. Visits to the Scarecrow, Penguin and Mr. Freeze finally lead her to the Joker’s lair where the Prince of Pranks has Batman in another death trap.

A second attack by a mammoth mechanical manbot frees the Caped Crusader, disposes of the Joker and leads Harley and Gossamer to the real threat: his creator, the mad scientist introduced in Hair-Raising Hair and returned to reprise his role in Water, Water Every Hare.

Harley Quinn/Gossamer (2018)

A shared meal and ride home bring the story to a close with a very special guest star.

Writer Sholly Fisch seals the book with a flourish to the animated shorts from the Golden Age of both comic books and Looney Tunes in Monster Crush.

With a nod to the lighthearted mascot of the day, the more important aspect is CPRS has no cure. Correct medication and counseling help, but with some patients’ symptoms can last for years and even worsen.

To commemorate the day, wear orange, learn more about the ailment and donate for continued research.

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.

The Saturday Evening Post – not

DC Comic’s latest tome of terror compliments the undressing trees, bite in the air and darkness that descends earlier.

The Swamp Thing Halloween Horror features 100 pages of retold Halloween stories culled from previous specials and stand-alone ongoing series. Mostly. The first story is an original from scribe Brian Azzarello and penciler Greg Capullo entitled “Hollow.” This Halloween there are more to fear than just snakes and alligators.

Dan Didio’s “The Pumpkin Sinister” is the first of three stories lifted from The DC Infinite Halloween Special (2007).  Blue Devil and Enchantress become honorary members of the Peanut’s gang in the homage to Linus’ obsession with the Great Pumpkin.

Swamp Thing Halloween Horror

The second of the lifts from the 2007 special is “Taert Ro Kcirt.” Paul Dini turns more than the letters around with Zatana. A happy Halloween is spoiled for trick or treaters causing the mistress of magic to reverse roles.

“Strange Cargo” is the final retread from 2007. Poison Ivy spins a yarn of Superman v. Zombies.

“The Ballad of Jonathan Crane” is a reboot of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow with the Scarecrow playing himself – or, his alter ego. This one was pulled from the DC Halloween Special (2008).

Aquaman and Etrigan the Demon form an unlikely alliance in “Night Gods.” Together they tackle a Cthulhu clone and his army of darkness called forth from those claimed by the sea throughout the millennia. The story originally appeared in The Brave and the Bold (2007).

Batman (1940) 237 is an October favorite appearing in other specials. In the late 1960s and early 1970s Rutherford, VT, was a destination for comic book creators and fans during Halloween. Eventually the annual parade became peppered with floats and costumes representing both Marvel and DC’s stable of colorful heroes and villains. “Night of the Reaper” immortalizes some of the magic as a backdrop for murder and the Holocaust remembered.

Finally, Swamp Thing returns in this reprint from House of Secrets 92 featuring his muck-covered origin.

The special is an exclusive offered through Wal-Mart as part of the department store’s team up with DC.