CHRISTMAS COMICS: Superman by Alex Ross / Paul Dini

A beautiful painted spread of Superman delivering the Christmas tree to start off the festive season in Metropolis. This is from Superman: Peace on Earth by Alex Ross and Alex Dini, released in 1998. Have a great Christmas!

CHRISTMAS COMICS: Valiant and the Christmas Truce 1914

Here's all the best for Christmas!

A great Valiant and Lion cover from December 1974 portraying the wartime Christmas truce of 1914.

I'm not sure who drew this. As ever with British comics, no credits were given. If I was guessing, I'd say Mike Western.

Have a great Christmas!

CHRISTMAS COMICS: Calvin and Hobbes by Bill Watterson

Have a great Christmas, everyone!

CHRISTMAS COMICS: The Smurfs Christmas

There was a grown man on the bus yesterday reading The Smurfs Christmas. You know it was me. 

I never read any Smurfs as a kid. In the 1980s there were animated cartoons that a lot of people knew about, and more recently movies.

The comics themselves by Peyo are very well drawn, and actually have some relatively spiky humour.

Have a great Christmas!

CHRISTMAS COMICS: Flash Gordon

 

This edition has Flash decide to introduce Christmas to his alien buddies, however they already have their own versions!

Jungle Bells by Dan McCoy, Joseph Cooper, Omi Remalante, and Simon Bowland.

Have a great Christmas, everyone!

NEVER IRON ANYTHING: The Christmas Episode

 

It was great to talk about an old favourite comic of mine with Tony Esmond, "Christmas with the Super-Heroes" from 1988.

Have a listen to the podcast here.

CHRISTMAS COMICS: Archie's Classic Christmas Stories Volume 1

This is the cover to a really nice collection from 2002.

One story features Archie on an out of control reindeer sleigh!

It's a fun read. Pick it up if you come across it.

Have a great Christmas!

CHRISTMAS COMICS: Patty Cake / That Comic Smell

Patty Cake by Scott Roberts is one of the best comics of the 1990s and 2000s. This Christmas special issue is a prime example of why it is so good. Full of heart, good humour, and terrific art.

Part of the story is Patty Cake's instant and passionate desire for a new toy she spots in a catalogue:

Offsetting that is her Dad's plan to make her a gift...

The comic follows both of them obsessing over their respective wishes, leading up to Christmas Day. It's a great comic, and rereading it is always a treat.

The latest edition of That Comic Smell podcast is a Christmas comics discussion, and I bring up this very comic. Have a listen on iTunes, Soundcloud, and YouTube.

From the web:
"HO! HO! HO! Welcome all. In this bumper Christmas special the folks sit down to Christmas Dinner. Grab that chair and get stuck in with us. After stuffing your face (much like we did) jump in to hear what some kids asked the podcast. Yes, children actually asked us questions. Who’d have thought it, eh?
We also get even more festive. Each of us bring along a Christmas comic to show off and discuss.
This and all the usual comics chat on the only comics podcast to be on Santa’s Nice, Naughty and very indifferent list…
That Comic Smell!"

CHRISTMAS COMICS: Spider-Man Annual

What a difficult time Christmas 1979 was for Martha Connors. It was all going so well, getting ready for Christmas with her husband Curt and son Billy. In these pages she explains her predicament to Spider-Man...

I read this in the 1980 Spider-Man UK Annual. Two issues (# 165, 166) of the US comics originally published in 1977, and here presented together. No credits are given in the UK edition, but a bit of digging has told me that Len Wein wrote both parts, with Ross Andru drawing the first, and John Romita the second.

This is a great Lizard versus Stegron Christmas story. I read it over and over as a kid and am still very fond of it.

Merry Christmas!

CHRISTMAS COMICS: Superman

Here's a bit of Super reminiscing:

From Superman #369, written by Cary Bates, art by Rich Buckler and Frank McLaughlin, March 1982.

CHRISTMAS COMICS: Star Wars

Here's a Christmas classic from 1983.

It's painted by Bob Wakelin, who also gave us Spider-Man and Santa here.

CHRISTMAS COMICS: DAREDEVIL

One thing you don’t want to do if you’re in New York in a 1980s Daredevil comic is dress up as Santa Claus to raise money for charity.

Daredevil is Matt Murdock - a blind man with radar; like a bat. He is therefore able to do gymnastics and fight with supervillains and stop bank robberies. His most ridiculous power is that his sense of touch is so sensitive that he can read newspapers by feeling the ink. Isn’t that great?

I like Daredevil. I first read him when he was into his stint by Frank Miller. Miller wrote and drew Daredevil in a gritty nasty fashion.

One of the most celebrated storylines of the 80s finds Murdock the victim of The Kingpin Wilson Fisk, who has had Murdock be disgraced and lose his job; blown up his house, and then tried to kill him.

It’s all taking place at Christmas!

This comic had ads for M&Ms and MASK toys. And fabulous art by David Mazzucchelli.

Miller was a very influential and popular writer and when he left Daredevil his were a difficult pair of shoes to fill. Ann Nocenti stepped in and did a great job. Her writing has characters who are rather philosophical, always thinking through the rights and wrongs of what they're doing and what’s going on around them. I’d previously read her on the Star Wars and Longshot comics and enjoyed those.

In this story, Daredevil encourages a group of kids to do the right thing, only to have a twist at the end anyway...

As you can see, Todd McFarlane is starting to get work at Marvel Comics here. We were quietly entering the next phase of superhero comics. From Mazzucchelli to McFarlane in less than a year.

McFarlane moved on to The Hulk as a regular gig, and stepping in to Daredevil was John Romita Jr. 

Picking up the story as charity street Santa is being robbed…

Inking there by the tremendous Al Williamson. The comics look great, and are still continuing with Nocenti’s moral philosophising.

As with all superhero comics, Daredevil appeared in titles other than his own. He’s in the first issue of Marvel Fanfare – a title with glossy paper throughout. Here’s the opening to a story by Roger McKenzie and Paul Smith…

Merry Christmas!