So, today we will check out some festive covers. Now, the insides may not have anything to do with the cover content- we are only talking visuals today, not the stories. And, we may venture a bit earlier (and later) than our Bronze Age parameters would normally allow, but after all, 'tis the season'.
Christmas covers could be a genre all to themselves. It would be difficult to find many titles over the years that, at some point, had not featured at least one holiday-themed cover. From the Golden Age to today's books, holiday covers are one thing that has remained a constant throughout comics history. And as they are so plentiful, we will not even attempt a comprehensive review of them. Rather, I'll present a few of my favorites, with a few comments:
Sugar and Spike 25: The great Sheldon Mayer devoted the covers to his beloved "Sugar and Spike" to holidays very frequently. This one perfectly captures the charm and innocence of Christmas for tots, which of course we all once were.
Amazing Spider-Man 166: What says 'festive' more than Stegron, the Lizard and Spidey framed by holly boughs? And, it's Romita. Nuff' said.
Marvel Two-in-One 8: Just emblematic of Bronze Age lunacy- the skull cycle roaring down on the denizens of ancient Judea.
Batman 239: Neal Adams gives us a visual gift here, full of sentimentality and melodrama. We even get Batman with a beard. All that's missing is Jimmy Stewart.
Archie: A company and a character with an extensive list of holiday cover. Indeed, each year there were several specific Christmas books published. And the covers were bright, joyful and celebratory; I always loved the traditional style typeface they used for "Christmas", and the frequent use of decorative borders. Look at the colors on the "Betty and Veronica" cover- like a newsprint candy cane...
The Spirit 12: Even though the cover was assembled from panels taken from the interior stories, it still shows Will Eisner at his masterful best. Nobody could tell a story through pictures better, holiday or otherwise.
Donald Duck: Carl Barks is another master at illustration and storytelling. Here his Donald (and nephews) joyfully show the spirit of the season. There are as many striking Disney holiday covers as there are Archie; perhaps more.
Hot Wheels 6: Adams again, with an incredibly dramatic black background, effectively highlighting the Poinsettia Red logo and sleigh. Yes, it's rather odd to see Santa barrelling down on an injured skier. Great composition, though...
Marvel Treasury Special 1974: A personal sentimental fave. It looked like, and was, an ideal Christmas gift from Marvel to their readers.
Superman, vol.2, 165: Absolutely love this cover. Ed McGuinness and Cam Smith imagine a wonderful nod to Lois, Clark and the JLA. Also love the somewhat Bruce Timm rendering style. Oh,and I want those ornaments.
Batman 309: Jim Aparo give us Bats in wintry peril, framed in holly and bells. I'm a sucker for decorative edging.
Richie Rich 8: Here you go, Edo! From the red -and-green logo to the jeweled tree, this is a holiday cover defined. Simple, brightly colored, festive, and lightly humorous. Wonderful.
Christmas With the Super-Heroes 1: Ah, now we get John Byrne's take on the season. And it's a good one. Fabulous wraparound cover; the boots on the mantle are a witty touch. Nice attention to each character's personality here, check out Batman analyzing his gift.
Well, I'm certainly in the spirit now. These covers were, and are, a part of the whole holiday experience for me. Their design, coloration, sentiment, and humor highlight some of the most memorable facets of the holidays, and are the elements that make these covers tree-toppers in my opinion. Now let's consider what it takes to make a favorite holiday cover from your viewpoint- surely there must be more than the inclusion of Old St. Nicholas somewhere...what are your favorites, and why?
9 comments:
Man, Richie Rich. He'll haunt me to my grave...
Anyway, that's a nice selection of covers, Redartz. My personal favorites among them are the Hot Wheels cover (yeah, it's not very festive but it's just a very nicely composed image), the Spirit magazine cover (you can never go wrong with Eisner), Donald Duck (similarly, you can't go wrong with Barks), Marvel 2-in-1 (mainly because I can't separate it from the story, which was so off-the-wall and comical at places) and Christmas with the Super-heroes. I also like the cover to the second Christmas with the Super-Heroes as well. It's like a super-hero office party photo.
Other personal favorites include Marvel's second Holiday Grab-bag, which I like better than the first one not just because I had it, but because I think it's a better image. I like the sleigh motif with the Thing as Santa.
The cover to Brave and the Bold #148 might not be to everyone's taste, but I like the combination of bare-knuckled super-hero action and Christmas decorations.
And finally, there's the memorable cover to X-men #143, which is more like a Halloween cover, but it's just so well done - top-notch work by Terry Austin.
Snow always makes a cover look festive even if it's not actually a Christmas cover. For me the standout cover here is the 1974 Giant Superhero Holiday Grab Bag. I discovered Marvel comics in November 1974 thanks to Marvel UK's Planet Of The Apes weekly and those early issues had ads for the Grab Bag on the back cover because Christmas was approaching - but because I was a brand new reader of Marvel I didn't know who any of the characters on the Grab Bag cover were. I was especially fascinated by the orange creature who seemed to be made of stones. So that cover always takes me back to the dawn of my lifelong relationship with Marvel when everything was new and waiting to be discovered :)
The Grab Bag for me! I got it one Christmas and read it over an over. I usually got comics rolled up in my stocking. Those books always held a special place for me. I can remember my mom telling my brother and I to stop reading and finish opening presents!
Nice topic. I've always loved the Christmas / Holiday themed issues of comics.
My favorite Christmas comic is probably Brave and the Bold #148, with Batman and Plastic Man. I vividly remember reading it as a kid. I think I especially like it because Bats and Plas eventually end up in Florida at Christmastime (which is my home state, and where I grew up) and I thought that was pretty cool when I was a kid, because you almost never saw anything Christmas related set in Florida. I always felt kind of left out growing up because every single thing to do with Christmas always featured snow snow and more snow, and I never had that experience. So it was nice to have a holiday comic I could relate to a little more.
I do a Holiday Special comic (or two) every year for my website BillsComics.com http://www.billscomics.com/ . This year I did a couple of them. The first one (that I already have posted) is an homage to Brave And The Bold #148 where I have Batman and Plastic Man teaming up for a crime-fighting adventure on Christmas Eve. And I also just finished a Spider-Man and X-Men Holiday comic that I am going to post sometime this weekend.
For what's featured above, I love that cover to Spider-Man #166. I remember buying that comic at a convenience store called the "Magik Mart" when I was about 11 years old.
And I still have that Treasury Edition Holiday Grab Bag comic. A big favorite of mine as well. It includes a reprint of DD #7 where he fights the Sub-Mariner. Always loved that story. The book also features the first major clash between The Thing and The Hulk from FF #25-26. Such awesome stuff.
There seems to be a lot of love for the Holiday Grab Bag Treasury Editions, and justifiably so! That book had such a strong group of stories inside. William mentioned a couple of them, another biggie was the Spidey/Torch teamup from MTU #1. A great collection;that's one book I'd like to reacquire.
William- thanks for sharing about your Florida Christmas, and your website. One can see why that comic was particularly special to you. Funny how Christmas has gotten so associated with frosty weather, when much of the world celebrates it under warm, balmy skies...
For me, Xmas covers sometimes seem a bit ... overdone. In fact, the first one that came to mind was Spectacular Spidey #112. I'd say it's kind of minimalist :)
Mike Wilson
I remember 2 Batman and the Outsiders covers from its first two years, probably 1983 and 84. Both covers by the late great Jim Aparo. One cover featured Superman. Good stories too. Merry Christmas to all Bronze Age fans
I would buy that Hot Wheels comic based on the cover alone.
I too liked the grab bag issues very much, but my memories are all tied to the Archies and Richie Rich books. I clearly remember reading those holiday specials along with Dennis the Menace.
Regular Christmas stories were a hoot when they showed up on the stands. I personally though always loved the larger tabloids with the stories all gathered up, fell more like a present really. DC had those Rudolph tabloids and they were great. Favorite Christmas cover is this one:
http://www.comics.org/issue/29395/cover/4/
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