So whoever jumps in first, supply the queries and questions and we will follow with friendly input! Everybody join in! Cheers!
Tuesday, December 5, 2017
Follow the Leader #50: Holiday Heroes and Comics!
So whoever jumps in first, supply the queries and questions and we will follow with friendly input! Everybody join in! Cheers!
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14 comments:
I don't if this has already been done, but since "tis the season", what are some of your favorite holiday themed comics?
Some of mine are Marvel Team-Up #1 with Spider-Man and The Human Torch vs. Sandman at Christmas time.
And Brave & The Bold #148 with Batman and Plastic Man taking on the mob in Key West, FL. Which made me very happy when I was a kid, because growing up in Florida, I never experienced a white Christmas myself.
Good topic, I always dig out Christmas comic book stories every holiday season.
Marvel Team-Up #1 (or a reprint, to be more accurate) is an annual tradition. X-Men 143, featuring Kitty alone on Christmas Eve fighting a N'Garai. Spider-Man vs. Stegron vs. the Lizard in a frozen Central Park at Christmas is another favorite. The Treasury-sized Holiday Grab Bag also gets read every year.
I have a whole short box of holiday-themed comics, William's topic is a nice reminder that's it's time to bring that box down from the attic.
Mine was Spidey 130-131, with Aunt May marrying Doc Ock. Not only was it a winter story, but I have fond memories of walking home in the snow with it, 1974. :)
I was growing pretty sour on Uncanny X-Men by the time #230 rolled around, but I was happily surprised to find it was a very nice done-in-one Christmas issue.
In it Longshot is able to read the history of each item of stolen loot the Reavers gathered over the years, and by the end the X-Men are playing Santa returning treasured heirlooms to people around the world (it's more moving than I'm probably making it sound).
The X-Men had quite a few stories set during Christmas, which is interesting for continuity buffs who try to gauge their history in "real time". Off the top of my head, they recognized it in #98, 119, 143, 168, and of course 230 mentioned above. So that's at least 5 years of "Marvel time" covered (of course probably none of that means anything in this era of reboots, but there you go).
-david p.
I fondly recall Buying MTU 1 with my grandfather off the spinner. Not only is it a sentimental favorite but I really enjoyed the story and recall Sandman's escape down the bathroom sink. Love this question!
William, interesting you mention B&B 148; I'll be reviewing that on my blog sometime in late January; it's one I haven't read yet and you've got me looking forward to it now.
The first thing I thought of was DC Comics Presents #67, co-starring Superman and Santa Claus ... I think the villain was Toyman.
Mike - your last remark triggered my memory! Weren't there some DC 100-page giants that Santa on the cover? I can't research at work, lol, but I know I've read it many times!
Mike, that's pretty cool. I'll definitely have to check out your review.
BTW, I mentioned that part of B&B #148 takes place in Key West, FL but when I double checked (after I posted my comment of course) it is actually Conch Key, which is a few miles north of Key West. My bad. I was stationed in Key West for a couple of years when I was in the Coast Guard, and I used to drive back and forth from there to Fort Lauderdale at least once a month. So, I passed through Conch Key many times. (I never saw Batman or Plas though).
Definitely a fun topic! Like others among you, I break out a stack of Christmas comics each year (actually I do this with Halloween too).
One favorite is Marvel Two-in-one 8 with Thing and Ghost Rider. An odd story but a sentimental favorite.
Also like some of the Marvel and DC Holiday Specials, some nice short tales among them...
Good grief... Charlie is recalling Justice League 110, a 100-pager, that has a dead Santa Claus on the cover. "The Murder of Santa Claus 1973!"
Yeah, Charlie, JLA #110 was the only 100-pager I could find with a Santa cover. I did find a Batman 52-pager (issue #239) that also fits the bill.
From Terry in Virginia:
A few VERY DIFFERENT takes on the subject:
Okay, I had these two Batman issues when they came out during the very early days of the Bronze Age:
As Mike mentioned, Batman #239 had Denny O’Neil’s Christmas story, “Silent Night, Deadly Night,” with excellent art by Irv Novick and Dick Giordano, dated February 1972.
Just two years earlier, there was Batman #219, which featured Mike Friedrich’s “Silent Night of the Batman,” the first Batman story in that title to show off Neal Adams’ artwork.
I also had that JLA #110 that Charlie mentioned. I don’t have it anymore, but I think we can all safely assume that “The Murder of Santa Claus” didn’t involve the actual -- well, murder of Santa Claus….
For THAT, you need to see the 1991 classic, “Lobo’s Paramilitary Christmas Special.” Really. And while I generally have no problem with the “grim and gritty” era when this was published, I admit that the sick humor was a bit over the top -- and still pretty frackin’ funny!
And finally, on returning to the innocence of holiday comics intended for young children, consider one other gem in my collection: Comic Cavalcade #25 from 1948. The cover shows Santa Claus sick in bed with a cold, with Alan Scott Green Lantern, Jay Garrick Flash, and Wonder Woman making toys to help old Saint Nick out for Christmas. That title had several Christmas issues, as well as a couple of Thanksgiving and Halloween-themed covers during its long run throughout the Golden Age. I had two other from that title that I sold a couple years back, but I still have the 1948 Christmas issue.
Yeah, I think this topic came up at least once before back at the BAB, just because I remember commenting the book that always comes to mind when someone mentions a Christmas/holiday comic is Marvel Treasury Edition #13 - the Giant Superhero Holiday Grab-Bag (it's the one that was published in 1976, with the Thing dressed as Santa on the cover, sitting in sleigh being pulled by Hulk and Thor).
I just loved that book as a kid, and what I always remember most about it isn't the main stories reprinted in it, but the framing sequences between them, in which most of the main Marvel heroes are in Central Park and have a snowball fight among other things.
This is probably the most "Bronze-Age" Holiday comic I ever published on my website.
It's a Bat-Family Christmas Special starring Batman, Robin, and Batgirl vs. Joker, Riddler, and Catwoman. It was a lot of fun to do, and harkened me back to the classic days of superhero holiday comics.
http://www.billscomics.com/images/DC%20Comics/Bat%20Fam%20XMas%202015/BatFamXMas.html
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