Saturday, December 17, 2011

Santa Claus aka St. Nick aka Kris Kringle aka Father Christmas

DID YOU KNOW...the image of Santa Claus, as we Americans know it, is based on the work of two artists over 70 years apart?
1) Thomas Nast, who illustrated the first published version of Clement Clark Moore's The Night Before Christmas in the 1860s
and
2) Haddon Sundblom, who took Nast's visual concepts, refined them, and used them to illustrate Coca-Cola's Christmas advertising campaigns from the 1930s onward!
TRIVIA:
Both Nast and Sundblom are equally famous for their other artistic accomplishments...
Nast was primarily a political cartoonist, whose illustrations of New York's "Boss" Tweed were considered the main reason the corrupt politician was forced from office!
Sundblom also created the image of the Quaker Oats man, and was a noted pin-up girl artist! (In fact, his last published artwork was a pin up girl semi-dressed in a Santa outfit for Playboy's December, 1972 cover!)


We at Atomic Kommie Comics™ offer a dozen different renderings of 'ol Kris Kringle which follow in the visual tradition of Nast and Sundblom, on a host of Cool Christmas™ collectibles ranging from tree ornaments to hot cocoa mugs to snugglies, sweatshirts and hoodies for kids and adults!
While they range from paintings to comic book cover art, they all feature the "classic" image of Santa known to Baby Boomers, Gen Xers, and Millennials!
So give your "special someone", whether they're a spouse, lover, friend, or relative, a warm feeling this Christmas with a kool kollectible featuring the personification of the Christmas Spirit--Santa Claus!

Friday, December 16, 2011

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

While I idolize Basil Rathbone as Sherlock Holmes, I'm looking forward to seeing this flick...
 ...this weekend, after which, I'll be dining on fish and chips, stilton cheese fritters, and Guinness Extra Stout at a British-style pub!
For those who are into these (like me), HERE'S the Official Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows Downloads Page with desktop/laptop, iPhone/iPod, iPad wallpapers PLUS icons!
Enjoy!
Support Small Business this Christmas!

Thursday, December 15, 2011

Joe Simon (1913-2011)

One of the most important figures of comics' Golden Age, both solo and in tandem with Jack Kirby.
Writer/Illustrator/Editor
Check out his personal website HERE.

Wednesday, December 14, 2011

YouTube Wednesday: A CHRISTMAS CAROL

The Definitive Animated version...
...starring Alistair Sim as the Voice of Scrooge!
It won both the Oscar and Emmy for best animated short subject...

AND...IT'S NOT AVAILABLE ON DVD or BLU-RAY!
Support Small Business this Christmas!

Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Holiday Reading Room: "Christmas in Many Lands"

Here's a kool illustrated text feature about...
...which appeared in Four Color Comics (Santa Claus Funnies) #205 (1948), illustrated by Arthur E. Jameson.

Support Small Business this Christmas
Visit the


Cool Christmas
Collectibles Shop

Monday, December 12, 2011

Tibet--Birthplace of Lost Heroes, in a NEW museum exhibit!

Super heroes and Himalayan monasteries seem to go hand-in-hand.
In the Golden Age, next to exposure to something radioactive, being raised from childhood or trained after you crash-landed as an adult by Tibetan lamas was the primary factor in the creation of superheroes (and more than a few supervillains)!
For more than sixty years Tibet has figured in comic books from around the world, at times creating and at times perpetuating notions of an otherworldly land roamed by the yeti, inhabited by wise and powerful lamas, or full of dark magic.
Characters as diverse as Mickey Mouse, the historical Buddha, Tomb Raider Lara Croft, Amazing-Man, The Flame, Wonder Man, and The Green Lama have either been trained or had major storylines set in that remote land.
The exhibition Hero, Villain, Yeti, currently running at New York's Rubin Museum of Art features the most complete collection of comics related to Tibet ever assembled, with examples ranging from the 1940s to the present.
More than fifty comic books from the Belgium, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, and the United States reflect on the depiction of Tibet, tracing the historical roots of prevailing perceptions and stereotypes and their visual and narrative evolution over time.
Tibet—both real and imagined—appears across comic book genres, including fantasy comics about superheroes and villains, mythical creatures, and the search for mysterious lands, people, and objects; biographies of holy figures like the Dalai Lama and the Buddha; political comics; and educational comics.
Visitors are invited to read dozens of original comic books—a number of which have been translated into English for the first time—at a reading station in the exhibition.
And, on Friday, January 13th, 2012, there will be a multi-media presentation of a new production based on one of the Green Lama's comic book stories!
The Rubin Museum is at 150 E 17th Street, between 6th & 7th Avenues.
We at Atomic Kommie Comics™ would suggest, if you go, go clad in appropriate garb like a t-shirt or sweatshirt or a canvas tote bag from our Lost Heroes of the Golden Age of Comics™ collection...
or the classic comic characters' kool retro logos on

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Design of the Week--Santa Daddy!

Talk about the Gift That Keeps On Giving...
Each week, we post a limited-edition design, to be sold for exactly 7 days, then replaced with another!
This week...while Kris Kringle is known for leaving gifts for little boys and girls, he's not noted for leaving behind little boys and girls!
Or is he?
Or...is he the kids' father in mufti as Santa (as many of our fathers and uncles have done), and the kids see through the disguise?
Available on pajamas, throw blankets, snugglies, mugs and other kool kollectibles HERE!