Saturday, December 24, 2011

Christmas Comics on RetroBlogs!

Over the past week, the RetroBlogs™ have presented a slew of classic Yuletide-themed tales...





To wind-up the series, on Christmas Day, Secret Sanctum of Captain Video™ will present a long-unseen, never-reprinted, Xmas story from the first comic book based on a TV series based on a line of toys!
Which one?
You'll have to visit it on Christmas Day to find out!

Friday, December 23, 2011

Sometimes Truth, Justice, and The American Way DO Triumph!

Now THIS is the guy we elected...
...faster than a filibuster, more powerful than the Speaker of the House, able to leap tall Tea Partyers at a single bound...

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Holiday Reading Room: ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND "Man Who Didn't Believe in Christmas"

I'm not sure what to make of this story.
It's "A Christmas Carol", yet it's not!
Weird, eh?
This story appeared in Adventures in Wonderland #5 (1956), the Christmas issue, and both writer and artist are unknown.
The editor/publisher was Lev Gleason, who had also published a number of classic comic series including Crime Does Not Pay, DareDevil Comics, and Silver Streak Comics.
However, this was at the tail end of his career, and being constrained by the newly-implemented Comics Code Authority apparently didn't sit well with him.
Perhaps this tale was his commentary on the sort of material the Code was limiting him to?

Holiday Reading Room: ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND "Man Who Didn't Believe in Christmas"

I'm not sure what to make of this story.
It's "A Christmas Carol", yet it's not!
Weird, eh?
This story appeared in Adventures in Wonderland #5 (1956), the Christmas issue, and both writer and artist are unknown.
The editor/publisher was Lev Gleason, who had also published a number of classic comic series including Crime Does Not Pay, DareDevil Comics, and Silver Streak Comics.
However, this was at the tail end of his career, and being constrained by the newly-implemented Comics Code Authority apparently didn't sit well with him.
Perhaps this tale was his commentary on the sort of material the Code was limiting him to?

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Holiday Reading Room: SANTA CLAUS FUNNIES "Santa in Wonderland" Conclusion

The night before Christmas Eve, Santa was disturbed when a little girl named Alice appeared at his door and pleaded for him to "bring Christmas to Wonderland".
The blonde girl lead Santa to the rabbit hole/entrance and showed him mushrooms that reduced both of them in size.
Once in Wonderland, Santa encountered inhabitants including the Mock Turtle and the White Rabbit, who shrank while using a white fan which Claus inadvertently also uses...
This story originally appeared in Santa Claus Funnies #2 (1943)
It was reprinted in a stand-alone giveaway comic in 1951 to capitalize on the release of the Disney animated film based on the Lewis Carroll story!
Oddly enough, the reprint's new cover art shows Alice rendered with the same hairstyle and blue dress as the movie version, rather than the hairstyle and violet dress shown in the comic story.

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Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Holiday Reading Room: SANTA CLAUS FUNNIES "Santa in Wonderland" Part 1

Now HERE'S a crossover team-up you never thought you'd see...
...as Santa Claus meets Lewis Carroll's Alice and travels to Wonderland!
What does Santa find?
You'll have to come back tomorrow to find out!

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Monday, December 19, 2011

Holiday Reading Room: TREASURE CHEST "A Christmas Carol"

There have been numerous comic adaptations of this Dickens classic tale...
...but this version is probably the shortest I've ever seen!
The Treasure Chest of Fun and Fact was a comic published bi-weekly during the school year (September thru June) and distributed to Catholic churches and schools from 1946 to 1966, featuring wholesome stories about historical, scientific, and sports subjects, adaptations of famous fictional works, and a number of original series.
Many well-known Golden and Silver Age creators contributed work to the title including Joe Sinnott, Reed Crandall, Jim Mooney, Graham Ingels, Bernard Bailey, Bob Powell, Fran Matera, and Frank Borth,
It became a year-round bi-weekly from 1966 to 1968, reverting to school-year only until it's cancellation in 1972.
This adaptation appeared in Vol 2 #9 (Dec. 24, 1946).
I believe the artist is Mabel Olsen, whose signature is visible in the next-to-last panel of the last page.
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Sunday, December 18, 2011

Holiday Reading Room: SANTA CLAUS FUNNIES "Night Before Christmas"

There have been numerous graphic adaptations of this classic tale by Clement Clarke Moore.
This version is one of the earliest, from Four Color Comics #61 (1944).
Story taken verbatim from the original, art by Arthur E. Jameson.

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