Before I start blogging, proper... as usual... we start with a few notes. I should refer to this section as being a spiritual successor to "Stan's Soapbox", except it is NOWHERE near as potentially spiritually enriching. Or at the very least, nowhere near as shilling in nature. This is more like a shuffling off of topics in my general life and/or fandom with comics before the ACTUAL subject matter. So, lemme clear my throat...
- My new job started, this week. The new place I work for, contract-based work that it is, is VERY comfortable. I still have much to learn about the job, along with my actual tasks, but for the work I do at the moment, it IS a case of learning to "crawl" before I "run".
- Life couldn't resist throwing me a curveball, regardless of this new station in life, by smacking my immune system in the face with a case of the flu for the first half of this week, involving one day where I had to miss work to spend time recovering. As my lady Alanis would say, "Isn't it ironic, don't you think?".
- Christmas shopping is NEARLY done for me, at least. My bank account is whimpering more than a current comics fan finding out about ANOTHER major comics event dawning on the horizon, but at least I won't have to commit much more finances to the "spirit of Christmas". I admit to not being as much of a "Grinch" for the season, but there's a splinter of my cynicism that wonders if that same "spirit" is more akin to a "vampire" of Christmas.
- Finally, I refer all readers to this blog to my 100th post for the still ongoing anniversary quiz contest. I've not seen any entries trickle into my email account JUST YET, but you readers still have until Martin Luther King Jr. Day in January to send in your answers and entries! Please don't feel like you have to "last minute" your chances like this was an eBay action to become a winner!
This is probably where I begin to sound like a stereotypical aging "geek", but the subject for today's blog seems to be a lost art, or tradition, in comic companies. Why tell individual issue fun holiday stories, when they'd only break the flow of their next MEGA-SUPER-EPOCH MAKING event? But should your comic-buying spirit be "Merry and Bright", then with a little bit of bargain-buying savvy, you can ensure you can find more than your fair-share of books that will leave your Christmas Spirit feeling like it's fully in the white! I couldn't even BEGIN to cover all of the Christmas-based comic books in existence, because some I just don't have access to, some I've not read in a VERY long time, and some... I have to wonder if it's REALLY necessary to give my thoughts on them. (C'mon, Rob Liefeld... Even YOU have to be given a break around the Holidays. Unless someone sends me a copy of the "Troll Christmas Special" for a review, that's not exactly a priority project.) But since we're under a week for the arrival of Christmas, then I'll offer to you readers six of my favorite Christmas-themed comic stories to explore. Sure, after today, there's only 5 days left until the holiday that could be considered a "mutant" based on its "X-Mas" branding, but who says you can't read TWO of the issues I mention on that magical day of the 25th of December? We'll kick things off with the Merry Christmas Marvel Marching Society!
Marvel Team-Up #1: I'm trying to remember if "Spectacular Spider-Man" was launched as a regular series before this debut issue of the Spidey team-up title saw release on the spinner racks of America, but for 150 issues, and a handful of annuals, Peter Parker... with occasional diversions for other character guest spots... would weave his web of friendship with other Marvel heroes for mostly one-off adventures. I'm honestly a SUCKER for rotating team-up books from both companies. (I'm still holding off of the blog topic for a future date, but you'll see at least THREE of the primary books of this trend showing up as examples in this particular blog entry.) And for his inaugural story, we are treated to long-time Spider-Man ally/friendly rival, the Human Torch, teaming up with the wall-crawler to battle the recently escaped from prison Sandman. All this leads up to a Christmas Eve showdown, where not only do we get some fun brawls in the Mighty Marvel Manner, but we find out just WHY Flint Marko shuffled his sandy soles outta prison for this festive night. And if this ending doesn't give you the Holiday squishies in your soul, then you're more hardened than ANY hard-sand structure the Sandman can build!
Marvel Two-In-One #8: Not to be outdone by that Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man, that "Idol o' Millions", the ever-lovin' blue-eyed Benjamin J. Grimm proved SO popular, he gained his OWN regular team-up book, as well! And while the debut issue was reserved for a story with the boggy Man-Thing... no jokes about being "Giant-Sized" here, PLEASE!... the eight issue of the series featured not only a team-up with the Spirit of Vengeance, Ghost Rider, BUT it was a Christmas issue! We start off with the skeletal biker form of Johnny Blaze running into what appears to be the scene of the first Biblical Christmas, complete with nearly road-pancaking those three Wise Men! Cut to the Fantastic Four Plaza, where Reed Richards spots a new star in the sky, pointing at the selfsame village where Ghost Rider finds himself. Not one to ruin a family gathering, the Thing volunteers to go investigate. This particular location is the location of the Native American tribe Wyatt Wingfoot originated from, and upon our heroes crossing paths, they decide to investigate this unusual "Nativity" scene, dressed as Wise Men of their own! The whole situation unveils itself to be a means for a long-forgotten FF villain, the Miracle Man, to gain more mystical power by means of reenacting the birth of Jesus! ... Obviously, spoilers have no place for this issue, but if this sounds like a good comic to down some eggnog with, you'll honestly have a lot of fun with the Ghost Rider and the Thing in period-appropriate desert garb, beating up on a massive MORT of a villain!
Incredible Hulk #378: I think people forget that while Peter David created some great psychological and interpersonal dramatic situations with his long-tenured run on the Incredible Hulk, he ALSO was able to crank out some honestly hilarious Comedy spotlight issues, on occasion! Cue this particular issue, where Bruce Banner is in his lean-and-mean Grey Hulk phase, running into a VERY unusual Mall Santa. It turns out that, in his plans to go incognito... and maybe earn a few extra bucks... that long-running mental-dynamo of the Marvel universe, the Rhino, disguises himself as a charity Santa. However, things go awry for our villain, as he is recruited to fill in for a missing Santa for a children's mall display. Sure enough, exposure to enough bratty kids starts to wear on the Rhino's nerves, and after TOSSING a kid for a 40-yard pass, night-time falls, and Bruce begins his transformation, which leads to a mall thrashing the likes humanity has not seen since Chuck Norris battled terrorists in "Invasion U.S.A."! All of this story is ACTUALLY part of a tale longtime Hulk buddy, Rick Jones, is telling to a gathering of hospitalized children. So, you have a little bit of genuinely sweet nature sandwiched in to a story that features a METRIC ton of physical and witty Comedy to lift even the most hardened Scrooge's spirit for the season!
Batman #219: Admittedly, this story is NOT the main feature of this particular issue. That honor belongs to a tale called "Death Casts the Deciding Vote", involving a rescue attempt the Batman has to make for a threatened Congressman. (He was probably being threatened into making some ACTUAL progress with the political system...) But while that particular story... entertaining as it was... has fallen into a measure of obscurity, this eight-page tale written by Mike Friedrich, with the LEGENDARY artwork of Neal Adams, has endured well past this issue's initial publication! The premise of the story is very simple, but by no means lesser for its simplicity. It involves Batman going on patrol in Gotham City on Christmas Eve. The Batman... that dread creature of the night... is ever-vigilant for signs of the worst that humanity can offer in this dark city, even on a Holiday night. But as his patrols show, even crime APPARENTLY takes a break on Christmas Eve, with potential scenes of robbery and violence dissipating before they can spill over into action. The Batman even has time to carol with officers of the Gotham City Police Department, and... heaven forbid... SMILE! It's 8 pages of excellent artwork, and a message that even the worst places and situations can sometimes be moved to better places with the right spirit of the season! Essential reading, bar-none!
Justice League of America #110: I've written, before, about my love for 100-page comic issues. Not only does this Justice League issue offer you ONE-HUNDRED PAGES of content, including two whole story reprints, but you also receive a BRAND-NEW Justice League Christmas story! A mall Santa's murder leads Batman and Superman to assemble the League to get to the bottom of the mystery. All this leads into the team confronting a semi-regular League villain, the Key, in a series of themed traps for the participating JLA members. But what the Key does NOT count on is the surprise element of an unfamiliar Green Lantern participating in this adventure. (This must've been the Ryan Reynolds Hal Jordan, because who ELSE would've knocked himself unconscious by slipping on a bar of soap, while in possession of the galaxy's GREATEST OFFENSIVE/DEFENSIVE weapon in EXISTENCE?!?) So we get a guest appearance of John Stewart as Green Lantern in this issue! This issue also features Red Tornado learning about the Christmas Spirit, along with getting stripped pants! Merry AND bright tidings with those tights, and you as a reader are gifted with a gigantic comic for your reading pleasure!
DC Comics Presents #67: We end this particular blog entry with a story detailing a crossover between Krypton's last son, the Man of Steel... and the man behind the material end of the Season, that North Pole Saint Nicholas! Superman and Santa Claus! In one story! Which also features mental manipulation of innocent children by the Toyman, a massive brawl among toys that serve Santa and that mirthful menace, and an exploration as to why the Fortress of Solitude is located in the North Pole, but why is it that Superman has NEVER seen Santa or his Factory ANYTIME during his relocation for some peace and quiet? This issue is just one of those bizarre Christmas stories that just begs to be explored if you want some goofy... but well-intentioned... Bronze Age adventures!
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