Saturday, December 21, 2024

Comics About the Guy Christmas is Named After!

It's the Sunday before Christmas, an appropriate time to look at comic book stories about...

...the birth of Jesus Christ, the one and only!
BTW, your eyes do not deceive you!
Marvel Comics published a one-shot about the origin of Christ!
You can read that long out-of-print story by clicking on these links...
But there's more!

Here's a shorter, never-reprinted version from Marvel's 1950s predecessor, Atlas Comics...

From a small publisher who did only a half-dozen comics, all based on Christian themes...

Fiction House, noted for really-fun series like Planet Comics and Sheena: Queen of the Jungle took a somewhat more sensationalistic approach to telling the story of the Nativity....using 3-D!
and Finally...

EC Comics, aka Entertaining Comics, the guys who later gave the world graphic horror in Tales from the Crypt, Vault of Horror, and Haunt of Fear began as Educational Comics, publishing wholesome material like Picture Stories from Science, Picture Stories from American History, Picture Stories from World History, and Picture Stories from the Bible...which ran material based on the Old Testament!
They added a second series of Bible tales, this time from the New Testament, kicking off with Christ's birth!
Suprisingly, as you'll see, the gave very little attention to the actual event, covering the whole thing in only 1 1/2pages!

Space Celebration Saturday SANTA CLAUS FUNNIES "Christmas Comes to Mars"

...this short story about little (non-green) Martians meeting Saint Nick showed the Christmas Spirit could be universal!
Illustrated by workhorse Dan Gormley, this never-reprinted tale from Dell's Four Color #666 (1955) jumped on the then-popular flying saucer craze.
Gormley began in 1940 by doing super-hero, sci-fi, and horror strips, then transitioned after several years to humor and funny animal, spending the bulk of his career doing lighter fare.
He had a real knack for matching various animation styles and illustrated numerous tales and covers based on animated films and TV shows from the Walter LantzWalt DisneyUPA, and Warner Brothers studios until he retired from comics in 1965!
The story is part of the annual Santa Claus Funnies anthology which ran in Four Color every Christmas from 1942 to 1961.
Most of the tales have never been reprinted!
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Friday, December 20, 2024

Friday Holiday Fun GREMLINS Conclusion

...(was it really that long?) this insanely-cute (especially her) young couple fought for their lives on Christmas Eve against an invasion of weird creatures!
Witness now the fearsome finale...
Gizmo Will Return in Gremlins 2: the New Breed
...sadly, there wasn't a comic book/graphic novel adaptatation of it!
Reading the graphic novel, you'll note dialogue and scenes that are different from the movie itself, indicating, due to time constraints, the comic creatives were working from an earlier draft of the script.
Ony thing that doesn't appear in the GN is Kate's explanation as to why she hates Christmas...
...although I suspect it was left out due to a limited page count in the comic, since it was in the movie script from the beginning.
As to other changes and scenes left out of the final version...

Hope you enjoyed our multi-part presentation of the graphic novel that few people even knew existed!
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Thursday, December 19, 2024

Holiday Reading Room FIRST CHRISTMAS IN NEW SUPER 3DIMENSION Conclusion

...he had just been born!
So get out those red-blue glasses and let's continue..


This never-reprinted 1953 comic from Fiction House was one of numerous Bible-themed titles put out by various comics publishers to try to counteract the growing tide of anti-comics sentiment created by Fredric (Seduction of the Innocent) Wertham and his ilk, showing comic books could also be wholesome entertainment.
You can see Atlas/Marvel's version of the Nativity HERE, and DC/EC's take on the story HERE.
The writer and artist are unknown, but it's a sure bet they were part of the Iger Studio which "packaged" (provided editorial and art) for Fiction House's comics division.
The cover is by legendary sci-fi pulp and book illustrator Kelly Freas!

Merry
Christmas!!!

Wednesday, December 18, 2024

Wednesday Worlds of Wonder ATARI FORCE "Galaxian" Part 3

Original art for the wraparound cover by Gil Kane and Dick Giordano!
This is a double-page spreaad
Control-Click to enlarge!
...after battling their way through multiple universes too hostile for the population of a devasted Earth to migrate to, the crew seems to have found both an ideal planet to colonize and an ideal, peaceful, interstellar community to bond and work with...
Interesting how the aliens' strategy matches the gameplay of the video game Galaxian?
Note: the Dark Destroyer is not in the video game!
To Be Concluded...Not Next Wednesday, but...
THURSDAY!
(Wednesday is Christmas Day!
We suspect you'll be enjoying the holiday...we know we will!)
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