Holiday Reading Room SANTA CLAUS FUNNIES "Unsuitable Suit"

We showed you how Kris Kringle received his first red suit...

...but what happens when, after centuries of wear-and-tear, it needs to be replaced?

There are no credits for writer or artist(s) for this never-reprinted tale from Dell's Four Color Comics: Santa Claus Funnies #1274 (1962), so whe don't know who to thankk for this  almost 60 year-old bit of whimsey!

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Holiday Reading Room SANTA CLAUS FUNNIES "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.

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Holiday Reading Room SANTA CLAUS FUNNIES "Ticky Tack the Littlest Reindeer"

You know all about Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer...

...but I'd bet you've never even heard rumors about this guy!

This story from Dell's Four Color #205 (1948) aka Santa Claus Funnies, is an original tale by writer/artist Walt (Pogo) Kelly, who mostly did adaptations of fairy tales modified to fit the Christmas season or straight-out re-tellings like "Night Before Christmas".

There have been other "Littlest Reindeer" tales, but none with this particular plot or characters (besides Santa and the rest of the classic reindeer, of course!)!

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Holiday Reading Room SANTA CLAUS FUNNIES "First Christmas Tree"

 An never-reprinted tale from Dell's first Santa Claus Funnies (1942)...

...details a "legend" (involving young Jesus Christ) about how the tradition of Christmas trees came to be!

Well, it's as plausible as any theory that combines Christianity with the pagan tradition of decorated fir trees...
If the artwork looks "classier" than the usual comic book art, that's because illustrator Arthur Jameson was already a major artist in the pulp magazine field when he debuted in comic books with this tale!
As a result, his work was largely confined to fairy tale-themed and holiday comics.

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Monday Madness / Holiday Reading Room SANTA CLAUS FUNNIES "How Santa Got His Red Suit"

Didn't you ever wonder...

Well, here's the answer, from Dell's Four Color Comics #61 (1944)!

After being published annually as it's own title in 1942-1943, Santa Claus Funnies became a Four Color Comics feature, publishing annually from 1944 to 1961.

This tale was written and illustrated by Walt Kelly, before he created the classic comic strip Pogo.
Beginning with a two-part adaptation of the novel Gulliver's Travels in New Comics in 1935,  Walt began an almost two-decade run in comic books, almost all of it for Dell Comics, where his distinctive style quickly developed into the "house style" for humor and funny animal stories that other artists would try to emulate.
Walt was the primary artist on the ongoing Santa Claus Funnies and Christmas with Mother Goose series, and, as we said, we'll be presenting quite a few of those stories this Christmas season.

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Monday Madness / Holiday Reading Room SANTA CLAUS FUNNIES "Toy Trouble"

We'll begin the week with a never-reprinted, silent one-pager...

...by Walt (Pogo) Kelly from Dell's Four Color Comics: Santa Claus Funnies #91 (1945).

Simple.

Effective.

Cute.

Holiday Reading Room SANTA CLAUS FUNNIES "Carolers"

Walt (Pogo) Kelly doesn't need captions or word balloons...

...to tell his story in this never-reprinted one-pager from Dell's Four Color Comics #91 (1945).

It's just red and black because it's on the inside back cover of the comic, which was printed with only two colors, instead of the usual four (CMYK) colors to save money.
And, if you're wondering why we're running Christmas-related material so early this year...why not?

Stores (both on-line and brick-and-mortar) are already displaying XMas products and running Black Friday specials, so, why not join in?

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Friday Fun SANTA CLAUS FUNNIES "Santa's Jeep!"

One of the koolest Christmas covers ever...

...which most people don't realize is a wraparound, since they've only seen the front and, as a result, don't get the joke!

This cover for Dell's Santa Claus Funnies #1 (1942) has never been reprinted in full!

I've seen the front cover in a number of reference books, but never the back one.

BTW, the reason Santa's driving a Jeep is, well, let Santa himself explain on the inside front cover...

"Too bouncy", eh?
Though the artist is considered "unknown" by the Grand Comics Database, it looks a lot like Walt (Pogo) Kelly, who was working at Dell, and contributed a couple of stories to the book.
(Yeah, I know it's after Christmas, but it's before New Year's, so if you can leave the tree and decorations up, I can do a couple more Yuletide-themed posts!

Friday Fun SANTA CLAUS FUNNIES "Recitation"

Could anyone do these gentle one-pagers better than Walt (Pogo) Kelly?

Nope, as this never-reprinted piece from Dell's Four Color Comics #91 aka Santa Claus Funnies (1945) proves!

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Merry Christmas!

Santa Claus' World War II-era attempt at updating his transportation...

...doesn't quite go as planned in this wraparound cover from Dell's Santa Claus Funnies #1 (1942).

Unfortunately, the artist didn't sign it, and the experts at various comic indexing sites have been unable to offer possible illustrators.

Personally, I'm thinking Walt Kelly.

(The snarky reindeer are an obvious giveaway)

Any suggestions?

Merry Christmas to All!