Friday, November 18, 2016

Holiday Reading Room: RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER "Rudolph's Swelled Head" Conclusion

...It's Christmas Eve, Santa has to get moving, and an apologetic Rudolph is ready to rejoin the crew...
And that's how Santa introduced licensed toy promotions into comic books.

Written by Sy Reit and illustrated by Rube Grossman, this 1950 annual was the first of a series that ran until 1963.
The concept was revived in the tabloid-sized "Treasury" (10" x 14") format in 1972 and was published annually (except in '75 and '77) until 1978.
(Both DC and Marvel experimented in the 1970s with the over-sized format.
They were much bigger than normal comics with cardstock covers, though the interior pages were printed on the usual comic book paper stock.)
The series was a more-or-less sequel to the original story (which we presented HERE.) and song.
(The animated TV special that tells a totally-different version of the tale didn't appear until 1964.)
One thing you'll note is the unique idea of including activity pages as part of the story, giving us perfect chapter enders and openers in our serial presentation format.
(For the zombie-lovers among you who were expecting the original Walking Dead, fear not!
They'll be here tomorrow!)

Thursday, November 17, 2016

Holiday Reading Room: RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER "Rudolph's Swelled Head" Part 4

Sorry, but it looks like the kid who owned this book before it was scanned did the activity on this page.
Still, it looks cool, doesn't it?
As preparations for Christmas proceed, two children, Jack and Judy, make their way to Santa's Workshop.
But their innocent visit has unintended consequences:
Rudolph develops an inflated ego as a result of the kids' mention of his world-wide fame.
Proclaiming he's "too important" to do mundane things like chores, Rudolph alienates everyone around him with an arrogant, self-important attitude.
Santa grounds Rudolph from his usual Christmas Eve run, and the petulant reindeer responds by running away from home.
When his nose freezes and goes dark, the runaway reindeer panics and runs onto thin ice, falling into a lake.
Rescued and nursed back to health by Grover Groundhog, Rudolph realizes the error of his ways and wants to apologize to Santa.
But it's Christmas Eve and because he's so far away, there's no way Rudolph can make it back to Santa's in time.
Grover sends Caspar the Carrier Pigeon with a note to Claus...
To be concluded...
Written by Sy Reit and illustrated by Rube Grossman, this 1950 annual was the first of a series that ran until 1963.
The concept was revived in the tabloid-sized "Treasury" (10" x 14") format in 1972 and was published annually (except in '75 and '77) until 1978.
(Both DC and Marvel experimented in the 1970s with the over-sized format.
They were much bigger than normal comics with cardstock covers, though the interior pages were printed on the usual comic book paper stock.)
The series was a more-or-less sequel to the original story (which we presented HERE.) and song.
(The animated TV special that tells a totally-different version of the tale didn't appear until 1964.)
One thing you'll note is the unique idea of including activity pages as part of the story, giving us perfect chapter enders and openers in our serial presentation format.

Wednesday, November 16, 2016

Holiday Reading Room: RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER "Rudolph's Swelled Head" Part 3

Before we recap, here's a kool game (that actually presages several events to come...)
As preparations for Christmas proceed, two children, Jack and Judy, make their way to Santa's Workshop.
But their innocent visit has unintended consequences:
Rudolph develops an inflated ego as a result of the kids' mention of his world-wide fame.
Proclaiming he's "too important" to do mundane things like chores, Rudolph alienates everyone around him with an arrogant, self-important attitude.
Santa grounds Rudolph from his usual Christmas Eve run, and the petulant reindeer responds by running away from home, barely escaping from both a wolf and bear.
When Rudolph hears what he thinks is a lion's roar, the young reindeer believes he's doomed...
On that philosophical note, we'll take our leave.
To be continued...
Written by Sy Reit and illustrated by Rube Grossman, this 1950 annual was the first of a series that ran until 1963.
The concept was revived in the tabloid-sized "Treasury" (10" x 14") format in 1972 and was published annually (except in '75 and '77) until 1978.
(Both DC and Marvel experimented in the 1970s with the over-sized format.
They were much bigger than normal comics with cardstock covers, though the interior pages were printed on the usual comic book paper stock.)
The series was a more-or-less sequel to the original story (which we presented HERE.) and song.
(The animated TV special that tells a totally-different version of the tale didn't appear until 1964.)
One thing you'll note is the unique idea of including activity pages as part of the story, giving us perfect chapter enders and openers in our serial presentation format.

Tuesday, November 15, 2016

Holiday Reading Room: RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER "Rudolph's Swelled Head" Part 2

As preparations for Christmas proceed, two children, Jack and Judy, make their way to Santa's Workshop.
But their innocent visit will have unintended consequences...
To be continued...
Written by Sy Reit and illustrated by Rube Grossman, this 1950 annual was the first of a series that ran until 1963.
The concept was revived in the tabloid-sized "Treasury" (10" x 14") format in 1972 and was published annually (except in '75 and '77) until 1978.
(Both DC and Marvel experimented in the 1970s with the over-sized format.
They were much bigger than normal comics with cardstock covers, though the interior pages were printed on the usual comic book paper stock.)
The series was a more-or-less sequel to the original story (which we presented HERE.) and song.
(The animated TV special that tells a totally-different version of the tale didn't appear until 1964.)
One thing you'll note is the unique idea of including activity pages as part of the story, giving us perfect chapter enders and openers in our serial presentation format.

Monday, November 14, 2016

Holiday Reading Room: RUDOLPH THE RED-NOSED REINDEER "Rudolph's Swelled Head" Part 1

Despite his immense popularity in the '40s, Rudolph didn't appear in a comic until 1950...
...when he finally received the first in a series of annual comic books from DC Comics!
To be continued...
Written by Sy Reit and illustrated by Rube Grossman, this 1950 annual was the first of a series that ran until 1963.
The concept was revived in the tabloid-sized "Treasury" (10" x 14") format in 1972 and was published annually (except in '75 and '77) until 1978.
(Both DC and Marvel experimented in the 1970s with the over-sized format.
They were much bigger than normal comics with cardstock covers, though the interior pages were printed on the usual comic book paper stock.)
The series was a more-or-less sequel to the original story (which we presented HERE.) and song.
(The animated TV special that tells a totally-different version of the tale didn't appear until 1964.)
One thing you'll note is the unique idea of including activity pages as part of the story, giving us perfect chapter enders and openers in our serial presentation format.