The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 2126: Dennis the Menace Bonus Magazine #170, October 1977

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 I have always had a bit of a prejudice toward Dennis the Menace as I'm of English origin, and associate the name with a very, very different character. Of late, I've had to re-evaluate my warm, nostalgic feelings for the old Beano and Dandy comics that were some of my first forays into sequential storytelling. I tried to read some recently, some fairly recent issues actually, and they're so, so racist. I'm a bit shocked, to tell you the truth, but it really does actually highlight a fairly noticeable difference between comic produced by English-speaking countries. The comics of the UK definitely have a different take on race, and its depiction, than do those in North America. Though, in the case of today's comic, the take on race is that there is no race. This is a very white comic.

Anyway, it was a couple of cute Christmas stories about Dennis being a little shit and then learning the value of being kind and generous. Which, I feel, is the basic plotline of every Dennis the Menace comic I've ever read.

More to follow.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 2125: Archie Giant Series Magazine #579, January 1988

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 Can't do a read of Christmas comics without including an Archie comic. I love this cover because Santa looks totally gross recording a bunch of teens through their window at night. And, honestly, that's the most interesting part of the comic. It's a usual Archie Christmas offering. We get one story involving Jingles, the Christmas Elf that visits the gang in their perpetual holidays, and one story of Archie learning the meaning of Christmas and the value of family.

But creepy Santa on the cover is the highlight.

More to follow.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1034: The Unbeatable Squirrel Girl v.2 #27, February 2018

I was going to read DC's Christmas with the Superheroes today, but instead of a Christmas comic, I'm going to read a comic I got for Christmas.

Have I mentioned how much I love Squirrel Girl? Hands down one of the greatest superhero comics ever. So I was super-stoked to have this be the first thing I opened up this morning, while waiting for my son to get up (19-year old's aren't quite as enthusiastic about Christmas as their parents are!). It put a smile on my face and warmth in my heart. It truly is a great comic.

And much as I love it, I can't really find a lot to say about it. Though it's not a Christmas comic, it embodies so much about how I feel about Christmas. And not just this issue, but the series as a whole. Squirrel Girl wants to help people. She forgives, she befriends. She hopes. And isn't that what it's all about?

To be continued.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1033: Generation X Holiday Special #1, February 1998

I was chatting with my wife about Christmas music the other day, about the pre-fab feeling I get from it all - it's very rare that I find a Christmas song that I actually feel is being genuine. Unfortunately, the same goes for Christmas comics. I was reading up on the Community Christmas episode "Abed's Uncontrollable Christmas" today, one of my favourite televised specials. One of the critics quoted in the Wikipedia article notes that it works as a Christmas special because it remember something about this holiday that so many specials don't: this is a very personal holiday. Because it's so pervasive in Western culture, but because Christianity is rapidly ceasing to be, Christmas has become an almost secular holiday. This doesn't mean that it is shorn of it's Christian meaning, but in a lot of ways it means that the very term "Christmas" holds far more meaning than simply that of the birth of Jesus Christ. And that meaning can be very personal. It is for me - it means family and love and friendship and awesome cookies and Christmas specials and Christmas comics.

Speaking of, this one's, unfortunately, a bit disappointing. I love Generation X, and I can't wait to read through it for the project, but this issue is not up to the par the rest of the series elicits. And I think it's because of what I was just talking about - like many Christmas specials, this one tries to have a universal message about what Christmas is all about, but as the holiday is very personal, having a universal message is virtually impossible. The best Christmas comics are the ones where each character is allowed to define the season for themselves, rather than having the season defined and everyone having to get on board. Further, at least when it comes to superhero comics, there's this propensity to use Santa as another superhero, one whose powers are virtually limitless - this, to me, doesn't really work either. Santa's not a superhero - he's something else, an embodiment, perhaps. Of what? Well, that's something we all have to answer for ourselves.

To be continued.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1032: Ambush Bug Stocking Stuffer #1, 1986

Sooo...I'm not a huge fan of Ambush Bug - he's one of those characters who seems tailor-made for my take on superheroes, but something about him just turns me off. I appreciate the breaking of the fourth wall, the completely surreal nature of his existence, even the very, very silly costume. I think what gets me is the lack of narrative progression in anything I've ever read him in. It just seems like one bizarre panel after another, with little to link them together, sometimes. With today's comic, I do feel like there was a lot of context laid down in his mini-series, and much of the humour relied on that context. I liked the zombie dolls storyline, and the hunt for Brother Power was pretty neat and I thought that's what the comic would be about, but it wasn't...well, it sort of was, but not really?

Anyway, it was a Christmas comic that I read today. Then I had a nap.

To be continued.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1031: Adventures of the Outsiders #43, March 1987

I wonder if Charles Dickens knew what he was handing to the world when he composed A Christmas Carol? The story is told and retold so many times, and always, always works. Is it just that we can all relate too much to the closed off person who is reminded of his links to humanity? Grim thought for this time of year, I guess.

This was a strange comic - I'm not sure if what the Outsiders do here is at all ethical - they basically gaslight an old man into confessing secrets he knows about a mobster. It's less physically violent than an old-fashioned superheroic brawl, but it's also less honest. The team is not, as far as I could tell, doing this to help redeem a man who has spent much of his life covering up crimes but rather to arrest the crime boss he works for. The accountant who serves as the Scrooge stand-in here is incidental in many ways. They get the information they want from him, and then are surprised that, having experienced "3 spirits," the old man confesses his crimes to the police and turns himself in. It's as if the notion of the man redeeming himself never even crossed their minds. All but Halo, who says she feels bad tricking the man this way.

All in all, a strange Christmas story. It calls back to its original for sure, but doesn't quite grasp the same spirit of fellowship that Dickens was, ostensibly, looking for.

To be continued.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1030: Pinky and the Brain Christmas Special #1, January 1996

An admission: the Pinky and the Brain Christmas Special television show is one of the few Christmas specials that makes me cry every time. I love these little mice, and their discovery (well, The Brain's discovery) of the meaning of Christmas gets me every time.

He's not quite as open-minded in today's comic, but that's okay. Sometimes a mouse just has to take over the world.

I'm not certain what it is, but the P&B comics just don't grab me the same way that the television series did. It could be the lack of voice - so much of these characters is bound up in the voices we hear. I can't imagine someone reading this comic who has never heard the TV series - what would the Brain sound like? And Pinky? And his "Narf"s?

Perhaps one day the Brain will find a Christmas plan that doesn't involve infiltrating Santa's workshop. This is twice now it hasn't worked out for him.

To be continued.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1029: Man-Thing v.3 #3, February 1998

So, not quite a Christmas comic, really, but I couldn't resist that cover. Seriously. Man-ta Claus. Santa-Thing. Brilliant.

Can't say much about the story, except to say that I think this series is going to have to go to the top of my list of series to finish. The art and the writing are just wonderful. J.M. DeMatteis is a great writer, and I just haven't read enough of his work. This reads a bit like Rachel Pollack's Doom Patrol, a bit like Moore's Swamp Thing, and a whole lot like Gerber's original run on this title. So cool.

And a bit Christmas-y, I guess.

To be continued.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1028: Extreme Super Christmas Special #1, December 1994

What do I even say about something this ridiculous? Troll has to collect each of the groups mentioned in the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas" before Circe, of mythic fame, turns every man on the planet into a pig. It's typically silly early Image, and early Extreme/Maximum/Awesome Studios stuff - but actually sort of works a little better than most of that stuff because it's refusing to take itself seriously at all. Interestingly, what happens is that you now have a tenor that fits the vehicle, so to speak. The art has always been slightly ridiculous, but the stories have tried to be super serious and gritty. This one isn't. It's the early Image equivalent of yesterday's Archie Christmas special.

And it works really nicely.

The only thing that bothers me these days when I read this old Image stuff, and specifically the Extreme Studios stuff, is thinking about it in terms of the future presented for most of these characters in the recent Prophet series. Knowing how things turn out for Troll in the future makes today's comic a little strange. But not in a bad way.

To be continued.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1027: Archie Giant Series Magazine #466, January 1978

Look! It's a Seventies Archie Christmas special! Good cheer to all!

Like, literally. Every story in just about every Archie Christmas special that I've ever read ends with a variation on the "Good will/cheer to all" sentiment. There's only one story in here that doesn't end with that sentiment. It just has it in the middle of the story instead.

Don't get me wrong - I actually really love the Christmas stories in Archie comics, especially the old ones. They're sappy and happy and silly, and generally pretty sweet. The gang aren't nearly as catty with one another in the Christmas specials. Which I suppose is kind of what Christmas is all about.

I was talking with my son the other day about why I love Christmas so much. I'm not a religious person (unless you count the religion of Superman, I suppose). For me, Christmas is much more about the Yuletide, that deep part of the Winter, and about keeping family and loved ones close. I think that's the thing I love the most about this season - the good will that tends to permeate the time. Christmas can definitely make me grumpy (especially since marking season precedes it), but those moments of real fellowship that the season sometimes evokes are what makes it all worth it. A quiet or not so quiet gathering with friends. Christmas morning with my wife and son is amazing.

And that's what today's comic is all about: how we feel and express fellowship. Yes, in the Seventies, it's occasionally sexist, or insultingly trying to sound "hip," but in the end it's about loving your fellow humans.

To be continued.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 1026: Superman v.2 #165, February 2001

This is one of my favourite Christmas comics. It features Superman, whom I adore, stars what I think is the best line-up of the JLA ever, and has art from Arthur Adams and Ian Churchill, two of my favourite over-the-top superhero artists.

It's also a timely piece of reading, or perhaps would have been last Christmas too. Superman is pondering the decision of the American People to elect Lex Luthor as President. The comparison was brought up numerous times last year after the Orange Man was elected, but it rings a bit false for me. 45 is so obviously a puppet of a much more sinister manipulator, whereas Luthor is actually the brains of his own operation. I think I'd have a hard time saying which is worse, though.

This issue is a "jam" issue, in that each 3-4 page vignette is illustrated by a different artist. It demonstrates quite nicely the way that the Man of Steel can translate through a number of different styles, from Liefeld's early-Image to Wieringo's Manga-meets-Disney. And the issue also highlights an oft-forgotten side of Clark's personality - his sense of humour. Each of the presents he bestows upon the JLA are amusing in a way particular to each member. Except Wonder Woman's, which perhaps betrays Clark's deeper feelings for her than for the others.

Welcome to Christmas at the Giant Box of Comics! To be continued.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 669: Archie Giant Series Magazine #557, January 1986

We'll finish off our Christmas comics the same way we started, with Archie's Christmas Stocking. This one does a similar thing to one of the comics earlier last week, in that it is a series of interconnected short stories, though the connections are a bit tenuous at times. It's scripted by Al Hartley, who is infamous for having produced evangelical Christian versions of Archie and the gang, comics that I remember being extremely off-putting once you got to the end unaware that you were going to have religion shoved down your throat. The comic reads like one of Hartley's Spire-published comics, in that there's a lot of preaching about love and generosity and the spirit of the season. Jesus' name seems to be on most lips, but given that it's a secular comic, it's never spoken.

Santa appears to Archie and tells him he has to spread Christmas cheer, which Archie inevitably messes up. But the Christmas magic Santa imbues him with seems to spread to his entire gang, like a happy virus, ending with a Lodge-funded Christmas party for under-privileged kids. The story as told, however, is not even close to that coherent - somehow Veronica gets the Christmas bug, even though we see her interacting with Archie only tangentially, and then to yell at him. There is some talk of forgiving people for mistakes at Christmas, but when Archie messes up Mr. Weatherbee's Christmas shopping, there's no forgiveness, only blame. This is a weird comic that seems to want to say something to us, but has a hard time getting it out. And what it wants to say is the same thing that Hartley's Christian comics say - it's just that he's not allowed to in this venue, and thus the story suffers.

As far as I can tell, I've read all of the Christmas Archie comics I have this year and last year, so hopefully I'll manage to find some more over the course of the year. Tomorrow we'll get back to our regularly-scheduled (ha!) program. Onward!

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 668: JLA #60, January 2002

As with music, I often find myself realizing that I'm stuck in a particular era. Not that I can't appreciate, or even love, the comics that come out now (witness the perfection that is Squirrel Girl), but when I go back and read the JLA from the end of the last century, I realize that this is what I imagine when I imagine the perfect superhero comics. Morrison's, and then Waid's, JLA encapsulate for me perfectly what this team is about. Much like Jonathan Hickman's Fantastic Four, this run of the world's mightiest heroes focuses not only on their world/universe-saving exploits, but also on their interpersonal relationships, on their navigation of being amongst the most powerful creatures on the planet and also being people, with lives, thoughts, and beliefs.

Waid's very short follow-up to Morrison ends with this lovely little Christmas tale, being told to Woozy Winks' son by his "Uncle Plas." The devil Neron decides to co-opt Christmas, and hands out awesome toys to children with the caveat that they must be used for evil, rather than good. Santa is trapped in Hell, and it's up to the JLA to rescue him. While this might sound a bit exploitative, and the scenes of Santa beating the heck out of little demon elves is a bit much, the final sequence, in which Santa defeats Neron by offering him a gift without requiring a deal (Neron's M.O.) is a nice reminder of how we, that being those secular amongst us, might incorporate Christmas into our lives.

I've been raised in the tradition of Christmas - being born in, and moving to, countries whose foundations are solidly in the Christian tradition, it's hard to avoid that. Part of me wonders if celebrating Christmas without the religious connotation is tantamount to cultural appropriation, but then I grab some Christmas cookies, turn off the critical voice in my head, and enjoy the warmth and love that radiates this time of year. I get the feeling that Christ, either the mythical or the real one, would have been okay with people using his birthday (not really) as a reason to be extra loving and kind to one another, regardless of faith. He'd probably have even got a kick out of today's comic.

Onward.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 667: Jingle Belle #2, December 1999

Inevitably, Jing saves the day. I think this is the thing about Christmas stories, be they comics, television, film, or what have you - they end nicely. Regardless of one's feelings about the commercialism of the season, or about the religious connotations of the holiday, Christmas in the end is about optimism, about the idea that we can all be just a little bit better than we usually are, and wouldn't it be lovely if that were the case year 'round?

That's all I want to say about this comic right now, because, really, everything else aside, that's what's important. Onward.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 666: Jingle Belle #1, November 1999

It was tempting, on so auspiciously-numbered a day, to review a comic of a more devilish bent, but considering the time of year, Jingle Belle is a nice compromise. Telling the story of Santa's out of control daughter, Jingle Belle is not a kids' Christmas comic. While all of the themes of the season are there, Jing's adventures tend more toward rampant destruction and chaos, a seething dislike for the children her father loves, and constant misguided attempts to win his affection and respect. So, basically, she's just like every other teenager/young adult out there, except her dad's a magical Christmas being.

It's really lovely to see Paul Dini's talents applied outside of the superhero genre. This is not to say the his superhero work is not superlative, but there's some creators who are really good at one genre, but whose attempts at other genres aren't so great. Coupled with the excellent art of Stephen DeStefano, this is a Christmas comic for people who like a little bit of spice with their sugar plums. There's a particular sequence in which Jing's latest holiday invention (a rig that looks like a sci-fi cosplay but actually uses live ammo) has just been turned down, and she's sitting next to a mass-produced Jar Jar Binks doll (never named, but the "Meesa loves yousa" that the doll spouts is telling), which she proceeds to blow to pieces with her apparatus. The expression on her face sums up the feelings of many toward that little bit of Star Wars foolishness.

This is also the only Christmas comic I'm reading this week that takes up more than a single issue. Jing accidentally revives the powers of the Blizzard Wizard, an evil sorcerer who once ruled the North Pole, before Saint Nick came along and liberated the elves. At the end of today's issue, he has revealed himself to the world, cancelled Christmas, and told everyone that it's Jing's fault. At which point, the snowballs begin to fly. I'm sure Christmas will be saved tomorrow. Maybe.

Onward.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 665: The Outsiders #5, March 1986

Another Dickens-style Christmas tale. The more I think about it, the more I'm a little troubled by the idea of using fear as a means of changing someone. It's a form of torture, really, isn't it? In today's comic, Halo recognizes this as she witnesses Eben Mudge, aged accountant, collapse sobbing to his knees when his past is replayed for him. It is fair to be utilizing moments of shame from the man's past to squeeze information from him? It's not even that the Outsiders are trying to save the man, or offer him some kind of redemption. They're simply interested in getting information from him in order to shut down a mob boss. Though the eventual outcome is a changed man, that's certainly not what the Outsiders expected going in.

An odd story, then, about Christmas torture that ends up redeeming someone, but perhaps casting our ostensible heroes in a pretty bad light.

Onward!

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 664: Superman - The Man of Steel #109, February 2001

Kind of a chilling comic, actually, and not because of the temperature. Superman is given a vision of a future overrun by Lex Luthor after the billionaire criminal wins the US Presidential election.

Oh dear.

That said, he is told that this grim future, one of a world dominated by Luthor, will come to pass if he loses hope, if he gives up, and lets evil win. So I suppose it's a call to arms, of a kind. We must not give up hope as our world appears to be overrun by evil. We can make change.

I wish it was as easy to believe that as it is to type it.

Onward.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 663: Gloomcookie: A Monster's Christmas, December 2002

Gloomcookie is a wonderful comic, one that I lost track of a few years back and really should pick up again. A lovely little Goth (as opposed to Gothic) fairy tale of eternal love and clubbing. I'm not someone who would identify as Goth by any stretch of the imagination, except perhaps for my occasionally grim outlook, so I'm sure there's much in the series that is not meant for me, but the art (especially, for me, Ted Naifeh's run) is glorious, and each character, hero, villain, or something else, is really well-realized and realistic, even given the fantastical nature of the story.

This Christmas special, the only Gloomcookie comic to feature colour as far as I know, is a bit more storybook than it is comic, but as it's part of a series of comics, and published as a comic, let's call it a comic. The Monster in Gloomcookie is wonderful and brutal. It's a series that somehow manages to make you feel for child-eating monsters and evil living gargoyles, and considering the penchant in Goth culture for the colour Black, Gloomcookie paints its characters in a moral grayscale.

The English scholar in me balks slightly whenever I read this comic. It's written as a poem, and has a nice rhyme scheme, but the meter is so irregular while, I think, trying to be regular, that it just irks me. But that's a little thing. That aside, it's a nice story about the the hopes and dreams we hold close on Christmas - like having lots of little kids to eat. You know. Normal stuff.

Onward!

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 662: Battle Pope #10 (Christmas Pope-tacular!), December 2001

I think perhaps the only time I ever had a letter published in a comic was in an issue of Battle Pope. It was something to the effect that I was glad that when I died, and found out I was totally wrong about this whole God thing, that at least there'd be amazing comic artists and writers down there in Hell with me.

Battle Pope is, by far, the most heretical, irreverent, crude, and possibly hilarious, comic I've read. It's right up there with Preacher as far as its willingness to step across lines and then pick up the line and choke you to death with it. And today's issue, #10, or "Christmas Pope-tacular #1," is no exception. We open on Santa Claus, devastated in the wake of the Rapture and the realization that the world is actually full of naughty people, so he has no purpose, sitting in a bar drinking. He proceeds to pickpocket a little boy, trick a homeless man out of his warm shelter, you know, all those things Santa is known for.

And then we have Jesus, the Pope's sidekick, bummed out because no one thinks about him on his birthday. Eventually J and Santa bump into each other and proceed to beat the hell out of one another.

Oh, and Jesus' Mum shows up for his birthday. Yep, Mary, Mother of God arrives to celebrate her son's birthday with him and his friends. In fishnet stockings and a sexy nun costume. And halo. And breasts that are twice the size of her head. Each.

What's really great about Battle Pope is that, all of this "no fucks given" aside, it's still a really, really good comic. Robert Kirkman, who has knocked comics out of the park with things like Invincible and The Walking Dead, may have been cutting his teeth on this series, but he was still very good at what he does. Battle Pope, which was reprinted in colour by Image Comics, is well worth a look, as long as you're not easily offended. Because it's going to offend you. It wants to.

Onward.

The 40 Years of Comics Project - Day 661: Archie Giant Series Magazine #618, January 1991

This is a really interesting comic. Ostensibly, there are four stories in this issue, all revolving around interpretations of "Christmas Spirit," much like many of the Archie Christmas comics I've previously read. What's different, however, is that the stories follow on, one from another, even though they're not titled as being parts of a whole. Most multi-part Archie stories will have a "part 1," "part 2" delineation, but not these. However, each story is linked to the previous one by a single line of dialogue, often spoken within the first few panels.

So it's basically a full-length story in an Archie comic disguised as four shorter stories. Which, I think, doesn't happen very often.

I have to say, whenever I read an old Archie comic, I mourn the passing of this style into the newer versions of the characters that are making such a splash in the industry now. I'm honestly a bit surprised that the traditional Archie comics didn't continue alongside the new ones, but then it might have really damaged the introduction of the new style to have the old style still hanging out. Consider the failure of the previous attempt to update the looks of the Riverdale gang from a few years back in the pages of the digests. While there were a number of "new look" stories published, they never took off the same way the current Archie comics have. Much as the traditional style of Archie has a cozy place in the hearts of many, I think, for the characters, it may have become a trap. With the recent relaunches, and the upcoming television series, perhaps we're now seeing these characters move into realms that have been denied them for almost 80 years. But what will Christmas on Riverdale look like? Probably not much like today's comic.

Onward.