Christmas 2020: Reading and Viewing.

The question on everyone's lips (...if, by "everyone", you mean everyone presently in my den as I type this - which adds-up to only me) is... "What made up Joe's Christmas 2020: Reading and Viewing, and when will we find out about it?"

The answer to the second question is NOW!  (...If, by "NOW", you mean going on a month after Christmas - all the usual [all together now] "horrifically busy" factors being applicable!)  As for the first... 

Since the days of home-recorded VHS Tape, I've had TWO Basic and Absolute Christmas Viewing Standards for the longest time, and have added (variably, depending on the year, and amount of available time) to them over the years, to where there are now FOUR annual absolutes.  

Others come and go per the above variables, but these are the perennial-programmers of my "Christmas Show"...

THE FLINTSTONES: "Christmas Flintstone" (1964):  Department store Santa Claus Fred fills-in for the real thing, when Jolly Old St. Nick temporarily takes ill.  

This is the real-Christmas-deal that aired the evening of Christmas Day, 1964, and not to be confused with any number of permutations that came later!  

An extraordinary effort for 1964 Hanna-Barbera, with more elaborate than usual backgrounds, and some soundtrack music that might never have been used more than that once.   

It also came "on the cusp" of my believing (or not believing) in Santa, and may have held-off the skepticism for another few days or weeks.  A perfect storm of story, execution, and "time-of-life" for me, made this my All-Time-Favorite-Christmas-Thing!  

LOST IN SPACE: "The Toymaker" (1967):  Will Robinson and Doctor Smith are imprisoned in an "other-dimension-based" toy factory, by an eccentric yet stubborn old toymaker who views them as animated toys to be shipped-off to a world of giant children!  

   

He also refuses to see that events occurring on the Robinson's planet will imminently destroy the Toymaker's shop... and everyone in it!

Though more tangentially related to Christmas than its prior season predecessor "Return From Outer Space", "The Toymaker" still acknowledges the Christmas season in a most imaginative way.   

  

...And, if you have an ear for TV and movie soundtracks, you can even hear a little of the score for "Miracle on 34th Street" mixed-in with the standard LOST IN SPACE musical stylings!  

The Toyshop set, while basic endless black, is marvelously decorated with props from literally all-over the 20th Century Fox lots and warehouses...

So much so that I truly see "something new" in the background every time I watch "The Toymaker"... including this time!  Of course, Blu-ray sharpness and clarity combined with a large widescreen HD TV always helps!  

Finally, for anyone still doubting the "Christmas connection" for this standout episode, check out this Illustrated article from MeTV, the Saturday evening home of LOST IN SPACE since at least 2013, if not longer - HERE!  

"Christmas Flintstone" and "The Toymaker" are my two Basic and Absolute Christmas Viewing Standards.  As for the other two, added-as-absolutes later-on, we have...  

BEWITCHED: "A Vision of Sugar Plums" (1964):  Airing literally the DAY BEFORE "Christmas Flintstone" on Christmas Eve, 1964 (while "Christmas Flintstone" aired on Christmas Day, 1964), "A Vision of Sugar Plums" had the same "Santa-Believing-Effect" for "on-the-cusp" little me.  

...It also guest-stars a Pre-Lost In Space Billy Mumy, seen below. 

Though, unlike "Christmas Flintstone", I did not become reacquainted with "A Vision of Sugar Plums" until  recent years, and a BEWITCHED Complete Series DVD set - which presents the episode in color, rather than its original black and white.  

But, I remembered it, and it fit right in with the Absolute Christmas Viewing Standards where it's remained ever since!  

JUSTICE LEAGUE ANIMATED: "Comfort and Joy" (2003): Three separate tales of Christmas, starring GREEN LANTERN AND HAWKGIRL...

...THE FLASH...

...SUPERMAN and THE MARTIAN MANHUNTER!

All superbly written by the great Paul Dini!  Even if you are not a DC Comics fan, this is a must-see that transcends the expected super-doings, and perfectly captures the spirit of the season.  

Oh, and in that last one a Martian (The Martian Manhunter) discovers Christmas...

...SOUND FAMILIAR? 

...I'd say so!  

Christmas comic reading tends to be more variable, often some combination of an "old favorite" with something I haven't read before - and, unlike viewing, almost never repeats itself.  

And, in an exact reflection of said viewing it began with THIS!  

THE FLINTSTONES #31 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: December, 1965) 

Yes, it's the comic book adaptation of "Christmas Flintstone", with art by Phil DeLara! I'll simply let the illustrations below speak for their "Santa-substituting-selves" (Hey, even the word "elves" manages to find its way into that last phrase!  How 'bout that!)

You can read more about it in the GCD Index, where I supplied most of the specific detail - HERE!

As for the "something I haven't read before", how could I go wrong with BUGS BUNNY CHRISTMAS FUNNIES #3 (Dell Comics, Cover Date: 1952) - especially after so enjoying THIS ONE!

Since this issue is so packed full of yuletide goodies, we'll just cover some quick highlights...  

Usually, when a story begins with a bunch of animals running in terror past Bugs' rabbit hole, you expect one of them to say: "Run for your life!  The Tasmanian Devil's on the loose!" 

But, before Bugs can stop one of the fleeing creatures (usually by force) and ask: "Eeeh, what's a Tasmanian Devil?"...

 

...Jolly Old Saint Nick gets into the act, and turns the story in a completely unexpected direction... leading to this wonderful image - courtesy of writer Don R. Christensen and artist Tony Strobl... 

...And some good old Christmas magic!  

In other stories, Henery Hawk visits a department store Santa (not Fred!) with some very characteristic behavior - and later hatches a Christmas-chicken-catching-scheme of his own...

...And Elmer Fudd vs. Sylvester in a "snowman-building contest" that would be right at home in a Donald Duck ten-pager by Carl Barks!

...Though maybe not this particular ten-pager!  

It all ends with this nice back cover!

Here's a close-up on the card! 

And, with that we say "That's All Folks!" to Joe's Christmas Reading and Viewing for 2020!  We'll try to do it again next year!

Blot, Out!

 Let this wonderful image speak (or "blot") for itself!  

The entire seven-issue Gold Key series (1964-1966) by classic Mickey Mouse artist and Disney Master Paul Murry, with writers Del Connell, the tragically underrated Bob Ogle, and Vic Lockman!  Even if the published credits therein are not quite as complete, as they could be!  ...And even two one-page gags by Tony Strobl!  

Speaking of those mostly-Murry one-page gags that inhabited the inside front and back covers of each issue...

They now appear IN COLOR for the first time in the USA!  ...And I even got to create titles for some of them, including this one!  (Titles, of course, appear only in the Table of Contents, and are not appended onto the original gags themselves - as it should be!) 

As for what this gag looks like in color, and what I might have titled it, you'll have to buy the book and see for yourself... Whaddya think this is, kid, a LI-BERRY, or sumpthin'!   

The original Gold Key cover for PHANTOM BLOT # 7, selected for this volume's cover!

Another reason to... um, "do things BUY the book" is the included TEXT ARTICLE by one of THE PHANTOM BLOT TITLE'S biggest fans, during it's original run - and today... yours truly!   

Editors David Gerstein and Mike Catron allowed me the privilege of recounting the (all-too-short, but very interesting) history of the single comic book title I most looked forward to during the glorious Silver Age of comics!  

Here are ALL SEVEN Gold Key issues of THE PHANTOM BLOT - with my "unofficially added PHANTOM BLOT # 8", which I also had the privilege of "translating and dialoguing" for IDW, at bottom right!  ...No, that last one's not in there, but a GAG I came up with in 1966, just after reading PHANTOM BLOT # 7, did make it's way into the story!  ...Isn't it wonderful how all this stuff is somehow connected?   

From THIS...

To THIS...

To THIS...

To THIS...

To THIS...

And finally... To THIS! 

Don't let this happen to you...

...Get your copy before they're all... "BLOTTED-OUT"! 

You don't want the DOOR TO CLOSE on this opportunity, do you? 

Of course not!  

Separated at Mirth: Cooking Out (of this world!)

 

Today's Separation at Mirth features BUGS BUNNY # 31 (Dell Comics, Cover Date: June-July, 1953) - as well as its reprint in BUGS BUNNY # 101 (Gold Key Comics, Cover Date: September, 1965) - and  THE GREAT GAZOO # 5 (Charlton Comics, Cover Date: August, 1974).

Toons are a lucky bunch indeed...

Witness their uncanny ability to exist in the cold vacuum of outer space, fearing neither suffocation nor explosive decompression!  

So cavalier are they about this extraordinary capability that they choose to use their respective spacecraft's exhaust (which should also not be as plainly visible) for COOKING purposes!  

Why, I'll even bet that Porky Pig is even TALKING to Bugs about how great the (Funny-Animal-Irony-Alert) bacon... and eggs are going to taste - and Bugs is actually HEARING him speak in that presumed vacuum! 

And let's assume Bugs' HAT is Velcro-ed to his furry noggin, lest it be ripped from his head by the acceleration.  Heck, that would happen even in a CAR, much less a convertible-top spaceship!  

At least his FEET are off the rocket tubes, unlike Fred's!  Perhaps a lifetime of walking around without shoes and powering his own "motor-less vehicle" over bumpy and jagged roads, has made his feet calloused and desensitized!   

THINGS TO LOOK FOR: 

Time of Day: Time of day loses meaning in outer space, but not for Bugs and Fred, who clearly know when it's time for BREAKFAST (Bugs) and LUNCH (Fred)!  ...Of course, for Fred, that just might be any-old-time!   

The Earth: Good Old Mother Earth is seen on both covers! It's nice to know that, no matter how far out you go - or however hungry you get - home is just a short hop away!  ...And, in Bugs' case, that Marvin Martian hasn't blown it up yet!  

Coloring: The BUGS BUNNY covers are more appropriately colored for outer space, while the GREAT GAZOO cover shows bright blue skies, yet its characters are clearly very far away from Earth!  

...Maybe the stars and planets were aligned DIFFERENTLY back in whatever time-pocket of Pre-History Fred Flintstone existed in!   

Trajectory: If both covers are shown together... they will collide!  ...Or go away from each other, if you flip them!  

 

And, if you put both BUGS BUNNY covers together, it looks like they're in a race... with themselves!  Place your bets on Bugs 1965, or Bugs 1953!  

And so, as everyone rockets away, we have THE GREAT GAZOO # 5 and BUGS BUNNY # 31 and 101 Separated At Mirth!  

Ringing-Out 2020!

Or, would a more appropriate phrasing be... "WRINGING-OUT 2020"?  Considering just how much this terrible year of 2020 has "wrung" out of us!  

Anyway, here's the perfect image to sum up (and Ring-Out) 2020 - from BATMAN #247 (DC Comics, Cover Date: February, 1973)!  

Make of it what you will...

The "Ball" can be a metaphor for COVID-19, subversion of the Rule of Law, erosion of our Principles of Democracy, unfounded chaos deliberately thrown into our fair and traditional electoral processes... or even the people making misguided decisions in publishing current comics!  BRING BACK SCOOBY-DOO TEAM-UP... and readable monthly American Disney comics!  

The Villain and Batman can be analogues for the "individuals of your choice", depending on which side of these polarizing matters you happen to be on!  

Why, the possibilities are ENDLESS!  

Let's just hope the "possibilities" for 2021 are an improvement over 2020!  

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL - AND GOOD RIDDANCE TO 2020... and every person, place, or thing that made it such a terrible year!  

Adventures in Comic-Boxing: You'll Love This Comic a Bushel and a Peck!

I wish I had written this ad copy!  

From the final page of WALTER LANTZ NEW FUNNIES # 232 (Dell Comics, Cover Date: June, 1956). 

And, just because we like it so much, here's a BONUS AD from WALTER LANTZ NEW FUNNIES # 230 (Dell Comics, Cover Date: April, 1956). 

...Aw, heck!  I would like to have written this one, too!  

Merry Christmas 2020!

 What more is there to say!