M*A*S*H, Covid Teaching, and my favorite time of year

Christmas Comics Cavalcade – Marvel Two-in-One #8 (Marvel Comics)

Today we’re looking at Marvel Two-in-One #8, published in 1974 by Marvel Comics. Cover price is 25 cents.

I’LL HAVE YOU KNOW this book is the only Christmas comic in my decimated collection that I paid a premium price for! I think I paid $7 for this book and one look at the cover will tell ya why.

Absolutely insane.

Christmas Comic Cavalcade: The Beginning of the End

Something sad happened to me this year. As years go, 2019 had a lot of highs and lows and I like to think I took most of them in stride… but probably the lowest low was having our basement flood this March.

We lost stuff. Ellen and I were lucky that we had most of our photographs in plastic bins and electronics secured high enough not to get wet. Electronics were well about the line. The real gut-punch of the damage was to our books. Ellen collects a lot of cookbooks and I’m into all types of random garbage… you name it, I’ll buy it. Old issues of Creem Magazine.  Movie novelizations. Lots and lots and lots of comic books.

The movie novelizations were fine. My Creem Magazines were set above the gushing water. My comics however… they got hit. They got hit bad. While I was able to move most of my collection, I lost about three and a half long boxes of comics.

IT COULD HAVE BEEN A LOT WORSE. I had just begun on a cataloging/organization of all my floppy copies and as such, had comic boxes stacked on top of comic boxes in a fort-like capacity, three or four tall. Had this flood happened a few weeks before my organization project, I would have lost almost ALL of them… but they were stacked, so many were untouched.

It was, however, those boxes on the lowest level of those stacks that took the brunt of the water. Sadly, two of those boxes were filled with unbagged comic books… ranging from the 1970’s to today. Most of the comics I lost weren’t worth anything. I’m a sucker for $1 dollar comics sales (or lower!) and I like to have a lot of books to look through. A lot of those comics will be easy to replace…

but the hardest thing that was hit was my half box worth of Christmas/holiday comics.

I don’t have many comics that have SENTIMENTAL value.

I will ditch a comic pretty quick if I’m looking to downsize. Stack ‘em all up and just get them gone. I’ll buy a trade paperback.

Those Christmas comics though?

They have a lot of sentimental value for sure.

Comics I bought when I was a kid.

Comics I read to tatters.

Also, writing these Christmas comics posts! “Blogging” as a fad has come and gone but I always enjoyed giving myself the assignments. Giving myself an excuse to sit down with these types of comics and see how creators took to the challenge has become part of my holiday tradition.

Anyway, here’s what I’m going to try to do. I still have the box of comics. They are in pretty rough shape but I have saved a few choice books. I haven’t decided if I’m going to rebuild this collection but let’s squeeze the last bit of toothpaste out of this metaphorical tube over the next few weeks.

If you’ve never read the Christmas Comic Cavalcade before, I recommend checking out the Master list!

Christmas Comics Cavalcade – Star Trek: The Next Generation #2 (DC Comics)

In the past two years, I’ve become a fan of Star Trek.

Previously, I never had much use for Star Trek. I was always more of a Star Wars kid growing up and, if I’m being honest, I found a lot of the Trek canon to be nothing but a slow, boring slog as a teenager. Star Trek was the first Geek Certified property I never quite got a handle on enjoying… and it perplexed me!

“By all rights,” I thought to myself back in 1992,  “I should be incredibly interested in Star Trek! Look at all these other socially unacceptable pursuits I undertake that make me comically unappealing to the opposite sex! Comics! Toys! Video games! Science Fiction! Star Trek fits right in there!”

…and what was worse, I now realize it was never a better time to be a Star Trek fan than in the 1990’s. Ample opportunities to become a Trekkie existed in the during that decade, with a hefty amount of new spin-offs and movies being cranked out by Paramount.  Still, nothing ever really appealed to me outside of kind of enjoying Star Trek: First Contact when I saw it in theaters.

Trek caught my attention in a big way in 2016 when I suddenly found myself very discouraged about the state of humanity in general. 2016 seemed to usher in a cruel, stupid new paradigm for my country and I didn’t like what I was seeing.

As with many before me, I found solace from the harsher realities of the world in some of the loftier ideals of Star Trek. The idea that some day… some day, humankind sheds the base, antagonistic bullshit we always seem to be caught up in and we get to explore the stars?

During much of the last two years, I’ve needed that kind of hopeful escape.

At any rate, I started getting into Star Trek: The Next Generation in a big, bad way.

Christmas doesn’t come up much in Star Trek. Besides a couple of throwaway lines and scenes over the last 50 years, no Star Trek series has ever directly tackled a holiday episode. That’s why I’m doubly excited today as both a fan of Star Trek and a fan of Christmas comics to look at Star Trek: The Next Generation #2, published in 1987 by DC Comics

…an honest-to-God Star Trek Christmas story. Look at Captain Picard defend that Christmas tree!

The comic was written by Mike Carlin with art duties from Pablo Marcos, Carlos Garzon, and Arne Starr.

Christmas Comics Cavalcade: The 1994 Marvel Holiday Special

I’ve covered the Marvel Holiday Specials here. They are some of my favorite Christmas comics, owing much to my memories of buying them and reading them around the holidays.

I’ve gone on at length about how much I loved those comics as a kid and still find a lot to love about them now. One of them always eluded me though. I’d never been able to locate a copy of the 1994 Marvel Holiday Special.

…until a few months back when I finally stumbled over it at a clearance sale.

Christmas Comics Cavalcade: Batman Family #4

This week, we’re going to be looking at Batman Family #4, published in March-April of 1976 (ah, the vagaries of copyright information!) by DC Comics.

This one of the DC Giant issues that featured newly commissioned stories in addition to reprints of classic tales, sort of an inexpensive way to publish a big ol’ comic for not a lot of money.

Batman Family was an anthology series which primarily featured solo and team-up tales starring Robin the Boy Wonder and Batgirl. This was a fun period for both characters, well before they would be swept away by their 1980’s characterizations… Robin mainly defined as the leader of The New Teen Titans and Batgirl/Barbara Gordon by her spine-shattering encounter with The Joker in Batman: The Killing Joke.

Indeed, during the 1970’s, various DC Comics’ writers had worked up a pretty fun take on both Robin and Batgirl’s solo adventures. Let’s check ‘em out!

Christmas Comics Cavalcade: Beetlejuice Horror-Day Special

Here’s holiday funny book I’ve been trying to track down for awhile… The Beetlejuice Horror-Day Special, published by Harvey Comics in 1991.

Before I get into the comic, let’s talk for a minute about how Beetlejuice the animated series was surprisingly good!

Christmas Comics Cavalcade Master Post

Wow, I’ve written a lot about Christmas comics over the last few years. After taking an unintended break from the Christmas Comics Cavalcade last year, I’m glad to have had the time and the inclination to write a couple of more. I’ve linked ALL of the posts here for easy browsing. I’ve also starred some of my favorites. Happy holidays!

Star Trek: The Next Generation #2 (DC Comics) *

The 1994 Marvel Holiday Special (Marvel Comics)

Batman Family #4 (DC Comics)

Beetlejuice Horror-Day Special (Harvey Comics)

Harley Quinn #10 (DC Comics)

Doctor Who #12 (IDW)

Spider-Man Holiday Special 1995 (Marvel Comics)

The Batman Adventures Holiday Special (DC Comics) *

Comico Christmas Special (Comico)

Superman #165 (DC Comics)

X-O Manowar #26 (Valiant Comics) *

Force Works #8 (Marvel Comics)

DC Comics Presents #67 (DC Comics)

Walt Disney’s Holiday Parade (Disney Comics)

Super-Sized ALF Holiday Special #2 (Marvel Comics)

Extreme Super Christmas Special (Image Comics)

Terror Inc. #8 (Marvel Comics)

Ant Man’s Big Christmas (Marvel Comics) *

Gen 13: A Christmas Caper (Image Comics)

DCU Holiday Bash III (DC Comics)

Marvel Holiday Special 1993 (Marvel Comics)

Christmas with the Super-Heroes #2 (DC Comics) *

Marvel Holiday Special 1992 (Marvel Comics) *

Bone Holiday Special (Cartoon Books)

Walt Kelly’s Santa Claus Adventures (Innovation Comics)

 

Christmas Comics Cavalcade: Harley Quinn #10 (DC Comics)

I thought I’d do something a little different for this one. Usually, I dig into the back catalog of Christmas comic books for these posts… this time, I decided to go to the comic store and pick up whatever new holiday-themed comic book I could find for a review.

That goes to explain why today we’re looking at Harley Quinn #10, published in December of 2016 by DC Comics. Written by Jimmy Palmiotti (who inked some of the Spider-Man Holiday Special 1995, don’t you know!) and Amanda Conner, with a bevy of artists attending.

Cover price was $2.99 and I PAID $2.99 for the book. How do you like that?

Christmas Comics Cavalcade: Doctor Who #12, Volume 2

Today we’ll be looking at a rather recent Yuletide comic book – Doctor Who #12, Volume 2 published by IDW. Written by Tony Lee with art chores by Paul Grist, colors by Phil Elliot.

This is one of the rare comics in the Christmas Comics Cavalcade that I paid full price for upon its release!