The only thing better than getting Christmas cards in the mail is getting them from cartoonists! Sadly, in our age of e-cards, rising postage costs and Facebook, the art of the Christmas card is going the way of the crow-quill pen. It used to be customary for cartoonists to craft a card, but apart from a few undaunted and treasured throwbacks (like Roy Doty), that practice is largely lost to a generational shift.

Speaking of Roy Doty, Hogan’s Alley has a huge archive of his cards, which range from amazing to mind-boggling. Here’s one example, from 1987:

But there’s lots more holiday fun to see. Consider these gems from “Little Orphan Annie” creator Harold Gray:

You can see a smorgasbord of Gray’s Christmas cards here.

And in 2009, we looked at the decades of Christmas cards created by one of the most inventive cartoonists working, Arnold Roth. Here’s one example:

But you can see a lot more of his mini-masterpieces here.

This year, we took a look at more than four decades of Christmas cards by “Hagar the Horrible” creator Dik Browne. More than just cards, they really chronicle the story of his adult life, from newly married to grandfather. One example:

You can see the rest of the cards here. And at the bottom of that page, you’ll see links to many past Christmas-themed goodies, courtesy of your pals at Hogan’s Alley.

All the best to you in 2011, and one of my New Year’s resolutions is to be a more diligent SuperITCH blogger!

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Today’s Victorian Christmas Comic, is an example of the eternal appreciation of the Christmas Waits… Christmas Eve in our Street, by H. Holland, from the British comic weekly, Judy magazine, December 21st, 1887.

Merry Christmas!

Doug Wheeler

BritJudy

Here’s a change of pace for all you Comics-Tunes fans. Instead of spotlighting a classic comic strip, a well-loved cartoon character, or a powerfully popular comic book hero, we’re going generic. Today’s tune topic is super hero.

Curiously, if you Google “super hero” you get quite a few images of generic long-underwear guys. Yes, you see the big names like Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman at the top of the results. But there are also a good number of capes- and tights-wearing super guys that no one ever heard of because they don’t actually have names. I find that kind of interesting, in a generic sort of way.

Below are the top images of super heroes I gleaned from Google. Would you read a comic book starring one of these guys? Do they have what it takes to make it in the dog-eat-dog world of costumed super heroes? Or are they doomed to obscurity by their sheer generic-ness?

To complete the picture we’re proud to present a song generically entitled “Super Hero” by the Blue Stingrays. I think it’s appropriate music to look at generic characters by.

Click the link to listen!

Blue Stingrays - Super Hero

Sugar and Spike-always a great way to start your day and here are two stories from a late issue including the introduction of “relevant” African-American baby character, Raymond. It was, after all, the seventies.

http://diversionsofthegroovykind.blogspot.com/2010/12/12-days-of-christmas-2010-two-fer.html

One of my very favorite Silver Age series was National/DC’s Dial H For Hero, seen here today in a brief essay and a nostalgic cover gallery-complete with Go-Go checks! Sockamagee!

http://ripjaggerdojo.blogspot.com/2010/12/sockamagee.html

Did you like the Johnny Craig piece we linked to the other day from EC? If so, here we go again, linking to another EC piece from the greatest noir artist of them all-Johnny Craig!

http://cloud-109.blogspot.com/2010/12/something-for-snowbound_20.html

Speaking of revisiting, let’s go back to Canada in order to catch the World’s Mightiest Mortal performing “The Impossible Feats” in a story never published in the US except for in TBG, the comics newspaper, in the early seventies.

http://booksteveslibrary.blogspot.com/2010/12/more-canadian-captain-marvel-1942.html

Happy Holidays to all of the I.T.C.H. bloggers and readers!

Walt Kelly celebrated Christmas throughout the 1950s and 60s with a wonderful series of Christmas cards that reproduced his annual Christmas strip with a splash of color. The cards were printed on deckle-edged, letter-size sheets and folded in quarters to fit in envelopes for mailing.

1954

1954 Christmas Card by Walt Kelly
Front
5 1/2"" w x 4 1/4" h

1954 Christmas Card by Walt Kelly
Inside
8 1/4"" w x 2 1/4" h

Details of 1954 Christmas Card

1956

Pogo Christmas Day Comic Strip by Walt Kelly
December 25, 2025
7" w x 2" h

1956 Christmas Card by Walt Kelly
Front
5 1/4" w x 4" h

1956 Christmas Card by Walt Kelly
Inside
8 1/4" w x 2 1/2" h

Walt Kelly was creating Christmas Comics years before Pogo was syndicated. Some of his best stories are included in The Great Treasury of Christmas Comic Book Stories, available at Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and other fine comic shops and bookstores. This handsome edition keeps the tradition of Christmas comics alive with a warm-hearted collection of classics from the 1940s and 50s by Kelly and many other artists.

Click here for BookSteve’s review!

More Tomorrow …

I won”t lie to you; Santa’s Christmas Comics is a fairly mediocre funny animal comic book, featuring understandably forgotten characters with names like Goofy Gander, Happy Rabbit, Percy Pig, Merton Monk, etc. published by the company known at various times as Better/Best/Standard/Nedor/Pines (the people who gave us The Black Terror). None of the stories are particularly good and those with a Christmas theme (the ones I’ve posted) aren’t even the best of a lackluster lot. If we weren’t so close to Christmas this title wouldn’t have made the cut.

But we are and I must confess that I like the idea of Santa’s Christmas Comics more than the actual article, the idea that kids actually got comics for Christmas. And the idea that back in the age of the 10 cent comic there were these strange 100 page, squarebound artifacts, mostly likely collated from the remains of a bunch of remaindered comics that had their covers striped.

So in the spirit of critical forgiveness I give you Santa’s Christmas Comics:

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This week’s Christmas Celebration continues, with Ye Byrth & Death of an Xmas Pudding, by George Cruikshank, Jr. (nephew of the legendary British caricaturist). From Britain’s Judy magazine, December 28th, 1870.

Merry Christmas!

Doug Wheeler

BritJudy

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Today, a parade, to celebrate The Coming of Christmas. (More to come, daily, all this week!) By Archibald Chasemore, in the British comic periodical, Judy, December 17th, 1873.

Merry Christmas!

Doug Wheeler

BritJudy