Holiday Wish Lists -- Whatcha Want?

Doug: As it seems things have slowed down on yesterday's holiday decorating post, we'll use that topic to segue right into a discussion on comics-related goodness for which you'd appreciate landing on the receiving end.

Doug: As I've been saying for quite some time, I've become enamored of Ed Brubaker's run on Captain America. I'm not ready to branch out yet into his Batman and other work, as I'd really like to complete my reading of the Cap/Winter Soldier material. So in that vein I've added The Marvels Project from the main Cap team of Brubaker and Steve Epting. And based on the recommendation of Edo and some others I've also requested that a gift of Captain America: Forever Allies by Roger Stern and three artists.

Doug: I also mentioned in yesterday's post that I have several Hallmark ornaments from years past. This year there is a bevy of choices and I hope I'll get at least a few. I'm always a sucker for a good Captain America ornament, but also of great interest in this year's batch are the Batman '66 and Lynda Carter Wonder Woman ornaments. The upside-down Spidey with the scarf and gifts is a great sculpt as well.

Doug: In the area of books, I've spied a couple of pricey tomes that I'd love to see -- but that's just it. I think I'd be satisfied in merely having a few hours to leaf through them and see all of the nostalgic goodness. I'm speaking of The Full-Color Guide to Marvel Early Bronze Age Collectibles: From 1970 to 1973: Third Eye, Mego, F.O.O.M., and More (Full-Color Guide to Marvel Collectibles) (Volume 2) and its predecessor, The Full-Color Guide to Marvel Silver Age Collectibles: From MMMS to Marvelmania. As I said, each book is only over 150 pages yet retails for close to $40 -- that's a bit much. But I'm sure they're quite nice!

Doug: So what about you, kids? What goodness will you be asking for/hoping to receive?

An Oral (Well, Written) History of Christmas Decorating

Doug: Happy day-after Thanksgiving, friends -- or as some say, Black Friday. Meh...

Doug: Yesterday our well wishes featured a few comments about decorating for the holidays. Among others, Humanbelly suggested --

HB: Hmmmmm-- is our topic range expansive enough to touch on some sort of discussion of holiday decorating? Perhaps from the perspective of childhood memories vs. current things folks do? I kind of like the fact that we have a sizable international contingent to weigh in on something like that. . . 

Doug: Why, yes -- our topic range is! So there's your prompt for conversation today (and maybe into the weekend). One thing I recall about my youth was that we always had a real tree. However, it wasn't too long into my marriage that my wife and I decided that we both found that to be a hassle and have had artificial trees for the past 20+ years. It's just so much easier to leave the lights on them and with just a bit of bending and twisting we're ready to go the next year. We really only decorate our porch as far as outside goes -- we did lights on our shrubbery for a few years, but rabbits chewed through the wires. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. I've pictured a "family heirloom" that's now come to my house from my mom's. Yes, that's a Coca-Cola Santa Claus. We have had that on display at Christmas time for as long as I can remember, and I love it. When my mom gave it to me a few years ago my sons thought it was a bit creepy. So now we playfully refer to him as "Chucky Claus". Sort of took the luster off of it for me, but what the heck.

Doug: OK, enough about me -- let's hear from you now.

UPDATE: Late today HB sent us a few photographs from his weekend decorating. If you've not been to the comments section, these photos accompany his comment from 8:45 pm.

UPDATE #2: Overnight (to me anyway), Edo Bosnar sent a few photos of the city of Zagreb to reinforce a comment he left in today's post. Thanks, Edo!

Alex Ross does the Avengers, and Holiday Mastheads

Doug:  I know Alex Ross has his detractors around here -- neither Karen or I are in that camp.  We love the guy's work, and will feature it in our December reviews.  Anyway, Friday I saw the image below, which is a variant cover to Avengers #25, and is part of Marvel's 75th Anniversary.  Well done, Mr. Ross!  I want this as a poster!!

Doug:  With Halloween just past and Thanksgiving on the horizon, today's trip through our masthead history settles in on those holiday-themed greetings you've seen as you arrive here each day.  I've added a few of our "just for fun" mastheads to round out today's discussion.  And again -- man, I'm all over the place trying to get the "bronze" color right...  :/

 

Holiday Goodies

Karen: It's that time of the year when it seems like food is everywhere. People bring goodies to work, there's stuff at home, there are parties and other activities where food is around. So let's discuss favorite holiday food and treats.

Karen: Who doesn't love a good, juicy turkey? And yet, preparing that bird so that it comes out just right is no easy task. I recall my parents getting up repeatedly Christmas Eve to tend to the turkey as it sat in the oven, the tantalizing aroma permeating the house. They would be a bit bleary-eyed the next day, but it was worth it when the turkey came out plump and moist. And the stuffing! I personally prefer the stuffing made inside the bird; I think it has more flavor. I have to admit, my own efforts at making a great turkey have been hit or miss, and most of the time, it's just me and my hubby, so we're content to buy a pre-cooked turkey breast, and that's fine. One thing I don't get is the deep-fried turkey. Not only does it seem like it would not taste as good as a slow-cooked oven  turkey, it seems dangerous. Don't believe me? Just listen to what William Shatner has to say about it:

Karen: I already mentioned tamales in our winter wonderland thread, so I won't expound any further on them here, but  come on - meat, corn meal? What's not to like?

Karen: Of course sweets are a big part of this time of year too. One of my favorites is the chocolate orange. Not only does it combine two great tastes -chocolate and orange, duh - but it gives you the visceral thrill of whacking it hard on a counter to break it open. That's nearly as good as a pinata, which is another holiday pleasure for those of us raised out west. 

Karen: My Mom used to make a ton of cookies when I was little. I really liked the snickerdoodles, which had cinnamon, and of course sugar cookies were great because we got to decorate them. But I also enjoyed snowballs, which were almost more salty than sweet (keep it clean). She also made divinity, which I can only describe as solidified corn syrup -it was mind-numbingly sweet -I could never eat it now. But I loved it back in the day. I've never been a big one for traditional flavors like peppermint or gingerbread, and you can keep your eggnog to yourself, thanks. But I'll gladly take a thermos of hot chocolate when I go looking at neighborhood decorations.

Karen: So -what are your favorite goodies this time of year?

Holiday Comics -- Have a Favorite?

Doug:  Earlier this fall, Karen and I were debating what to do with our schedule as we'd made up our mind that we were going to take a vacation in January.  For those of you who look up and down the sidebar, you know that we have sort of a "coming soon" feature.  A long time ago we announced about six months worth of stories or topics that we were going to review.  As it became obvious that December was going to be an issue in filling the Mondays as we do with our partner reviews (we didn't want to be stuck in the middle of a storyline as January dawned), I asked if we could do a couple of Christmas comics.  Of course, nothing really leapt immediately to mind; about the only one I could come up with off the top of my head was the Spidey/Stegron/Lizard clash that ran in Amazing Spider-Man #'s 165-166.  Later, I recalled that an early Marvel Team-Up was set over Christmas.

Doug:  Since we nixed the idea, at least for this year, I thought we could at least throw this out there to our readers and perhaps get some suggestions that we might use next year or even later.  You know we do up Halloween pretty big around here each year, but I don't know that we've ever really hit on another holiday with a comic review.  So what do you know of that is maybe a favorite Bronze-era story of yours?  Of course there are no guarantees that either Karen or I would have a particular book that gets nominated, but hey -- shopping is fun, and who knows?  You might inspire us!