A Four Color Christmas, Day 25: Insert your own breaking-and-entering joke here

Cover of Four Color #1274 [Santa Claus Funnies] (December 1961), painted cover by Mel Crawford

A Four Color Christmas, Day 24: From the biggest to the smallest, the Christmas spirit reigns

Cover of Four Color #959 [Walt Scott's Christmas Stories] (December 1958), painted cover by Walt Scott

A Four Color Christmas, Day 23: The Post-War Fantastic Four was a little different

Cover of Four Color #175 [Santa Claus Funnies] (December 1947), painted cover by Morris Gollub

A Four Color Christmas, Day 22: Penguin butts roasting on an open fire

Cover of Four Color #740 [Walter Lantz Chilly Willy] (October 1956), pencils by Fred Abranz (?)

A Four Color Christmas, Day 21: Scary Zombie Santa wishes you a deadly merry Christmas

Cover of Four Color #91 [Santa Claus Funnies] (December 1945), painted cover by Arthur E. Jameson (?)

A Four Color Christmas, Day 20: Oh, you never will believe where those Keebler cookies come from

Cover of Four Color #1062 [Walt Scott's Christmas Stories] (December 1959), painted cover by Walt Scott

A Four Color Christmas, Day 19: Either that logo follows Santa around, or the monkey is breaking the fourth wall

Here's the flip-book back cover of Four Color #259, of which we saw the front cover yesterday!


Cover of Four Color #259 [Santa and the Angel] (December 1949), pencils and inks by Morris Gollub
What, no Christmas Zebra?

A Four Color Christmas, Day 18: Closer than my peeps you are to me, baby

Cover of Four Color #259 [Santa and the Angel] (December 1949), pencils and inks by Morris Gollub
What's this? "Turn to back cover?" Well, I will! Tomorrow!

A Four Color Christmas, Day 17: The agony of de feet

Cover of Four Color #1054 [Huckleberry Hound's Winter Fun] (December 1959), pencils and inks by Harvey Eisenberg

A Four Color Christmas, Day 16: Feliz Navidad, Americanos

Cover of Four Color #867 [Santa Claus Funnies] (December 1957), painted art by unknown
Allegedly, this painting of old Saint Nick is a swipe of a photograph of Fidel Castro. I couldn't find the exact photograph, so I had to make do in the Bully Photoshop Labs with making you this:


On the other hand, I imagine Castro would not have been flattered by the comparison, judging from the official position of the Cuban government on Santa Claus:

Front page headline from The Miami News, November 15, 1959
(Click picture to Double Corona-size)

A Four Color Christmas, Day 15: How Yosemite Sam Stole Christmas

Cover of Four Color #1064 [Bugs Bunny's Merry Christmas] (December 1959), pencils and inks by Ralph Heimdahl

A Four Color Christmas, Day 14: Post-War Santa is extra-generous

Cover of Four Color #126 [Christmas with Mother Goose] (November 1946), pencils and inks by Walt Kelly

A Four Color Christmas, Day 13: Serves those circus clowns right for leaving it unlocked

Cover of Four Color #1154 [Santa Claus Funnies] (December 1960), painted art by unknown

A Four Color Christmas, Day 12: He'll be back again someday, if he survives on that ice floe

Cover of Four Color #1065 [Frosty the Snowman] (December 1959), artist unknown

A Four Color Christmas, Day 11: Don't you know your name, girl? / Twelve people gonna ask you just the same, girl

Cover of Four Color #533 [Raggedy Ann + Andy] (February 1954), painted art by Dan Gormley
6,600.

A Four Color Christmas, Day 10: A reading from the Book of St. Nicholas

Cover of Four Color #666* [Santa Claus Funnies] (December 1955), painted cover by Mel Crawford
*Yes, I know. Well, just rearrange the letters of his first name and see what you wind up with!

A Four Color Christmas, Day 9: Little Boo was bad all year so Santa brought her a stocking full of rats

Cover of Four Color #172 [Christmas with Mother Goose] (November 1947), pencils and inks by Walt Kelly

A Four Color Christmas, Day 8: Mister Nimoy Joins the Army

Cover of Four Color #745 [Francis the Talking Mule] (November 1956), pencils and inks by Don Gunn
Francis's movie career really didn't pick up until the talkies were invented, but he got pretty popular then.



Watch out for Leonard Nimoy in the second clip as Football Player No. 52 (on the right). He was an unknown when he appeared in that Francis film, but one day he would have a role that all of America knew and loved him as: the host and narrator of In Search Of....

A Four Color Christmas, Day 7: The elves that didn't become dentists were put on Santa-grooming duty

Cover of Four Color #205 [Santa Claus Funnies] (December 1948), pencils and inks by Morris Gollub

A Four Color Christmas, Day 6: Meanwhile, Candice is staring longingly out of the window

Cover of Four Color #527 [Charlie McCarthy] (January 1954), painted art by unknown