It’s Christmas Eve Eve! By JASON CZERNICH My favorite solo Christmastime tradition is reading holiday-themed comics — something I started way back in 1988. They were especially great to peruse on Christmas Eve Day while waiting for that evening’s festivities to get under way. Over the years, my holiday reading list has grown… a lot! Here are 13 of my favorite comic-book reads that help get me in the holiday mood. — Christmas With the Super-Heroes #1 (1988, DC). The first holiday special I ever owned—and what a delightful surprise it was to see it on the shelves at my local office-supply/newsdealer store! It’s all reprints, but it was my first exposure to DC holiday classics such as Neal Adams’ The Silent Night of the Batman. — Christmas With the Super-Heroes #2 (1989, DC). Unlike the prior year’s Christmas special, this one featured all-new material and was loaded with a good cross-section of talent — Paul Chadwick, Dave Gibbons, Gray Morrow, Eric Shanower, John Byrne, Andy Kubert, and more! The highlight of the book was arguably the Alan Brennert and Dick Giordano Deadman tale, Should Auld Acquaintance Be Forgot, featuring a most unexpected cameo appearance that gives an already superb story an extra flourish. — Green Lantern: Larfleeze Christmas Special #1 (DC, 2010). What does the greediest character in the DCU truly want the most for Christmas? The answer will surprise you! — The Batman Adventures Holiday Special #1 (DC, 1994). This Paul Dini–penned special would go on to be adapted as an episode of The New Batman Adventures, but I dare say that the original source material is far superior. The character designs follow the style of the 1992 Batman: The Animated Series, and it includes a touching Mr. Freeze story that never made it into the televised adaptation. — Superman: Peace on Earth (1998, DC). The first of the annual Paul Dini and Alex Ross collaborations! It’s Christmastime, and Superman attempts to tackle world hunger. It’s not only a great holiday season story, but one of the greatest Superman tales ever told. — DC Special Series #21: Super-Star Holiday Special (1979, DC). Jonah Hex, Batman, House of Mystery, Sgt. Rock, and Legion of Super-Heroes tales—all wrapped under a José Luis García-López cover! Bonus: You even get Frank Miller’s first published Batman pencils in a story written by Dennis...
You’ll have Jason Blood on your hands… Remarkably, Jack Kirby has only gotten a couple of Absolute Editions from DC over the years, both centering on the Fourth World. That’s set to change in the late summer of 2026 with the anticipated publication of The Demon by Jack Kirby: Absolute Edition. Dig the info, tucked into DC’s latest solicitations: THE DEMON BY JACK KIRBY: ABSOLUTE EDITION Written by JACK KIRBY Art and cover by JACK KIRBY Part man, part elemental fury, Etrigan the Demon was bound to Jason Blood by Merlin to defend Camelot! Now a demonologist in the streets of 1970s Gotham, he must face a barrage of gothic terror—Morgaine le Fey, Klarion the Witch Boy, and more! Collecting The Demon #1-16, featuring nearly 200 pages of original pencils and inks, as presented by the Kirby Museum with brand-new essays by the creators that carried forward the legacy of Etrigan, a brand-new foreword by horror legend Stephen Bissette, and more! $125.00 US | 632 pages | 8 1/8″ x 12 1/4″ | Hardcover | ISBN: 978-1-79950-902-8 ON SALE 9/1/26 — A few thoughts: — The cover art is labeled NOT FINAL, so it’s subject to change. Doesn’t mean it will, though. — Absolute Editions pretty much focus on modern comics, going back only as far as the Bronze Age. I guess that means the only other Absolute left to do would be Kamandi, though Super Powers would be a lot of fun. I don’t think there’s enough material there, though. — This is the second month in a row DC has popped an unexpected Bronze Age Absolute Edition into the solicitations. Last month, it was Neal Adams’ Batman. — MORE — BATMAN BY NEAL ADAMS: ABSOLUTE EDITION Coming Summer 2026. Click here. — DC COMICS to Publish FIVE Facsimile Editions in March. Click...
It’s gonna be a good time to fill holes on your bookshelf…
Not in time for Sweet Christmas, but soon enough…
Gorgeous. But what else would you expect?
The comics luminary recalls his epiphany about the King…
