DC Universe Holiday Bash // Back-Issue Bin

It's the end of the year again, where families come together, old friends meet up, and presents are exchanged with hugs and-

…

Oh.

Right.

2020.

Many of us will be feeling a little bit of a chill, even in toasty homes this year. Christmas is going to be a little different, but thanks to some friends online, I was able to find a mass of Christmas cheer. I wanted to share a little of that with you all. In this case, it comes from 1997's DC Universe Holiday Bash.

Every few years, someone at one of the big two gets the idea to put out a special of unique, holiday-themed stories. Marvel went through a run in the 2000s, while DC just puts one out every few years. These are often great excuses to tie top-name talent with some lesser-known talent to make some genuinely great work, and Holiday Bash is a perfect example of that. Throughout the comics industry, some of the top talents got together to decorate this tree of a comic with seven perfect little presents of stories. We'll be looking at two of them today, as I don't want to spoil the whole collection.

Our first is A High Father Christmas.

Starring Orion and Highfather, Walter Simonson writes this tale. Sal Buscema works on the art, Lee Loughridge colors, and John Costanza letters the story.

I will be honest: Jack Kirby's Fourth World is a sizable blind spot in my knowledge of the DC Universe. However, if you consider Darkseid being representative of humanity's worst, his opposite Highfather is perhaps the best of humanity. Ruling over the world of New Genesis, he leads the New Gods and is their father figure. Meanwhile, Orion was the son of Darkseid, traded to Highfather as a peace treaty with Darkseid. Despite his dark nature, Orion has been able to rise above it and become a hero and champion of New Genesis.

This also takes place after the weird 1997 DC event Genesis, which helped bring the New Gods to the front of the DC Universe beyond being "those cool guys Jack Kirby made." This is likely part of why Highfather and Orion are in New York City on Christmas Eve, but like a lot of good Christmas stories, you shouldn't think too hard about it.

Orion and Highfather engage in dialogue to further establish themselves for unfamiliar readers before being stopped by a very brusk and annoyed store manager. As it turns out, his store's Santa is running late, and the manager has mistaken the Santa-esque Highfather for the man he's needing.

Unfortunately, despite having the beard for the job and being filled with as much whimsy as Jack Kirby could muster, Highfather is just a little too hench to play the role of Santa. This is to say nothing of Orion, who is similarly built like a brick house.

Luckily, all it takes is a little bit of that New Genesis (and Jack Kirby) magic to fix that. And Mother Box, the sentient computers who aid the New Gods, is willing to help Orion also play the role.

I admit to never hearing of Santa having gnomes, but I'm not going to argue with Walter Simonson. As it is with any Christmas eve at a department store with a Santa, there are lines galore with screaming children and beleaguered parents. The store owner is slowly going insane, and the parents have already rounded the bend in some places. Luckily, Highfather also delights in making a show of it, popping into existence alongside Orion with a massive sack of toys.

He picks up the first girl in line and astonishes her mother by not only knowing her name and what she would like for Christmas but also having that very toy in his bag for her. It doesn't matter what child or what they desire from Santa. Highfather has their toy, and Orion is more than happy to hand out what gifts he has. It's a lot like Miracle on 34th Street with a bunch of Jack Kirby magic shook out by the Santa's helper that is Walt Simonson.

Finally, the day is almost done, the kids are all happy with their presents, and the bag is empty… save one present. A Santa hat for the owner of the store. With wishes of a Merry Christmas, Santa, and his helper bid farewell in the way only those from the Fourth World can.

As if on cue, the Santa who had been hired runs up, panicked that he's late for work. And while he didn't meet the original Santa, the store owner can't help but feel like the real Father Christmas has stopped by his store. He thanks his employees for working so late and even makes sure the late Santa gets paid. It's a simple story, but it's one that really brings across the feel of the Christmas part of the season, and the joy of giving gifts, and the spirit of Santa.

And the other story we'll look at actually covers one of the other end of the year celebrations: Hanukkah. Starring Green Lantern, this story is The Vessel.

Kyle Rayner stars as our GL of the day, written by Michael Jan Friedman. Roger Robinson pencils the book, Phyllis Novin inks, while John Kalisz colors, and John Costanza letters.

It is the 25th day of Kislev, the first day of the Hanukkah festival… and Kyle Rayner finds himself making sure an oil tanker doesn't wind up polluting the crap out of the area. Back at his favorite coffee shop, Radu's, some of Kyle's friends are actually getting ready for the evening celebration of the first day of Hanukkah. While Kyle isn't Jewish himself, he thought it could be fun and wanted to tag along if they would let him. Readers unfamiliar with the tradition are given a brief history lesson before Kyle shows up, and the trio head off to the local synagogue.

Boy, it’s a good thing that comics from the 90s weren’t “woke” and filled with “SJWs”, huh?

Where White Supremacists have sprayed horrible and hateful things across the entire building. To make matters worse, they stole the golden vessel that holds oil for the eternal flame. Used to hold the oil that lights the menorah, the vessel for this religious center was solid gold. Kyle takes this one personally, and it doesn't take him long to realize that he's got a good clue for who might have done this. Discarded nearby spray paint cans have a local art store logo slapped on them, one Kyle recognizes from his day job as an artist. The store owner happily shares who likely bought the cans, and it doesn't take long for Kyle to track them down.

Beating up Nazis is a proud DC tradition, and it’s great to see a legacy character like Kyle keep it going.

Kyle makes short work of the White Supremacists, but all that work with the tanker earlier left his ring lower on power than he realized!

As the ringleader of the racist bigot closes in on Kyle with a baseball bat, a Hanukkah miracle happens. Where it seemed like there wasn't enough power to save the day, there suddenly was, and Kyle summons up a horse to trample the goon.

If that wasn't enough, the story ends with a Hanukkah lesson about how sometimes Faith is enough, that hope can keep a flame going for longer than anyone could have expected.

While DC itself hasn’t been kind to Kyle over the years, using him as a Hanukkah parable works fantastic with his later title of Torchbearer.

Subtle, it isn't, but it's a wonderful little story for a holiday that is often neglected in the Christian-heavy American holiday stories.

I won't spoil the other five tales because this is a great book and deserves a place in your holiday rotation or comic collection. However, those who hunt this book down can expect to see a Superman story about his first Christmas in Metropolis. A Denny O'Neil story of Catwoman, Ty Templeton bringing Etrigan the Demon into Christmas, Mark Waid and Brian Augustyn working together on the Flash, and Jim Aparo bringing it home with Batman.

For those who are only visiting, have a happy holiday of your preference, and a fantastic new year. For those who like to come back for other articles we have, we hope to have more Christmas content as the month goes on.