12 Blogs of Christmas Day Nine: Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (The Comic)

I can’t say for sure what my first Christmas-related comic was. It might have been a big, fat Walt Disney Christmas collection. Or it might just as easily have been a big, treasury-sized edition of Sheldon Mayer’s Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer stories, collected in DC Comics’ Limited Collector’s Edition C-42. Disney Christmas comics are still coming out today from IDW, whereas the Rudolph stories live on mostly in my memories. So I’m going to talk about the Rudolph comics.

I must have been given this Rudolph comic when it was new, back in 1975. I’ve read others since then, as an adult, but this is the Rudolph comic of my childhood memories.

The first story features Rudolph and his pal Grover the gopher (I think he’s a gopher, anyway) at the North Pole. After an apparently disastrous Christmas the previous year, Santa’s elves, Winky & Blinky, have brought modern technology into the mix in the form of a computer that can evaluate their plans and determine whether they will be successful or not.

Of course, when Grover enters the picture, he mistakes the computer for a television, and a wacky misunderstanding ensues.

With the computer’s setting now reversed—giving warnings for good plans and approval for bad ones—Rudolph and Grover set off on their task of retrieving kids’ letters to Santa. On the way, though, they run afoul of Baddy Bear.

Even as a kid, I liked the uses to which Rudolph’s nose was put. It was like he had superpowers!

I think it’s interesting that this story, from the 70s, tackles some similar themes to other favorites like Arthur Christmas or Prep & Landing. Once again, we see Santa’s work being updated by incorporating modern technology. However, we also see that blindly following that technology isn’t the answer, and (both here and in Arthur Christmas) may get in the way if Santa and his helpers aren’t focused.

The second story is about a pair of comedic hunters hunting for exotic creatures at the North Pole (as you do). Of course, Rudolph and his friends get caught up in the hunt, and hilarity ensues.

This particular comic even had a cool Christmas diorama on the back cover that you could cut out and build (which I did).

As a kid, I was caught up in the charm and comedy of these comics. The comic timing and storytelling on display in the above excerpts really help explain the appeal. They also feature the “Santa’s Workshop as really nice workplace where everyone gets along even though they aren’t related” notion that I loved from the Rankin-Bass animated Christmas specials. I really wish these were in print today; with comics companies striving to capture the youth audience, you would think these would be a gimme. While a lot of older comics feel dated, these are cartoony enough to avoid that. Plus, they evoke the feel of other holiday stories that the audience may be more familiar with, like the aforementioned, perennially popular Rankin-Bass specials. I remain hopeful, but in the meantime, I’ll reread the ones I have.

Tomorrow: more comics! See you then!