Previously, I mentioned the very earliest Christmas covers that appeared on newsstand comic books. One of the very earliest Christmas covers published by DC Comics was More Fun Comics #16 (December 1936) and features a very mischievous boy attempting to spring a bear trap on the unsuspecting Santa Claus as he descends from the chimney. This cover ties with New Comics #11 (later New Adventure Comics and then Adventure Comics) as DC’s very first Christmas covers.
In the title to this post I mentioned a swipe…or was it an homage? Vince Sullivan’s cover to More Fun Comics #16 as shown above is pretty unique in its depiction of Santa about to get a nasty surprise. So when EC Comics published Panic (their companion to Mad), I wonder if anyone noticed the similarity between Al Feldstein’s cover on Panic #1 (February-March 1954) and the cover by Sullivan that had appeared 18 years earlier? Whether a swipe or an homage, there is no question that Feldstein’s inspiration came from Sullivan’s earlier cover.
Merry Christmas!
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