There I was in early November, in Kroger’s, celebrating Halloween the way I usually do; getting my traditional bag of Halloween candy for 50% off. The Christmas decorations, of course, were up, but the way I really knew it was on holiday-wise was the season’s first sighting of a bottle of Diet Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash (The Official Cranberry Flavored Soda of Christmas, as far as I’m concerned). And then in a bin by the checkout stand, out of the corner of my eye, I thought I spied Captain America’s shield. It was, I swear, a selection of "Holiday Countdown Calendars." There were Disney Princesses, one featuring classic Disney characters and the other one was Marvel Avengers Assemble.
These were examples of Advent calendars, a special calendar containing 24 small numbered flaps behind which can reside a Bible verse, a holiday scene or a small chocolate, used to count the days until Christmas. It was first used by German Lutherans in the 19th century, but most Christian denominations have used them. In olden days, they were considered to be a low key way of teaching children about Christmas, but in modern times they’ve gone trendy and upscale. There are Advent calendars featuring samples of liquor, cosmetics and Legos.
As I’ve demonstrated, there are also Advent calendars that go by another name. It’s another example of something that’s been traditionally Christian turned into something secular so everyone can enjoy it (and everyone can make more money). There are now calendars featuring samples of liquor, cosmetics and Legos, so I began to reason while standing in the check-out line, why not comic books? I mean, other than the obvious fact that you can’t fit an entire comic behind a flap.
In last week’s column about Halloween ComicFest (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--Double Pre-Christmas Time Is Here"), I suggested that maybe it was time, past time, we did something similar for Christmas. For the last couple of years, comiXology has had a "Twelve Days of Christmas" promotion in which they’ve given away a free digital download every day. Maybe a selection of free comics, like we do for Free Comic Book Day and Halloween ComicFest, or just one, very special promotional comic each week done by top creators.
Maybe a major publisher could do a serialized holiday comic with new weekly installments that are only available for sale on Wednesdays (and that weekend), and aren’t available for digital download, at least not until Christmas Day. Obviously I’m not sure exactly what the promotion should be, just that it would be nice if there was something that would help get customers into our stores. I’m against Christmas being smothered in capitalism but if that’s how it’s going to be, why shouldn’t we get in on the action?
Because in a lot of ways the show’s a substantial departure from CBS’s usual slate of CSI- and NCIS-style status quo-affirming, solidly reassuring police procedurals. For one thing, it features a law enforcement agency (the DEO, Department of Extraordinary Operations) which might not be entirely trustworthy. For another, on CBS it usually takes a least a year for a program to build a "mythology" (characters’ backstories, a season-long plot "arc," etc.), but with Supergirl it all gets unpacked in the first half hour.
But not everything will seem strange; it’s at least as lush looking and vaguely ingratiating as any other of the network's dramas. And while the judicious use of heat vision may have contributed, as with any other police procedural the capture of this week’s killer (the escaped Phantom Zone criminal of the week) can mostly be credited to good lab work. As for me, I liked it well enough to record the first episode. I may even watch it, eventually, but I’m in no rush. Honestly, what I’d like to see is a good Supergirl comic book; a really good one.
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.
