HOLIDAY THEMED COMICS FLY ONTO STORE SHELVES FOR CHRISTMAS SEASON

In the mood to add some Christmas spirit to your comic book reading? Here are some holiday themed selections flying onto comic shop shelves to add to your seasonal festivities:

BATMAN + SANTA CLAUSE: SILENT KNIGHT RETURNS

A new comic book in this 5-issue mini-series will be released each week leading up to Christmas. Based upon the success of last year's Batman team up with Santa, DC Comics is bringing them together again for another Christmas adventure. 

BATMAN SMELLS, ROBIN LAID AN EGG

Jingle bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg, the Batmobile lost a wheel… and you know the rest! Read six merry tales about characters from DC Comics set during the holiday season. Be enthralled by Dr. Midnight's literally silent night and ponder the question: in a world without the Joker's torment, is it really a wonderful life? Probably not. 

MARVEL HOLIDAY TALES TO ASTONISH

An anthology of Marvel superhero hijinks. First, you're invited to the Fantastic Four's Holiday Party! But who are the uninvited guests? Then, in a tale of Hanukkahs past, can Kitty Pryde scramble to save the day while struggling to shop for gifts for her merry X-Men? And ring in the New Year, with Peter Parker and Miles Morales, as only Spider-Men can!

TOP COW HOLIDAY SPECIAL

Snuggle up by the fire, but stay out of the shadows, as you enjoy The Top Cow Holiday Special, featuring three eight-page tales based on classic holiday stories with a Top Cow twist! Marguerite Bennett and Giuseppe Cafaro bring you a tale from Witchblade, where Sara flashes back to her grandmother and the story of "The Befana," the Italian Christmas Witch! Marc Silvestri and Tina Valentino team up to bring a heartwarming Christmas tale from The Darkness, featuring Santa Claus, a family of Darklings, and an old friend who joins the fun based on "The Night Before Christmas." Matt Hawkins and Atilio Rojo put Aphrodite IX through her paces as she navigates a deadly series of mazes based on "The Twelve Days of Christmas."

DREAD THE HALLS

The perfect holiday stocking stuffer — a collection of horror tales by Image Comics to read curled up by the light of the Yule log! "Be of Good Fear!" Long before Americans celebrated horror on Halloween, the Victorians did it gathered around a fireplace on Christmas Eve. Dread the Halls honors this macabre tradition by wishing you and yours "Happy Holidays" with stories of ghosts, ghastly abominations, and vile creatures. Covers by red-hot artists Maria The Wolf, Marguerite Sauvage, wrapping-paper variant by Jordan Hart, and a holiday homage cover by Lee Ferguson will be hitting comic shop shelves.

CHRISTMAS 365

The holidays weren’t always so tough for Peter Rockwell and his family, but a tragic and challenging year finds them stressed out and drifting apart when they should be pulling together. After accepting the wisdom of a Santa Claus at his local mall, Peter hatches a plan to give his family the best year ever, one Christmas at a time!

ARCHIE CHRISTMAS SPECTACULAR

In a brand new story, Amber Nightstone—Sabrina’s fiercest magical rival—is on a mission: get Sabrina the best Christmas gift ever?!

X-MEN JOIN DICE THRONE

We've had some fantastic family game nights playing The Op Games expansion of Roxley Games' Dice Throne which has characters from the Marvel superhero universe battle in gladiatorial duels. In The Op Games Marvel edition of Dice Throne, players can have battles such as Thor vs Loki, Black Widow vs Black Panther, Spider-Man vs Captain Marvel, or Doctor Strange vs Scarlet Witch. This dueling game involves the tactical use of unique character abilities and the manipulation of dice rolls to determine offensive and defensive actions to battle your opponent. It is a fun, fast-paced game that is complemented by fabulous artwork incorporated into its components.

Now one of my favorite Marvel superheroes is joining the Dice Throne fray. The Op Games and Roxley Games have teamed up for a Kickstarter campaign which will include Wolverine and eight other X-Men into Dice Throne duels as playable characters. Wolverine, Deadpool, Psylocke, Iceman, Storm, Cyclops, Rogue, Gambit, and Jean Grey/Dark Phoenix. These X-Men can engage in gladiatorial combat versus prior Marvel character packs released by the Op Games (4-Hero Box [Scarlet Witch, Spider-Man, Loki & Thor], 2-Hero Box [Black Panther & Captain Marvel] and 2-Hero Box [Doctor Strange & Black Widow] or any of the other characters released directly from Roxley Games such as Cursed Pirate, Moon Elf, or Santa Claus. We've had some epic family game night battles between Thor and Santa Claus! 

In addition to adding nine new heroes to use in traditional Dice Throne duels, the X-Men Kickstarter is adding a new gameplay mode. Marvel Dice Throne Missions is a more of a traditional board game format. Players can utilize the X-Men or other Marvel characters previously available exclusively through usaopoly. In Marvel Dice Throne Missions, players navigate a tabletop game mat to complete missions that involve solving puzzles, achieving objectives, fighting henchmen, and ultimately facing a top tier Marvel Villian in an epic boss battle. An exciting way to utilize Game Throne components in a fun new way!

The Kickstarter also includes as add-on purchases, painted miniature gaming figures of the featured X-Men characters as well as Black Panther, Black Widow, Captain Marvel, Doctor Strange, Scarlet Witch, Spider-Man, Loki and Thor from prior Marvel Dice Throne character packs. Other add-ons you can purchase through this Kickstarter campaign are acrylic game tokens, card sleeves, collapsable dice trays, and neoprene playmats.

Are you geeked about the X-Men joining Dice Throne? If so, don't miss out on this Kickstarter! The Marvel Dice Throne X-Men Kickstarter campaign comes to an end on Monday, November 6, 2023 at 11:45 pm ET. Get your pledges in!

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THE ORIGINAL CHRISTMAS SPECIALS COLLECTION

Universal Pictures Home Entertainment provided a complimentary Blu-ray of The Original Christmas Specials Collection to ageekdaddy.com for promotional consideration.

As an adult when I think of Santa Claus the image above is the first impression that my mind pictures. That is because as a kid growing up in the 1970s & '80s, the Rankin/Bass stop motion productions and cartoons were what was on TV during the holiday season. In the days before cable television and Internet streaming, we only picked up seven channels through the rabbit ears on top of my parents' television set. So these holiday specials featuring Santa Claus, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman were Prime Time entertainment for not just my family but a whole generation of children.

It was a holiday tradition for my whole family to gather around the TV and watch the holiday specials produced by Arthur Rankin Jr and Jules Bass and I have a lot of nostalgia for these productions. So I'm GEEKED that these shows are now available on Blu-ray for me to share with my own children. Universal Pictures Home Entertainment has just released in high definition for home video 5 holiday favorites from Rankin/Bass including Santa Claus is Coming To Town, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, The Little Drummer Boy, Cricket on the Hearth and Frosty the Snowman in a Blu-ray Limited Edition Steelbook. Blu-ray unleashes the power of your HDTV and is the best way to watch movies at home, featuring 6X the picture resolution of DVD, exclusive extras and theater-quality surround sound.

'Tis the season to enjoy the timeless holiday classics in The Original Christmas Specials Collection featuring five unforgettable stories. Produced by Rankin/Bass, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Santa Claus is Comin' To Town and The Little Drummer Boy feature iconic "Animagic" stop-motion animation and Frosty the Snowman and Cricket on the Hearth are beautifully animated. Starring the iconic voice talents of Fred Astaire, Jimmy Durante, Mickey Rooney, Danny Thomas, Burl Ives and many more, these favorites also feature some of the most beloved songs of the holiday season and are sure to entertain audiences of all ages for generations to come!

This limited edition steelbook Blu-ray collection of Rankin/Bass holiday specials also includes some great bonus content:

THE ANIMAGIC WORLD OF RANKIN/BASS: a documentary celebrating the legacy of the holiday specials created by Arthur Rankin Jr and Jules Bass including interviews with filmmakers and historians.

RESTORING THE PUPPETS OF RUDOLPH: a featurette on how the puppets from the beloved special were restored.

REIMAGINING RUDOLPH IN 4D: A behind-the-scenes look at the making of the new Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer attraction film being shown at museums, theme parks and zoos.

T.E.A.M. RUDOLPH AND THE REINDEER GAMES: A video storybook of the untold tales of the Reindeer Games.

COMMENTARIES ON FROSTY THE SNOWMAN AND SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO TOWN.

Rankin/Bass Present THE ORIGINAL CHRISTMAS SPECIALS COLLECTION is a must have addition to any home entertainment video library. These holiday specials are full of holiday cheer that is sure to put you in a festive mood for the season. Merry Christmas!

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MERRY CHRISTMAS

Merry Christmas from my family to yours! Wishing everyone a joyful holiday season from ageekdaddy.com

CRANBROOK HOUSE HOLIDAY SPLENDOR

We got into the holiday spirit with a visit to the historic Cranbrook House in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan to see it decorated for Christmas. Designed by noted Detroit architect Albert Kahn this English Tudor-style was built in 1908 for the family of a newspaper mogul. It is the oldest surviving manor home in Metro Detroit. The mansion is now a centerpiece of the Cranbrook Educational Community which includes an art museum, science center and college preparatory academies.

Annually in December, the Cranbrook House is opened to the public for one weekend to showcase it decorated for Christmas. Visitors to this ticketed can take self-guided tours of the historic home enjoying its ambience decked out with Christmas trees, garland, and wreaths. Plus there is a chance to get a family photograph with Santa Claus. This year's Holiday Splendor event took place December 6 - 8. Proceeds from tickets to this fundraiser support the preservation of this National Historic Landmark.



Based upon the jolly good time we had at the Cranbrook House Holiday Splendor event, I highly recommend making it part of your holiday festivities next year. Visit housegardens.cranbrook.edu or call 248-645-3149 in November to get specific Holiday Splendor dates and times to mark on your calendar. Especially, if you have young children at home because Cranbrook House provides an exceptional Santa Claus Sighting experience.

Mrs. Claus greets families as they wait to see Santa and get kids to fill out wish lists helping parents get some clues for present ideas and encouraging the children to chat about the gifts they want. If you don't have your holiday shopping all done yet this can be very helpful!

Situated in the picturesque library of the Cranbrook House, not only does this event provide a grand backdrop for photographs with Santa but he also provides a lot of interaction and personal attention to the kids that visit. A very nice opportunity to get a wonderful picture for your family's Christmas card or a memorable photo for a child's scrapbook.

During our visit Santa really chatted us up and expressed a genuine interest in each of the children that visited him. Only one family is brought into the grand room where he is located at a time so it feels like a private moment and there is no sense of rush because of a crowd surrounding you like is often the case during a visit with a Mall Santa. A bunch of digital pictures are taken and mailed to you so there is no pressure to purchase an expensive photo package to capture the occasion. Also they don't mind if you pull out your own camera to take a few shots of your own. With hat in mind, the Santa Sighting tickets during the Holiday Splendor event are a real bargain.

After taking some posed pictures and talking with children about what gifts they would like for Christmas, Santa then has the kids sign a book pledging to stay on the Nice List for another year. I thought that was a nice touch! The only regret I have from the experience is that we didn't bring my son and daughter when they were younger and probably would have been more into the moment. Don't miss out on this experience if you have young children looking forward to meeting Santa at Christmastime!

As we left Santa handed each of us some special glasses to wear. Donning these lenses transforms the lights on Christmas trees and other holiday decorations into shiny gingerbread men. Not only was it fun to explore the Cranbrook House seeing the special effects of these glasses throughout it but they also worked at home on our own Christmas decorations. We enjoyed relaxing in our family room after our Cranbrook House visit, sipping eggnog and enjoying the view of our Christmas tree twinkling with gingerbread men.

After spending some time with Santa Claus, we enjoyed walking around the Cranbrook House taking in the festive atmosphere. Entering this historic home is like stepping into a Charles Dickens novel. The holiday decorations compliment the antiques, artwork and architecture of the Cranbrook House providing a festive vibe to the place. In addition to the library, visitors can also explore a variety of rooms on the first floor of the manor house.

Visitors can wander through a Reception Hall paved in Moravian tiles that was originally used for entertaining guests and imagine being at a holiday gathering when the place was home to a vibrant family. The home office has a stately fireplace and display of artwork picked up by the Booth family during a South American expedition. The Sunset Room was laid out for a tea party. Two of our favorite rooms though were the Dining Room and Oak Room.

The Dining Room was decorated with a Chronicles of Narnia theme. A bust of Aslan guards the room's fireplace. A frosty looking Christmas Tree represents the Witch from the first book in the C.S. Lewis series of novels. Turkish delight was even placed upon the dining room table.

The Oak Room was filled with a ceramic Christmas Village circled by a model train. This isn't any ordinary toy train though. It is a classic Lionel Train from the 1930s covered in 18-karat gold plating. Toy enthusiasts and train hobbyists as well as kids of all ages will be delighted to get a close up look at this amazing locomotive. Beyond seeing Santa, watching this toy train race around the tracks laid out in the Oak Room was a highlight of our self-guided tour of the Cranbrook House.

Marvel in the architectural details of this magnificent estate, enjoy cheerful holiday decorations and have yourself a Merry Christmas by partaking in the Holiday Splendor of the historic Cranbrook House. This holiday fundraiser to help maintain and preserve this splendid place absolutely gets a Geek Daddy nod of approval. To learn more about this places or other events taking place here throughout the year, go to housegardens.cranbrook.edu

CRANBROOK HOLIDAY SPLENDOR

Thanks Cranbrook House for inviting my family to be your guests at this event

The historic Cranbrook House will be offering self-guided tours of this elegant English Tudor mansion constructed for wealthy newspaper moguls in 1908 by the renowned Detroit architect Albert Kahn. This former estate of the Scripps Booth family is now preserved as part of the Cranbrook Educational Community which includes a campus of college preparatory schools, an art museum and science center. The marvelous gardens surrounding the Cranbrook House are a favorite place for my family to visit for leisurely summer strolls and we are excited to see what the interior looks like when the building is open to the public from December 6 - 8, 2019  for self-guided tours of the manor while it is decorated for Christmas.

Witness the historic Cranbrook House in all its holiday splendor as you walk through the estate's rooms decorated with a plethora of Christmas Trees and other festive decorations. Toy lovers of all ages will want to check out the unique gold Lionel Train that will be rolling around a track.  A walk through this stately mansion in its holiday splendor is like stepping into the pages of a beautifully illustrated children's Christmas picture book.

General admission tickets to the Holiday Splendor Stroll at the historic Cranbrook House are $15 in advance / $20 at the door for adults and teenagers. Children 5 to 10 years old are $10 each. Children 4 and under are FREE. General Admission is Friday, December 6 (10am - 4pm), Saturday, December 7 (Noon - 4pm) and Sunday, December 8 (Noon - 4pm).

Also the Cranbrook House will also be hosting a special Santa Sighting event during its Holiday Splendor weekend where families can get photographs with Kris Kringle. This is a separate ticketed event with limited availability taking place on Saturday and Sunday mornings from 9 am to 11:30am. Tickets for the Santa meet and greet must be purchased in advance of Thursday, December 5 and are non-refundable. Tickets for the Santa Sighting are $10 for children and $15 for adults. Children will have a chance to share their wish list and take a photo with Santa in the Cranbrook House Library plus each child will receive a gift from Santa and his helpers.

Cranbrook House will be serving as a Mittens for Detroit collection site during the Holiday Splendor Tour and Santa Sighting events. Mittens for Detroit, Inc. is a nonprofit with the purpose of collecting, purchasing, and distributing new mittens and gloves to children and adults in need in Detroit, and other underserved cities. Please consider bringing with you during your visit to the historic Cranbrook House a pair of new gloves or mittens to donate.

Cranbrook House is located at 380 Lone Pine Road, Bloomfield Hills, Michigan 48304. Parking is available onsite and across the street at Christ Church Cranbrook. A shuttle sponsored by The Suburban Collection and driven by Cranbrook House & Gardens Auxiliary volunteers will be provided during general admission.

My family has had some magical experiences exploring the grounds of the Cranbrook House taking strolls through its gardens and woods during the summer months. It is like stepping into the surrounds of Beauty and the Beast or Harry Potter yet conveniently located within the suburbs of Detroit. We haven't visited before during the holiday season though to see the manor in all its splendor decked out in festive decorations. So this dad blogger is looking forward to taking the family this year on the historic Cranbrook House Holiday Splendor Tour. Maybe we'll see you there!

SPIDERMAN TEAMS UP WITH TOYS FOR TOTS

Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man teamed up this year with Toys for Tots, a program run by the United States Marine Corps Reserve that distributes toys to children whose parents cannot afford to buy them gifts for Christmas.  Sony Pictures Home Entertainment (SPHE) in conjunction with the 4K, Blu-ray, DVD, Digital HD release of Spider-Man: Homecoming provided one of the actual suits worn by actor Tom Holland while shooting the movie to be auctioned off by ScreenBid.com on behalf of Toys for Tots.  The winning bid raised more than $37,000 dollars for the charity!

Spider-Man swung into a Toys for Tots distribution center in Pasadena, California to present a check from the online auction.  He also brought along with him some Spider-Man: Homecoming dvds and toys to contribute towards the Toys for Tots effort courtesy of SPHE.  While there he joined in with other volunteers gift wrapping presents that will be going out to needy kids.  Way to go Spidey!

The appearance also provided an opportunity for Spider-Man to meet one of his own personal heroes ... Santa Claus.  Spidey and Santa spent some time chatting about each others super powers.  One can make reindeer fly in the sky plus teleport himself into people's homes while the other can crawl up walls and shoot webs.  Who do you think has the more impressive abilities?  Doesn't matter they are both impressive guys!

Would you like to join Spider-Man and Santa Claus in supporting the Marine Toys for Tots Foundation?  Visit toysfortots.org for information about making a financial contribution, donating new, unopened toys or volunteering your time.

Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures Home Entertainment