Number 2277: Christmas Eve Panic!

Tomorrow is Christmas Day, so here is a Christmas Eve treat, Will Elder’s version of Clement Moore’s “The Night Before Christmas,” from EC Comics’ Panic #1 (1954).

As editor Al Feldstein explained, “We were banned in Boston for lampooning the poem, ‘The Night Before Christmas.’ Panic, in the words of Massachusetts Attorney General George Fingold, ‘. . . depicts the night before Christmas in a pagan manner . . .’ A.G. George Fingold threatened criminal proceedings against [publisher] Gaines unless the comic book Panic containing the satire of the poem was withdrawn voluntarily.’”

That didn’t happen, and as the old saying goes, “You can’t buy that kind of publicity.” Even if you live in Boston, Massachusetts, you are safe reading this story.

Here is a hearty “Merry Christmas!” to you from Pappy.

Posted in: Pappy Comics