Christmas comics from Golden Age highlighted in “The Great Treasury of Christmas Comic Book Stories”

WORD BALLOONS

Classic tales of Santa Claus, his reindeer, friendly elves and helpful snowmen populate “The Great Treasury of Christmas Comic Book Stories,” edited and designed by Craig Yoe.

Yoe, who previously edited and designed “The Golden Collection of Krazy Kool Klassic Kids’ Komics,” has collated another collection that should delight young and old alike. Artists represented in the collection include John Stanley (“Little Lulu”), Walt Kelly (“Pogo”) and Richard Scarry (Little Golden Books).

The stories, primarily from the 1950s and 1960s, have a charm and innocence and are compelling holiday-season tales that deserve the new audience.

“When I was a little kid, as opposed to the big kid I am now, one of the best parts of Christmas was the comic books that Santa Claus always, without fail, brought me — he knew what I liked!” Yoe writes in the introduction to the book. “Christmas comic stories have some of the best art and most fun stories of any comic books. That’s because some of the greatest artists and writers did some of their finest work on these tales.”

Stanley, perhaps the best children’s cartoonist of all time, provides five stories in this collection.

“Santa’s Return Trip” follows the plight of a sleepy elf that gets wrapped in a child’s Christmas gift.

Among the four Walt Kelly tales included in the book is “How Santa Got His Red Suit.” Kelly explains how Santa Claus got his famous suit in a whimsical tale as a group of elves — and one giant — help create Santa’s iconic costume. Kelly also writes and draws the heartwarming story of Ticky Tack, the littlest reindeer.