This year I designed a particularly silly holiday card for you. Enjoy and have a wonderful time (if you can. If not, then I hope that you can read some comic books, listen to some music, and wait until this weird time of year is over.)

Just in case you're actually reading my column today (instead of recovering from holiday craziness,) I'll tell you about one of my most Christmassy Christmases in years. I spent it with my UK family and some US family too. We ate too much and watched a little kid roll around in near hysteria as he ripped wrapping paper off of boxes (which is actually kind of great.) A birth was announced, tears were shed and much too much cake and chocolate was consumed.

On a personal consumerism front, the comic book-gifting love was overwhelming. I got Chris Ware's Building Stories which I immediately spread out all over the floor and became obsessed with. The beautiful, oversized, hardcover compilation of Jaime Hernandez' God and Science: Return of the Ti-Girls looks even better at that size. The Hot Wheels Custom Motors Batman Tumbler Starter Set, with all the parts to customize the Tumbler is very silly and simultaneously pretty great. I haven't even opened it yet because I like the way it looks in the package so much (and going by my past experiences with toys, I suppose it might stay that way.)

Moving away from the comic books and veering into my science fiction geekery, was the amazingly complete seven disc blu ray collection of all the original Star Trek movies plus a discussion/documentary (can't wait to dig into that.) I've got Brave to watch too, which did came in very handy for an all-ages screening when everyone became too tired to move, even if most of what was said was "how did they do that with her hair?) I don't think I've ever had such a Christmas (which is what happens when you don't really celebrate the holiday in any official capacity for a couple of decades.) I feel like my inner child (and the outer one) has been very effectively satiated in a way that I probably never did before. It is a strange and wonderful time that we live in, where our  once-marginal interests are so broadly accepted and easily accessible to the people around us.

I'd like to take this opportunity to thank everyone reading this for your generosity, for your attention, your comments, and your emails. Comic books are a wonderful, complex form of communication and I dearly love that you allow me to share my enthusiasm for the medium every Wednesday. I wish you happiness, peace, and good health, now and in the future.

Thank you - Sonia