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She may be upset at him for breaking the toy, but this is actually useful information to have. If he can break it that easily, imagine how much easier it would be for a kid to break it. Return that to the store immediately and get something else, because this is not what you want to give your child for Christmas.

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Apparently the Wizard still didn't believe in Santa, even after actually running into him, so he had to take a look through his trusty telescope to verify it. Turns out that the Evil Spirit was right, and he should be putting up a stocking. It's a bit confusing, though, that a wizard, who is a magical being, wouldn't believe in a different magical being who happens to give out presents. I guess I figure they all know each other, because they're all in the same business. Is there just some kind of hierarchy, like with actors, where amateur actors all know each other, but it doesn't mean they know Hollywood actors? Or does the wizard just not get out much, and stay in his tower all the time?

Or I guess the wizard could have just forgotten to put up the stocking and was reminded by seeing him. The timeline is still confusing, though. This one was published after the previous one where he ran into Santa. One would assume that would mean he's seeing Santa in the sky after he's already left. So, why would he be putting up a stocking now? To be better prepared for next year, I guess.

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Here we have Sir Rodney the Chickenhearted, receiving a gift from the king befitting of his name as well as his nature. Despite his cowardice, Sir Rodney is the head of the royal army and navy. I'd imagine this means that Id is a very safe kingdom, given their lack of need of any kind of competent military to protect them. The king doesn't seem to mind that Sir Rodney is this way, and in fact seems to be encouraging it. Maybe he's just hoping that Sir Rodney will be killed in battle so he can appoint someone else to the head of his military.

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The being in the vat is the Evil Spirit, who isn’t actually evil, and who would certainly not be getting a visit from Santa if it was. The wizard either believes that the Spirit is too evil to get presents, or that Santa doesn’t exist. He’s clearly wrong on both counts, but I guess now it gets double presents. It’s going to need a bigger stocking.

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Here's a strip that I was going to use last year, but didn't end up using. As with most Cliff Sterrett strips, I like looking at the artwork more than reading the joke. It's so fun, interesting, and dynamic, in the main strip and in the topper. Sterrett also teaches us that if you can't draw a cat realistically, just draw it as unrealistically as possible in as many ridiculous positions as you can. It'll work (at least it does here).

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Wade the duck has always confused me. He always wears that floaty thing, because I guess he doesn't swim that well, but it has a miniaturized version of his head on it. That's weird in itself, but it also always has a similar facial expression to his, and if he happens to be wearing anything, the mini-duck is wearing it, too. Did Orson get Wade a scarf, and somehow a tiny scarf appeared on the duck head, too? Or did Orson get scarves for both Wade and the mini-duck? It's confusing.

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I'm guessing Orson put the sweater on Sheldon, unless he somehow is able to use his feet to do so. I do wonder why Orson felt the need to add sleeves. I guess he's confused, as the rest of us are, as to why Sheldon hasn't hatched completely yet, and figures it has to happen soon.

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As someone who has hand-made Christmas presents for the past few years, with varying degrees of success, I can tell you that the best way to do it is to prepare well in advance, begin making them long before you plan to send them, and try to let the amount of thought and care you put into them show through. Otherwise, it just ends up being a disappointment for you and them.

There are different rules for kids, though. If you're a kid and you make a present yourself, it counts ten times more than if you buy something. Period. Even if it is a mud pie. This only works up to about 14 or 15, though.

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The relationships in U.S. Acres are a little odd. Orson, the pig, is called "Mom" by the chicks Booker and Sheldon, I guess because he takes care of them for some reason. Roy, the rooster, is never said to be the father, even though he appears to be the only rooster on the farm. Then again, there are no hens on the farm that we ever meet, so I'm not sure who the mother is.

I also don't understand why Sheldon didn't get a stocking next to Booker's. Orson just put his own up there and forgot about it, I guess. Look, just because most of him is still in an egg doesn't mean he doesn't know when he's being left out.

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U.S. Acres was a comic strip created by Jim Davis, creator of Garfield, that ran from 1986 to 1989. Its main cast is a group of farm animals. This particular strip features Orson the pig, Wade the duck, Booker the chick, Sheldon the only partially hatched chick, and Roy the rooster. It's an interesting strip, because it wasn't nearly as popular as Garfield, most newspapers only ran the Sunday strip even though dailies were produced, and it only ran for 3 years, but the PAWS corporation has had its full force of marketing behind it for years after it ended. At launch, it was in over 500 newspapers, which is astounding, but most people only knew about it from all the book collections and children's books that were subsequently published. An animated version was part of the Garfield and Friends TV show in the 90s, after the strip had ended. You can still read it on Garfield.com and on GoComics. It's certainly had a better life outside of newspapers than in.

I remember getting a couple book collections of it when I was a kid. I was too young to read when it was in the newspaper, so I wouldn't have known about it, but I enjoyed what I did get to read. I think it's a more interesting strip than Garfield, though that isn't saying much these days. Jon Arbuckle's family owned a farm, so I always figured these were the animals that lived on it, but I don't know if that's ever been established. I always like a strip with a larger and more diverse cast of characters anyway. I find it kind of a shame that U.S. Acres had to end and Garfield continued.