"Jellybean's Midnight Run" - A Jellybean Christmas Tale

Welcome to Day #14 of the PEP CULTURE ADVENT CALENDAR, and have I got a treat for all of you!  Today's featured tale stars the youngest member of the Archie family.  And even though she was born twenty-five years ago, she still doesn't look a day over one year old!  It's kind of like Maggie Simpson syndrome here, but just go with it.

Yes, today's story features Jellybean Jones, Jughead's baby sister.  And this story originated in a digest that was a holiday tradition for twelve years!

In some ways, I really wish that the Holiday Fun Digest was still a continuing thing because as you've probably figured out, I love Archie Christmas stories.  The Holiday Fun series debuted in 1996, and featured 96 pages of the greatest holiday stories ever penned and drawn - stories from the 1940s to brand new tales.  Today's featured tale is one of those stories that was brand new at the time.  It comes courtesy of "Archie's Holiday Fun Digest #5".

The story is called "Jellybean's Midnight Run", and it's a tale of great fantasy.  It begins with Jughead putting his little sister to bed on Christmas Eve.  It's a precaution for the entire Jones family.  As many of us know when we were kids, Christmas morning is probably one of the earliest mornings ever.  Jughead wants to make sure that Jellybean is well rested for when Santa Claus comes because the earlier she goes to bed, the better chance she'll have for a nice Christmas morning.

Of course, Jellybean is a little bit sneaky, and she was just pretending to sleep.  Once Jughead and Mrs. Jones leave Jellybean's room, Jellybean is wide awake.  In true "Rugrats" type style, Jellybean narrates her journey and her main goal is to stay up and see what Santa Claus is all about.

Jellybean climbs out of her crib and happens to be there at the moment that Santa is delivering Jughead's present - 20 pounds of fudge!  Wow...it's a wonder Jughead doesn't gain twenty pounds just looking at that present!  But Jellybean's gaze is focused on the big bearded guy who has a ton of presents for her!  In fact, Jellybean is so mesmerized by the huge sack of toys that while Santa is distracted, Jellybean climbs right in!

I'm sure you can guess where this leads.  Jellybean falls into the sack, and somehow becomes an accidental stowaway on Santa's sleigh.  I sure hope that Jellybean is bundled up in a lot of warm clothing because where she's going is extremely cold!

Although we don't really know how much time has passed in between Santa's stop at Riverdale and the North Pole, I'm assuming that Santa's magic has caused the trip to be super quick.  Before you know it, Santa is back home at the North Pole and is ready to relax for the next 364 days and Jellybean finds herself crawling out of the sleigh and ready to face the wrath of some angry elves.  The elves have mistaken Jellybean as one of them and they put her to work!  It seems kind of silly for the elves to be putting a one year old baby girl who can't talk to work, but in a few years, Jellybean will be taller than they are!

Of course, Jellybean doesn't get a chance to curl up any Slinkies or record the laughter of a Tickle-Me-Elmo doll because Santa Claus knows all, and he recognizes that he has one too many elves.  He recognizes Jellybean right away and is shocked that she made it to the North Pole with him.  Santa is happy that someone came to visit him, but he also realizes that he has to get Jellybean back home before the rest of the Jones family wakes up and notices that she is missing.  So Santa gathers up the reindeer and sets out back to Riverdale.

It's such a great story and it's great to see Jellybean as the star of the story.  And this story is such a sweet one.  In fact, it kind of makes me wish that there was a way that they could have turned this story into an animated special.  It really is an entertaining tale, and even though it was released eighteen years ago still holds up today. 

In fact, this story was reprinted as recently as a couple of years ago - if you can find a copy of "Jughead and Archie Jumbo Comics Digest #23", it can be found in there. 

See if you can track down this story before Jellybean wakes up from her Christmas Eve adventure!

We're actually going to be spending Day #15 with another family on Christmas morning - and in that story, you'll meet both of Betty's siblings!  But that's tomorrow's tale.