Difference between revisions of "Category:Christmas"

Explanation[edit]

The first Christmas after xkcd began, there were no releases a month around Christmas.

• But since then, until 2025, there has been at least one Christmas related comic every Christmas.
• And when the 25th has been an official release day, it has since then always been a Christmas comic, until 2025.
  • The release date has never been moved, though, to accommodate a release on the 25th.
  • As it has been the case for April Fools' Day comics.

In 2009 both comics around Christmas were Christmas comics.

• This has happened 7 times up till and including 2021 (last time was 2019).

True Christmas comics come out just before, on or after Christmas day on the 25th of December.

• Until 2017 they had all been released between 23rd and 26th of December, but in 2017 the 22nd was also used, even though the 25th was also a release day and where thus also used for a Christmas comic.
• There have been several other Christmas comics released earlier in December.
• And others released in different months, that only referred to Christmas, but was not in themselves Christmas comics.
• This is all listed below in the Comics around and about Christmas section.

In 2019 two Christmas related comics came out just before and after December 1st, with only one comic in between.

• This was so different than what usually occurs, so a trivia section mentions this in the second of these comics.

In 2024 and 2025 there were no Christmas comics between 23-26/12. In 2024 that was the first time since the first Christmas comic was released in 2006. So it could have been 20 years in a row, but the streak failed after 19 years. In 2024 it became the tenth time the 25th fell on a release day, and all previous 25th releases have been about Christmas. So that streak of Christmas Comics released on the 25th also ended on nine not reaching ten. And the lack of Christimas comic extended for another year when also 2025 was without any comics in the Christmas time.

Comics around and about Christmas[edit]

Here is a list of the comics coming out as the one before, the one on, or the one after Christmas day.

• The list counts the real Christmas comics, but also list those comics hitting those days without having any relation to Christmas (i.e. comics from 22nd to 26th of December).
  • If there is not number it is not a Christmas comic.
  • If it is not released on the Christmas days there will be a note explaining.
• Until 2017 Christmas comics had only been released on days falling in the interval between 23th and 26th of December.
• There will always be at least one release day during this interval, and usually two.
  • When the 23rd is a Thursday there will only be one release day on the 24th and when the 23rd falls on a Saturday, there will only be one release day on the 25th.
  • This has so far occurred five times; only the 25th in 2006, 2017 and 2023 and only the 24th in 2010 and 2021.
    • In 2017 there was a Christmas comic already on Friday the 22nd.
• A few comics related to Christmas have not been released this close to Christmas, or even in December. They will be mentioned here below as well, but they will not be numbered.
• Until 2025 all possible years with any release day in the span from 23-26/12 have had at least one Christmas comic. But in 2025, there were no comics about Christmas during those days!

Christmas 2005:

• From December 5th 2005 to January 4th 2006 Randall were taking a break while starting up xkcd so there were no release around Christmas.
• This was the last comic released before the break:
  • December 5th: 39: Bowl
• This was the first comic released after the break:
  • January 4th 2006: 45: Schrodinger

Christmas 2006:

• December 22nd: 200: Bill Nye
• 1st Christmas comic released on December 25th: 201: Christmas GPS
  • It was one of only three years where the 25th was the only one release day in the period between 23-26th of December. The other two years being 2017 and 2023 (as of 2023).

Christmas 2007:

• 2nd Christmas comic released on December 24th: 361: Christmas Back Home
• December 26th: 362: Blade Runner

Christmas 2008:

• December 22nd: 520: Cuttlefish
• 3rd Christmas comic released on December 24th: 521: 2008 Christmas Special
• December 26th: 522: Google Trends

Christmas 2009:

• Both where Christmas comics (1st time this happened)!
• 4th Christmas comic released on December 23rd: 679: Christmas Plans
• 5th Christmas comic released on December 25th: 680: December 25th

Christmas 2010:

• December 22nd: 837: Coupon Code
• 6th Christmas comic released on December 24th: 838: Incident
  • Second time only one comic release day fell between 23-26th of December and first time this day was the 24th (and since then this, release day only on the 24th has only happened again in 2021).
• In 2010 another Christmas related comic 835: Tree were released already on December 17th. (First Christmas comic not released during the Christmas days.)
• In 2010 there was also another comic that referred to Christmas, but it had not much to do with Christmas and was not released anywhere near Christmas
  • October 8th: 803: Airfoil

Christmas 2011:

• Both were Christmas comics (2nd time this happened)!
• 7th Christmas comic released on December 23rd: 994: Advent Calendar
• 8th Christmas comic released on December 26th: 995: Coinstar
• In 2011 there was also an early Christmas comic 988: Tradition released two weeks before the others on December 9th.

Christmas 2012:

• Both were Christmas comics (3rd time this happened)!
• 9th Christmas comic released on December 24th: 1151: Tests
• 10th Christmas comic released on December 26th: 1152: Communion

Christmas 2013:

• Both were Christmas comics (4th time this happened)!
• 11th Christmas comic released on December 23th: 1307: Buzzfeed Christmas
• 12th Christmas comic released on December 25th: 1308: Christmas Lights

Christmas 2014:

• December 22nd: 1463: Altitude
• 13th Christmas comic released on December 24st: 1464: Santa
• December 26th: 1465: xkcd Phone 2 (although it could be seen as a perfect gift for Christmas...)

Christmas 2015:

• Both were Christmas comics (5th time this happened)!
• 14th Christmas comic released on December 23rd: 1620: Christmas Settings
• 15th Christmas comic released on December 25th: 1621: Fixion
• In 2015 there were also two comics that referred to Christmas, but neither had much to do with Christmas and they were not released anywhere near Christmas:
  • April 15th: 1512: Horoscopes, just mentions Christmas songs might be playing for one out of 12 zodiac signs.
  • September 14th: 1577: Advent, is not about Christmas advent calendars, although it does mention Christmas trees.
  • November: 1606: Five-Day Forecast

Christmas 2016:

• 16th Christmas comic released on December 23rd: 1776: Reindeer
• December 26th: 1777: Dear Diary

Christmas 2017:

• Both were Christmas comics (6th time this happened)!
• 17th Christmas comic, the first to be released on December 22nd: 1932: The True Meaning of Christmas
• 18th Christmas comic released on December 25th: 1933: Santa Facts
  • First time one of the main christimas comics was released as early as 22nd of December. It was also one of the few year with only one release day in the in interval between 23-26th of December, and only the second with only a release day on the 25th. The first being 2006 and the next 2023.

Christmas 2018:

• 19th Christmas comic released on December 24th: 2089: Christmas Eve Eve
• December 26th: 2090: Feathered Dinosaur Venn Diagram

Christmas 2019:

• Both were Christmas comics (7th time this happened)!
• 20th Christmas comic released on December 23th: 2245: Edible Arrangements
• 21st Christmas comic released on December 25th: 2246: Christmas Presents
  • In 2019 there were also two comics that referred to Christmas, but neither had much to do with Christmas. But they were released close to the beginning of December:
    • November 27th: 2234: How To Deliver Christmas Presents, mentions Christmas shopping and presents
    • December 2nd: 2236: Is it Christmas?, which replies No, and it is thus correct 99.73% of the time.
    • As this was a bit special it was mentioned in the trivia section of the second of the two.
  • There was also a comic, 2101: Technical Analysis, that mentions Christmas because a graph has red and green colors, but the comic has nothing else to do with Christmas.

Christmas 2020:

• December 23rd: 2402: Into My Veins
• 22nd Christmas comic released on December 25th: 2403: Wrapping Paper
  • There was also a comic, 2379: Probability Comparisons, that mentions the probability of a white Christmas seven time as part of the probabilities listed, but the comic has nothing else to do with Christmas.

Christmas 2021:

• December 22nd: 2558: Rapid Test Results
• 23rd Christmas comic released on December 24th: 2559: December 25th Launch
  • Only second time that only one release day fell between 23-26th of December and fell on the 24th as of 2023. The first time this happened was in 2010.
  • In 2021 there were also two other comics that referred to Christmas, but neither can be considered a true Christmas comic. They where both released in the first half of December:
  • December 3rd: 2550: Webb, an advent calendar counting down to the Webb space telescopes launch, which was set on the 22nd at the time of release. The actual launch was on Christmas Day, and the years Christmas Comic was celebrating this launch, few hours before it happened, imagining a last problem that could have delayed the launch.
  • December 13th: 2554: Gift Exchange, Christmas is not mentioned though.

Christmas 2022:

• 24th Christmas comic released on December 23rd: 2715: Pando
• December 26th: 2716: Game Night Ordering

Christmas 2023:

• December 22nd: 2871: Definitely
• 25th Christmas comic released on December 25th: 2872: Hydrothermal Vents
  • This was one of the few year with only one release day in the in interval between 23-26th of December, and only the third with only a release day on the 25th. The first being 2006 and the previous being 2017.

Christmas 2024:

• December 23rd: 3028: D&D Roll
• December 25th: 3029: Sun Avoidance
  • This was the first time that a release day fell on the 25th without a Christmas comic was released. As the one on the 23rd was also not about Christmas and with next release day the 27th, there will for the first time, since there have been release day in the span from 23-26/12, be no Christmas comic released during those days.
    • There could still come one late on the 27th, but even if this is a very special situation for xkcd.
    • The comic on the 25th is though about avoiding the sun, and the Christmas celebration is originally a celebration of the return of the sun at Winter Solstice, so at that point the Northern part of the Earth is kind of avoiding the Sun. But to say that this then makes this comic about Christmas would be a far stretch.
  • In 2024 there was however an earlier December comic that referred to Christmas:
    • December 2nd: 3019: Advent Calendar Advent Calendar about... well Advent Calendars...

Christmas 2025:

• December 24th: 3185: Sauropods - the comic actually uses red and green color, but not in any way related to Christmas!
• December 26th: 3186: Truly Universal Outlet
  • 2nd year in a row without any Christmas comic!
  • In 2024 there was another comic early in December about Christmas but 2025 thus became the first year completely without a comic pertaining to Christmas.