Xena

As anyone who knows me can attest, I'm a pretty big fan of Christmas, and this time of year, I start going through my set of holiday traditions. There's the usual ones, of course, like decorating the tree and opening the Advent Calendar, but I've also got a few of my own, like the traditional Christmas Eve slice of pie at the Waffle House. But the ones I look forward to most of all are the round of Christmas specials I watch every year. The centerpiece, of course, is a 1967 episode of Dragnet called "The Christmas Story," where Joe Friday investigates the theft of a statue of Jesus from a church on Christmas Eve, but for me, the Christmas season just isn't complete without a viewing of the Xena: Warrior Princess episode "A Solstice Carol." You know, the one where Xena meets Santa Claus.

You know, I think it's high time that we get some new saints around here. I mean, no offense to Lucy of Syracuse or any of her devotees, but as impressive as carrying one's eyes around on a golden plate might be, it just doesn't have a lot of relevance to my life. I don't even know where I'd find a golden plate, especially if I didn't have any eyes to look for it with. Fortunately, artist Heymonster (also known as Spencer) has offered up a set of suitable replacements. In a series of prints called "Strong Female Characters," Spencer has taken some of the most prominent women of pop culture and boiled them down into downright saintly inspirational images.