- "But Joel, you have to give him [Packie] a present! You entered the Secret Santa program!"
- ―Jose to Joel Gonzales
A Christmas Story is the second comic in Season 5 of Sibling Rivalries, and the 39th comic overall. This comic is a Christmas special, taking place from about a week before Christmas to Christmas Day (December 25). This is also the last comic to be released in 2015.
Plot
It is a few days before Christmas 2015, and the Wisconsin Elementary School students decide to participate in a Secret Santa program. Packie and Joel participate, but they are shocked when they find out that they are eachother's Secret Santas.
Character Appearances
♥ = character's debut
♠ = character does not speak throughout comic
♣ = character is mentioned only
♦ = character appears in a speaking/non-speaking cameo only
- Patrick McReary
- Francis McReary
- Gerald McReary
- Derrick McReary
- Kate McReary
- Aiden Wilson
- Maureen McReary-Wilson
- Hector Wilson
- Angel Chacon ♦
- Salvador Real ♣
- Eduardo Tena ♦
- Claude ♦
- Pablo Torres ♦
- Armando Vasquez ♦
- Braulio Guillen ♦
- Joel Gonzales
- Jose Gonzales
- Steve Madison ♦
- Principal Mark Leone ♦
- Mr and Mrs Gonzales♦
- James Johnson ♣
- Giovanni Ancelotti ♣
- Mark Sanders ♣
Trivia
- Absent: Salvador Real and David Saldivar
- A Christmas special was planned for the series in both 2013 and 2014, but they never happened. However, since 2015 has been a very successful year for the series, the Christmas special will definetly happen this year.
- Originally, this was going to be a special comic, to celebrate both Christmas and the series reaching its 40th comic (the latter being similar to how "Like Father, Like Sons (And Daughter)" celebrates the series' 30th comic), although the author changed it into a regular comic instead.
- Joel may not remember Armando Vasquez from Sibling Rivalries: Salvador Real's Adventures, seeing how in this comic he shoves Armando out of the way without acknowleging him from that comic.
- Despite this, Joel remembered Salvador when he reunited with him in the Season 2 comic "Dodgeball Mishap", so Joel may have just been in a hurry in this comic, or did not care to talk to Armando.
- Joel's personality in this comic (and most likely for the rest of the season) draws similarities to Sam Puckett from iCarly (and later Sam and Cat), seeing how both characters are not responsible, but still care about their friends and loved ones.
- In recent comics, David Saldivar would appear with Salvador and his friends, but in this comic he did not appear among them; since Salvador is absent in this comic, his friends do not play a big role.
- Steve Madison reappears in this comic, after being absent since the 2014 comic "Patrick McReary: School President".
- This is the first time after "Like Father, Like Sons (And Daughter)" that Joel appears without James (although he mentions him and Giovanni Ancelotti, Marco, and Trevor Johnson. In fact, Joel does not even play a villain role in this comic (although he shoved Armando Vasquez twice on purpose).
- This was the only holiday themed comic to be released before the holiday that it was created for (Christmas is on December 25, and this comic was released on December 22). This was because the author managed to begin writing the comic earlier in the month, and worked on some of the comic every day until he finally finished.
- It was never revealed who Francis, Gerry, Derrick, and Kate were the Secret Santas of.
- When Joel apologizes for what has happened in the past, he recalls judging Packie's family's taste in music, ruining Maureen and Hector's first date, and giving Packie amnesia.
- Joel's liking for the British-Irish band One Direction is shown again in this comic, for the first time since the Season 1 comic "Frightful Football Reunions" (which was Joel's debut appearence in the series back in 2013).
- These are the Christmas gifts that the McReary siblings like the most:
- Kate likes the framed picture of Mark Sanders that he gave her.
- Gerry likes his new football cards, telling the other siblings that he is going to restart his collection.
- Derrick likes his new math workbook, commenting that it is challenging, "just the way he likes it".
- Packie and Francis like their new Playstation 4, saying that they can't wait to set it up and start playing.
- According to Packie, Aiden's favorite gift is his new xylophone.
- This is the second time Joel and Jose's room is seen ("The Amnesia Act of 2015"). This is also the first comic to show the entire exterior of the Gonzales house.
- This is the first comic of the series to show snow; every time the outside world appears, snow is seen on the ground and on the top of buildings.
- This is the last comic where Joel has long hair; starting with "Best Frenemies" his hair was changed so it no longer looks exactly like Maureen McReary-Wilson, Michelle Stone, and Eric Serrato's haircuts.
- This and "Uncle Cameron Moves In" are the only Season 5 comics that Adrian and Troy Wilson are absent in.