Every December, heroes and heroines in the world of superheroes are drawn into unusually seasonal experiences that draw on their powers of goodwill and cheer, as well as their superpower. It’s just a matter of the pages before Jolly Old Saint Nick himself, Santa Claus comes out, to remind everyone to have good thoughts as they wish a good morning this December 25th.
You don’t wanna know quite How many Christmas stories do I have in my comic book collection – and yet, despite their overwhelming number, there are those who believe that such stories don’t really count. People firmly believe in their two sizes too small hearts that any story in which Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, or whoever works with Santa Claus is not canon. There is only one answer to these people: Humbug!
Santa Claus is canon. And I can prove it.
Santa’s Big Two comic book career began with DC in the 1940s Superman’s Christmas Adventures. The one-shot combines the man of steel and the man with the big white beard against the wonderfully named Dr. Grouch and Mr. Meaney, two old men to whom Ebeneezer Scrooge was clearly a personal inspiration. Christmas adventures – written by Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel with art by Jack Burnley – manages to create a framework that a significant number of later stories would follow, even if they lacked the beautifully purple prose that Siegel offers to the lucky reader.
“Christmas! Time of happiness and goodwill among people! It hardly seems possible that anyone could be mean enough to sabotage such a beloved event, but Dr. Grouch, gloomy killjoy, plans to do just that. “And that’s only half of the first caption.
For the next 80 years, Santa has appeared in various DC comics, including titles as diverse as Sgt. Rocks and The ghost. He teamed up with Superman again DC Comics presents (The story is wonderfully titled “It was the shock of Christmas!”). In the 1985s, it was grimly and grossly revised in the 1980s Ambush Bug Stocking Stuffer (pictured). Perhaps the most exciting thing was that he performed in 1991 Lobos Paramilitary Christmas Specialwhere he fought the captain of the same name himself after a jealous Easter Bunny hired him to murder Santa Claus (it all happened with a seasonally generous lack of restraint on the part of Keith Giffen, Alan Grant, and Simon Bisley).
Perhaps the comic that most clearly confirms the canonicity of Santa Claus in the DCU in modern times is the 2001 one JLA # 60, “Merry Christmas, Justice League – Die now! “The book was DC’s greatest superhero title of the day and it got it into what DCU considered“ real ”. Most of the issue consists of a story Plastic Man tells a kid about a fictional collaboration between Santa Claus and the JLA, but in the coda the actual Santa Claus giggles at what he has just seen and seals the deal: Santa Claus is definitely real the DCU.
When it comes to the Marvel Universe, the argument is even easier to make. Every story Marvel has ever published starring Kris Kringle is part of the Marvel canon. That includes the 1991s Marvel Holiday Special In short, in which the X-Men discover that Santa Claus is one of the most powerful mutants on earth – Jonathan Hickman, The ball is in your court. And 2016 Power Man and Iron Fist: Sweet Christmas # 1 where Santa Claus shows up in a flashback, holding the demonic Krampus at bay for years ahead of Luke Cage and Danny Rand. Even Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man # 112, a one-time edition from 1985 in which Santa Claus appears to shame a thief in a Santa suit, is part of the official history of the Marvel Universe.
Granted, there are some stories where canonicality can be questionable; a 1992 short film by Marvel Age
He’s so ingrained in the Marvel Universe that he even appears in a non-Christmas comic. 1988s Sensational She-Hulk # 8 answers the question of what Santa Claus does when he doesn’t ship toys around the world annually: it turns out he’s the greatest detective in the world and goes by the name of Nick St. Christopher – a man who, like he happily declares, “Always know[s] who was naughty… and kind… “(” I can not waiting to see how they write this one [The Official Handbook to the] Marvel Universe“Comments the fourth wall-breaking She-Hulk as the story ends.)
To the chagrin of all super grinches out there, the tradition of including Santa Claus in Marvel and DC comics is far from a thing of the past. a 2018 edition of Dead Pool Mouth the merc into a story not entirely dissimilar to DC’s after Santa Claus Lobo The special from a quarter of a century ago – this time it was some angry kids who wanted Santa’s funny head on a plate – and last year New year evil One-Shot from DC had an appearance by Ni’Klaus from Myra, a powerful wizard who was literally Santa Claus and who used another name. Both are canonical appearances.
As long as there are Marvel and DC comics around – not to mention the Christmas season, though perhaps that should be taken for granted given the context – it seems guaranteed that Santa will continue to show up sporadically in both universes, cheering and remembering each other widely Let the audience know that superhero comics are filled with ridiculous, unrealistic characters at heart that were created to put a smile on kids’ faces. For those who have a problem with this, there’s a lump of coal with your name on it.
Happy holidays or something else.