‘Tis the season
to share a few of my favorite Christmas stories.
Teen Titans #13 (1968)
“A Christmas Happening!” by Nick Cardy and Bob Haney
I admit it. I’m
a sucker for this era of the Teen Titans even though it occurred
years before I was born. When you combine the silliness of a Bob
Haney story with the beauty of Nick Cardy art, you usually end up
with something enjoyable, magical and fun. That’s the case
with this mixed up re-telling of Charles Dickens’ classic “A
Christmas Carol.” Instead of one hard-hearted miser, the Teen
Titans give us two: Mr. Big and Mr. Scrounge. And since this is a
comic book, they’re not just miserly old men. They’re
actually crooks, as much Al Capone as Ebeneezer Scrooge. The Titans
get involved in order to stop them, though Wonder Girl quickly
hatches the idea of maybe turning these guys away from a life of
crime rather than simply arresting them. She even puts on a Santa’s
helper costume, complete with a mini-skirt, and pretends to be the
Ghost of Christmas Future. Of course, the gangsters aren’t
easily convinced of the wrongness of their actions and they open fire
on the Ghost of Christmas Future with their Tommy Guns. Finally, the
boys finish the fight with their fists and the crooks are handed over
to the cops. It’s a great story. It has just a touch of
disappointment in it to keep it from being the typical unrealistic
Christmas fare. Yet it still manages to be whimsical. And you can’t
go wrong with Wonder Girl in a Christmas mini-dress.
Uncanny
X-Men #143 (1981)
“Guess What Just Came Down the Chimney” aka “Demon” by Chris Claremont and John Byrne
The biggest part of this issue is the newest and youngest X-Man, Kitty Pryde, having to defend the mansion against a demon all by herself. Before we get there, though, we’re treated to a little bit of Christmas hijinx. Nightcrawler uses a bit of mistletoe and his secondary power of clinging to surfaces upside down in order to sneak a kiss onto Mariko Yashida before teleporting away from a jealous Wolverine. Colossus blushes when Kitty performs a similar trick on him. That quickly, Claremont and Byrne give us a bit of fun and a sense of the characters at the same time. After a little bit, the rest of the X-Men leave for various Christmas activities while the Jewish Kitty Pryde is left home alone. Well, not alone. A demon that Storm thought she had disposed of earlier invades the mansion and Kitty is forced to fight for her life. It turns out to be a great story of a surprising heroine standing up against incredible odds. Her running battle with the demon through the mansion is a greatly paced action scene. And a final scene in which the X-Men come home to a wrecked mansion is a fun little twist.
Uncanny
X-Men #341 (1997)
“Who Strikes a Gladiator!” by Scott Lobdell and Joe Madureira
You wouldn’t know this was a Christmas issue by the cover or the title. But it is. After a long year of fighting some major villains, including Onslaught, the X-Men are looking forward to a bit of a break. And so, they get into a bit of the Christmas spirit with some holiday shopping. Of course, it’s not just fun and games. Lobdell uses the occasion as an opportunity to develop characters and relationships. Gambit gets upset with Rogue because of her new potential boyfriend, Joseph. And Joseph joyfully takes Rogue on a horse-drawn carriage ride and a romantic rooftop getaway. Hank McCoy and Trish Tilby also get in some quality couple time. Even editor Bob Harras is reminded that Christmas is a time to spend with one’s family in a fun little cameo. The only one whose plans go awry is Cannonball. He’s got a long list of presents to buy for his many brothers and sisters. The others aren’t exactly interested in helping out so Cannonball ventures off by himself. But before he can get his shopping done, Cannonball finds himself assaulted by Gladiator. The result is one of my favorite fight scenes in the entire X-Men canon. Gladiator and Cannonball go toe-to-toe for most of the issue, pitting overpowering force against indestructible field. They flip back and forth between offense and defense. And we see Cannonball use his blasting field in some unique methods.
JLA #60
(2002)
“’Twas the Fight before Christmas” or “Merry Christmas, Justice League—Now Die!” by Mark Waid and Cliff Rathburn
This is Mark Waid’s swan song on JLA before leaving the title and it’s a great one. Waid pays homage to the Justice League’s Silver Age origins with a story in which the team elects a new member. However, this isn’t the addition of a fellow superhero like Green Arrow or the Atom. It’s the addition of Santa Claus, as narrated by Plastic Man to his god-son for a bed-time story. There’s an evil gingerbread man. There’s the sudden decrease in nice children and simultaneous increase in naughty children as a mystery to be solved. And there’s even the villain Neron, one of the demons of the DC underworld, as the mastermind behind the destruction of Christmas and society as a whole. The story is occasionally hilarious, as when Superman fights off a squad of demonic Christmas elves. And it has just enough tension to keep it interesting, as when Neron turns the Justice League into coal and stuffs them into a stocking. Plus, there’s the fun twist at the end in which we discover that Plastic Man’s story may not exactly be make-believe. It’s hard to beat a story in which Santa Claus lays a beat-down on the devil, even if it’s a devil’s proxy in Neron. For sheer fun, this is one of my favorite Christmas stories.
Merry Christmas, everybody!
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