“Superman novelties are very popular this year!” – Santa Claus

It came to my attention during this beautiful season that there was a Golden Age Superman tale from 1940 that I had never read!

Superman’s Christmas Adventure is a one-shot special that was not part of any of the Supes ongoing books during this time, and unfortunately was not collected anywhere in the recently completed Superman: The Golden Age Omnibus series. Doing a little research, I found that the issue was done as a handout at Macy’s for Christmas shoppers, and as such has at times been tangled up in rights issues with Macy’s, hence why it has been difficult to reprint (one theory, at any rate).

It was, however, reprinted as part of a treasury size DC special in 1975, “Christmas With the Super-Heroes,” as well as the “DC Universe Christmas” collection from 2000. When I learned this, I bought a copy of the 2000 version off eBay immediately.

The story is written by Jerry Siegel and drawn by maybe my favorite Superman artist of the Golden Age, and certainly my favorite of the Shuster studio, Jack Burnley. While it stretches the silliness even for a typical Golden Age Superman comic, there are some wonderful qualities that make it worth finding for yourself.

1) Superman teams up with Santa Claus to save Christmas and teach the children of the world what the season is all about. If that’s not a phenomenal premise for a comic book I don’t know what is!

2) Lois Lane and Clark Kent are portrayed here as partners in investigative journalism, which always makes for a fun story.

3) Jack Burnley’s art is just something special. Clean lines, beautiful colors, action as well as character moments… reading it is just a joy. It seemed like any time a Superman comic was being made for a broader audience, the quality was always top notch (World’s Finest Comics, released for the World’s Fair, as well as “How Superman Would Have Ended the War,” spring to my mind).

This story is no Superman: Peace on Earth (what is?), but it is really fun and a nice artifact from a time when Supermania was booming. If you’re a fan of Golden Age Superman or DC Christmas specials, you are going to enjoy this.