Do you already have the whole Christmas table ready? The food, the prawns, the carols, the whole family sitting around ready to argue at any moment about anything? Well, then you only need one more thing: to have some good Christmas comics to hide when things heat up. And here we are to take care of you and pamper you! That’s why we’ve prepared this list with the 4 best Christmas comics in history. 4-Hellboy: A Christmas Underground In 1997, Mike Mignola created a fabulous story in which he visits a dying woman on Christmas Eve 1989 who mistakes Hellboy for […]
Do you already have the entire Christmas table ready? The food, the prawns, the carols, the whole family sitting around ready to argue at any moment about anything? Well, then you only need one more thing: to have some good Christmas comics to hide when things heat up. And here we are to take care of you and pamper you! That’s why we’ve prepared this list of the 4 best Christmas comics in history.
In 1997, Mike Mignola created a fabulous story in which he visits a dying woman on Christmas Eve 1989 who mistakes Hellboy for Santa Claus. He agrees to give her daughter, who died five years earlier, a Christmas gift. Surprisingly, he finds her and gives her the gift, a necklace with a cross. Of course, things end up in chaos, but it is, in its own way, charming, beautiful, and strange. Just as a good Christmas should be, indeed.
3-Batman: Noël
Of course, Batman also had to have his Christmas version, in a Gotham that seems to have been born to have trees and garlands within its gothic darkness. Here, the masked guardian will experience a kind of Christmas Carol (the legendary novel by Charles Dickens) with the definition of heroism at stake. With Lee Bermejo on script and art, it’s hard not to fall in love with this comic with spectacular page design.
2-The Lobo Paramilitary Christmas Special
The anti-Christmas comic par excellence: the Easter Bunny is tired of being a second fiddle, so he hires Lobo to take out Santa Claus, whom we see smoking a gigantic cigar on his sofa, next to a gorilla. Loose limbs around, dead elves in the corners, dark humor, swear words, gunshots and all sorts of nonsense typical of this comic from 1991, absolutely essential in every respectable home.
1-Hawkeye
Some might say that this fantastic comic by Fraction and Aja is not Christmas-themed, but… When does it take place, at least in part? Huh? Exactly: at Christmas. And look, even though it doesn’t have Santa Claus or gift-giving, you get a masterpiece. After all, that’s what these holidays are for, right? To give and share, to receive good advice and discover new things. This is my gift to you. Ho, ho, ho. You’re welcome.
Yes, we all recognize him immediately. He is a key figure in pop culture: he started as Saint Nicholas (the saint of children) in 4th-century traditions, a good man who distributed gifts to children’s homes, and somehow he has ended up being a jolly fat man who drinks Coca-Cola, protects the Earth from Martians, and stars in everything from Looney Tunes and South Park cartoons to Marvel and DC comics. How did we get to this point? How did pop culture build Santa Claus? Santa Popular Throughout history, there has been the […]
Yes, we all recognize him immediately. He is a key figure in pop culture: he started as Saint Nicholas (the saint of children) in 4th-century traditions, a good man who distributed gifts to children’s homes, and somehow he has ended up being a jolly fat man who drinks Coca-Cola, protects the Earth from Martians, and stars in everything from Looney Tunes and South Park cartoons to Marvel and DC comics. How did we get to this point? How did pop culture build Santa Claus?
There has always been a tradition of giving gifts at Christmas. Whether it was by the Three Wise Men, Father Christmas, Olentzero, Sinterklaas, or Saint Nicholas himself, the Western world perfectly understood the connection between the holidays and gifts. There was only one thing missing, which was vital to fully build the character: an appearance and a name that everyone could instantly recognize and that would be iconic.
Back in the 19th century, in the English colonies of North America, children already believed in Santa Claus, which is a name derived from the Dutch Sinterklaas. In fact, the first time the name was used in the press was in 1773, in the Rivington’s Gazette of New York. Santa Claus, at that time, was a fat Dutch sailor who smoked a pipe and wore a green coat. It wasn’t until 1821 and the poem Old Santeclaus With Much Delight that something of what we know today was recognized.
In this poem, accompanied by a drawing in which he was seen wearing a red sweater, it talked about a sleigh pulled by several reindeer, in which he carried gifts to children, and that vision grew over the years, the books, and the poems, which agreed on the same thing: Santa Claus was chubby, had a sleigh… And he was a dwarf, Lilliputian, a miniature person. But it wasn’t until the end of the 19th century that the character was fully developed thanks to the illustrator Thomas Nast, who decided to draw him near the North Pole and with a normal person size. Gradually, the rest of the elements appeared naturally: Mrs. Claus (who didn’t become fully popular until the late 1950s), his immortality, his motivations, etc. Everything was ready for the arrival of Coca-Cola.
Always Coca-Claus
Many say that Santa Claus was created by Coca-Cola and that his red and white suit was designed to emulate the brand’s colors, but this is not true at all. Coca-Cola, like Pepsi, its rival, depicted the character just as hundreds of illustrators had done before. They only added the bottle next to him, inevitably linking them. And no, they were not the only ones: during the 30s, 40s, and 50s, he became a very popular (and lucrative) figure in Christmas advertisements.
Before these years arrived, Santa Claus had already made his way to the cinema, debuting in 1897 with Santa Claus Filling Stockings, which has been lost in the ether of time. But he also had his own comics, newspaper strips, novels, plays, radio shows, and even video games much later on. In fact, he started to become a familiar face on screens to the point where he starred in oddities like Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, Santa Claus (in which he teams up with Merlin to fight against Satan) or Cinderella Meets Fella, a Merrie Melodies short where he made an impossible crossover with Cinderella.
Santa Claus faced off with Jesus Christ in an episode of South Park, gave a particular spin-off to Rudolph, his red-nosed reindeer, and starred in songs and carols that incessantly and horrifically hammer our ears at this time of year. He continues to star in all kinds of commercials, movies have even been dedicated to his elves (not to mention the fantastic Elf) and he remains a perfect protagonist of festive animated films (the latest important one, Klaus). It’s no wonder Santa Claus is everywhere. He even once replaced the Corn Flakes rooster to appear on the box and was seen at McDonald’s all over the world!
Brands created Santa Claus. He is a perfect attraction that unifies everyone, instantly recognizable regardless of folklore, and willing to be perverted in comics, platform video games, slashers, and all kinds of advertisements. He is somewhat like the mascot of Christmas, able to be everywhere at once, star in action movies, team up with Spider-man, and be replaced by Tim Allen or Homer Simpson. Pop culture has created an icon starring in hundreds of sketches with varying degrees of dark humor, but they have never quite turned him into a walking joke. And as such, we must embrace him. Because, after all, if we are naughty children, we won’t receive gifts. And nobody wants that, right?
Shift Up is determined to make Stellar Blade a game that lasts well beyond its launch. With constant updates and interesting content, they are ensuring that the game always has a reason to return every few weeks. And since Christmas is approaching, that’s a good reason for a new update. Specifically, one that has a festive air. Stellar Blade dresses up for Christmas to celebrate the holidays The new Stellar Blade patch will bring Christmas to Xion. That means the city will be filled with decorations, lights […]
Shift Up is determined to make Stellar Blade a game that lasts well beyond its launch. With constant updates and interesting content, they are ensuring that the game always has a reason to return every few weeks. And since Christmas is approaching, that’s a good reason for a new update. Specifically, one that has a festive air of its own.
Stellar Blade dresses up for Christmas to celebrate the season of joy
The new Stellar Blade patch will bring Christmas to Xion. This means the city will be filled with decorations, lights, and a festive atmosphere, bringing Christmas to the last city of humans. To accompany this, the songs playing in the camps will also be changed to romantic tunes, to match the relaxed and sweet tone of these festivities. Ensuring that, when you’re not out there dealing violence, everything is relaxation and happiness.
But don’t worry, things don’t end here. In Xion, a new minigame is available and, most importantly, there are new dresses and accessories available. Which is what Stellar Blade players are really waiting for.
With a Santa Claus dress for Eve and a Not Santa Claus one for Adam, everything comes with a Santa Girl haircut, in addition to numerous accessories. Among these we find snowflake glasses, crown earrings, sleigh earrings, and most importantly of all – Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer cosmetics for our drone.
All this comes along with the photo mode, which arrived last month. And did we mention the fact that it will arrive next year on PC? Therefore, Stellar Blade still has a lot of life ahead. But for now, let’s enjoy this Christmas. One Noel at a time.
Stellar Blade™ is a premium action game poised to redefine the fight for survival. Developed by Shift Up, this highly anticipated RPG title is set against the backdrop of a desolate planet where you must delve into story-driven gameplay to uncover the enigmatic truth behind the Earth's fall.
Christmas Massacre is part of this new batch of games that imitate PS1 graphics (because 8 bits have already been left behind on the wheel of nostalgia), and will put the player like a vengeful Santa Claus
Since the viral success of ‘Five Nights at Freddy’s,’ there have been quite a few game studios releasing titles with a strange aesthetic and almost nonexistent gameplay, hoping that some YouTuber will come across it and suddenly elevate the game to success. This is the case with ‘Christmas Massacre,’ which gives it all away in the title and whose creator has stirred things up by announcing that it will be available on only one platform because it’s too strong for all the others. Of course.
Christmas Massacre’ is part of this new wave of games that imitate PS1 graphics (because 8 bits are already behind in the nostalgia wheel) and will put the player in the role of a vengeful Santa Claus, knife in hand, ready to go around murdering people (everyone, without exception) precisely on December 25th. Without having played, you already get an idea of what you’re going to find.
The game will be released on November 17, but only on PS4 and PS5. According to the publisher, ‘it’s too crazy for Switch,’ and Xbox rejected it. Probably at Puppet Combo, the developer, they’re just trying to gain notoriety by creating a black legend about themselves. However, the rest of their titles have been released on all platforms so far, such as ‘Cannibal’ or ‘Nun Massacre.’ Obsessed with controversy.
From what you can see in the trailer, this Santa Claus will receive his orders from a talking Christmas tree, murder nuns with flamethrowers, and have a mode where Santa is a miniature doll ready to take out everything around him. Otherwise, lots of blood, a snuff video ambiance on VHS, bad vibes, and a somewhat desperate attempt to go viral.
Nothing that can surprise us too much: if you’re 13, this is your ‘Carmageddon.’ If not, there’s not much to scratch. Ho, ho, ho, happy massacre.
