The United States government is currently embracing what could be described as a free-market ‘80s renaissance and the term “Merry Christmas” has certainly been politicized. Witch of Winter dealt with global warming, and Crisis in Xmasville addresses a corporate soda company attempting to usurp the holiday in the ‘80s.

Paste: Klaus nicely merges the mythic with the topical. Klaus and the Crisis in Xmasville Variant Cover by Frank Quitely My work for Graphic India on the Avatarex book scratches that itch to a certain extent but with Klaus, I realized here was a character as recognizable as Superman, Spider-Man or Mickey Mouse, who could, with a little twist, become a classic superhero in a kind of epic cross between Superman, Batman and Dr. Grant Morrison: I was wrapping up my work on the DC superhero books and spending more time doing new creator-owned stuff, but I still wanted a place where I could exercise the part of my brain that loves to make up madcap, freewheeling super fiction. Paste: Starting back in 2015, what gave you the inspiration to transform Santa Claus into a psychedelic superhero?

We also have first looks at variant covers from Frank Quitely and John Cassaday. Paste exchanged emails with Morrison to find out more about this one shot, which launches on December 6th courtesy publisher BOOM! Studios. That loving holiday anthropology shines through every panel, rendered in chiseled majesty by Mora, who also took over coloring to fill his forms with soft, evocative watercolors. Morrison-who’s penned defining runs on comic institutions ranging from Superman to the X-Men-welds an intimidatingly thorough knowledge of all things Santa, no matter the era or country.

Like the offspring of The Polar Express, Santa Conquers the Martians and Jack Frost (the 1964 Soviet film), the comic packs a treasury of plot beats and influences into its ‘80s-set tale of the holiday avatar taking down a cola corporation that brainwashes mall Santas and kidnaps kids. That annual tradition continues with Klaus and the Crisis in Xmasville, and it is absolutely wonderful. Last year, the creative duo revisited the character in Klaus and the Witch of Winter, ushering the concept to present day with zany Silver Age energy, laying hints at a sprawling mythology that includes civil wars on the moon and toy-shop-razing battles. Starting in 2015, Morrison transformed the jolly old elf into an immortal barbarian shaman who liberates a small medieval burg from the throes of his demonic counterpart, Krampus. There’s a lot to unwrap in writer Grant Morrison’s Klaus, a brazen superhero take on Saint Nick illustrated with bounding energy by Dan Mora.

Klaus morrison