Written by Benjamin Dickson
Drawn by Gavin Mitchell
Published by AAM/Markosia

It’s 1941, the Nazis have discovered the location of Santa Claus’ village and Hitler (who has a personal score with Santa over the fact that Santa never brought him any presents when Hilter was a child) orders a Nazi squadron to launch an attack. The Nazis conquer the village, imprison Santa in a block of ice and enslave Santa’s elves, putting them to work building weapons instead of toys. The Nazis plan to launch a worldwide attack on Christmas Eve, the night Santa’s magic is most powerful. Instead of delivering toys all around the world in one night, the Nazis plan to use Santa’s magical technology to deliver bombs all over the world.

But one elf named Reggie and an orphan boy named Peter, manage to escape from the village with the help of Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer and make it to London where they warn British Prime Minister Winston Churchill about Hitler’s plot. Churchill organizes a crack-commando team, led by Captain Elizabeth Windsor (yes, the future Queen Elizabeth II) to launch a counter-attack to liberate the village and rescue Santa before it’s too late.

You’d be forgiven if after reading that plot summary you assumed this would be some humorous parody comic, as that is in fact what I was expecting when I bought this. But it’s actually a serious dramatic story and a very good one at that. Writer Ben Dickson includes some interesting character developments, especially with the interaction between Reggie and Peter, who don’t initially get along but find themselves as uneasy allies who have to learn to trust and depend on each other. A particularly interesting note is that we learn that Peter was actually the son of slaves whom Santa took with him years earlier when he delivered gifts at a plantation. This ties into an internal moral debate that Santa has about his role in the world, wondering if he should be using his vast magical powers to intervene in world affairs and fight evil instead of just delivering toys to children once a year.

And there’s lots of action with several unexpected twists and turns that will keep the reading on the edge of their seat until the exciting conclusion. And it’s all nicely drawn too.

Santa Claus vs. The Nazis