How HULK Saved Christmas… By Fighting Santa Claus

When any comic book fan thinks of Santa Claus, jolly laughs and gifts for children is usually what comes to kind. But if you’re the Incredible Hulk, then the image of jolly St. Nick, like so many other heroes, brings only rage. Yes, as hard as it may to believe, ‘Hulk vs. Santa’ was a fight advertised by Marvel that actually did deliver. But what’s even weirder is Bruce Banner wasn’t even the one on the naughty list.

The Incredible Hulk #378 touts the battle in question, depicting Hulk (in his ‘Joe Fixit’ era’) swapping blows with Santa right on the cover. For some, it will be a shock to even learn that Santa is actually a canon character in Marvel’s Universe, rather than a holiday tradition. In fact, Santa is one of the most powerful characters to exist in comic book history. What’s more, Mr. Claus is actually a Marvel mutant with a long list of abilities ranging from telekinesis, teleportation, shape shifting, and even the ability to turn others into toys. Santa was first discovered in the Marvel universe when Cerebro alerts the X-Men of an unknown Omega level mutant in Rockefeller Center, which, in the end, turns out to be Kris Kringle himself. This places Santa up there with mutants like Phoenix or Apocalypse, and definitely makes him a force to be wrecked with. So how exactly does the symbol of joy end up going fist to fist with the Hulk?

While most know the Hulk as a giant green ball of rage, many fans don’t realize that he was originally a different color. The original intention was for the Hulk to be grey, but due to some inking errors, ended up with the emerald Avenger fans know and love. However, the idea of different colored Hulks was eventually worked into the canon, each representing a different side of Banner’s psyche. With this came the return of Grey Hulk, and while weaker than his green version, he maintained much more of his Banner side in this transformation, keeping him cool, collected, and a more intelligent Hulk than his more savage green counterpart. But hold on: if Grey Hulk is more in control than usual, how does he end up fighting the symbol of holiday giving? The answer actually involves another giant grey wall smasher.

The issue opens with Rick Jones at a children’s hospital attempting to break up some bullying, and, in an effort to teach a lesson, begins to tell the story of how the Hulk ended up going toe-to-toe with Santa (well, kind of). His tale opens with the infamous super villain Rhino having a terrible holiday season — lonely, starving, and miserable, not even able to talk to other homeless people without scaring them off. As supervillains do, Rhino decides to rob a bank to try and cure some of his woes, but his plan is quickly scrapped when he discovers that the Hulk is in town (knowing the Hulk would stop any crimes he attempted). With no options, Rhino sees a Salvation Army Santa collecting money for charity, and that’s when he has an idea. Rhino knocks the man out cold and steals his outfit, planning to pretend to collect money for charity… only to take it for himself. The Santa outfit provides a hilarious, yet somewhat clever disguise, as the Rhino can’t remove his costume underneath and the hat provides cover for his large horn.

The Rhino instantly finds himself grabbed by the manager of the shopping mall — not because he has been found out, but to replace the mall Santa who has somehow injured himself. In a tender twist, the children screaming and jumping with joy as they see Rhino enter warms his heart, since it’s first time he actually feels appreciated. Unfortunately, his love of the new job doesn’t last long, and as more and more kids ask for more and more things (specifically action figures of superheroes that beat Rhino up on the regular) Rhino loses his cool and explodes on the children.

Bad timing, since Bruce Banner overhears the commotion in the mall, before running off to the bathroom as it is close to sunset (the original trigger of his transformations, before anger). And thus the stage is set for the fight of the century. The Incredible Hulk vs. a shopping mall Santa… who just happens to be a supervillain.

When the children finally reveal the mall Santa to actually be Rhino, he loses it on the kids and begins to attack them, but luckily Grey Hulk is there to step in. A massive fight ensues, smashing throughout the entire mall, until eventually they land in front of a small girl. The girl breaks down crying asking why Santa is hurting someone and doing something so mean. When she begins to doubt if Santa is even real at all, both the Hulk and Rhino seem to have a change of heart, shifting their focus on preserving this little girl’s christmas spirit. In the end, Rhino begrudgingly returns to his post as mall Santa, now with a giant Grey Hulk elf by his side.

Marvel definitely loves to dive into the bizarre, but this specific issue is towards the top of the list. Seeing Rhino living on the streets, acknowledging his own loneliness is an unexpected perspective on a comic book supervillain, although the ways in which he goes about handling his troubles are absolutely bonkers. The issue even includes Rhino’s own take on his troubles, telling his young fans, “Y’see kids, the Rhino was what you call manic depressive. ” The issue is fun and zany, but perhaps the most bizarre part is the fact the issue wasn’t even published at christmas time, but instead in February. While this is one of the stranger Hulk stories, it definitely fits with the theme of many christmas related specials being completely nutty.

More: Grey Hulk Was Almost Included In Avengers: Age of Ultron