Santa Suit: Practically a Superhero Costume?

Marvel

With Christmas nearly upon us, we talk about Santa Claus and discover an aspect to him that has gone surprisingly unnoticed so far.

By Shrey Sankalp

Ah, you can almost feel the Christmas season in the air – there’s a chill going (unless you’re in Los Angeles or Miami), and people are getting their old Christmas records ready to play (unless they’re into today’s “Christmas Special” pop) and parents are scurrying about trying to assemble the right mix of decorations, lights and of course, the indispensable Santa Claus costume, because let’s face it, which parent doesn’t love the smile on their child’s face when they see an old portly man in a red costume carrying gifts, right? I’d even go so far as to say the Santa suit has become the defining imagery for Christmas – you think Christmas, and you immediately think of Noel in his good ol’ costume dashing through the snow (or the skies) on a one horse open sleigh.

The concept behind Santa Claus is as fantastical as it is simple. Here we have an old stout man with what I assume is a penchant for red suits, living in the North Pole, making a list of the naughty and the nice children so on Christmas Eve, before midnight, he can drop by and allot each child a gift, or a lump of coal, as their status may warrant. This promise of a potential gift and this desire to get into Pere Noel’s good books is actually a very big influence on children and their actions, because hey, who wouldn’t prefer to wake up on Christmas to presents under the tree as opposed to a sock full of coal? And the best part is how parents almost always go out of their way to fulfill their child’s wishes and keep him believing in Santa Claus! If a day can make your parent buy costumes and decorations for your happiness, then hot diggity, son, that day has indeed fulfilled its goal of bringing about merriment.

It’s all of this merriment, and optimism, going out of the way for the aforementioned that got me thinking – if Superman can inspire optimism and be a superhero, and Batman can promote justice and be a superhero, why can’t Santa Claus be a superhero? I’d very happily make the case that Santa is as much as a superhero as any comic book character. Very much like comic book heroes, our man Noel here is a mythical character, folklore, even, with how early his presence dates, and just like our esteemed comic book heroes, he has his own iconic costume (so what if the costume is not inspired by a bat or if the costume isn’t made of an otherworldly fabric?, this is a man who lives at the North Pole and meticulously tracks the activities of children to determine they’re naughty or nice (guess that’s where the NSA got its motivation from) and on the night before Christmas, dashes around the world dispensing gifts and lumps of coals to children. I’d hate to break it to the Flash, but he might not be the only man with a red costume who is fast. (unless we’re talking about the show, where pretty much every antagonist is faster than him) I’d say this more than qualifies Santa Claus for being designated a superhero, because while comic book superheroes have a limited reach, Santa is a man who makes fathers wake up in the middle of the night to put on a costume akin to his just so the father can make his child smile. Do you see that happening worldwide with a Batsuit or a Superman costume? Because I don’t. And yet, with just a simple red suit with white fur-like trimmings, it is happening. And it is making people happy – not just on the colorful pages of a comic or on the screen of a nearby theater, but right in your home, and in every home around the world. That’s not just superheroic, it’s ethereal.

DC Comics

And if you really want to take it there, even superheroes believe in Santa Claus! A version of Santa Claus exists in DC’s mainstream continuity and even though he’s almost never brought up, his existence is attested to by countless characters such as Plastic Man, Lobo, Constantine and even Superman himself! When Superman tells you an old fat man in a red costume is real, he is real, son! That, Your Honor, is where I’d like to rest my case. Whether you consider Noel a superhero or not, he is more than just a story to keep your child on the straight and narrow, and believe me, your child will be expecting him this Christmas. Better get that Santa costume while it’s still in stock, eh mate?