so first, the cover. a little misleading when it comes to the story, but really, a lot of cominc book covers are these days (seriously, who ever sees those comic book covers with two heroes "fighting" and thinks that, inside, you'll see a giant superhero battle royale? world war hulk and civil war aside), and were even more in those days. but no, nowhere in this issue is superman going down a chimney or toyman ambushing the big boy scout and the man in the big red suit from the rooftop with an army of toy soldiers.
the issue itself is the kind of story you really won't find anywhere in comics today, except maybe in some indie's homaging of this era. post crisis DC comics are, largely, too "serious" for this type of story (though apparently someone's bringing back bat-mite soon!).
a few things to remember: the fortress of solitude is in the north pole. santa's workshop is in the north pole. it only seems natural that these worlds would collide.
after superman stops timmy from robbing a charity worker, he finds that the kid is under the hypnotic spell of a toy made by the original toyman, so he takes him to the fortress to cure him. suddenly, a beam from the toy hits superman and he falls from the sky - the victim of toyman finding "meteorite laced with White Dwarf-Star matter on sale as a paperweight." (seriously, who writes this stuff?)
superman wakes to find himself surrounded by elves and santa himself. he wonders why he has never seen it, which is apparently the result of magic (superman can't beat magic) because only people who santa wants to see it... blah blah blah... they tour the workshop and superman sees a toy that reminds him of one he had when he was a baby that was destoyed when krypton went kerblooey - a thought projecting device.
superman still too weak to fight toyman, santa offers to help, even giving him a ride on the sleigh. they go down toyman's chimney and... well... santa unleashes his "good toys" to beat toyman's "bad toys" which were all carrying kryptonite making santa's help a necessity.
when all is said - all the evil hypnotic toys are rounded up and everything seems great - another "gravity beam" hits superman. he wakes up in the snow at the fortress with timmy hovering over him, and thinking his entire santa encounter was a dream. then, when he gets home, he finds.... a thought projector! which then projects an image of santa wishing him a happy christmas!
all in all, it's a fun comic. good clean american christmas fun. of course, i wouldn't be me without pointing out a glaring - to me at least - plot point. superman thought the entire santa encounter was a dream, shouldn't he have then immediately thought the entire toyman battle was fake, not return timmy home yet, and go after toyman? granted, it wasn't a dream but still... superman might not be as knee jerk as some superheroes, but he's not methodical or contemplating either.
i'm sure there are other great christmasy comics... i just might have to talk about them sometime.
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