Merry Christmas, everybody!
All this month, I've been counting down my picks for the best X-Men (or X-Men related, like X-Factor, Generation X and Wolverine) Christmas stories of all-time! Not counting the X-Men Christmas Special that came out during the countdown, since the countdown was already set by that point (and honestly I'm unsure of how I would even rank that one going forward, as it is 25 distinct one-page stories).
I basically judged them on three things:
1. How much of an X-Men comic it was (there is a really good Spider-Man/Wolverine team-up that is just as much a Spider-man story as it is a Wolverine story, ya know?)
2. How much of a Christmas comic it was (basically "Is it just set at Christmastime or is actually about Christmas?" and
3. How good it was
Therefore, this is very much not a "Which of these comics are the best?" type of list. My favorite comic is not #1, ya know?
The X-Men have a long history of celebrating Christmas. Longtime X-Men scribe, Chris Claremont, once noted that he liked to have Christmas stories since it gave readers a nice sense of progression for the years. You know, a sort of signal post to celebrate the passing of another year of X-Men adventures. So Claremont did the majority of the stories on this list.
24. "Between the Cracks" from Generation X #4 by Scott Lobdell, Chris Bachalo and Mark Buckingham
23. "The Night Before X-Mas" from Marvel's 1994 Holiday Special, by Karl Bollers and Sal Buscema
19. "Humbug" by Tom DeFalco, Josh Hood and Andrew Pepoy from 1994's Marvel Holiday Special
17. "Zounds O' Silence" by Larry Hama and Michael Golden from Marvel's 1992 Holiday Special
14. "Gifts" by Louise Simonson, Walter Simonson and Bob Wiacek from X-Factor #27
13. "Twas the Night Before Christmas" by Chris Claremont, John Byrne and Terry Austin from X-Men #119
12. "Hark, Hear the Bells" by Chris Claremont, Salvador Larroca and Danny Miki from X-Men #165
11. "Ceremonies" by Chris Claremont, Tom Derenick, Rick Ketcham and Norm Rapmund from X-Men #109
7. "Merry Christmas, X-Men" by Chris Claremont, Dave Cockrum and Sam Grainger from X-Men #98
4. "Better to Give..." by Rob Williams, Laurence Campbell and Kris Justice from Wolverine #49
3. "Wounded Wolf" by Chris Claremont and Barry Windsor-Smith from Uncanny X-Men #205
2. "Demon" by John Byrne, Chris Claremont and Terry Austin from Uncanny X-Men #143
1. "'Twas the Night" by Chris Claremont, Marc Silvestri and Joe Rubinstein from Uncanny X-Men #230
Merry Christmas!