''Miracle Monday'' is a novel written by

Elliot S. Maggin Elliot S. Maggin, also spelled Elliot S! Maggin (born 1950), is an American writer of comic books, film, television, and novels. He was a main writer for DC Comics during the Bronze and early Modern ages of comics in the 1970s and 1980s. He is ...

, starring the

DC Comics DC Comics (originally DC Comics, Inc., and also known simply as DC) is an American comic book publisher owned by DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC is an initialism for "Detective Comics", an American comic book seri ...

superhero

Superman Superman is a superhero created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, which first appeared in the comic book ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1, published in the United States on April 18, 1938.The copyright date of ''Action Comics ...

. It was published in 1981. A revised edition was published in 2017. This is Elliot S. Maggin's second Superman novel, following '' Superman: Last Son of Krypton''. As with Maggin's first novel, the original edition was published as a tie-in with the then-current Superman film series, with the first edition including a photograph of

Christopher Reeve Christopher D'Olier Reeve (September 25, 1952 – October 10, 2004) was an American actor, activist, director, and author. He amassed Christopher Reeve on stage and screen, several stage and screen credits in his 34-year career, including playin ...

as the character; the novel is not, however, an adaptation of any of the films, nor does it take place in the same continuity as the movies. ''Miracle Monday'' tells the story of Superman trying to stop an entity of pure evil from causing universal chaos. The story introduces the time traveler Kristin Wells. The character later appeared in the Superman comics, both as herself and as

Superwoman Superwoman is the name of several fictional characters in DC Comics. Most of them are, like Supergirl, women with powers similar to those of Superman, such as flight, invulnerability, and enhanced strength. In 1942, DC Comics trademarked the n ...

. The novel introduces the holiday Miracle Monday, which occurs annually on the third Monday of May. The holiday would also make an appearance in the Superman comics and in the television series ''

Superman & Lois ''Superman & Lois'' is an American superhero drama television series developed for The CW by Todd Helbing and Greg Berlanti, based on the DC Comics characters Superman and Lois Lane, created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. Tyler Hoechlin and ...

'' (S2E15).

Plot summary

In the story,

Samael Samael (; , ''Sammāʾēl'', "Venom of God"; , ''Samsama'il'' or , ''Samail''; alternatively Smal, Smil, Samil, or Samiel) is an archangel in Talmudic and post-Talmudic tradition; a figure who is the accuser or adversary (Satan#Judaism, Satan ...

, the ruler of Hell, sends his greatest agent of evil, C. W. Saturn, to Earth, to destroy Superman morally. Saturn is able to enter our dimension thanks to

Lex Luthor Alexander "Lex" Joseph Luthor () is a supervillain in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, the character first appeared in ''Action Comics'' #23 (published on February 22, 1940, with a cover d ...

having used a form of magic to escape prison, leaving a 'hole' between worlds. At the same time, Kristin Wells, a history graduate student from the far future, uses time travel technology to arrive in the present, for the purpose of finding out the origin of the holiday known as Miracle Monday, which is known only to be somehow connected to Superman. She infiltrates Clark Kent's circle of friends by becoming

Lois Lane Lois Lane is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in ''Action Comics'' Action Comics 1, #1 (June 1938). Lois is an award-winning ...

's assistant. To her dismay, because she does not belong in the present, Saturn is able to possess her. Saturn then proceeds to cause worldwide havoc, taunting Superman that the only way for him to stop it would be by killing its host—thus making him break his vow against killing. Saturn even reveals Superman's

secret identity A secret identity is a person's code name, cryptonym, disguise, incognito, Cover (intelligence gathering), cover and/or alter ego which is not known to the general populace, most often used in fiction. Brought into popular culture by the Scarlet Pi ...

to the world, to further drive him into desperation. Ultimately, Superman refuses to kill Kristin, even if it means he would have to spend the rest of his life battling Saturn. At that moment, because of the rules that bind demons, Saturn is defeated, and forced to grant Superman a wish. He asks that everything that happened since Saturn's arrival be undone, and it is granted, with Saturn then being banished back to Hell. However, a lingering memory of the events remained within the souls of humanity, causing them to begin celebrating the day every year, on the third Monday of May, starting the Miracle Monday tradition. Kristin then returns to the future to reveal this fact to the public.

Impact

Mark Waid Mark Waid (; born March 21, 1962) is an American comic book writer best known for his work on DC Comics titles ''The Flash'', '' Kingdom Come'' and '' Superman: Birthright'' as well as his work on ''Captain America'', ''Fantastic Four'' and '' Da ...

has cited the ending of ''Miracle Monday'' as his favorite moment from a Superman story.

Paul Kupperberg Paul Kupperberg (; born June 14, 1955) is an American writer and comics editor. He is currently a writer and executive editor at Charlton Neo Comics and Pix-C Webcomics, and a contributing author with Crazy 8 Press. Formerly, he was an editor for ...

credited Maggin for writing the "definitive" comic book story about Man of Steel, and cited all three of his Superman novels as favorites. The ten-page story "The Miracle Monday Dinner" subsequently appeared in ''Superman'' #400 (1984). Kristin Wells debuted in the comics as

in ''DC Comics Presents Annual'' #2 (1983) and appeared again in ''DC Comics Presents Annual'' #4 (1985). She made a cameo appearance in '' Whatever Happened to the Man of Tomorrow?'', the final Superman story by

Alan Moore Alan Moore (born 18 November 1953) is an English author known primarily for his work in comic books including ''Watchmen'', ''V for Vendetta'', ''The Ballad of Halo Jones'', Swamp Thing (comic book), ''Swamp Thing'', ''Batman: The Killing Joke' ...

and

Curt Swan Douglas Curtis Swan (February 17, 1920 – June 17, 1996) was an American comics artist. The artist most associated with Superman during the period fans call the Bronze Age of Comic Books, Swan produced hundreds of covers and stories from the 195 ...

. In 2018, Maggin did an audiobook reading of the novel on his podcast, "Elliot Makes Stuff Up". In 2022, the Miracle Monday holiday was referenced in an episode of '' Superman and Lois''.

References

External links

''Miracle Monday'' e-book

The holiday of Miracle Monday

online Audiobook version
{{Superman (1978 film series) 1981 American novels DC Comics novels Superman novels Superman (1978 film series)