A Celebration Of Freedom: Miracle Monday Through The Years

It’s the third Monday in May and you know what that means… Good Miracle Monday, everyone! Today of course marks the thirty-fifth anniversary of when Superman defeated the great and powerful C.W. Saturn, and the people of Metropolis learned the meaning of joy. Although our collective memory of that monumental day remains hazy, throughout the world humanity celebrates with a day dedicated to friends, family and recreation and --- if it brings happiness --- reflection.

The holiday first appeared in Superman: Miracle Monday, a novel by Elliot S. Maggin, published in 1981, which follows a time-traveler named Kristin Wells from the 29th century who journeys back to discover the origin of the holiday and accidentally becomes wrapped up in its very events. While Miracle Monday has become a holiday for Superman fans in the vein of April 27th for Alien fans or May 4th for Star Wars lovers, it remains a fairly obscure piece of the franchise's history that has only been referenced on a handful of occasions.

The majority of Miracle Monday references that appear in comics come from the reappearance of Kristin Wells, who makes her four-color debut in DC Comics Presents Annual #2 by Maggin and Keith Pollard, titled “The Last Secret Identity!” In the tale, Wells is now a history professor, and journeys back in time to discover the identity of the mysterious Superwoman, the only 20th century superhero whose identity is not known in the future.

Once again, Wells becomes caught up in the events she was there to document and discovers that she herself is the Superwoman of Metropolis, using technology widely available to people from her time to simulate super-powers. Wells is also revealed as the descendant of Jimmy Olsen, after spending the entire issue rebuffing his advances without revealing why she’s giving him the cold shoulder.

Superwoman would return in DC Comics Presents Annual #4 in the excellently titled “Welcome To Luthercon III” by Maggin and Eduardo Barreto. The story is a fun if uneventful story set at a convention where Superman filled in for the actor who plays him and nearly died on-stage as a result of a mix-up with Kryptonite.

Miracle Monday as a holiday makes another appearance in the pages of Superman #400, in a story by Maggin and Klaus Janson that makes up a larger tale about the legacy of Superman throughout time. Set in the year 5902, Superman has become a legendary historical figure, and we get a better glimpse at some of the Miracle Monday traditions, which include placing a portion of your own food into an empty plate, designated for Superman.

Superman himself found himself stranded outside the house of the Bendix family, who invited him in, as Miracle Monday is a day for kindness to those in need. Their eldest son Riley figured out that this was no cosplayer and was instead the actual Superman lost in time; when asked if he will ever be back, Superman replied “I’ll always be back” and Riley was left with the knowledge that legends do indeed live.

The name Kristin Wells was revived by Kurt Busiek and Rick Leonardi in 2007 as part of “The Third Kryptonian” storyline where Superman discovered there was another of his people living on Earth. This Wells was really Karsta Wor-Ul, a soldier who went AWOL and settled on Earth in order to leave a peaceful life. The name of Kristin Wells was little more than post-Crisis reference to a pre-Crisis character, as Karsta was in her own way a Superwoman, but like her predecessor she only appeared in a handful of comics.

Miracle Monday was most recently referenced by Chris Roberson in Superman/Batman #80, drawn by Jesus Merino. It’s a very, very small reference, as the villain Epoch attempted to escape through time and at every point is met by the Superman and Batman of that era, and at one point the narration describes him as appearing during the Miracle Monday celebrations in the 41st century.

Miracle Monday is a little-known and rarely referenced piece of Superman trivia, but the idea of a day where everyone is inexplicably happy and does everything they can to spread that happiness to their fellow man is something intrinsically appealing. On this Miracle Monday, greet the day with a smile, leave the house with a spring in your step, and do whatever you can to make the world a better place. It’s what Superman would do.

Iconic And Inspiring Images For Miracle Monday