Whilst Fantastic Four nemesis Doctor Doom does technically rule his home country of Latveria with an iron fist (or whatever it is that suit's made of), he's a reasonably benevolent dictator. He makes sure his people are happy, well looked after, and even allows for certain public holidays to be celebrated: New Year, Doom's Day (according to Wikipedia, Doom's Day is an eclectic holiday, celebrated whenever Doom declares it) and even Christmas. Admittedly, the 1991 issue of What The?! - a satirical in-house Marvel publication is probably not strictly canon, but what it lacks in continuity cred it makes up for in being absolutely incredible. Having fallen prey to Doom's lethal perimeter defences whilst trying to deliver presents to his Latverian castle, Santa Claus implores the supervillain to take his place for the evening, spreading goodwill to all men and other things usually beyond Doom's capabilities. Turns out that he's more than up to the challenge, almost certainly taking up the role less out of guilt for injuring Father Christmas in a superhero Santa Clause scenario, more so that he can show how much more full of seasonal cheer he is than that blasted Richards. He winds up fighting a bunch of superheroes, a battle which stops when a little girl asks what's going on and he claims they're his helpers, and then they hand out presents. Doom gets a teddy bear. And loves it.
Tom Baker is the Comics Editor at WhatCulture! He's heard all the Doctor Who jokes, but not many about Randall and Hopkirk. He also blogs at http://communibearsilostate.wordpress.com/
