Miracle Monday (Novel)

Miracle Monday is a novel written by Elliot S! Maggin and based on the DC Comics character Superman. It was published in 1981.

Miracle Monday tells the story of Superman trying to stop an entity of pure evil from causing universal chaos. This is Elliot S! Maggin's second Superman novel and is just as highly regarded as Maggin's first Superman novel, Last Son of Krypton. This story is also important because it introduces the time traveler Kristin Wells, who would later go on to appear in the Supermancomics (both as herself and as "Superwoman").

The novel also introduces the holiday Miracle Monday, which makes a later appearance in the Superman comics.

Plot summary
In the story, Samael, 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 having used a form of magic to escape prison, leaving a 'hole' between worlds. At the same time, Kristin Wells, a journalism 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, of which only the fact that it is somehow connected to Superman is known. She infiltrates Clark Kent's circle of friends by becoming Lois Lane's assistant. Unfortunately, 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&mdash;thus making him break his vow against killing. Saturn even reveals Superman's secret identity to the world, to further drive him into desperation.

Ultimately, however, 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.