zzyxz-elf-htdnp-fullishzzyxz-elf-htdnp-faceZZYZX

Real Name: Zzyzx

Identity/Class: Elf (North Pole variety);
    see comments

Occupation: Toy-builder, laborer;
    former kidnapper, terrorist

Group Membership: Elves of the North Pole,
    possibly associated with the E.L.F. (the Elf Labor Federation)

Affiliations: Presumably Santa Claus;
    an unspecified and unidentified number of the 1500 North Pole Elves; he may or may not be associated with Skizm, Sunquist and/or Sydney;
    presumably the reindeer Blitzen, Comet, Cupid, Dancer, Dasher, Donner, Prancer, Rudolph and Vixen

Enemies: Formerly Howard the Duck, Santa Claus, Beverly Switzler;
    possibly Greedy Killerwatt and his mutated animals and trolls, Pinball Lizard

Known Relatives: None

Aliases: "Elfin Hooligan" (from Santa Claus)

Base of Operations: Clausco Industries, North Pole

First Appearance: Howard the Duck newspaper strip (December 13, 1977)

   

zzyxz-elf-htdnp-seatgunraisedPowers/Abilities: A North Pole Elf, Zzyzx is long-lived, appearing to be adult to middle-aged at 139-years-old.

    He may or may not have superhuman speed or any other abilities, but he did not demonstrate them in his limited appearances.

    He apparently enjoys Christmas and the making of toys, but became fed up with being monotonously overworked and underpaid and with being treated like he was a child.zzyxz-elf-htdnp-outrage

    He can wield a handgun (who knows where he got it), but his skills with using it are unrevealed.

    He can stay up for nearly 72 hours before falling asleep.

    He apparently could land the Ho-Ho-1 reindeer-driven sleigh.

   

Height: Unrevealed (approximately 2'6"; he looked to be just a hair, or a feather, shorter than Howard)
Weight: Unrevealed (approximately 50 lbs.)
Eyes: Very light, possibly blue
Hair: White
Note: He had incomplete dentition (he was missing some teeth), and the teeth he had seemed to vary between panels (or maybe it was just shadowing)

History:

(Howard the Duck newspaper strip, December 13, 1977 (fb) - BTS) <139 years before the main story> - Zzyzx the elf was born.

(Howard the Duck newspaper strip, December 29, 1977 (fb) - BTS) - The increasing population, in combination with widespread affluence and the increasing demand for more intricate toys led to Santa's workshop becoming an industry, and the atmosphere suffered. There were now quotas to meet and stockholders to mollify to keep pace with the competition.

(Howard the Duck newspaper strip, December 13, 1977 (fb) - BTS) - Hand-crafting toys at Clausco (Santa's workshop) was replaced by a massive assembly line.

(Howard the Duck newspaper strip, December 13, 1977 (fb) - BTS) - Zzyzx the elf worked for 27 years without a raise in his pay.

(Howard the Duck newspaper strip, December 13, 1977) - Unable to abide the monotony, Zzyzx voiced his frustration with the 14-hour days, the plastic fumes and lack of a raise in 27 years. A co-worker urged Zzyzx to keep it down as "the man" (Santa) was approaching.zzyxz-elf-htdnp-gunsantface

(Howard the Duck newspaper strip, December 14, 1977) - Inspecting operations at Clausco, Santa noted the improved production and gross product margin. He spoke through a microphone, telling them how proud he was of their increased productivity and that they were setting records. When he finished with, "It's all due to diligent efforts, boys!" Zzyzx objected to being called a boy, and he proclaimed that the time had come for drastic action.

(Howard the Duck newspaper strip, December 15, 1977 (fb) - BTS) - Armed with a gun, Zzyzx hid in the back of Santa's sleigh (Ho-Ho-1) in preparation for the annual test flight.

(Howard the Duck newspaper strip, December 15, 1977) - As soon as Santa and the Ho-Ho-1 were cleared for takeoff, Zzyzx put his gun to Santa's face, called him "Gramps" and told him to "get this crate in the air and point it toward Cuba!"

(Howard the Duck newspaper strip, December 16, 1977) - As the Ho-Ho-1 took off, Zzyzx warned Santa ("Pop") to put a little more gusto into his "Ho's" or there was going to be trouble. Santa was confused, having considered Zzyzx to be one of his most loyal elves, and he asked, "Why, boy?" Zzyzx told him that the workshop wasn't what it used to be, noting the unsafe working conditions, the lack of benefits, impossible hours, sweatshop wages and the fact that he was sick of being called "boy" when he was 139 years old.

(Howard the Duck newspaper strip, December 22, 1977 (fb) - BTS) - En route to Cuba, as the Ho-Ho-1 passed over Cleveland, Ohio, Santa made a daring leap for life down the "chimney" of an apartment building and became wedged in the heating duct to the apartment Howard the Duck shared with Beverly Switzler.

(Howard the Duck newspaper strip, December 22, 1977 (fb) - BTS / Howard the Duck newspaper strip, December 30, 1977 (fb) - BTS) - Zzyzx apparently landed the Ho-Ho-1 on the roof of the apartment.

(Howard the Duck newspaper strip, December 18, 1977 - BTS) - Santa's arrival (and/or possibly Zzyzx firing his gun?) made a loud noise in Howard and Bev's apartment, heard by both of them as well as their friend and neighbor Paul Winslow.zzyxz-elf-htdnp-seated-fullish

(Howard the Duck newspaper strip, December 19, 1977 - BTS) - Stuck in their heating duct, Santa called for the apartment's inhabitants to help him.

(Howard the Duck newspaper strip, December 20, 1977 - BTS) - Beverly opened the heat duct vent and was surpised to see Santa's face.

(Howard the Duck newspaper strip, December 21, 1977) - Swinging open the door to the apartment, Zzyzx told everybody within to freeze, telling them that they were all hostages until he and Santa came to terms. Santa told the "elfin hooligan" that he would rather stay in there forever.

(Howard the Duck newspaper strip, December 22, 1977) - After Howard asked why an elf had a gun, Zzyzx replied, "Didn't Massa Claus tell you? I hijacked his sleigh to protest working conditions at the North Pole Plant." He further explained how Santa had leapt out and become lodged in their heating duct.

    Santa pleaded with Zzyzx to think of the children and let him out so he could make his rounds. Zzyzx told him, "Save that scam for the rubes, chubby!"

(Howard the Duck newspaper strip, December 23, 1977) - Zzyzx stated the Clausco Industries would just launch the back-up sleigh if Santa wasn't home in time, adding that they had insisted that Santa be expendable. Plopping down in a chair, Zzyzx insisted that Santa would stay in their heating duct until he was ready to bargain, "We've got nothing but time."zzyxz-elf-htdnp-face-prof

(Howard the Duck newspaper strip, December 24, 1977) - Noting that it was the night before Christmas, Bev pleaded with Zzyzx to let them free Santa the the ventilator shaft, but he replied, "Fat chance, sister!"; amused at his own comment, he added, "Get it--?!"

    Attempting to enjoy Christmas Eve, Bev and Paul sang a non-traditional carol, "We wish you a Hare Krishna."

(Howard the Duck newspaper strip, December 25, 1977) - Now Christmas day, Zzyzx proclaimed their carol to be tasteless, inane and irreverent. With Santa having been stuck there for two days now, he shouted to be let out, and Bev again pleaded with Zzyzx to let them release him. Zzyzx refused, noting that there were principles at stake. He added that there were 15,000 elves employed at Clausco Industries' North Pole Plant, all working for peanuts in unsafe conditions. Zzyzx insisted that they wanted benefits and dignity, as they did not want to be Santa's "boys" anymore.
   
    When Howard mockingly replied, "Ya wanna be girls--?!", Bev advised him not to antagonize Zzyzx.

(Howard the Duck newspaper strip, December 26, 1977) - The day after Christmas, Zzyzx warned Santa, "I'm still waiting for an offer, cherry-schnoz!"

(Howard the Duck newspaper strip, December 27, 1977) - Beverly advised Zzyzx that he and Santa both needed sleep, and Zzyzx replied that he would stay awake until Little Christmas if he had to. However, the exhausted Zzyzx, while stating that he owed it to his fellow elves, fell asleep in his chair and dropped his gun. As Paul picked up the gun, Bev moved to help Santa.

(Howard the Duck newspaper strip, December 28, 1977 - BTS) - Bev and Howard helped Santa out of the vent into their apartment, after which Howard reminded him of the elves' demands. Santa admitted that he may have insensitive to their needs.

zzyxz-elf-htdnp-sleep(Howard the Duck newspaper strip, December 29, 1977) - After Santa explained the circumstances that had led to the current conditions, he picked up the still sleeping Zzyzx, noting that even Santa had an occasional lesson to learn. He promised to never forget the little people again.

(Howard the Duck newspaper strip, December 30, 1977) - Back aboard the Ho-Ho-1, Santa told Howard, Bev and Paul that he had not intended to be cruel to his elves as they were as previous to him as his own children. Hearing this as he woke up, Zzyzx, objected to be compared to children, calling Santa a turkey, telling him that he still didn't get it and that he was as angry as ever. As they took off in the sleigh, Zzyzx told him that between there and zero degrees latitude, they were going to have a long talk, and that paternalism was as good a place to start as any.

    Santa replied, "Ho! Ho!! No!!"

(Howard the Duck newspaper strip, December 31, 1977) - Aboard the Ho-Ho-1, Zzyzx and Santa continued their journey back to the North Pole. Howard and Paul wondered what Easter would bring."

Comments: Created by Steve Gerber and Val Mayerik.

    Most of the Howard the Duck newspaper strips that were written by Steve Gerber (the first five arcs: Pop Syke - The Consciousness of Success (June-July, 1977); The Cult of Entropy (August-October, 1977); Fred Feenix - The Self Made Man (October, -December, 1977), The Sleigh-Jacking (December, 1977-January, 1988); and In Search of the Good Life (January-February, 1978) would fit in well his Earth-616 adventures. I THINK, because of the variation in the Winky Man tale in the sixth arc, Sleep of the Just (February-April, 1978), that I provided the alternate reality designation of Reality-77606.
    I think the best solution is that, just like the 6th arc, similar events occurred on Earth-616 with the rest of the stories.

    Starting with the seventh arc, however, Gerber was out, and Marv Wolfman was the writer. Marv is great, but his stories showed Howard to have originated from another planet in the same universe as Earth, so that was definitely a different reality, Reality-78423.

    This profile was completed 08/09/2026, but its publication was delayed as it was intended for the Appendix 25th anniversary 's celebratory event to represent Howard the Duck's newspaper strips.
    Thanks to the Howard the Duck Cultural Society Facebook group for the color images!
    Zzyzx was only seen in color on the Christmas Day strip, which apparently was a Sunday.

Profile by Snood.

CLARIFICATIONS:
Zzyzx should be distinguished from:


zzyxz-elf-htdnp-fakecoverimages: (without ads)
Howard the Duck newspaper strip, December 14, panel 3 (pushed beyond the breaking point);
    December 15, panel 3 (putting gun to Santa's head);
    December 22, panel 1 (face, profile, with Howard);
    December 23, panel 2 (sitting down);
    December 25, panel 2 (seated with gun - color)
         panel 5 (face - color);
         panel 6 (fullish - color)
    "cover" (put together by an someone unknown to me who apparently "photoshopped" together a number of images from the strips). It makes for a a fun cover.
Appearances:
Howard the Duck newspaper strip arc six "The Sleigh-Jacking" (December 12, 1977 - January 1, 1978) - Steve Gerber (writer), Val Mayerik (artist)

First posted: 09/23/2026
Last updated: 08/09/2026

Any Additions/Corrections? please let me know.

Non-Marvel Copyright info
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