The comic's titular character is a pudgy, blond, bearded middle-aged man wearing a pink tank top and a lavender cap.

He introduces himself in the story's first panel while perched at the top of a chimney in the middle of the night, in the manner of Santa Claus: "Why wait for a holiday?

In the ensuing panels The Sensual Santa invades several homes and administers hugs, cuddling and backrubs with cinnamon body oil to unsuspecting people, who react to his "gifts" variously with alarm, puzzlement or numbed resignation.

All the while, and totally oblivious to his recipients' evident discomfort, he delivers a cheerful monologue on the virtues of sharing sensuality that parodies the sensibility and prose style of books such as The Joy of Sex.

Peter Bagge alludes to "The Sensual Santa" in a comic he drew for Reason magazine.