Holiday Heroes MARVEL TEAM-UP "Spider-Man and The Watcher in 'Small Miracles' " Conclusion

We Have Already Seen... 


...attending Aunt May's Christmas party, Peter Parker discovers one of her friends, Arthur Chekov, in despair because his granddaughter, Bette didn't show up, and he's worried about her since he's her only surviving relative.

Peter attempts to console him when the webslinger's Spider-Sense goes off!

Excusing himself from the party, Peter goes to the darkened backyard to find...The Watcher...who says nothing, but hands him a glowing gem showing an image...of Chekov's grandaughter, Bette!

Taking this as a portent, Peter, now in costume, attempts to track down Bette, but can't!
Ol' Web-Head doen;t know how to proceed, when none other than the Star-Spangled Avenger himself, returing home via the rooftoops, finds him and offers to help...

Written by JM DeMatteis, penciled by Kerry Gamill, and inked by Mike Esposito, this never-reprinted Yuletide tale from Marvel Team-Up #127 (1983) offers a bit of insight into why the enigmatic Watcher doesn't just observe, but violates his race's version of the non-interference Prime Directive time and again, sometimes during Earth-shaking events, sometimes in matters affecting those who others might consider "unimportant".

Holiday Heroes MARVEL TEAM-UP "Spider-Man and The Watcher in 'Small Miracles' " Part 1

It's Christmas Eve in the MCU...

and a never-reprinted Yuletide tale from four decades ago is about to unfold!

Pay attention, True Believer...

Will Spider-Man Bette in time?

Will the Star-Spangled Avenger pop up again?

Will The Watcher just stand around and watch?

The answers to these and other annoying questions will be found

TOMORROW!

(Because unless you read this story when it came out, or picked it up as a back issue, you don't know what happens!)

Holiday Heroes DCU HOLIDAY BASH "I Left My Heart at the Justice Society Canteen!"

Even a World at War Needs a Holiday...

...as this tale, which mirrors how celebrities helped boost morale during the war, shows!

This never-reprinted Yuletide story by writer Howard Chaykin and artist Rich Burchett from DCU Holiday Bash II (1998) is based on the real-life Stage Door Canteen located in the heart of New York City's entertainment district, Times Square, during World War II!
Open to servicemen from any Allied country, it featured actors/actresses, singers, dancers, radio show performers, and the occasional sports star performing and mingling with solders, sailors, Marines, and airmen who never dreamed they ever come face-to-face with celebrities they'd only heard on radio or seen in newspapers, magazines, and on movie screens!
On any given night, guys in uniform might hang out with the Marx Brothers and Orson Welles, while they could dance with Lauren Bacall or Deena Durbin, while the Andrews Sisters sang on stage!

You can read more about it HERE!

Holiday Heroes MARVEL HOLIDAY SPECIAL "Mighty Thor in 'Twas a Mid-Winter's Night' "

We're Taking a Break from Russkie-Smashing Until After the New Year...

...because our hearts are filled with the Joy of the Season, yea, verily!

Written by Tom DeFalco and illustrated by Sal Buscema, this never-reprinted tale from Marvel Holiday Special (1991) celebrates not Christmas, per se, but the Winter Solstice celebrations popular throughout Europe that the Christian holiday is based on!

From 1991 through 2011, Marvel usually-produced an annual-sized anthology Marvel Holiday Special with all-new tales of Christmas, Hanukkah, and other mid-Winter celebrations!
DC did a couple of similar holiday series featuring all-new stories from the 1980s to the present.
Many of them haven't been reprinted since initial publication, like this one with the God of Thunder and his All-Father, Odin!
We're going to be re-presenting long-unseen stories from those series every Monday through New Year, after which we'll return to superheroes, spies, and other good guys beating up Russkies, ChiComs, NoKos, and other Communist miscreants!

Read Christmas Comics on Christmas Day!

After You've Opened Your Presents, Enjoy These Yuletide SuperHero Tales...

GIANT SUPERHERO HOLIDAY GRAB-BAG
"Tis the Season..."

CAPTAIN MARVEL ADVENTURES
"Plot Against Christmas"

GREEN LAMA
"Turn of the Scrooge"

WITHIN OUR REACH
"Spider-Man in 'A Wolf at the Door"

Merry Christmas!

(We're taking New Year's Day off, but we'll be back to Russkie-Smashing on January 8th!)

Holiday Reading Room WITHIN OUR REACH "Spider-Man in 'A Wolf at the Door' "

Here's a never-reprinted Yuletide classic starring the ol' Web-Head that very few of you have ever seen...

...since it didn't appear in a Marvel comic!

Plotted by David Ross, scripted by Roy and Dann Thomas, and illustrated by by Jeff (Green Hornet) Butler with assists by Gary Kato, this tale appeared in Star*Reach's Within Our Reach (1991), a Christmas charity benefit book with proceeds going equally to AmFAR and Sempervirens.

The cover was by Norm (Batman) Breyfogle, the only time, AFAIK, he's ever professionally-illustrated Spidey!

The book was also Star*Reach Publishing's final project under their own imprint.

The company continued as a packaging studio for various comics publishers through the 1990s.