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!)

Thanksgiving Turkey SKATE MAN Conclusion

"Criminals are a superstious, cowardly lot...

....so my disguise must be able to strike terror into their hearts!"

Well, that didn't quite work out...

We Have Already Seen...

To avenge the death of his girlfriend by a biker gang, VietNam vet Billy Moon becomes a roller-skating vigilante...

And that's how the story ends, not even a epilogue setting up future issues!

We hope you enjoyed our Thanksgiving Turkey!

Thanksgiving Turkey SKATE MAN Part 1

The phrase "martial arts" encompasses a great many forms and techniques of combat...

...even (believe it or not) this hybrid form in a 40 year-old never-reprinted one-shot comic that we proudly present as our Thanksgiving Turkey!

To Be Concluded

TOMORROW!

Written and illustrated by Neal Adams (with some inking by his Continuity Associates studio), this was intended as a tie-in to a feature film...which was never made.
When the notoriously-slow Adams couldn't meet the deadline for the contracted second issue of Ms. Mystic at Pacific Comics, he offered this project as a stopgap.
Trivia:
The comic sold 70,000 copies, more than almost anything on the stands today!
Kitchen Sink's 1991 World's Worst Comics Awards parody comic named Skateman the "Worst Comic Book of the Past 25 Years"!
Ms. Mystic #2 finally came out a year later, right before Pacific Comics folded!.

Russkie-Smashers MARVEL BOY II "Blast of Doom!"

Even though he was raised on Uranus, Robert Grayson is as all-American as anyone...

...and he'd defend the good 'ol USA against any and all Commie threats, whether they're Chi-Coms, North Koreans, or Russkies!

Note: the "Astros Invasion" involved an alien race, not Houston's baseball team (which didn't exist when this story was published in Atlas' Marvel Boy #2 (1951)!

Some days you just gotta let your inner nerd out!

Patriotic and a planet-saver!

Whatta guy!

Illustrated and likely written by Bill Everett, an under-appreciated creative who worked in comics from the beginning of the Golden Age in 1938 to the Bronze Age, when he passed away in 1973.

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Atlas-Era Heroes

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Russkie-Smashers MARVEL BOY II "Phantom Pen"

You've seen this young Russkie-Smasher in action twice before...

...and we're going to close out the year with one more action-packed tale starring him!

Illustrated (and likely written) by Bill Everett, this tale fom Atlas' Astounding #6 (1951) was the next-to-last appearance (and final Russkie-smashing story) starring the character in any form until his revival as The Crusader in the pages of Marvel's Fantastic Four #164 (1975).
Note: due to constant reboots of Marvel Universe continuity since the late 1990s, this is now in dispute.

Please Support Hero Histories

Visit Amazon and Buy...

Marvel MasterWorks

Atlas-Era Heroes

Volume 1

which includes all of Marvel Boy's 1950-51 appearances as well as the 1953 re-intro of Captain America, Human Torch and Sub-Mariner