Spider-Man's Christmas adventures

Word Balloons #1194: Some highlights of Peter Parker's holiday tales

Spider-Man has had many a Christmas adventure – not even counting his 2018 “A Very Spidey Christmas” album from the “Into the Spider-Verse” film. 

There are easily enough Spider-Man holiday season tales to fill an advent calendar – but in this week’s column I’m just going to look at a few highlights. 

Marvel Holiday Special (2004)

The lead story in this holiday anthology focuses on J. Jonah Jameson, Peter Parker’s boss at the Daily Bugle and frenemy of Parker and Spidey, depending on the year.

In this story by Tom DeFalco and Takeshi Miyazawa, Jonah gets a view of his past, present and future at Christmas time in a take on Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol.” Spidey is just in a supporting role here, but a key one. The X-Men and the Fantastic Four star in the other stories in the issue. 

Amazing Spider-Man #420

Tom DeFalco and Steve Skroce are the creative team for this issue, cover-dated Feb. 1997 and likely on stands around December 1996. 

Pete needs some money for MJ’s Christmas present, so he accepts an assignment to photograph a “street prophet” of sorts who turns out to be Nate Grey, aka X-Man. The Nathan Summers from an alternate universe initially freaks Pete out with some casual mind-reading, but the two manage to buddy up over the course of their adventure, which ends with Nate being invited over for Christmas Eve dinner. Part of me wonders if the whole point of this story was to write the cover blurb “‘Twas a night before X-Man,” but even so I found it a fun, diverting tale. The overall villainous plot doesn’t matter too much, but it does wrap up in a pretty dark way if you happen to be a younger reader.  

Amazing Spider-Man #314 

This April 1989 cover-dated issue was on stands around Christmas 1988. I remember it being a sought-after back issue in the early 1990s when my brother was completing his Todd McFarlane Spidey run as a young man. This is still the issue that immediately comes to mind for me if I think of “Spider-Man Christmas issues.”

This issue is written by David Michelinie with art by McFarlane. In “Down And Out In Forest Hills,” Peter and Mary Jane are kicked out of their apartment on Christmas Eve. The owner of the building was arrested for stalking Mary Jane, and in a particularly villainous move, he files to have Pete and MJ kicked out on the streets on a holiday. 

Peter casts about for a place to stay, but Spider-Man duty calls, as he must foil a robbery as Spider-Man. Pete’s pals are prepared to help out, but Peter’s pride is making it hard for him to accept a hand in this difficult time. Finally, he’s able to realize the blessings he does have, and he and MJ celebrate Christmas with family.  

Matthew Price, matthew@matthewLprice.com, has written about the comics industry for more than two decades. He is the co-owner of Speeding Bullet Comics in Norman.