Spider-Man and the Human Torch team on Christmas Eve in an effort to thwart the Sandman’s not-so-nefarious plan. Roy Thomas, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito offer a fair-to-middlin’ yuletide yarn to launch one of the Bronze Age’s signature team-up books.
READWhen Geo-Force seeks murderous revenge for an imperiled friend, Batman calls in Superman to save the day. A solid Christmas done-in-one from the always reliable Outsiders team of Mike W. Barr and Jim Aparo.
READHome alone in the X-Men mansion on Christmas Eve, Kitty Pryde earns her “X” squaring off against a N’Garai demon. An excellent final issue from the all-time X-team of Chris Claremont, John Byrne and Terry Austin.
READA certain bright star in the sky helps several DC universe characters successfully navigate Christmas Eve adventures. This collection of short tales is pretty solid throughout, with a young Frank Miller’s first-ever outing on Batman being the best present in the pile.
READThe Amazing Spider-Friends thwart a disgruntled ballet-wannabe-turned-supervillain, then take in a production of the Dallas Ballet Nutcracker. This weird promotional comic by Jim Salicrup, Jim Mooney and John Tartaglione is equal parts C-list Spidey story, Classics Illustrated and Fun & Games Magazine.
READBatman teams with a down-on-his-luck Plastic Man to crack a tobacco-smuggling ring and return a Christmas display to Gotham. This holiday outing from Bob Haney, Joe Staton and Jim Aparo is a mixed bag, but ultimately quite enjoyable.
READA disgruntled, WW-II-era veteran goes undercover and finds goodness in Luke Cage – then decides to nuke Manhattan anyway! This oddball, Christmas story from Steve Englehart has a little something for everyone, but the art by George Tuska and Billy Graham isn’t very attractive.
READAttempting to cheer up a classmate who has the seasonal blues, Superboy takes him to a parallel Earth without Christmas. This Christmas tale from Paul Kupperberg and Kurt Schaffenberger leads off a pair of so-so tales.
READPuppet Master crashes the Fantastic Four’s Christmas party in a plot to return to Europe and harvest more radioactive clay. A ho-hum-but-not-completely-humbug holiday outing from the team of Mark Gruenwald, Frank Springer and Chic Stone.
READ’Tis the season for this collection of reprints – and an unpublished Angel & the Ape story – from the DC archives. Creative gift givers include Denny O’Neil, Nick Cardy, Bob Oksner and more.
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