Things go from bad to worse as Spider-Man finds himself imprisoned, with Hulk and Woodgod, within the mysterious Tranquility Base. Bill Mantlo’s script is just so-so, but the big draw here is a young John Byrne’s quickly improving art.
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Spider-Man battles the Prodigy, an alien villain who is promoting misinformation to trap America’s teens with unplanned pregnancies. While just a so-so as a Spider-Man story, the Planned Parenthood giveaway by Ann Robinson, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito is a telling historical relic.
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Spider-Man takes the month off as the Human Torch and Hulk team to stop a revenge plot that involves bringing back Blastaar. A fairly weak story by Len Wein gets a major assist from the strong pencils of Gil Kane.
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Four survivors on the run from the Badoon invasion join together to form the Guardians of the Galaxy. While this reprint from Marvel Super-Heroes #18 disrupts Astonishing Tales’ Deathlok serial, this tight intro tale from Arnold Drake and Gene Colon is a fine consolation.
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Diana Prince teams with Jonny Double in an effort to protect the “King of Beautiful Women.” Dated-but-eminently-enjoyable fun from Denny O’Neil, Don Heck and Dick Giordano.
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Spider-Man races to help as a football-player-turned-scientist tries to save his daughter from kidnappers. Will either man be in time? Len Wein delivers a strong done-in-one story here, with solid support from Ross Andru and Mike Esposito.
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Miracle Man converts an American Indian reservation into Bethlehem in a plot to one-up God in the Immaculate Conception department. This typically madcap Steve Gerber outing fails to suspend readers’ disbelief, while the journeyman art from Sal Buscema and Mike Esposito does little to raise this Christmas tale out of the eggnog.
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Spider-Man feels a little Christmas cheer, despite being stuck in battle with the Lizard and Stegron, the Dinosaur Man. Standard mid-Bronze-Age Spidey fair from the team of Len Wein, Ross Andru and Mike Esposito.
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A Christmas-Eve appearance by the Watcher sends Spidey scrambling to save a young woman from the mob. A ho-hum-but-not-bah-humbug outing from J.M. DeMatteis, Kerry Gammill and Mike Esposito.
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In Dallas on a photo assignment, Peter Parker soon finds himself swinging into action to thwart the Kingpin’s Christmas plot. This promotional comic from the Dallas Times Herald – by the team is Jim Salicrup, Alan Kupperberg and Mike Esposito – is not much of a holiday treat.
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