Spider-Man Holiday Special (1995)
“A Matter Of Faith”
Writer: Glenn Greenberg
Penciller: Kevin Maguire
Inker: Jimmy Palmiotti
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Colorists: Joe Andreani & Adam Wallenta
“The Cat Who Stole Christmas”
Writer: Karl Bollers
Penciller: Chris Gardner
Inker: Steve Montano
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Colorist: Joe Andreani
“The Venom Claus”
Writer: Eric Fein
Artist: Javier Saltares
Letterer: Dave Sharpe
Colorist: Joe Andreani
“Companions”
Writer: Adam Santangelo
Artist: Mike Manley
Letterer: Caroline Wells
Colorist: Karl Bollers
“Merry Christmas Mr. Storm”
Writer: Sholly Fisch
Pencillers: Robert Brown & Josh Hood
Inker: Al Williamson
Letterer: Caroline Wells
Colorists: James Hoston & Joseph Caponsacco
Rating: 
Hope everybody had a great Thanksgiving, and now that the Holiday Season is in full swing this is the perfect time to look back at some holiday-themed comics from now until Christmas, so kicking things off will be me looking at the Spider-Man Holiday Special from 1995. So to give anyone a recap of what was happening in the Spider-Titles back in ’95: Ben Reilly (The actual Clone himself) was revealed to be the real Peter Parker but stuck to the Ben Reilly identity and took over as Spider-Man after his time as The Scarlet Spider came to an end while Peter Parker himself (Still believing that he was the Clone) took his wife, Mary Jane Watson-Parker who was pregnant at the time, and moved to Portland, Oregon……… Whew!!
This special, I feel, was another attempt at Marvel to get people to like Ben as Spidey while making it up to the readers who left the titles in droves after the whole Clone Saga mess (It still wasn’t over during this time, sad as that sounds!); This special has a total of five stories that really embrace of the spirit of Christmas and at the same time, putting a light on Spider-Man’s world.
The first one, spearheaded by Glenn Greenberg and Kevin Maguire (Of “Justice League International” fame) sees Ben Reilly as Spider-Man, stopping some muggers but then he saves a young woman who was trying to commit suicide, it turns out this woman was a rough time during the holiday season and Ben can relate seeing as how he spent most of his years on the road, but The Scorcher (From “Untold Tales of Spider-Man # 1”) appears and Spidey deals with him while letting the woman he helped earlier know that no matter what life throws her way, there’s always hope to look forward to. “The Cat Who Stole Christmas” is a Black Cat story where the Robin Hood element comes into play as she steals from a toy company and sneaks into an orphanage. The fun picks right back up with a Venom tale by Eric Fein and Javier Saltares in which Eddie Brock goes undercover as Santa Claus to stop a string of burglaries on the streets of NYC; The special closes out with two more stories, “Companions” sees The Marvel Universe famed mailman Willie Lumpkin visiting May Parker’s grave (She was considered dead at the time). It was a very touching story since May and Willie were an item before the whole Clone Saga affair started up again as he was writing out of the Spider-Titles which was a shame. Finally, Sholly Fisch along with Robert Brown and Josh Hood gives the readers a Christmas story featuring Spidey and The Human Torch meeting up at their usual spot- at the top of The Statue of Liberty where we get to see an authentic glimpse of their friendship as it sees Peter Parker as Spidey meeting with the Torch then a year later where Ben Reilly meets up with Johnny which I feel honors both Peter and Ben in the role of Spider-Man.
Is this special worth anyone’s time? The answer is a resounding Yes! The Gleen Greenberg/ Kevin Maguire story as well as the Venom story are just brilliant as they both show a minimal amount of action that I feel brings the excitement level up a notch while The Black Cat story could have been placed in one of the Marvel Holiday Specials because it was so short and I felt it wasn’t worth being in this special; The Willie Lumpkin story brought the sentimental aspect with such heart and grace but The Spider-Men/Human Torch story was good even though Sholly Fisch’s script was considered damaged goods due to the inconsistent artwork of both Robert Brown and Josh Hood (To his credit, Hood did get better in the later years) but even Al Williamson’s inks couldn’t save their breakdowns- Real Shame! Even with the misstep (Black Cat story), this holiday special does a fine job of bringing in the Christmas charm and is a must-have for any Spider-Man fan, even if you have such not-so-pleasant memories of the numerous Spider-Man stories from 1995.
Well, that’s it for me this week. Thanks for sticking around and I will see you all next time.
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