- "No time to wallow in self pity! Gotta do that super hero thang!"
- ―Ben Reilly
| "A Matter of Faith" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Spider-Man | |
| Title: | "A Matter of Faith" |
| Number: | 1 |
| Cover price: | $2.95 |
| Cover date: | December, 1995 |
| Publisher: | Marvel Comics |
| Credits | |
| Chief: | Bob Budiansky |
| Writers: | Glenn Greenberg |
| Pencilers: | Kevin Maguire |
| Inkers: | Jimmy Palmiotti |
| Cover artists: | Adam Kubert |
| Cover inker: | Mark Farmer |
| Colorists: | Joe Andreani; Adam Wallenta |
| Letterers: | Dave Sharpe |
| Editors: | Sarra Mossoff |
| Navigation | |
| Previous: | — |
| Next: | — |
"A Matter of Faith" is the title to the first story featured in the Spider-Man Holiday Special one-shot published by Marvel Comics. It was written by Glenn Greenberg with artwork by Kevin Maguire and inks by Jimmy Palmiotti. It was colored by Joe Andreani and Adam Wallenta and lettered by Dave Sharpe. The second story is a Black Cat tale (or tail) called "The Cat Who Stole Christmas". It was written by Karl Bollers with artwork by Chris Gardner and inks by Steve Montano. It was colored by Joe Andreani and lettered by Dave Sharpe. The third feature is titled "The Venom Claus" starring everyone's favorite parasitic anti-hero, Venom. It was written by Eric Fein with art & inks by Javier Saltares, coloring by Joe Andreani, and lettering by Dave Sharpe. Next is a sweet Christmas tale called "Companions" by writer Adam Santangelo and artist Mike Manley. It was colored by Caroline Wells and lettered by Karl Bollers. The story features the character of friendly postal worker, Willie Lumpkin. The final feature, starring Ben Reilly and Johnny Storm is called "Merry Christmas, Mister Storm", and was written by Sholly Finch. Artwork was by Robert Brown & Joshua Hood and it was inked by Al Williamson. Coloring was by James Hoston & Joseph Caponsacco and lettering is by Caroline Wells. All five stories were edited by Sarra Mossoff. This issue shipped with a December, 1995 cover date and carries a cover price of $2.95 per copy (US).
"A Matter of Faith"[]
Ben Reilly takes not of a woman named Jenny Sheridan, who is preparing to leap to her death from a bridge. Ben saves her, but she exclaims that she did not wish to be saved. Ben tries to convince her that her life has value.
A villain known as Scorcher attacks and his reckless use of his flamethrower, endangers innocent New Yorkers at Rockefeller Center. While Ben Reilly fights the Scorcher, Jenny saves the life of a pedestrian. This act of selflessness gives Jenny a new sense of self-value and she thanks Ben Reilly for helping her.
Featured characters
Supporting characters
- Jenny Sheridan
Villains
Minor characters
Organizations
Races & Animals
Locations
Items
Vehicles
Powers
Miscellaneous
"The Cat Who Stole Christmas"[]
| "The Cat Who Stole Christmas" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Title: | "The Cat Who Stole Christmas" |
| Credits | |
| Writers: | Karl Bollers |
| Pencilers: | Chris Gardner |
| Inkers: | Steve Montano |
| Colorists: | Joe Andreani |
| Letterers: | Dave Sharpe |
| Editors: | Sarra Mossoff |
Felicia Hardy, the Black Cat, steals a sack full of toys from a warehouse from the Mosoff, Inc. company. As it turns out, a group of thugs are preparing to rob the building, just as she is making her exit. She signals the police who surround the building to arrest the criminals as Black Cat takes off with her loot. She drops off all of the toys at the Noel County Orphanage.
Featured characters
Supporting characters
Villains
Minor characters
Organizations
Races & Animals
Locations
-
- Mossof Inc. Warehouse
- Noel County Orphanage
Items
Vehicles
Powers
Miscellaneous
"The Venom Claus"[]
| "The Venom Claus" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Title: | "The Venom Claus" |
| Credits | |
| Writers: | Eric Fein |
| Pencilers: | Javier Saltares |
| Inkers: | Javier Saltares [1] |
| Colorists: | Joe Andreani |
| Letterers: | Dave Sharpe |
| Editors: | Sarra Mossoff |
Venom comes upon a Sidewalk Santa in an alley, who had been roughed up and mugged by a group of criminals. Angered by this, Eddie Brock decides to disguise himself as Santa to lure the muggers into another mugging attempt. When he sees the criminals attempting to mug an elderly woman, Eddie shifts into Venom form and attacks them. He is looking forward to twisting their heads off and using them as Christmas ornaments, but the would-be victim, pleads with Venom to let him live. Venom is taken by her ability to forgive, and lets the man off with a strongly-worded warning.
Featured characters
Supporting characters
- Elderly woman
- Sidewalk Santa
Villains
- Richie
- Other unnamed muggers
Minor characters
- Unnamed protester
Organizations
Races & Animals
Locations
Items
Vehicles
Powers
Miscellaneous
"Companions"[]
| "Companions" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Title: | "Companions" |
| Credits | |
| Writers: | Adam Santangelo |
| Pencilers: | Mike Manley |
| Inkers: | Mike Manley [1] |
| Colorists: | Caroline Wells |
| Letterers: | Karl Bollers |
| Editors: | Sarra Mossoff |
Willie Lumpkin visits Forest Hills Cemetery. He is at the graves of Ben Parker and May Parker. Willie laments the recent loss of May, and reflects back upon times they had shared together over the holidays. In addition to sadness, Willie feels an overwhelming sense of loneliness and says "What am I supposed to do, now?" He places some roses at her headstone, but a gust of wind blows them across the cemetery. Chasing after them, Willie runs into an elderly woman named Doreen Greenwald, who is also lonely and visiting the grave of a passed loved one. The two strike up a conversation and decide to spend time together over the season.
Featured characters
Supporting characters
- Doreen Greenwald
Villains
Minor characters
- May Parker (In flashback only)
Organizations
Races & Animals
Locations
-
- Queens
- Forest Hills
- Forest Hills Cemetery
- Parker residence (In flashback only)
Items
Vehicles
Powers
Miscellaneous
"Merry Christmas, Mister Storm"[]
| "Merry Christmas, Mister Storm" | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Title: | "Merry Christmas, Mister Storm" |
| Credits | |
| Writers: | Sholly Finch |
| Pencilers: | Robert Brown; Joshua Hood |
| Inkers: | Al Williamson |
| Colorists: | James Hoston; Joseph Caponsacco |
| Letterers: | Caroline Wells |
| Editors: | Sarra Mossoff |
Spider-Man and the Human Torch have their annual Christmas gift exchange atop the Statue of Liberty. This is Ben Reilly however, though the Human Torch is unaware of this. Reilly has all of Peter Parker's memories and the two reflect upon past adventures, fighting foes such as the Fox, the Lizard, and the Sandman. Ben gives Johnny Storm a Statue of Liberty souvenir, which has his personal telephone number on it.
Featured characters
Supporting characters
Villains
- Fox, Reynard Slinker (In flashback only)
- Lizard, Curt Connors (In flashback only)
- Sandman, William Baker (In flashback only)
Minor characters
- Spider-Man, Peter Parker
- Thing, Ben Grimm (In flashback only)
Organizations
Races & Animals
Locations
Items
Vehicles
Powers
- Bio-weaponry (In flashback only)
- Flight
- Pyrokinesis
- Superhuman agility (In flashback only)
- Thermal propulsion
Miscellaneous
- Christmas
- Lizard monsters (In flashback only)
Notes & Trivia[]
- The character of Spider-Man was created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15 in August, 1962 in a story titled "Spider-Man!" The character has since gone on to become one of the most well-known and enduring super-heroes of all time, having appeared in numerous comic book titles, as well as feature films, animated projects and video games.
- Spider-Man Holiday Special redirects to this page.
- This issue is approved by the Comics Code Authority.
- This issue is UPC barcode number 75960604317 00111.
- This issue shipped to retailers on December 5th, 1995.
- This issue is billed as "A Spider-Man Special Event".
- Joseph Caponsacco is the designer of this issue.
- Steve Alexandrov is the manufacturing coordinator for this issue.
- Featured cover art characters: Spider-Man (Peter Parker), Spider-Man (Ben Reilly), Human Torch (Johnny Storm), and Venom (Eddie Brock).
- Other than a flashback scene from "Merry Christmas, Mister Storm", Peter Parker does not actually appear in this issue.
- "The Cat Who Stole Christmas" is listed as the last feature in this issue per the table of contents, but it is actually the second story presented in this issue.
- At the time of publication, Ben Reilly believed that he was the original Peter Parker, and the man who had been adventuring as Spider-Man for the past five years is a clone. [2] This is later proven to be untrue in future stories.
- Ben Reilly makes reference to having a hang-up about girls on bridges. This is due to having memories of when Peter Parker fought against the Green Goblin atop the Brooklyn Bridge, which resulted in the death of Gwen Stacy. [3]
- Ben Reilly states that the Scorcher is one of the first villains that he had ever fought. In reality, it was Peter Parker who fought the Scorcher, not Ben Reilly. Just another example of Ben having Peter's memories. [4]
- In "The Venom Claus", a criminal has a gun pointed at Venom and he replies, "Go ahead, make my day...!" This is a famous line of dialogue spoken by Clint Eastwood in the 1983 film Sudden Impact.
- In "Companions", Willie Lumpkin and May Parker are watching The Grinch That Sole Christmas.
- Johnny Storm makes reference to when Spider-Man and he first tackled the Sandman together, which also took place over the Christmas holiday. [5]
Recommended Reading[]
Ongoing Titles
Limited Series
One-Shots & Graphic Novels
See also[]
Spider-Man Media
The World of Spider-Man
External Links[]
- Spider-Man Holiday Special at MDP
- Spider-Man Holiday Special at Comics.org
- Spider-Man Holiday Special at Comic Book Realm
- Spider-Man Holiday Special at Read Comics Online
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 This creator is credited as "artist", which means that they rendered both the pencil artwork and the inks for this issue.
- ↑ Spider-Man: The Lost Years 0; Ben Reilly believes he is the real Peter Parker, and that the other Peter Parker is a clone.
- ↑ Amazing Spider-Man 121; Although Ben Reilly was not present for this event, he has all of the memories of Peter Parker, who was present during this affair.
- ↑ Untold Tales of Spider-Man 7; Peter Parker fights the Scorcher, not Ben Reilly.
- ↑ Marvel Team-Up 1