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.
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.
READAn increase in demonic energies in the Washington, D.C., area puts four strangers on the path to becoming Night Force. The legendary creative team behind Tomb of Dracula reunite, but the results – at least in this debut issue – fall short.
READFour-color horror in the EC tradition. Writer/artist Bruce Jones’ scripts aren’t quite up to the task but this issue features nice art from Richard Corben, Tim Conrad and others.
READThe debut of the title that serves as the nominal source material for the 2018 Netflix series, featuring tame EC-esque short stories with uncredited art strongly influenced by the Archie house style.
READTarzan’s continued clashes with the villainous Nikolas Rokoff lead the jungle king back to the wilds of Africa. An abundance of coincidences undermine this outing, making it one of the weaker issues of Joe Kubert’s Tarzan run.
READA hideous-looking bog beast escapes from the La Brea Tar Pits to explore and study the human condition. This lead feature by John Albano and Jack Sparling has a spark of potential – but just a spark. Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the rest of this poor-man’s EC.
READJessica Drew tries to settle into life in London, but it’s hard to get a job when you’re half spider! Marv Wolfman’s script is saddled with a back story both chaotic and confusing. But the art by Carmine Infantino and Tony DeZuniga is decent and the character is appealing.
READWhen henchmen gun down lawyer Jennifer Walters, her cousin Bruce Banner saves her life with a “surprisingly” transformative blood transfusion. Stan Lee returned to writing for his first new comic book in several years, but this collaboration with John Buscema lacks spark.
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