Marvel Holiday Special was an anthology comic book series published by Marvel Comics featuring several of its characters in Christmas or holiday-themed stories.

The first Marvel Holiday Special from 1991 is notable for establishing that Santa Claus exists as a mutant character within the Marvel Universe.[1][2] Santa has since made several appearances in other Marvel titles.[3] Other notable stories include a story by Kurt Busiek in the 1994 issue which filled out the details of a solicited but never-published story from the 1960s X-Men series in which Iceman and Beast fought Metoxo and the Lava Men, closing a continuity gap that fans had wondered about for 25 years.[4]

The Marvel Holiday Special has featured several stories that focus on Jewish characters like The Thing and Shadowcat celebrating Hannukah, as well as other Jewish characters whose religion isn't often clearly depicted in stories.[5][6] Notably, Thing creator Stan Lee, which is Jewish, wrote his first story in which Thing discussed his Jewish faith in the 2009 Marvel Holiday Special, 48 years after Thing made his comics debut.[7][5]

Publication History

Marvel Holiday Special was first published in 1991, with additional specials followed annually until 1994. No special was published in 1995, but one was published in 1996. The title was revived in 2004 and published annually until 2007.[8] From 2008 to 2010, Marvel published a Digital Holiday Special only on its Marvel Unlimited service. In 2011, Marvel once again published a Marvel Holiday Special. In 2021 and 2022, Marvel published a series of holiday-themed "Infinity Comics" on its Marvel Unlimited Service.[9][10]

Stories published in Marvel holiday specials

Year A story B story C story D story E story F story G story H story
1991 X-Men

Scott Lobdell and Dave Cockrum

Fantastic Four

Walter Simonson and Art Adams


Collected in Marvel Universe by Arthur Adams Omnibus and Fantastic Four Epic Collection Vol 21

Punisher

Steven Grant and Klaus Janson

Thor

Tom DeFalco and Sal Buscema

Captain America

Len Kaminski and Ron Lim

Ghost Rider

Howard Mackie and John Hebert

Captain Ultra

Scott Lobdell and Dennis Jensen

Spider-Man

Danny Fingeroth and Ron Garney

1992 Wolverine

Larry Hama and Michael Golden


Collected in Wolverine Omnibus Vol 4

New Warriors

Fabian Nicieza and Darick Robertson


Collected in New Warriors Omnibus Vol 2

Spider-Man

Stan Lee, Richard Howell, and Steve Lightle

Punisher

Carl Potts and Rick Levins

Doc Samson/Hulk

Peter David, John Hebert

Collected in Incredible Hulk by Peter David Omnibus Vol 2 and Hulk Epic Collection Vol 19

Thanos

Jim Starlin and Ron Lim

Collected in Silver Surfer: Rebirth of Thanos (1993 printing)

Iron Man

Sholly Fish and Tom Morgan

Collected in Iron Man Epic Collection Vol 17

Daredevil

Ann Nocenti and Tom Grindberg

Collected in Daredevil Epic Collection Vol 16

1993 Spider-Man

Steven Grant and Pat Broderick

Nick Fury

Howard Chaykin

Marvel Bullpen

Barry Dutter and Marie Severin

Captain Ultra

Scott Lobdell and Dennis Jensen

Ghost Rider

Ann Nocenti and Tom Grindberg

Hulk

Peter David and Ron Lim


Collected in Incredible Hulk by Peter David Omnibus Vol 3 and Hulk Epic Collection Vol 20

1994 X-Men

Kurt Busiek and James Fry

Captain America

John Ostrander and Tom Mandrake

Thing/FF

Gregory Wright and Mike Manley

Silver Surfer

JM DeMattias, Mindy Newell, and Rick Leonardi

Spider-Man

Karl Bollers and Gray Morrow

X-Men

Karl Bollers and Sal Buscema

1996 Spider-Man

Mark Waid and Pat Olliffe

Shadowcat (Excalibur)

Evan Skolnick and Josh Hood


Collected in Excalibur Omnibus Vol 3

Silver Surfer

George Perez, Stan Lee, and Rick Leonardi

Rawhide Kid

Karl Kesel and Patrick Zircher

Wolverine/X-Men

Tom DeFalco and Josh Hood

2004 JJ Jameson/ Spider-Man

Tom DeFalco and Takeshi Miyazawa

X-Men

Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Roger Cruz

Franklin Richards/FF

Robert Aguirre-Sacasa and Duncan Rouleau

2005 Fantastic Four

Shaenon Garrity and Roger Langridge

New Avengers

Jeff Parker and Reilly Brown

Fantastic Four

Mike Carey and Mike Perkins

2006 AIM/Hulk

Andrew Farrago, Shaenon Gerrity and Ron Lim

Fin Fang Foom/Dr. Strange

Scott Gray and Roger Langridge

Fantastic Four

Mike Carey and Mike Perkins

Santa Claus

Jeff Christiansen

2007 Spider-Man/ Wolverine

Andrew Farrago, Shaenon Gerrity and Lou Kang

Loners

CB Cebulski and Alin Urusov

Fantastic Four

Mike Carey and Nelson

Reprint of Marvel Age #25 (2nd Story)
2008 Digital Holiday Special X-Men

Jim McCann and Todd Nauck

Skrull

Ryan Penagos and Juan Doe

Werewolf by Night

Ben Morse and Stephanie Buscema

Illuminati

Brian Reed and Val Semekis

2009 Digital Holiday Special Black Cat, Hellcat, Firestar, Photon

Abby Densen and Sara Pichelli

Deadpool

Fred Van Lente and Sanford Greene


Collected in Deadpool Classic Vol 14, Deadpool: The Dead-Head Redemption, and Marvel Holiday Magazine #1

Fantastic Four

Stan Lee and Nick Dragotta


Collected in Marvel Holiday Magazine #1

2010 Digital Holiday Special #1 Dr. Doom/ Fantastic Four

Victor Carungi and Chris Uminga

2010 Digital Holiday Special #2 Thor

Joelle Sellner and Mike Henderson

2010 Digital Holiday Special #3 Hulk

Randall P. Girdner and Manolo Carot

2011 Spider-Man

Miljenko Horvatic and Andrew Trabbold

Wolverine and the X-Men

Kurtis J. Wiebe and Patrick Scherberger

Nick Fury

Aaron Shaps and Sebastian Piriz

Thing, Shadowcat (X-Men)

Jamie Rich and Paco Diaz

References

  1. MacReady, Melody (2021-12-16). "10 Marvel Holiday Special Comics To Read This Season". ScreenRant. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  2. Terror, Jude (2018-12-25). "Celebrating the Time the X-Men Met Santa Claus in the 1991 Marvel Holiday Special". Bleeding Cool. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  3. "Marvel Chronology Project - S". www.chronologyproject.com. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  4. Cronin, Brian (2021-12-11). "Why the X-Men's Weirdest Villain Debut Took Nearly 30 Years to Complete". CBR. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  5. 1 2 Writer, Graeme McMillan Staff (2022-12-18). "It's Hanukkah time with the Thing in Day 18 of the Popverse Comics Advent Calendar". Popverse. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  6. Schultz, Ben (2022-12-22). "How Ben Grimm Became One of Marvel's Most Important Jewish Heroes". CBR. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  7. Grant, Brigit. "When it came to Judaism, Stan Lee used super-heroes as torch-bearers". www.jewishnews.co.uk. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  8. "Marvel Holiday Special". www.comics.org. Retrieved 2023-09-23.
  9. Newsdesk, Laughing Place Disney (2022-12-21). "Celebrate the Season with Holiday Infinity Comics on Marvel Unlimited". LaughingPlace.com. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
  10. "Get Into the Holiday Spirit With Marvel Unlimited's 'Mighty marvel Holiday Special' Comics". 2021-12-30. Retrieved 2023-09-26.
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