Spiderman : Holiday Spectacular
Author : Rainbow Rowell
Artists : Luciano Vecchio, Paco Medina, Nathan Stockman & Bob Quinn
Colour Artist : Matt Milla
Christmas as Spiderman, who wouldn’t want to spend their holidays as everyone’s favourite web-head? Apparently, Peter Parker himself! As this Christmas he’s left to his own devices. Aunt May has booked herself a cruise that she’s always dreamed of, leaving our wall crawler with no holiday plans at all. Surely Spidey’s many mates across the Marvel universe won’t let him be home alone.
A Festive (If Not Short) Bit of Wholesomeness
I felt warm, cosy and encouragingly festive as I read through Rainbow Rowell’s web-slinging seasonal short story. We know how funny and charming Spidey is with his quips, and we love him for it; what Rainbow was able to do is bring out Peter Parker’s personality whilst staying in character as the Amazing Spiderman.
Instantly I felt the anxiety and insecurities of the man behind the mask, Peter, as he had to put a brave face on (a red web themed face!), after learning that he won’t be spending Christmas with his loved family member, Aunt May.
Rainbow made me feel the disappointment of Peter with his response after learning of Aunt May’s Christmas plans, “Sure, May. You have a great time… don’t worry about me. I’m buried in Christmas invitations.” I felt this was very cleverly written because as I was reading it, I was able to think of numerous times where I wanted to say what I really felt, but was too proud, or stubborn, or actually, too scared to share my true thoughts and feelings.
Ain’t No Party Like An Avenger’s Party
Thereafter starts a wholesome adventure across Space, Hell’s Kitchen and New Orleans where our favourite neighbourhood hero spends Christmas anything but on his own! This is one of my favourite messages of this story: never ever feel like you’re on your own, because someone is always thinking about you. All you have to do is open up, pick up the phone and let them in.
And in today’s world, where we can feel like we live in silos through our many screens, this is one of the most powerful messages I took from Rainbow’s one shot.
Peter Parker’s peculiar path to a preposterous holiday season kicks off with a trip to the Impossible City, aka the new Avengers HQ! Here our Spider-Bro mingles with Earth’s Mightiest Heroes; from Captain Marvel, Iron Man, Captain America to Thor, the common theme is that they’re all happy to see Peter.
This sets the tone for the rest of the fun-loving story; the underlying message that I think Rainbow is trying to get across is that you should not feel like you’re alone. Even if you won’t be getting called by Captain Marvel at midnight to be flown into space, but hey, I’m pretty sure you can’t crawl up walls.
What’s Really Important?
After partying with the Avengers like it’s 1999, Spiderman finds himself in great company on Christmas Eve; this time it’s with Hell’s Kitchen’s own Daredevil. This is a nice phase of the story as Daredevil has decided to deliver presents to the kids at a refugee centre, and he wants to do it in secret to keep the mystery of Christmas and Santa alive for the kids.
Rainbow does a good job of showing a much less intense side of Matt Murdoch. Whilst he’s not battling Kingpin, Bullseye or The Hand, it shows that Daredevil wants to give back to the people. And Rainbow’s choice of team up between Spiderman and The Man Without Fear is a clever one, as both made their names as street level heroes, and now they’re giving back to the streets in a pleasant and magical way.
My favourite quote from this story that encapsulates the need for being together this holiday season was whilst Spidey and Daredevil were playing Santa (trust me, you have to read this!). Spidey thinks everyone is showing him pity, and Daredevil replies, “Spider-Man, maybe I’m the one who didn’t want to be alone on Christmas Eve… and you’re the one being merciful.”
This is a wonderful piece of dialogue written by Rainbow as it expresses that even The Man Without Fear was afraid of being alone on Christmas Eve. Be mindful, it’s not always you that needs company, but others around you, and that time you spend with them will mean the world to them.
And… who doesn’t love a unique Parker family tradition like Jell-O Salad?
Home Is Where The Art Is
To wrap this pleasant present of a story in a colourful Marvel bow, all 4 artists did a tremendous job at making each page standout with its vibrancy. A great reminder of what comics can be; fun, colourful and inviting.
All 4 artists and colourist Matt Milla did an immense job at making this whole story ooze with festive spirit. The bold lines of the sketches made this Christmas adventure feel meaningful, and the bright colours, especially deep reds, greens and golds (all Christmas colours folks!) really provided a great seal to a well woven winter wonderland story.
I have to reaffirm the great work from colourist Matt Milla, as he worked with 4 different artists across the book, and his eye-catching colouring kept all the pages and panels very consistent; making every artist’s interpretation feel a part of one short story.
Conclusion & Verdict
In my opinion Rainbow picked the perfect character to star in her innocent seasonal holiday story; he’s everyone’s favourite neighbourhood hero for a reason, he’s Marvel’s John Cena; Spidey’s squeaky clean and pure-hearted baby face. I also find her take on the holiday season very relatable; she focuses on an individual’s emotions, as well as the importance of traditions, and how they bring people together.
I got exactly what I expected from this short story; a clean, linear and easily digestible festive treat. It’s a nicely paced, fun story that will get you in the mood to start putting your tree up (is it too early?).
Rainbow Rowell has done a great job of writing to the young adult audience, and I suggest that this is a brilliant introductory story for someone of that age. Being introduced to the Marvel universe, any member of the younger aged audience can enjoy Spiderman as he spends time with the Fantastic Four, Avengers, Daredevil and X-Men throughout his holiday period. A Christmas bingo card for Marvel’s greatest teams!
Although this is a one shot, where this web slinging Christmas tale falls short is the lack of characters involved from the ‘Spider family’. With smash hits in gaming from Insomniac’s Spiderman games, to movie blockbusters from Sony Pictures with the Across the Spider-verse films; people will be asking, where is Miles Morales when Peter Parker is all alone this Christmas? Where is Mary Jane or Gwen Stacey to keep Spidey company? With the fringe comic book fans aware of these major characters from the Spiderman story, their absence is glaring and unexplained.
As a short story this does a good job of tying one of the world’s most famous heroes, Spiderman, with the emotions we all feel during the Christmas holidays. Feeling alone, or crammed at the table, emotions running hot by spending too much time with one another. It is a reminder that this holiday season, you should enjoy making memories and traditions, and you can only do that with somebody else.