An early Resolution

I wasn’t gonna do anything for New Year’s Eve. After 24 days of trying to make ornaments sound interesting- or, as interesting as they have been to me – there was some burnout.

However, watching the countdown myself, there was a sense that there should be more. So, I tossed in the Day After and Lucky 13. Maybe it was an attempt to slow down 2024’s demise. Not that it was an exceptional year, nor was it a bad year. It’s just the swan song before another begins and we start that journey through the unknown after being able to look back at what has already transpired.

Then, I read the Marvel Holiday Tales to Astonish. It was a Christmas special, so a must have. I just wasn’t prepared to enjoy it as much as I did. Three holiday stories that entertained more than anticipated.

Marvel Holiday Tales to Astonish and variants

First, the variant cover was a nod to the Marvel Treasury Edition Giant Super Hero Grab-Bag from 1974. Then story one, ‘Twas the Fight Before Christmas, featuring the Fantastic Four, made for a good opening salvo.

Reed, Sue, Ben and Johnny host an annual Christmas party for all heroes who have been included in the ranks of the FF over the years (see below for the list). A distress call takes the core members away to do battle with a first gen Doombot.

Festival of Fights, starring the Uncanny X-Men, was even better. Told through the eyes of new member Kitty Pryde, she counts down Hanukkah with their adventures including the classic Christmas tale from X-Men 143 and her solo battle in Demon.

Finally, Spectacular Spider-Man and Resolutions. This New Year’s Eve tale gave me the excuse and reason to chime in one last time this year.

Yes, this site has been silent for far too long. For that, I apologize. Next year will be different. Guess you could say this is my New Year’s Resolution; to make the coming year worth returning for. I’ve already gone down another rabbit hole for February. Please plan to be there.

Trying to keep the site fresh isn’t always easy. Hopefully 2025 will be a return to something good. We’ve already pulled down some new ideas while retaining the source material. We’ll try to make it worth your while. Whatever your decision, thanks for being with us this far.

As promised, here’s the list of Fantastic Four members from throughout the years and the issue they joined. Recruits include Crystal (FF 81), Medusa (FF 132), Luke Cage (FF 168), Nova (FF 238), She-Hulk (FF 265), Ms. Marvel/She-Thing (FF 306), Ant Man (FF 348), Storm (FF 543), Black Panther (FF 543) and Spider-Man (FF 657).

This does not include the time the FF were replaced by Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, Hulk and Wolverine for issues 347-49.