Marvel; April 1981
Cover by Frank Springer

Title: “A Christmas Peril!”
Synopsis: Puppet Master crashes the Fantastic Four’s Christmas party in a plot to return to Europe and harvest more radioactive clay.

Writer: Mark Gruenwald
Penciler: Frank Springer
Inker: Chic Stone

Review: This done in one Two-in-One from writer Mark Gruenwald is a fairly typical holiday outing: a little Christmas cheer, an inconsequential team-up and the requisite saving of the day in time for merriment. In an era of increasing sophistication, though, this story lacks gravitas and feels like a relic from an earlier, simpler time. The journeyman art from Frank Springer and Chic Stone is average at best, and does little to lift this ho-hum affair above humbug. At least this one spares us an overly sappy ending, with the Thing and Puppet Master agreeing that the seasonal good will shall quickly pass.

Grade: C

Second opinion: “The script is better than the art… The story’s uncomplex, and quite fun – in a seasonal way, of course.” – Martin Lock, BEM #32 (February 1981)

Cool factor: Hmm… sticking with ho-hum and humbug here.

Notable: Guest appearance by Modred the Mystic. Christmas party cameos by several other Marvel characters, including the Fantastic Four, Aquarian, Quasar, and more.
Collector’s note: According to the Grand Comics Database, there is a 20p British variant of this issue.

Character quotable: “W-wooden soldiers the size of trees! What could they want?” – The Puppet Master

Copyright ©2025 Off the Wahl Productions, all rights reserved. Each week, T. Andrew Wahl offers up a Bronze Age Minute for Scoop. For more reviews like this one, check out Wahl’s website, offthewahl.com.