This is the one with the great cover.
Santa is robbing peoples’ houses. No, not the real Santa. This one is pretty dang evil.
Anyway, Spidey finds out and goes after him.
And then the real Santa shows up at the end and whisks away bad, fake Santa…
This is the first appearance of Santa in Marvel 616 continuity.
There’s also some Black Cat developments, running around rooftops, which seems like set-up for something to come. And she takes a bath.
Also, Peter Parker has good taste in soda.
Yes, that’s a meta moment–a reference to his red costume instead of the black one.
This issue also marks the first appearance of a troubled kid, who just gets a few panels. His story will continue to bubble under until it becomes the main story in issue #118. He’s Alex Woolcot, aka Ashcan.
If you’ve never heard of him, don’t worry. He only appears in these issues of PPTSS and then once more when Peter David takes over Hulk’s solo book.