Issue(s): Marvel Team-Up #127
Cover Date: Mar 83
Title: "Small miracles"
Credits:
J.M. DeMatteis - Writer
Kerry Gammill - Penciler
Mike Esposito - Inker
Lance Tooks - Assistant Editor
Tom Defalco - Editor

Review/plot:
This is a Christmas issue. The co-star is the Watcher.

Aunt May is having a holiday party for her boarders, but Mr. Chekov is down because he invited his granddaughter but she hasn't shown up. Suddenly Peter gets a large buzz from his spider-sense, and he goes outside to find the Watcher. The Watcher doesn't say anything, but he hands Spider-Man a glowing ball that has a picture of Mr. Chekov's granddaughter's face.

And later he finds the granddaughter, who got involved with some cocaine stolen from the mob, and she has to be taken to the hospital. But her grandfather (and all of Aunt May's boarders) show up to be with her.

Saying that producing a Christmas miracle for the Chekovs is as important as helping the Earth against Galactus or the Over-Mind is a difficult sell.

We can see in the epilogue that he's suffering from some kind of seasonal depression. It happens to a lot of people around the holidays.

I'd argue that he's really off the reservation in terms of the Watcher's code. That Trial back in the 70s obviously meant nothing to him. And that if he really wanted to help humans, this was a really arbitrary way of doing it. But he's obviously going through something right now, so let him have this.

Another weird thing about this issue is that when Spider-Man first meets the Watcher, he doesn't recognize him.

Spider-Man met and talked to the Watcher in Marvel Team-Up #7, so it looks like somebody got mind-wiped! You'd also think that when Spider-Man explained the situation to Captain America, it would have had to include information about the Watcher, but maybe it's best that it didn't. Because if Cap heard that the Watcher was involving Spider-Man in some quest, he might have assumed that there was some Earth shattering threat going on and therefore interrupted all the other Avengers' Christmas dinner.

Quality Rating: C

Historical Significance Rating: 1

Chronological Placement Considerations: The MCP places this between Amazing Spider-Man #239-240. Peter references being a grad student so definitely before #242-243. Captain America also appears next issue, and the events of that issue are referenced in Captain America #281-283, so this has to take place before that. And just a periodic reminder that i don't give any special placement considerations for Christmases.

References: N/A

Crossover: N/A

Continuity Insert? N

My Reprint: N/A