Comics Corner: The Amazing Spider-Man 276

   

Title: The Amazing Spider-Man
Issue Number: 276
Release Date: May 1986

Highlights

• Death of Human Fly
• Spider-Man blasts Hobgoblin in the face with a web ball, and the only way to get loose is to ditch his mask
• Hobgoblin fleas before Spider-Man can get close and see who he is
• Though he battled Hobgoblin to rescue Sha-Shan, Peter still wants to quit being Spider-Man
• Spider-Man returns home, where Mary Jane is waiting for him, but his three neighbors are on the roof, preventing him from entering
• Spider-Man has to panhandle for a quarter to call Mary Jane to bring him clothes
• Mary Jane starts to think that maybe Peter should stop being Spider-Man for the sake of both of them
• Flash goes to see Sha-Shan in the hospital, but only to confront her in anger about her leaving him
• A cop breaks up the scuffle after Sha-Shan gives him a return backhand for the one he dealt her in the last issue
• Flash is grabbed by a reporter looking for a story on the incident
• Flash obliges by telling the world that Hobgoblin a coward who needs a costume, and is too weak to face a real man like him
• It's aired multiple times on the news, and seen by Hobgoblin and The Rose, and many others
• Human Fly has escaped the mental institute, and he's on a quest for revenge against Spider-Man
• Peter tells Mary Jane that he has to stop Hobgoblin, or he'll feel responsible for every crime he commits in the future
• Mary Jane once again leaves, saying to herself that Peter will have to move forward without her
• As he goes in for his surprise attack on Spider-Man, Human Fly is shot in the back, and killed by Scourge of the Underworld
• Hobgoblin hits Spider-Man with a bomb that negates his ability to stick to surfaces
• Hobgoblin lures Spider-Man to the depths of a building where he blasts a gas furnace, causing a massive explosion
• When the smoke clears, Spider-Man finds the unconscious villain, and unmasks him revealing, Flash Thompson
• After Flash is arrested, the police get a warrant, and search his apartment
• Inside, they find crates full of goblin bombs, and other Hobgoblin related gear
• Across town, the true Hobgoblin reflects on  his happiness setting Flash Thompson up for the fall, cloaked in shadows to keep his identity a continued mystery

Low Points

• None

Oddities

• None

Rating (based on a 1 through 5 Stans grading system)

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

Retro Spins: 'Til Tuesday - Everything's Different Now

Jules Shear is a name known around the music industry but not often referred to among fans of his music. The reason being, he spent most of his time behind a pen, hammering out hits such as All Through The Night for Cyndi Lauper, and If She Knew What She Wants for the Bangles. At this point in time, 1988 to be specific, he was also the ex-boyfriend of 'Til Tuesday lead singer, Aimee Mann. Their breakup would shape the tracks written for what would become the bands final album, Everything's Different Now.

While previous albums, Voices Carry, and Welcome Home would peak on the Billboard 200 at nineteen and forty-nine, respectfully, as well as reach gold certification in the USA, their newest release would take a sudden nosedive. Everything's Different Now would underwhelm at number one hundred twenty-four on the charts, and produce only one minor single, (Believed You Were) Lucky, which peaked a ninety-five on the Billboard Hot 100.

Much like their previous release, the lackluster charts didn't reflect critics opinion, who praised the record. The Boston Globe would go as far to say it's, "the most confessional album since Bruce Springsteen's Tunnel of Love." Others would say about it that it was, "a touching meditation on the ebb and flow of love," and a, "little masterpiece of melancholy."

."

When things started out, I thought maybe this one would be okay. The first three tracks, Everything's Different Now, Rip In Heaven, and Why Must I, were relatively okay. Nothing worth jumping up and down about, but decent. This, however, shifted with track four, and frankly never came back around.

The overall tempo of the album is slow, once again tapping into that soft rock sound that dominated the previous album. For me, it's just not what I want in my music.

If you told me I had to choose one more track from the album that stood out, I might select Crash And Burn. Though appropriately titled for the band's career, that's definitely not what the song is about.

Overall, 'Til Tuesday is a band I could be perfectly fine with just the one hit single, Voices Carry. I suppose that's pretty much what the majority of the world thought too.

Regardless, they'd stick it out until 1990 but then disband when Mann opted to pursue a solo career. While they wouldn't release any further studio albums, she released a total of ten albums between 1993 and 2021.

People do love a reunion though, and on May 17, 2025, original member Aimee Mann, Robert Holmes, Joey Pesce, and Michael Hausman did just that. They performed for the first time in thirty-three years at the Cruel World Festival in Pasadena. However, there have been no announcements for any future performances together.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.

Comics Corner: The Amazing Spider-Man 275

   

Title: The Amazing Spider-Man
Issue Number: 275
Release Date: April 1986

Highlights

• Hobgoblin has modified his costume with a chest plate trigger which "unleashes a computerized barrage of high-frequency electrical power discharges"
• Reference is made to The Amazing Spider-Man 271
• Peter and his aunt bring Nathan Lubensky home from the hospital
• Peter tells Mary Jane that he's decided to give up being Spider-Man
• Sha-Shan and Flash argue when he hears her calling the Bugle looking for Peter, he accuses her of having an affair with him
• She in turn confronts Flash, accusing him of sleeping around with Betty Leeds
• In anger, Flash puts five across her eye, and then runs out of the apartment
• Mary Jane asks Peter how he got his powers, which flashes back to a full reprint of Amazing Fantasy 15 - Nice!
• Robbie and Betty sit down at the Bugle to discuss her home issues with Ned, but when she asks Robbie to stop giving Ned undercover assignments that keep pulling him away from their home, the editor-in-chief thinks to himself, "What undercover assignments?"
• Ned Leeds shows up to Flash Thompson's home, and though he isn't there, tells Sha-Shan they have deadly serious business to discuss
• Kingpin is told that The Rose and Hobgoblin are becoming a problem, and will be a bigger one when they make their move on him
• Kingpin shrugs it off, and ponders to himself that if The Rose is who he thinks he is behind that mask, that things will get much worse in time
• Ned and Flash see each other on the street, and when confronted, Flash punches Ned in the face
• Ned say's he's going to pay for that
• Inside the apartment, Flash realizes that Sha-Shan has left him, and equally intent on lashing out says she'll pay if he ever runs into her again
• Wanting to get the attention of Spider-Man, Hobgoblin takes a hostage - A hostage named Sha-Shan
• As Mary Jane and Peter continue to talk, she tries to convince him to change his mind about retiring from his super hero persona
• Seeing on the news that Hobgoblin has struck, Spider-Man confronts him
• Done with Sha-Shan, Hobgoblin throws her to her death from a great height
• Spider-Man is able to save her at the last second, but strains his right arm in the process
• Hobgoblin unleashes his barrage attack, and though Spider-Man dodges persistently finally gets taken out by a blast in a cliffhanger ending

Low Points

• None

Oddities

• None

Rating (based on a 1 through 5 Stans grading system)

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

Retro Spins: 'Til Tuesday - Welcome Home

It's been a bit since I first touched base with 'Til Tuesday. When I played through their debut, Voices Carry, I stated that while the album was pretty good, it was lacking commercial hits, beyond the title track.

The band was formed in 1982 by Aimee Mann, Robert Holmes, Joey Pesce, and Michael Hausman. Together, they found early notoriety by winning Boston's WBCN Rock & Roll Rumble in 1983. Soon thereafter, their single, Love Is A Vacuum began to see steady rotation on radio stations. This garnered the attention of Epic Records, who signed them.

While the single would be re-recorded for their 1985 debut, the title track, Voices Carry would become their breakthrough single, peaking at number eight on the Billboard Hot 100. The music video would become a staple on MTV, aiding in album sales. This was followed by the minor single, Looking Over My Shoulder, which reached number sixty-one. As a whole, the album would push enough units to gain gold certification in both Canada and the USA.

Their follow-up, 1986's Welcome Home, would also produce a couple hits, and reach gold certification in the USA. However, it's overall performance would fail to meet expectations. Lead single, What About Love, would peak at twenty-six, and the album's second single, Coming Up Close, at Fifty-Nine. Despite this, critical reaction was generally in favor of the record.

Playing through it, the band seems to have abandoned their prior rock / new wave sound, instead drifting into a more straightforward rock, if not soft rock album. The tracks are okay; they just don't pack any punch.

What About Love, Coming Up Close, and Lovers' Day, while standout tracks among the bunch, weren't what I'd call great, nor memorable. Frankly, I'm not surprised. I mean, respectfully, essentially the entire world moved on from 'Til Tuesday relatively quickly. Like I said in my previous post, most people consider them a one hit wonder.

Upon its release, Pesce would leave the band, and be replaced by Michael Montes. The band would come back with one final record, 1988's Everything's Different Now, an album heavily shaped by lead singer Mann's breakup with Jules Shear. We'll get into all of that tomorrow.

Click "HERE" to go back to the home page. For more posts related to this one, please click the labels below.

Disclaimer: They Toy Box does not endorse or contribute to piracy. Retro Spins posts are intended for educational and entertainment purposes only. None of the music discussed here is available for sale, downloading or distribution.