Comics Corner: The Amazing Spider-Man Annual 23

   

Title: The Amazing Spider-Man Annual
Issue Number: 23
Release Date: September 1989

Highlights

• This annual features seven stories, including part four of Atlantis Attacks, which spread across the entire Marvel universe's annuals in 1989
• The artwork inside is from some of Marvel's greatest, including up and comers Mark Bagley, and Rob Liefeld
• Story I: Abominations
• Artwork by Rob Liefeld
• First appearance of Sam Ewing
• Reference is made to X-Men Annual 13, and Iron Man Annual 10
• Mary Jane surprises Peter at work with an invitation to lunch
• Jennifer Walters, AKA She-Hulk storms out of J. Jonah Jameson's office, shouting at him, and turning green in the process
• Tyrannus, trapped in the body of Abomination demands that Ghaur free him from it, to which he's told will happen, but that another essence must take his place
• We see that Ghaur has Emil Blonsky prisoner, the original Abomination, and he intends to use him as the essence
• The massive energy used to make the transfer sparks across New York, garnering the attention of She-Hulk and Spider-Man
• The transfer works, but is too much for Emil, turning Abomination into a mindless monster
• Ghaur watches the fight, concluding that She-Hulk is what he needs for his next phase - To make her the wife of the God, Set
• Flash Thompson follows the noise of the battle, and as Abomination escapes, he's left to watch over an unconscious Spider-Man while She-Hulk pursues
• The heroes go into battle with the creature
• She-Hulk continues the battle without Spider-Man, and once she's knocked temporarily unconscious, Ghaur imprints her with the mark of Set
• Meanwhile, Spider-Man rejoins the fight
• In an epilogue ending, Dr. Tryon goes to see Viper in her prison cell, looking to help each other
• Story II - My Science Project
• Artwork by Mark Bagley
• A flashback story to Peter's youth during high school, prior to him getting spider powers
• Uncle Ben is still alive and well
• Story III - Uncanny Spider-Sense
• A story focusing on Spidey's spider-sense, and how it works
• Story IV - Standards Of Behavior
• Nick Katzenberg is at Aunt May's home, attempting to move in as one of her tenants
• His nefarious goal is to learn the connection between Peter and Spider-Man
• Nick's "charm" oozes like a reptile, and May picks up on it right away, banishing him from her home
• Story V - Spider-Man's Top 30 Villain Countdown
• Fun art by Fred Hembeck
• It's a rollout of Spidey's rogue gallery, all set to the quirky art of Fred
• Story VI - The Saga Of The Serpent Crown Part IV
• Art by Mark Bagley, inked by Keith Williams
• Death of King Kamuu, Queen Zartra, and Emperor Phraug
• First appearance and death of Antilia
• First appearance of the location, Atra's Sanctum

Low Points

• Good art can't save this over bloated mix match of stories from not being a sludge to get through
• It's too long
• Story I: Abominations
• It's continued in Punisher Annual 2
• Story II - My Science Project
• It's really just a retelling of Amazing Fantasy 15 from a different perspective
• Story VI - The Saga Of The Serpent Crown Part IV
• The story has nothing to do at all with Spider-Man
• It too continues in Punisher Annual 2
• Unless you read fourteen different Annuals, you're not going to get the full story of the two main arcs, making this Annual pointless to read
• $2.00 was a lot of money for a kid back in 1989, and having them drop this on a book that doesn't even contain a relevant story to the next issue of Spider-Man is kind of crummy
• What kid had twenty-eight dollars in 1989 to buy fourteen comic books?

Oddities

• None

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

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Retro Spins: Scorpions - Animal Magnetism

Today I'm looping back to Scorpions. They're a band I touched on initially back in 2023 with my Retro Spin of 1984's Love At First Sting. I, like many before me was introduced to the band with their monster hit, Rock You Like A Hurricane, which would be their biggest Billboard Hot 100 hit to date as of May 1984. It wouldn't be until 1991 that it was usurped by Wind Of Change, which went to number four.

My first album from the band was actually 1990's Crazy World, which featured the latter mentioned hit. In fact, if memory serves me right, I got it from Columbia House or BMG as part of the twelve CD's for a penny "deal".

By the time I started rebuilding my CD collection into the 80's tome it is today, there were two albums from the band which I wanted to add to my collection. Those were 1982's Blackout, and 1984's Love At First Sting. Beyond that, I had no interest. But as normally happens as I came across 1988's Savage Amusements at a used CD shop and picked it up. Despite having three of the four releases from the 80's, I actually didn't actively track down today's Retro Spin, 1980's Animal Magnetism until recently. And that's the story of how I got my 80's discography of Scorpions.

Before I dive in, can we just talk about the elephant in the room? Seriously, what's the deal with that album cover? Scorpions is a band who I've felt often conceive and select questionable covers, to the point that there are some I will never add to my collection.

Animal Magnetism certainly sounds like a Scorpions album. You know how some bands have a sound you can immediately pick up on? Yeah, that's what's going on here.

With that said, while it's decent, it's by no means amazing. Make It Real was really the only standout track for me, and candidly, at this point I don't even remember how it went. Part of this may be my own personal issue of current exhaustion, and overall lack of effort mentality as a result. Whatever it was, the album turned out to be mediocre at best.

Beyond that, I don't have much more to say about this one.

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And now, 31 Days Of Halloween!

Back in the days of Blockbuster, and my first job working in a grocery store, I got into buying VHS tapes. This was thanks in part to a buddy of mine who was a major film buff. He was the kind of guy that every week he went to the theater to see what was new, rented a handful of tapes on the way home, and followed this up by hitting the video store to take buy a pile of tapes for his massive collection. He'd also be the first person I knew to get a DVD player, which was a big thing back then.

As for me and that Blockbuster, the manager at the store next door to my job was someone I went to high school with. This allowed me an opportunity to get a lot of tapes through him. Mind you, he didn't give them to me, but instead, allowed me to order copies, and most importantly, kept them behind the counter as I showed up weekly to pick up what I could afford until I finally got them all. It was through him that I obtained the complete run of A Nightmare On Elm Street films.

Freddy quickly became one of my favorite horror icons, with his movies constantly being put on in rotation. I personally stopped with Freddy Vs. Jason and never saw any of the ones that came after it, nor the television series. While the first will always be a classic, I think I favor the characters from part three, and the story arc built between that one and part four.

Comics Corner: Daredevil 270

   

Title: Daredevil
Issue Number: 270
Release Date: September 1989

Highlights

• First appearance of Blackheart
• First appearance and death of Abigail Houseman, Sarah, and Peter
• First appearance of the location, Christ's Crown
• The story opens on a hilltop in Christ's Crown where Abigail Houseman lies dead
• The story explains how evil grips the hill, and over the centuries more deaths have occurred here, yet in their wake, the hill has blossomed in thorny roses
• Present times bring Sarah and Peter to the hill, but when Peter attempts to take advantage of the girl, Blackheart appears from beneath the ground
• Blackheart kills them both
• In the wake of his first kill, his father, Mephisto appears before him, and congratulates him
• Mephisto transforms him into human form, and tells him when he meets a worthy adversary that he can reveal his true self
• He instructs him that if too many eyes of man see his true form that he will lose his powers
• Balancing on his hands atop a roller coaster track, Daredevil laments over recent events with Typhoid Mary, but says he's back to top physical form
• Blackheart approaches, and while Daredevil can smell his burnt rose scent, he cannot detect his location
• Blackheart attacks
• From a passenger seat on a bus, Peter Parker sees the wreckage of the roller coaster from the window
• Daredevil goes toe to toe against Blackheart, but his attacks don't make any impact
• As Blackheart swings a brutal fist, Spider-Man intervenes, kicking him away from DD
• A crowd gathers near the fight, and Daredevil sees an opportunity to electrocute Blackheart with a down power line
• Spider-Man catches on that it's what the creature wants, and stops him at the last second
• They instead realize they need to knock him out
• The gathered crowd watching depletes Blackhearts powers fast, and he retreats
• Blackheart returns to his hill, angry, tired, and wishing he were dead so he could rest

Low Points

• None

Oddities

• None

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

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Retro Spins: Sabrina - Sabrina

By 1988, Sabrina Salerna was a household name in Italy, and finding major success across several countries outside of the USA. She had quickly built a fanbase around a manufactured pop showgirl image, aided by rather revealing music videos. Granted, she had good music to back this up, evident by her winning Best European Singer at Festivalbar that same year.

The problem was that Sabrina wanted to focus more on the latter and ditch the gimmicks. For this, she left her label, Five Records, and signed with Videogram. This move would allot her the creative control she was seeking, while shedding the unwanted image, or so she thought.

Prior to her second album, she released All of Me (Boy Oh Boy), which was followed by a new music video. While it would become another summer hit for her, it wouldn't perform as good as Boys (Summertime Love). Producer Matt Aitken would state that her vocals in the studio were "pretty decent" but also made comment about the way she was dressed. Her modest clothing during the session "did not fulfill the promise that was expected." He would go on to elaborate, stating, "Maybe the shock value was gone, or maybe they didn't shoot the right scene in the swimming pool for the video."

Sabrina released 1988's Super Sabrina, which also became relatively successful, but thanks to accompanying music videos for My Chico, and Like A Yo-Yo, wasn't able to shed her sex symbol status. Additionally, she would go on to be featured in her own self-titled video game for home computers, released in 1989.

Good stuff! Who doesn't love a classic video game?

Firing up the album for today's Retro Spin, I was hoping that the same level of goodness that came with her debut would be present. Quality wise, yes, this hit the mark. Hits wise, not so much.

Overall, it was just okay. The singles, Like A Yo-Yo, All of Me (Boy Oh Boy), and My Chico are decent, with the latter being the weakest among the bunch. Beyond that though, there's not a lot going on for this one.

Perhaps Matt Aitken was on to something with his comments. Though for me, it wasn't shock value, but instead the overall novely wore off quickly. Super Sabrina came with more of the same, but without the newness punch that was delivered with her debut.

Still not content, Sabrina left Videogram to pursue a broader musical spectrum and leave the Italo-disco pop persona behind. Though she would go on to release four more studio albums between 1991 and 2008, all under a different label, none of these would chart.

She remains active to this day, mostly performing at festivals, and making one-off appearances around the world. It's odd that in her pursuit of music freedom, and a desire to shed her showgirl image that even as of 2026 she continues to ride the waves of Boys (Summertime Love), belting it out while still wearing revealing clothing. But I suppose when it comes down to it, everyone needs money. I mean, if I could survive the rest of my life occasionally singing one song in my underwear, I'd do it too.

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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.

And now, 31 Days Of Halloween!

Nothing says Halloween like a great, scary movie to get you sitting on the edge of your seat, or better yet, with your loved one in your arms getting as close as possible. With so many to choose from, just what would you watch if you could? As we go through each day of October, I'll be posting a series of horror movie posters from some of my favorite franchises of all time.

Kicking it off is the tried-and-true classics. I'm talking Universal Monsters. With so many movies in this catalog alone, you could easily spend the entire month by just watching one a day. Sure, by today's standards, they can get a bit corny, both in the acting, and dialog, but they paved the way for the genre, and to this day stand true as iconic films and characters.