The Toy Box

Comics Corner: The Amazing Spider-Man 318

Title: The Amazing Spider-Man
Issue Number: 318
Release Date: August 1989

Highlights

McFarlane hid three spiders on the cover, can you find them?

Here's a hint, look for two different styles

First appearance of General Chester Musgrave, Sholly, Morris, and Watanabe
Scorpion is training with his new tail, which now features a deadly acid spewing stinger, as well as enhanced flexibility and movement

He's received the enhancement from Justin Hammer, who's hired him to kidnap General Musgrave, but Scorpion has his own agenda as well, the death of J. Jonah Jameson

Hammer intends to give Musgrave to "certain parties in Europe" in exchange for favorable trade agreements

Reference is made to "various issues" of Iron Man, and "current issues" of Web Of Spider-Man and The Spectacular Spider-Man

Reference is also made to The Amazing Spider-Man 312

Peter and Mary Jane are looking at another apartment, but it's neither attractive nor affordable for them

Mary Jane has at least finally landed another modeling job

Peter asks Jameson (still Chameleon in disguise) for a photo assignment, but is told nothing is available as he storms by and slams his office door closed behind him

Joy Mercado tells Peter that Jonah is acting weird even for himself, and it's like he's not himself

After being kept waiting all day for her photo assignment, Mary Jane is told the buyer has opted to go in a different direction, and that they'll call her if something comes up

See oddities

After a brief fight with Peter over being out all night, the two quickly make up

Also keeping odd hours is Norman Osborn, who sneaks away from his family at 3:00 AM to an old building his dad used to own

There, he has a Green Goblin suit, and states he has one more task to complete before setting his mater plan in motion

While walking to class, Peter comes across Sholly, who's making protest signs with her fellow classmates

She tells Peter that they're going to demonstrate at the National Guard Armory where General Musgrave is receiving a medal, and asks if Peter wants to tag along

Though he hates cutting class, he does think that some photos would possibly be sellable to the Bugle

Both Spider-Man and Scorpion make their way to the Armory for the ceremony

Apparently another upgrade to Scorpion's tail is that it can inject hypnogen into people, allowing him to extract information from them under interrogation

As Spidey takes photos of the event, he notices Joy Mercado and Lance Bannon in the the crowd, and realizes that there's no way Jameson will buy his photos with Lance getting clear shots from right up front
Scorpion burst in, and Spider-Man is quick to jump into action

We learn of another new upgrade to Scorpion's suit, that being a transparent membrane over his eyes, which vaporizes anything that touches it, including Spidey's webs

As Lance Bannon snaps photos, he exclaims that these will help Jameson sell thousands of papers

This is all Scorpion needs to hear to alter his plans

Not wanting to help make Jameson more money, he takes Musgrave captive, and tells everyone to bring him Jameson in one hour, or the general dies

Did you find the hidden spiders?

The first one is located in the top portion of the brick wall, near Spider-Man's left foot
The second one is located in the bottom portion of the brick wall, near Spider-Man's right foot
The last one is a different style from these two, and hidden in the rubble underneath Scorpion's right fist

If there's a hidden Felix the Cat in this issue, I couldn't find him
This story checks a lot of boxes

Action
Mystery
Suit upgrades
Cliffhanger ending
Fantastic McFarlane art

Low Points

None

Oddities

Let's pause right on the front cover

If Scorpion is wearing a mask, why are his teeth showing?

This appears to be an aspect of his costume, and it makes no sense

After being let go from her modeling assignment, Mary Jane goes out dancing with random men until 3:00 AM

Maybe I'm just old fashioned, but that wouldn't work for me if I was her husband

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

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Retro Spins: The Waterboys - A Pagan Place

Totally psyched up from yesterday's Retro Spin, which was the 1983 self-titled debut from The Waterboys, today I'm diving into their 1984 follow-up, A Pagan Place.

The Waterboys have a rich history of rotating musicians, but the one consistent factor in it all was founder, lead vocalist, and multi-instrumentalist, Mike Scott. The music he'd usher in throughout the eighties would become known as, The Big Music, a name given to describe bands specializing in an anthemic sound and taken from the song of the same name from their second album. As a comparison, think of U2, Simple Minds, In Tua Nua, Big Country and Hothouse Flowers.

Scott was initially signed as a solo act with Ensign, but opted instead to form a band, choosing The Waterboys as their name. They'd release their 1983 debut, but unfortunately, it would fail to make any waves. In between touring, they'd return to the studio to record new material, and overdub previously recorded tracks. This would become their second album, 1984's A Pagan Place. While it would become a top forty hit in New Zealand, and peak at number one hundred in the UK, the remainder of the world took little notice.

While I too missed out on them the first time around, I'm very happy to have found them now. I'm really enjoying their music, and yes, I'd even call myself a fan. I daresay, this is a band I'd like to see live.

The album kicks off with Church Not Made With Hands, a track which immediately grabbed my attention and set the bar quite high for everything to come. Fortunately, Mike Scott and the boys (and girls) didn't disappoint. I found multiple shuffle worth songs, which included, All The Things She Gave Me, Rags, Somebody Might Wave Back, Red Army Blues, and A Pagan Place (the song).

What surprised me most was that I didn't think they could get bigger and better than what I had already heard on their debut, and 1985 album, This Is The Sea. Boy, was I wrong. The whole album just feels epic with its twelve-string rhythm guitars, rolling piano and judicious use of reverb to form a shimmering wall of music. This is all added to by saxophone, occasional violins and trumpets.

I'm telling you, if you haven't heard The Waterboys, you're missing out.

As I noted in yesterday's post, my introduction to them came with their aforementioned 1985 album, albeit in 2022, which I picked up and already did a Retro Spin on. As such, my next stop on this journey will be 1988's Fisherman's Blue, which is sadly also their last album from the decade.

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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.

Comics Corner: The Sensational She-Hulk 3

Title: The Sensational She-Hulk
Issue Number: 3
Release Date: July 1989

Highlights

First appearance of She-Clone
Spider-Man's spidey senses keep going off around an abandoned factory, and when he investigates closer, he sees Mysterio inside

Mysterio heads outside, and gets into a car, which Spider-Man tags with a spider tracer, and follows

The Headmen, Ruby Thursday, Arthur Nagan, and Jerry Morgan work on a robotic clone of She-Hulk, but she currently has no head
All the action is skipped, and suddenly, Spider-Man is showing Mysterio that his briefcase was full of fake money

See oddities

Mysterio tells Spider-Man he was working for the Headmen

Back in the Headmen's lab, Chondu the Mystic, also a member of the team, but an uncontrollable one, has broken free of where they had him, and he's wigging out about something

Spider-Man crashes the party, and webs up Chondu, but Ruby Thursday keeps the battle going

Spidey makes short order of Ruby and Arthur, but Jerry sends the headless She-Clone into the fray

The head of the She-Clone realizes that she has no body, and begins to panic

Meanwhile Spidey gets caught, and the scientists ponder who they should use for their experiments between he and She-Hulk

Elsewhere, Louise Mason catches up with Blake Tower, and informs him Stilt-Man is on the hunt for him
Back in the lab, the Headmen have put Chondu's head on the body of She-Hulk, and this freaks him out

Nagan informs him he couldn't use Spider-Man's body because of his mutagenic raditation

Chondu doesn't care, and demands he find a way, as he picks up the hero's body

Spidey isn't unconscious though, and punches Chondu's head clean off

The Headmen try to escape in a battle vehicle, but She-Hulk rips it to shreds with her bare hands

Low Points

It's not a very well written story
It's never explained where the real She-Hulk came from all of a sudden, and we only get a brief three panel explanation about the She-Clone, literally right at the end of the story

Oddities

The story takes a one-page sidebar for She-Hulk to tell jokes, and when it cuts back, Spider-Man has already defeated Mysterio, and taken his briefcase

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

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Retro Spins: The Waterboys - The Waterboys

What do I know about The Waterboys? Honestly, not much. I came across them 2022 while perusing and samplings songs from Future Flashback's 10,000 80's songs playlist. Though he's not posted since 2023, his 2016 list has been an incredible source for finding music from the era I either didn't know or had forgotten about.

It was from that list that I came across the tune, The Whole Of The Moon. Its unique sound resonated, and I quickly tracked down the album it was from, 1985's This Is The Sea.

From there, I found even more from them, including my favorite (so far) The Pan Within. That's all been talked about before in my Retro Spin on the record.

Ironically, though I found them enjoyable, I never really looked into anything else from them. I did, however, come across another album from them in the wild during my birthday of 2022, that being 1988's Fisherman's Blues. While I added it to my collection, still I made no effort to look into them further. It wouldn't be until June of 2026 that I'd finally focus my attention back on them, and actively seek out their 1983 self-titled debut, and 1984 follow-up, The Pagan Place.

That brings us to today, and my next series of Retro Spins.

Though I didn't know what to expect, I was hoping things would stay relatively grounded in the familiar territory I was introduced to with their 1985 album. By this, I mean I was wanting to hear fantastic melodies, driven by acoustic guitars, piano, and violins, all enveloped in the haunting, and strangely poetic vocals of Mike Scott.

I'm pleased to say all of that is exactly what I got.

No, you won't hear mainstream rock here. In fact, as a whole, they've only had three minor hits on the Billboard Hot 100, and those didn't come until much later. Specifically, 1989's Fisherman's Blues (the song), which peaked at seventy-six. From there, two additional singles would chart in 1990, and 1993. These were Room To Roam (charting at one hundred eighty), and Dram Harder (which landed at one hundred seventy-one).

However, if you want to hear beautifully crafted music, created by musicians who know what they're doing, or you simply want to hear something different, check out The Waterboys. Standout tracks from their debut, for me, were December, Gala, I Will Not Follow, The Girl In The Swing, and Savage Earth Heart.

I'm going to keep riding this wave, and dive right into their next album. I'm hoping to continue the trend so far of discovering fantastic new music.

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Comics Corner: Marc Spector: Moon Knight 2

Title: Marc Spector: Moon Knight
Issue Number: 2
Release Date: July 1989

Highlights

First appearance of Burunda, a small country in Africa
A couple kids walk the streets with their telescope, and spot Moon Knight standing on the roof near the embassy of Burunda

The narration explains that inside is his lover, Marlene Alraune, held captive by Raoul Bushman

Moon Knight makes reference to someone watching Disney, and the irony over thirty years later is laughable
Moon Knight is spotted on the embassy surveillance, and Bushman orders his messenger to communicate his demands, and also his personal guards are informed the hunt is on
The messenger leaves the embassy, and Moon Knight follows, only to walk into a trap of the personal guards

Moon Knight tells Frenchie to stay on the other man while he handles the soldiers

Spider-Man sees the soldiers running into Central Park and decides to follow, taking pictures, of course
Moon Knight makes short order of them, and when the battle is over, Spider-Man swings away
Moon Knight confronts the messenger, and gases him unconscious
Back in the embassy Bushman taunts Marlene, telling her that Moon Knight better meet his demands
When the messenger comes to, he's hanging upside down from Moon Knight's plane

The messenger tells him Bushman wants ten million dollars, or he'll hack Marlene to bits

Moon Knight throws the messenger from the plane, low enough to not kill him

At home, Marc yells at Hal that he needs ten million dollars, but is told his money is tied up in investemnts

When his response is to sell them, he's informed he can't just do that as it would cripple his other investors, and not to mention the damage it would cause to all the employees working at those businesses

Marc informs Frenchie he's cash poor, so they'll have to do it his way
Inside the embassy, Moon Knight fights his way to Marlene

Unfortunately, he only finds a television with Bushman on it, informing him he's taken the girl back to Burunda

Low Points

Spider-Man's involvement begins and ends with him taking photos of Moon Knight beating down Bushman's personal guards
A decent story, but hardly worth reading for Spider-Man's chronology

Oddities

Marc disguises himself as a cable installation specialist to infiltrate the embassy

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

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Retro Spins: Queen Latifah - All Hail The Queen

Queen Latifah wasn't on my want list, but still was someone I looked at frequently. While I don't know any songs from her, or at least I don't think I do, her album, All Hail The Queen checked several boxes for me:

It's an 80's album
It serves as her debut
It's her only album from the decade
It was relatively cheap

Still, even with all of those aspects, it took me quite some time to commit to buying it. I literally only did it in anticipation of this post following my series of late 80's rap artists that I've been listening to these past few days. Some have fared better than others, and I'm curious to see which side of the fence Latifah will land on.

The queen began beatboxing in 1988 with the group Ladies Fresh, which was part of the group that stuck close to DJ King Gemini. He'd make a demo of her song, Princess Of The Posse, and put it in the hands of Yo! MTV Raps host, Fab 5 Freddy. This would end up getting the attention of Tommy Boy Music employee Dante Ross, who signed Latifah and in 1989, and released her debut that same year.

Upon its release, critics praised it for topic relatable to woman listeners, which included domestic violence, street harassment, and troubled relationships. It would later go on to be named on several noteworthy lists, such as The Source's 100 Best Albums, and Robert Dimery's 1001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die. The song, Ladies First would also garner attention of VH1, who ranked it number thirty-five on their 100 Greatest Songs Of Hip Hop.

Further, its success would push it up the rap charts, where the album as a whole would peak at number six in the USA. Though it wouldn't fare as well, it would also land on the Billboard 200, reaching number one hundred twenty-four.

While the cassette and LP released with twelve tracks, the CD release would be maximized for the available runtime by adding three additional bonus tracks. However, these were simply remixes of other songs already included. As such, unless you were a mega fan, there's not much reason for these to be included.

Honestly, I had no expectations with this one. Like I said above, I don't know any songs from it, or rather, didn't until today. Overall, it was a pretty solid record, and I have to mirror sentiments of The New York Times, which noted, "the backup tracks are sometimes rich enough to carry the album on their own, but they don't have to; some songs have vocal choruses, while in others Queen Latifah's rising and falling speech provides melody enough."

That pretty much sums up the album perfectly. It was an enjoyable album to play through, and I will note standout tracks, Mama Gave Birth To The Soul Children, Wrath Of Madness, The Pros, and Evil That Men Do. However, with that said, I would be lying if I said I was ever going to play this album again. As I've noted before, good music doesn't necessarily equate to memorable, and I don't suspect I'll remember any of these after today.

Following her debut, Queen Latifah's career took off. She's enjoyed a lucrative rap career which she released albums for through 2009. However, probably more so what she's known for these days is acting since her successful transition to film with 1991's Jungle Fever. Though she took a brief hiatus between 2023 and 2026, she's set to reprise the role of Ellie in the forthcoming Ice Age: Boiling Point.

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Comics Corner: Web Of Spider-Man 52

Title: Web Of Spider-Man
Issue Number: 52
Release Date: July 1989

Highlights

Death of Sam and Danny
J. Jonah Jameson lies chained to his bed, and screams unheard for Spider-Man who is swinging by his window
Chameleon gives Jameson a few more links in his chain, with the intensions of allowing him to read the paper

He also explains why he's impersonating the man

Reference is made to "current issues" of The Spectacular Spider-Man
Flashback twenty years ago to a young J. Jonah Jameson chasing a story at a local bar

As he asks Sam for information on the corrupt police department, shots ring out, and Sam is left dead

Jameson sees the shooter, and it's a cop

Back to present time, Jameson kicks his mirror, breaking off a piece of glass, and using it to cast a light beam through his window

He attempts to signal the traffic copter that flies by each day, but it doesn't work

Back to the past, young Jameson bursts into his editor's office, demanding to know why his story on corrupt cops was buried

He's told off by his boss, who also demands facts

As Jameson storms off, he tells the young copyboy, Danny, that if he ever becomes editor, he'll treat his writers with respect

Yeah...

Danny asks if he can tag along, and when the two exit the office, they're met on the street by Officer Kenner, and a couple other cops who give them both a beating

Two mysterious men watch from a car

Back in the present, Jonah has cut himself on the mirror shard, and uses it as lubricant to try to slip the cuff
Returning to the past, William Walter Goodman appears to be one of the men who watch Jonah get beat up, and he just so happens to own the Daily Bugle

Goodman gives Jameson his first cigar, and then offers him a job

Jameson accepts

Returning to current events, Jameson is able to slip his one hand free, and begins stretching for the key that Chameleon left on a dresser, just out of reach
Young Jameson has found a new informant, Officer Michael O'Hill, an eighteen year veteran of the force

O'Hill gives him a key to a locker at the bus station, and tells him there's a notebook inside with every cop's name who's on the take

At the bus station, Kenner is walking around, so Jameson gives Danny the key, who apparently has come to work with him at the Bugle

Danny sneaks off to open the locker, and Jameson realizes what's going on, but it's too late

As the boy opens the locker door, the bomb goes off, killing him

Jameson reaches the key and frees himself, but passes out from the pain and exhaustion of everything
Meanwhile, in his flashback, young Jameson is also passed out from drinking his guilt away

He's woken by Goodman

Goodman tells him that while it's his fault the boy is dead, he asks what he's going to do about it - quit, or fight?

The panels alter between the present and past as current times Jameson crawls for his penthouse elevator, and past Jameson confronts Kenner in his own office at the station

Jameson from the past is wearing a hidden radio that his boss is recording on the other end, and Kenner is caught confessing
Unfortunately for current time Jameson, as the elevator opens, the Chameleon steps off of it