Comics Corner: The Amazing Spider-Man 273

   

Title: The Amazing Spider-Man
Issue Number: 273
Release Date: February 1986

Highlights

• First appearance of Mr. Chumley, Barry Foxxe, Belinda Barkley, Dr. Arnold, and Clifton
• First appearance of 88th Street
• Thomas Fireheart meets with the Shaman and his tribe, to learn more about the threat of the Beyonder, and to prove he is worthy as the Puma to protect the world
• The tribe gives Puma a new costume
• Shaman senses that Thomas doesn't believe in their ancient legends, and he's right
• Shaman suggests Thomas seek aid from Spider-Man in his upcoming battle 
• Thomas would rather be in Japan, working on his oil deal
• Reference is made to Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man 107 - 110, Secret Wars II 2, Web Of Spider-Man 6, 11, 12, 13, The Amazing Spider-Man 256, and 257
• The Cult of Cosmic Oneness has taken to the streets to spread their message
• Ned Leeds and his wife Betty are at it again, arguing in public
• When Peter arrives home, Thomas is sitting in his apartment, and while Peter doesn't recognize the man, he does know of his alter ego, Puma, which Thomas refers to himself as, and then call's Peter, Spider-Man
• Ned witnesses Betty meeting Flash Thompson
• Thomas offers Peter $5,000.00 as a retainer to help him against the Beyonder
• Puma tracks Barry Foxxe, the head of the cult down, with Spider-Man in tow
• Barry gives Puma the address to "Frank", AKA Beyonder
• Spider-Man tells him the way to the address, but then turns down the retainer, and the job from Puma
• As Puma contemplates his plan of attack from a rooftop, Beyonder appears to him, reading his thoughts, and sending him to Japan, where he knows Puma would rather be
• Thomas returns to New York, and Peter's apartment, offering a new retainer of $100,000.00 for Spider-Man's help
• Peter tells Puma he's nuts, that Beyonder is far too powerful, that all you need to do is call his name, and he will appear, which Peter does, and Beyonder does

Low Points

• None

Oddities

• Editor's Day Off: Panels with Spider-Man's lenses colored red
• Mrs. Muggins tells Peter she intends to deduct the cost of repairs for his apartment from the $1,000.00 check he recently gave her - These repairs would be her responsibility, not his

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

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Retro Spins: Public Image Ltd - The Flowers Of Romance

I started picking up Public Image Ltd. (PiL) albums around the same time that I grabbed my first few from The Psychedelic Furs. Admittedly, I'm not hopeful for something that's going to blow me away. My knowledge of the band is minimal; having found a handful of tracks from them enjoyable during my many listening sessions of the 10,000 eighties songs playlist I found online a while ago.

Did that mean I had to rush out and get their entire 80's discography? Probably not. Do I suspect I'm going to regret it? Yeah, I kind of do. Deep down, I know that if I were to really go through my CD collection, I could probably whittle it down considerably. My biggest hangup being that I don't want to, and I suppose that's okay. For now, anyway, since space hasn't become a deadlock issue. But yes. I suppose there are a lot of albums on that shelf that I simply don't need or honestly want after hearing them. Let's see if the next five Retro Spins qualify for those categories, kicking it off with Public's 1981 released, The Flowers Of Romance.

Founder, John Lydon, had already rooted himself in the punk scene as lead singer Johnny Rotton of the nefarious Sex Pistols. However, when the group suddenly disbanded after just one studio album, he found himself headed to Jamaica with head of Virgin Records, Richard Branson. Initially, Branson, who also flew the band Devo out to the island country, wanted to install Lydon into their band as the new lead singer. Devo declined.

With no luck abroad, Lydon returned to the UK and placed advertisements for members. Additionally, he approached his old friend, Jah Wobble, to join. The problem, however, was that Wobble was not an established player. Instead, much like he had with Sid Vicious, Lydon felt he would pick it up as they went, which he proved to do.

Another friend, Keith Levene, who had worked with The Clash until 1976, was asked to join, and accepted. The group would then be rounded out by Jim Walker, a newly arrived Canadian student to the UK, who answered the add in Melody Maker.

The four would begin rehearsing, soon adopting the name Public Image, and adding Ltd. in July of 1978. They debuted in October with their single, Public Image, a song written by Lydon while still with the Pistols and discussed his feelings of being exploited by their manager Malcolm McLaren. The song would become successful in the UK, reaching number nine on the UK Singles Chart. It would also start some buzz in the USA upon being imported over. This was followed by their debut, Public Image: First Issue.

Walker would depart the band, making way for a series of drummers who also came and went, and three of which contributed to their follow-up album, Metal Box (1979); David Humphrey, Richard Dudanski, and Martin Atkins. The latter would say in 2001 that recording sessions were chaotic, with his audition for the band actually being the recording session for what would become the singe, Bad Baby.

PiL would have a series of contentious live shows between 1980 and 1981. Among them was their infamous appearance on American Bandstand, where the band abandoned lip syncing, and instead invited the audience on stage. Despite what one would think, Dick Clark would name it among his one hundred favorite Bandstand performances.

Consisting of Lydon, Levene, Wobble, and Atkin at this point, the band released the 1980 Live album, Paris au Printemps. However, shortly after its release, Wobble would depart. Because the band didn't formally replace him, their 1981 released, The Flowers Of Romance, was noted for its complete lack of bass.

The combination of Atkins' propulsive marching band-style drumming, the lack of bass and guitar, and Lydon's increasing lyrical abstraction made this album a difficult listen for rock fans, and contemporary reviews expressed great confusion. Levene would describe it as, "the least commercial record ever delivered to a record company."

Despite this, Flowers would peak at number eleven in the UK, making it another success for the band. The album's title track would be the only single released, and it too would reach a respectable number twenty-four on the UK charts. Though it's worth noting, the single version differed from the album recording.

And after all of the above, we finally jump into today's Retro Spin.

From the above, right off the bat, the album sounds like it's a complete mess. High hopes I do not have.

The opening track, Four Enclosed Walls is actually quite intriguing. Incredibly different from any other type of music I was listening to in the 80's. I think what actually hooks me the most is the drumming, which makes sense to my personal tastes. Though Lydon's chanting got a little annoying, I dug it overall.

This, however, wore thin fast. It became very apparent by track two that PiL wasn't actually delivering any songs. Rather, just ambience. I dare say this album would have been better suites as the soundtrack to Dune.

I'm not going to hate on it because The Flowers Of Romance is definitely unique. However, I do hope that their remaining albums of the decade aren't like this. Otherwise, I see myself tapping out fast. Overall, the album feels like it was done by a group of untalented amateurs, who were afforded some time in a studio, with the end result being nothing coherent.

Drama for PiL would continue, seeing members coming and going, and even a fourth studio album in which the masters were stolen by one of the band's own members. Perhaps, if nothing else, the internal turmoil of the band is more interesting than the actual music. But we'll catch up with that tomorrow.

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Comics Corner: Secret Wars II 7

   

Title: Secret Wars II
Issue Number: 7
Release Date: January 1986

Highlights

• First appearance of the Legion Accursed, which consists of Juggernaut, Electro, Baron Mordo, Absorbing Man, Titania, Abomination, Doc Ock, Rhino, Vanisher, Dr. Doom, White Queen, Kraven the Hunter, Silver Samurai, Vulture, Hobgoblin, Wizard, Ultron, Wrecker, Kang, Anaconda, Batroc, Crimson Dynamo, Diablo, Graviton, Living Laser, Mole Man, Blastaar, and Ringmaster
• Also the first appearance of Judy, Allen, and Mephisto's demon, Bitterhorn
• First appearance of Chelsea, New York, and Boulder, Colorado
• Mephisto has created a machine that intercepted the power Beyonder drained in doing away with Death in the previous issue
• Reference is made to Marvel Super Hero Secret Wars, and "recent issues" of The Thing
• Mephisto looks to drain Beyonder's power, much like Dr. Doom did during the events of Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars, and in doing so, weaken him enough to destroy him
• Death tells Mephisto the death of a God is sweet, and he ponders if she means his death or Beyonders
• Beyonder sits on an island, doing nothing more than thinking when he's met by a boater named Ed Strunk
• Ben Grimm is also on an island working on a film, when his pilot, "Hopper" Hertneky arrives with a case of beer
• After drinking, the subject of Beyonder is brought up, which sets Ben off
• Ed tells other people about Beyonder just sitting there thinking, and they too want to do that, so he brings them to the island
• Bitterhorn is sent by Mephisto to gather up villains willing to go up against Beyonder in exchange for whatever they ask
• Unknown to the villains, with each agreeing handshake with Bitterhorn, he's imprinting them with an invisible sign which will absorb all energy from Beyonder if they touch into the beyondersbane, and surge it back into him, ideally to kill him
• If Mephisto's plan works, not only will Beyonder be destroyed, but the entire Earth, and 1/3 of the universe
• Spider-Man contemplates trying Beyonder's think system
• As Mephisto's plan goes into its final stages underneath the island, up top Beyonder decides it's too crowded, and will leave
• Mephisto panics at the thought of Beyonder leaving before they can strike, and sets a diversion in place to keep him there by way of manipulating Ben Grimm with disguises of multiple people from his past to goad him into attacking Beyonder
• Mephisto also gets Ben to sign a contract that grants him increased power, but costs him his soul
• With Beyonder distracted long enough by Ben, Mephisto sends his army of villains in to attack
• Coming to his senses, Ben turns his attention to the villains instead of Beyonder
• Seeing Ben use his increased strength to defeat all the villains, Mephisto panics, and rips up the contract
• With his plan failed, the beyondersbane explodes, and seeing his failure, Death leaves Mephisto by himself
• Beyonder decides that his role may be to show people what their true role in their existence is

Low Points

• The story continues in New Mutants 36, The Amazing Spider-Man 273, X-Men 202, Peter Parker, and The Spectacular Spider-Man 111 before coming back to Secret Wars II 8

Oddities

• None

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

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Retro Spins: The Psychedelic Furs - Book Of Days

I'm not going to lie. My run-through of The Psychedelic Furs 80's discography has not been the exciting journey I had hoped it would be. I was expecting, and perhaps shouldn't have been, to come away with a lot of hidden gems, and an appreciation for a "new" band. Needless to say, that has not happened, and with me on their last entry of the decade, I don't suspect it's going to at this point.

As noted yesterday, drummer Vince Ely returning to the band after 1987's Midnight To Midnight. This was followed by the 1988 compilation, All This And More, which featured the new song, All That Money Wants. This was followed by 1989's Book Of Days.

While the album did produce the singles, Should God Forget, and House. However, as a whole, received mixed reviews. It would be followed by a drastic drop in sales, and chart success, with Book only reaching 74 in the UK, and 138 in the USA, making it their least successful album to date.

I'm just going to call it what it is. Boring. As track after track passed by, I found myself less and less interested, frankly just wanting it to end so that I could move on from the Furs. Even the singles were nothing to write home about.

With an average run time of four and a half to five minutes per track, while Book takes advantage of the added length of your average CD, it results in songs which seem to drone on unnecessarily long. In comparison, their songs on previous albums typically hovered around the three and a half minutes to three minutes forty-five-seconds mark.

The album just wasn't for me, and as a whole, I'm pretty disappointed in the overall experience of the Furs. I wanted to like, I really did, but I just couldn't get into the majority of their music.

The Furs would release 1991's World Outside and then take an extended hiatus. Singer Richard Butler would begin collaborating with Richard Fortus of Pale Divine, on what was supposed to be his first solo album. However, this would evolve into the band, Love Spit Love, after recruiting Butler's brother (and fellow Fur), Tim, as well as Frank Ferrer.

Love Spit Love released their self-titled debut in 1994, and followed it up with 1997's, Trysome Eatone. They would spend the remainder of the 90's touring but announced they would be splitting up in 2000. Frank and Richard would later join the Axel rose iteration of Guns N' Roses around 2006. While Fortus remains in the band, Ferrer departed in 2025.

Richard Butler, Tim Butler, and John Ashton would start back up as The Psychedelic Furs in 2000, bringing in Fortus and Ferrer. Together, they released the live album, with new studio track, Beautiful Chaos: Greatest Hits Live in 2001. Richard would also release his first, and only solo album to date, in 2006.

The Furs wouldn't return to the studio for a full album until 2020's Made Of Rain. However, by this point the lineup had switched, featuring the Butler Brothers, along with returning prior members Paul Garisto, and Mars Williams, and new members Rich Good, and Amanda Kramer. While sales didn't justify any certifications, the album did see the band return to the top twenty in the UK and USA.

While the band continues to tour these days, it's with a once again revised lineup, which features the Butlers, Good, Kramer, and Zack Alferd. Garisto departed shortly after the aforementioned album in 2020, and sadly, Mars Williams passed away in 2023.

Despite my personal preference of the band's music, I will whole heartedly admit they cemented a solid history in the annals of rock. Heck, it's what brought me to their music to begin with. As noted in a previous post, the band didn't have too many hits, but their influence on other artists during that time, and since, has become their greatest legacy.

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