The Toy Box

Comics Corner: Web Of Spider-Man 49

Title: Web Of Spider-Man
Issue Number: 49
Release Date: April 1989

Highlights

First appearance and death of Winston Shepherd
First appearance of Sal
Spider-Man stops Winston from selling drugs to a kid, and then tosses all his drugs into the wind to blow away
The story flashes back to Mary Jane meeting her friend Lorraine, who's with Winston

Lorraine and Mary Jane go to the former's apartment, and she crashes out from drug induced side effects

Mary Jane calls the Bugle looking for Peter, who's in Kate Cushing's office being reamed out

Unknowingly, Mary Jane ends up on the phone with Kate, and tells her that she knows her husband is in with that "ice queen", referring to Kate, and to please get him for her

Mary Jane points out Winston to Peter from the window, and asks him to make him go away
Peter proposes a series of photographs of a day in the life of a drug dealer to Kate, and she tells him to go do it
Back in the present, Spider-Man tracks down Winston again, and stops him from selling drugs to someone else
Winston calls Sal, and tells him about his troubles

Sal sends him to a specific location to get a resupply, but tells him that if he leads Spider-Man to him that he'll kill him

Mary Jane attempts to get Lorraine checked in to rehab, but keeps getting told there's a waiting list

When they find a private institute they're told that it's $50,000.00 year, which they can't afford

This portion of the story is intercut with Spider-Man breaking up more of Winston's attempted sales

After dropping Lorraine off at home, Mary Jane leaves, and shortly after, so does Lorraine
Across town, Winston makes his way to Sal, and pleads for help

Sal shouts at him, telling him he warned him not to come there, and shoots the dealer

Spider-Man enters the warehouse, and is met with gunfire

Mary Jane returns to Lorraine's house to tell her that some of her well off friends will help with rehab costs, but finds she isn't there
Spider-Man makes short order of the criminals, and approaches a dying Winston, who he promises to get to a hospital

Winston asks him why he did all of this to him, and Spider-Man says because of Lorraine, to which he responds, "Who's Lorraine?"

Peter turns over the photos to Kate, and then goes to find Mary Jane, only to learn that Lorraine has overdosed, and is in the hospital\

She cries about how even though Winston is gone that all she did was find another pusher to sell her drugs, finding the whole effort pointless

Peter tells her it wasn't pointless, but rather that the fight against drugs is long

As the two walk off, a new dealer takes his place on the corner

Low Points

No major villains, just a preachy story

Oddities

Editor's Day Off: Mary Jane tells her friend Lorraine, "Tomorrow when you're feeling better, we'll just just show up at one."

The Daily Bugle wants a story on a day in the life of a drug dealer

It sounds odd on the surface, but Spider-Man breaks up every deal before they can happen

The woman at the private facility tells Lorraine that it took years to get addicted to drugs

Not that I'm on drugs or anything, but I'm pretty sure it happens a lot faster than that

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

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Retro Spins: M + M (Martha And The Muffins) - The World Is a Ball

I am so relieved that today is my last day of Martha And The Muffins, AKA M + M. In terms of Retro Spins, this has been among the most fatiguing and unenjoyable experiences. After six very expensive albums, I am not a fan. In fact, I'm kind of ticked off because of how much their CD's cost. Kids, this is a perfect reason why you don't just buy albums without hearing or knowing something about them.

Ugh...okay...let's go.

Martha Johnson and Mark Gane took a few years to record what would become 1986's The World Is A Ball. However, upon its release, while it would chart slightly higher in Canada than its predecessor, 1985's Mystery Walk, it would only yield one minor hit, Song In My Head. Following its lackluster reception, the two would decide to take a hiatus.

Thank God!

The World Is A Ball, the opening track, is kind of okay. It's got a peppy beat that makes it easy to get into. But top ten material it is not. Further, I'm not about to let my guard down with it. I've fallen for that before in previous albums, only to be met by mediocrity, and boredom.

I swear track two and three, I Watch I Wait, and Watching The Boys Fall Down are set to the exact same music. It was at this point that I started skipping through tracks, listening for a few second. However, by track five of ten, I did something I haven't done in a long while. I gave up, and turned it off.

Seriously, I'm done with Martha And The Muffins, M + M, or whatever you want to call them. While my normal layout of these posts would have be going into the future of them past 1989, frankly, I don't care. They could have created time travel, and colonized mars, I couldn't care less. All I want is to distance myself from them as much as possible at this point.

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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 Spectacular Spider-Man 148

Title: The Spectacular Spider-Man
Issue Number: 148
Release Date: March 1989

Highlights

The skeletal remains of Ned Leeds, Gwen Stacy, and Spider-Man rise from the ground, and Betty sees all of this, though she's miles away in Flash Thompson's apartment

Betty tells Flash about her vision, and Flash tells her that he wishes Spider-Man were there because he's his hero

The demons outside overhear this

Flash and Betty are the only ones left in the building

Outside it's a furnace, inside an ice cube

The demons of N'Astirh have been given free reign to "play" with the humans

On the roof, "Spider-Man" appears before Flash, and starts fighting with him, while in the apartment, the remains of Ned Leeds arrive, scaring Betty

"Spider-Man" webs Flash to an antenna, and removes the lightning rod from the roof, making Flash the potential new conduit
Inside, Betty whimpers for help, but the ghost of Ned Leeds appears to her, and tells her she needs to stop depending on everyone else for strength, but instead to help herself

Back on the roof, Flash breaks free of the webbing, and realizes that the fact that he broke free means this isn't the real Spider-Man, and the fight continues

The demons reveal themselves to both Ned and Flash, and Betty explodes the apartment with a gas heater, fleeing with Flash at the last moment
Outside, the skies clear, and the demons vanish
Reference is made to X-Factor 38
The Inferno storyline ends, but...