Comics Corner: Web Of Spider-Man Annual 4

   

Title: Web Of Spider-Man Annual
Issue Number: 4
Release Date: October 1988

Highlights

• First appearance of Ylandris, Carlos Cardinale, Doyle Denby, Santo, Maria, and Poison, AKA Cecilia Cardinale
• Peter appears on the television talk show, Miami Slice with host Doyle Denby
• Cecilia Cardinale, a woman working as housekeeping at the motel Peter Parker is staying in Miami at enters his room, and sets his spidey senses off
• As she leaves, she seems to be talking to herself, and one of the questions is if she should kill him
• In the Everglades, the High Evolutionary's men set up and activate his equipment, which awakens Man-Thing
• Meanwhile, after her shift, Cecilia is catch a bus, and continues talking to an image that only she can see
• The image of the female tells her that tonight is both their night
• Back in the Everglades red blobs fall from the sky, hitting the High Evolutionary's men, and appearing to kill them instantly, but they soon rise again
• High Evolutionary explains that it's genetic pollutants that rain down from the atmosphere, and like a symbiote attach to a host
• Kingpin makes a call to Slug, and the two come to a mutual agreement to work together to solve their "product shortage"
• At home, Carlos Cardinale is watching G.I. Joe on the television
• It appears that Cecilia has super powers, and displays them as she playfully lays on her back, picks Carlos up with her legs, and "helicopters" him over her head
• Peter heads out in the evening for some food, but ends up as Spider-Man, helping Santo from a beating he's receiving
• As Spider-Man gets information on who the assaulter was, and leaves, the High Evolutionary's Purifier squad "cleans" Santo
• Cecelia prepares for the night, and takes on the persona of her alter ego, Poison
• Slug kills his own man, by suffocating him in his stomach fat folds - punishment for failure with Santo
• Poison kills several Purifiers, and watching from the side is her son, who cheers her on
• Reference is made to Marvel Comics Presents 1 - 12
• Peter Parker makes a deal with the Tribune, first dibs on his pictures in exchange for a plane and boat ride to the swamp
• As Spider-Man, he finds the stash of drugs Santo told him about, but he's interrupted by some drug runners
• They in turn are interrupted by the Purifiers
• As Spider-Man watches the fight, his spider senses kick into overdrive, and he sees Poison, instantly recognizing her as the housekeeper from his motel
• Ylandris departs Poison's body, and proclaims she's strong enough now to make her trip home
• Mary Jane surprises Peter at his motel
• After the backup story, see low points, there's a year in review of Spider-Man, which showcases highlights from 1988
• Peter and Mary Jane's Wedding
• Kraven's Last Hunt
• The Mad Dog Ward
• The return of Doctor Octopus
• Venom
• The return of Black Cat

Low Points

• The story is long and boring
• There's a backup story, but it's just about Poison
• There's a third story, but it's just about High Evolutionary

Oddities

• None

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

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Comics Corner: Secret Wars II 4

   

Title: Secret Wars II
Issue Number: 4
Release Date: October 1985

Highlights

• Death and resurrection of Dazzler
• First appearance of Kurse, AKA Algrim, Sharon Ing, and Eddie
  
• Sharon Ing is in love with Beyonder, but he doesn't reciprocate, and in fact, after one particular night together, he just says goodbye, and leaves
• Beyonder takes to the skies in his red Lamborghini
• Reference is made to Thor 247, 248, Rom, The Thing, Alpha Flight 27, and 22
• Beyonder revives Algrim, and watches as he sets on his path to kill Thor
• The military catches up to Beyonder's flying car, and blast him with a missile
• Not happy with it, Beyonder gets out of his car, and walks towards through the air towards the plane he's frozen, takes the plane, and sends the pilot to an auto shop with his damaged vehicle to get it fixed
• Beyonder goes to visit Molecule Man, and asks him to explain love to him
• Beyonder returns to Sharon to find she's overdosed on drugs
• Beyonder revives her and asks why she loves him, only to be told because of how he makes her feel
• Her response isn't good enough, and Beyonder chooses to find someone else - settling on Dazzler
• Beyonder brings Dazzler to a dome floating through space, and introduces himself, he then proceeds to whisk her around the world in an attempt to get her to open up to him
• Dazzler and Beyonder kiss atop a mountain
• Dazzler awakens in France with Beyonder, and he tells her he is going to get her a gift
• Beyonder materializes in the West Edmonton Mall in front of Alpha Flight, who immediately attack him - He makes short order of them
• Beyonder tells Shaman he needs to borrow his pouch, but intends to pay him for it, he then produces Shaman's daughter from the depths of the pouch, returning her to him
• Dazzler decides she wants to leave Beyonder, and he teleports her to New York
• When Dazzler tells him she wants to live her life and follow her dreams, Beyonder teleports her to a stage with a full audience, but she says she wants to earn her dream on her own
• The Avengers arrive, deeming Beyonder too powerful to be on Earth unchecked
• The Avengers attack, intent on stopping Beyonder, but to no avail, as Dazzler saves his life, allowing the two to teleport back to the mountaintop
• Beyonder admits that those weren't the real Avengers, but rather he materialized them to get Dazzler to prove she loved him
• Beyonder gives Dazzler half his power, making them equals, but she declines it, telling him she doesn't love him
• Drained of the energy, Dazzler falls from the sky, hitting the ground, and dying
• Angered that Dazzler doesn't love him, and has died, Beyonder's rage shoots upward in a blast of energy that destroys a galaxy far beyond Earth
• Beyonder revives Dazzler, and manipulates her mind to love him, but realizing it would be empty, he releases her, and returns her to where she was originally before they first met

Low Points

• For as many highlights as each issue has, Secret Wars II really isn't all that interesting to read
• No Spider-Man

Oddities

• None

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

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Comics Corner: Web Of Spider-Man 4

   

Title: Web Of Spider-Man
Issue Number: 4
Release Date: July 1985

Highlights

• First appearance of Paul and Jack
• First appearance of Uncle Cleve's Discount Radio And Electronics
• Reference is made to Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man 79, 100, Fantastic Four 267, 268, and Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars 12
• J. Jonah Jameson reminds Peter that if he brings him shots of Spider-Man being a menace that he'll buy them, and even breaks his silence on his secret project, to revive Now Magazine
• Doctor Octopus continues his rehabilitation psychiatric sessions with Dr. Jefferson
• Ock takes a nap, but is awakened by a nightmare, and then sent into a full on panic when he sees a spider in a web above his head
• His breakdown and thrashing causes his metal arms, locked away far from him to react psyonically, and they break free in the process
• The arms break out, and rampage through the city, making their way back to their master, breaking him out of the ward
• Octopus briefly considers his options of either using his arms for good, but ultimately decides he would rather destroy Spider-Man

Low Points

• None

Oddities

• Editor's Day Off: Multiple panels with Spider-Man's lenses colored red

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

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Comics Corner: Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual 4

  

Title: Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual
Issue Number: 4
Release Date: November 1984

Highlights

• First appearance of Johnny Jerome, Albert Reilly, and Claire Reilly
• First appearance of the locations Danceland, and 310 Bedstone Avenue
• Reference is made to The Amazing Spider-Man 258
• As the robbers of a bank exit into the streets, Spider-Man swoops overhead, but he ignores them completely
• The narration tells us he's asleep (see low points)
• In the rain drenched streets below, May Parker walks through the city, remembering her past
• The story serves as a historic glance into the life and times of one May Reilly, soon to be the wife of Ben Parker, and guardian of a young Peter Parker
• Nathan Lubensky calls Peter at home, and tells him he needs to come see his Aunt - The two still haven't spoken since Peter told her he dropped out of school
• Aunt May is getting mysterious letters daily, and a car picks her up each night to take her out alone
• The letters are love letters from Johnny Jerome, a figure from May's past
• Nathan asks Peter to follow his Aunt, and find out where she's going, and what she's doing
• As Peter and Nathan rest, May slips out again, and into a cab - Hearing her exit, Peter springs into action, following as Spider-Man
• Aunt May wander's Coney Island in a daydream, reliving her past
• Aunt May returns to her old home, 310 Bedstone Avenue, but is followed in by some thugs
• While May meets with an older Johnny, Spider-Man quietly deals with the thugs
• In a flashback, Ben Parker informs May the jewelry which Johnny was trying to woo her with was not only stolen from a shop, but that he was shot by Johnny
• We learn that Johnny was only paroled because he doesn't have much time left to live
• May tells him that he doesn't love her, he only loves the memory of her, and says that she will help him find a place to live out the rest of his days, but nothing more than that
• May returns home to a waiting Nathan, and tells him that it's time for her to explain everything
• A backup story has Spider-Man and Black Cat trying to enjoy a normal night in, when the wine carafe Spidey gave her as a gift is stolen
• Black Cat send Spider-Man for a bottle of wine, while she sets out on a mystery to find the stolen glassware
• Black Cat finds the carafe at a restaurant, but it's taken from her at gunpoint by a mysterious man, who gives it to his hostages when she gives chase, and who give it to the police
• The carafe is turned over to Captain DeWolfe, and as she examines it, the mysterious man shows up at her office claiming to be CIA agent Tamarind
• Black Cat busts through the window of DeWolfe's office and chases after the man, only to find out that it's her friend, Tamara Blake in disguise, just playing a game with Cat

Low Points

• Deciphering the Spider-Man timeline
• This issue must occur at some point during the events of The Amazing Spider-Man 258 - They must because at the end of that issue, Peter no longer has the symbiote suit
• This issue makes reference to a sleeping Peter Parker within his Spider-Man symbiote costume, thus why he doesn't engage with the bank robbers
• In The Amazing Spider-Man 258, the symbiote once again envelopes a sleeping Peter Parker, and takes him out into the night, but prior to Peter going to the Fantastic Four's headquarters
• The events of Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual 4 feasibly occur during that time
• The backup story is silly and unnecessary

Oddities

• Editor's Day Off: A major goof in the lettering occurs, with words completely missing when Spider-Man says, " But at least neither Aunt May else was hurt!" I think it's supposed to say, "But at least neither Aunt May or anyone else was hurt!"
• Editor's Continued Day Off: A young Johnny tells May, "But now there's no time left now." The last "now" is redundent

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

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Comics Corner: Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars 4

    

Title: Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars
Issue Number: 4
Release Date: August 1984

Highlights

• First appearance of Zsaji
• Death of Kang
• Molecular Man destroy the super heroes headquarters with a wave of his hand, and then drops a mountain on them
• Thor and Enchantress return to where they original left from - Unfortunately, it's to a destroyed base, surrounded by all the villains
• Thor is defeated, and seemingly disintegrated, but actually escaped
• Doom has Ultron kill Kang to show the other villains that treachery against him will not be tolerated
• Reference is made to Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars 1
• The X-Men arrive at Magneto's base, and inform him they want to work together
• Wasp reveals that she was just going along with Magneto to reveal his plan, and now that she knows, she's bailing
• The X-Men try to stop Wasp, but she defeats them, and escapes
• Wolverine complains that the X-Men keep getting defeated by everyone they attack
• The Hulk struggles to brace the mountain on his back, keeping it from crushing the heroes
• Reed Richards concocts a plan to free the heroes, but it requires items from the other heroes, including Spider-Man's web shooters
• Reed Richards insults Hulk, intentionally making him angrier because his anger makes him stronger, buying more time for him to create a cannon which Iron Man uses to blast a massive hole through the mountain
• Captain Marvel scouts the planet, and finds a village where she leads the other heroes to
• The villagers take them in
• Galactus remains standing on the mountain top, which is within site of the village
• The healer of the village helps the wounded, including healing Human Torch's broken arm and ribs
• Ben Grim suddenly turns back into the Thing
• Without warning, Galactus begins moving, all to the horrific shouts of "No" from Reed Richards

Low Points

• Things have been steadily slowing down since the previous issue

Oddities

• None

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

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Comics Corner: Marvel Team-Up Annual 4

   

Title: Marvel Team-Up Annual 4
Issue Number: 4
Release Date: August 1981

Highlights

• First appearance of Heinrich von Schnickelschnapp, and Kingpin's henchmen, Pigeon and Scudd, and Kingpin's assistant, Hildy
• First appearance of the location, Fisk Towers
• Reference is made to Daredevil 154
• Kingpin is not affected by Killgrave's power to control minds
• Impressive Team-Up featuring Moon Knight, Iron Fist, Power Man and Daredevil...Oh, and don't forget Spider-Man

Low Points

• None

Oddities

• Matt Murdock throws a lit cigar at an empty seat to start a fire so that he can yell, "fire" to clear out the place before his secret identity is revealed - how about just yelling fire without the actual arson, and potential risk to people's lives?

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

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Comics Corner: Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man 4

   

Title: Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man
Issue Number: 4
Release Date: March 1977

Highlights

• First appearance of Hitman (alias Burt Kenyon), Kwirkegard (in a Hostess Twinkie ad), Joe Knuckles, and Achmed Korba (who would become Brother Power)
• Reference is made to The Amazing Spider-Man 105, 166, and Captain America 183
• Flash Thompson runs into Sha Shan, a girl he met in Vietnam, and hadn't see since The Amazing Spider-Man 109, but she flees from him - The mystery begins
• Hostess Cupcake ad starring Iron Man

Low Points

• None

Oddities

• None

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

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Comics Corner: Giant-Size Spider-Man 4

   

Title: Giant-Size Spider-Man
Issue Number: 4
Release Date: April 1975

Highlights

• First appearance of Moses Magnum
• Reprints the first story of The Amazing Spider-Man Annual 2
• Reference is made to The Amazing Spider-Man 135, 141, and 142

Low Points

• None

Oddities

• Colorist's Day Off - In a panel of Spider-Man sitting on a bed, the left half of his costume is flesh colored - It's so goofy, I have to show it

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

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Comics Corner: Marvel Team-Up 4

   

Title: Marvel Team-Up
Issue Number: 4
Release Date: July 1972

Highlights

• The X-Men join the team up fun, Angel, Iceman, Cyclops, Professor X, Beast, and Jean Grey
• Spider-Man whips the X-Men all on his own
• Spidey grabs a kiss from Jean Grey
  

Low Points

• Spider-Man is sidelined for most of the story
  

Oddities

• Professor X can use his mind to talk to all mutants, but never bothers doing so with Spider-Man
  
• The X-Men are at it again - Fight first, talk later
  

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

 

 

 

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Comics Corner: The Long Halloween 4

Title: Batman: The Long Halloween

Issue Number: 4

Release Date: March 1997

Highlights

• Joker returns, crazier than ever

Low Points

• Story is getting very repetitive, and not advancing quickly enough
• Starting to lose interest

Oddities

• Artwork feels like it's getting worse
• Joker steals a plane, and it just so happens to have a Joker style smiley face on the front?

Rating (based on a 1 through 5 Bat Symbols grading system)

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Comics Corner: The Amazing Spider-Man 4

Title: The Amazing Spider-Man

Issue Number: 4

Release Date: September 1963

Highlights

• First appearance of Flint Marko / Sandman
• First mention of The Daily Bugle

Low Points

• Spider-Man breaks into J. Jonah Jameson's office for nothing more than to play a prank on him
• Spider-Man defeats Sandman with a vacuum

Oddities

• Peter rips his mask open during his first fight with Sandman and runs away because he doesn't want Sandman, who he's never met, to recognize him
• Peter complains he's not a seamstress as he sews his torn suit, but didn't he sew the entire original thing?

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

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