Comics Corner: The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual 8

   

Title: The Spectacular Spider-Man Annual
Issue Number: 8
Release Date: November 1988

Highlights

• First appearance of Junipur, Katos, and Professor Quint
• Spider-Man sits atop a roof petting a stray cat and pondering if Mary Jane would be upset if he brought it home when a stray explosion hits close to him
• Reference is made to The Spectacular Spider-Man 142, 143, The Amazing Spider-Man Annual 22, The Amazing Spider-Man 90, and 148
• Spider-Man swoops down and deals with the High Evolutionary's armored men, and then goes to check on the girl they were chasing, only to come face to face with the clone of Gwen Stacy
• Seeing each other startles them both
• The battle with the armored men commences, and in the tussle, Gwen has taken off on foot
• High Evolutionary's men return to him, having failed their mission a third time
• He explains to Quint why he needs Gwen Stacy - To study her genetic makeup
• Peter digs out an old photo album of him and Gwen, looking through it while he waits for Mary Jane to come home
• When she does, he explains to her what's going on
• The High Evolutionary spies on the Young Gods training for battle, but they realize he's there, and what his plan is for humanity
• Some of them think they should do something about it, but Katos tells them they shouldn't get involved
• Not listening, Brightsword has Highnote transport him and her, along with Daydreamer, Mindsinger, Sea Witch, Splice, and Junipur to Earth
• Katos informs the rest they need to go after them before they bring disaster to all humanity
• As Mary Jane and Peter wait for the inevitable arrival of Gwen, Mary Jane gets upset, feeling like she's never stood a chance with Peter as long as Gwen was in the picture
• Peter tells her that he doesn't love Gwen anymore, but in his mind, calls himself a liar
• Gwen tracks down Peter to his new apartment through Betty Brant
• As she grabs him for a hug, his Spider-Man costume gets exposed under his robe
• Gwen panics, and runs away
• Mary Jane tells Peter he still loves Gwen, and to find her, help her, but come home to him with a clear heart, or don't come home
• Spider-Man grabs Gwen, and tries to explain, but she immediately blames him for killing her father
• Distracted, and trying to explain, the High Evolutionary's men attack
• Quint grabs Gwen, and transports back to their hidden base, but Spider-Man jumps on, and goes along
• As the entire base attacks Spider-Man, the rogue Young Gods appear on the scene, and immediately join the fray
• The remaining Young Gods also show up, but immediately set to the task of stopping their comrades
• However, it ends abruptly when Daydreamer sneaks up on Calculus, and zaps his mind harder than she expected, sending him into a screaming frenzy
• Spider-Man frees Gwen, and calms her down by telling her he's Peter
• They embrace, but he tells her that it's over between them because he's in love with someone else
• Caduceus is able to repair Calculus's mind
• The Young Gods depart
• Spider-Man demands to know what High Evolutionary wanted with the clone of Gwen Stacy
• He explains that he wanted to learn how Professor Warren created her, and in probing learned she never was a clone of Gwen Stacy, rather a near identical woman that Warren kidnapped, and genetically altered
• High Evolutionary transports Spider-Man and "the woman" out of his fortress
• As the now confused woman questions everything, Daydream appears behind her, and returns her original memories to her
• The woman, who Peter still doesn't know, simply wanders off, presumably back to where she remembers she was from
• Peter returns to Mary Jane, and when asked if he loves Gwen, he says of course he does, but that she's dead, and part of his past, while Mary Jane is now and his future

Low Points

• There's a second story featuring the Young Gods, and a third all about High Evolutionary, but neither include Spider-Man
• These annuals are really long and drawn out
• Take out the Young Gods, and the story isn't impacted at all, instead, it's tighter, and moves along better

Oddities

• None

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

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Comics Corner: Secret Wars II 8

   

Title: Secret Wars II
Issue Number: 8
Release Date: February 1986

Highlights

• First appearance of Julia
• In a fit of rage and frustration, Beyonder destroys several multiverses with a mere thought, which Molecule Man, while trying to calm him down, immediately repairs
• Beyonder states he's come so frustrated with trying to find his role in the multiverse that he'd rather just destroy everything, and be alone
• In walking through Beyonder's past with him, Molecule man realizes that the pinhole Beyonder saw which made him aware of existence beyond him was the event which turned Owen Reece into Molecule Man
• Molecule Man suggests that if Beyonder turned himself mortal that he may find purpose, but this only serves to enrage him because he thinks he's being tricked to make himself vulnerable to attack
• In response, Beyonder says in twenty-four hours he'll return, and starting with Molecule Man will destroy all existence on Earth
• Beyonder causes an Earthquake in San Fransisco, unintentionally drawing the X-Men out to attack him, but realizing what he'd done, he retreats
• Seeing this unfold from a distance, Molecule Man panics, and creates a dome around him, and he surrounding area
• Beyonder sees the dome as he's "passing by", and with a laugh, destroys it easily
• Beyonder heads Southwest to talk with the Hulk, but is instead met with a fight by the beast
• Beyonder searches Hulk's mind, wanting to learn about Bruce Banner, but discovers that the man who once was part of Hulk is no more
• Reference is made to The Incredible Hulk 313, and Web Of Spider-Man 11
• Beyonder goes to see Peter Parker, telling him of all the mortals he's met, he likes him most, and asks him to explain why people have a fascination with life and death
• Peter explains that time is finite, so all humans cling to every moment they can, because they don't know when it will end
• This anger's Beyonder that life is all about finite time, but tells Peter he may have convinced him to not destroy everying
• As he leaves Peter's apartment, the New Mutants attack him, he easily defeats them, and warns them not to follow him
• As Molecule Man makes plans for him and Volcana to run, she convinces him to stay, and make his stand once and for all against Beyonder
• Beyonder returns to Molecule Man, prepared to have him tell him about mortality, but Molecule Man attacks
• When his attack is futile, Volcana throws herself at Beyonder's feet, telling him to kill Molecule Man, but spare her, saying she never loved him, Beyonder rejects her, and kicks her away
• Volcana runs away, reducing Molecule Man to tears, as he lies on the ground crying
• Beyonder is amused by this, and says he's going to have one more look at this world before he erases the multiverse
• In her car, Volcana cries from her ruse, speaking out loud that now that she's gone, Beyonder won't be jealous of Molecule Man, and hopefully leave him alone

Low Points

• The story picks up in New Mutants 37, and The Amazing Spider-Man 274

Oddities

• None

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

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Comics Corner: Web Of Spider-Man 8

   

Title: Web Of Spider-Man
Issue Number: 8
Release Date: November 1985

Highlights

• First appearance of Smithville Thunderbolt, AKA Fred Hopkins, Roxanne DeWinter, Ludlow Grimes, Marge, and Irving Stein
• First appearance of the location Smithville
• The prologue takes place thirty years ago
• After a rough day at work, Fred finds a meteorite piece that gives him super powers
• Fred makes a costume for himself out of old long johns, and sets to task on avenging the weak
• Robbie declines to buy Peter's photos of Spider-Man, saying he'd have to publish a Spider-Man story every day for the next year and a half to use all the photos he already has
• Robbie sends Peter Parker to Pennsylvania to get some photos of the new hero
• Just as he arrives in town, Peter learns of a fire at the old Elk Lodge, and immediately leaps into action as Spider-Man
• As Thunderbolt rescues the kids inside, and exits out the front, Spider-Man goes in through the back, and is jumped by the towering giant, Ludlow Grimes
• When Ludlow realizes Spider-Man isn't Thunderbolt, he simply leaves him alone
• Thinking it was Thunderbolt who jumped him, Spider-Man throws a tracer on the man
• Roxanne DeWinter sees Peter with his camera, and yells at him that he's on her turf
• When Roxanne finds out Peter is with the Bugle, she buys him a soda, and says the two should work together, mainly so that she can get her own foot in the door at the Bugle
• Peter declines, telling her he works better alone
• Peter follows his tracer to Fred's house, and confronts him, finding his Thunderbolt suit, and taking his tracer back
• Fred explains that over time his powers have faded, and he's needed to use his scientific brain to develop an exobody, which not only give the appearance of muscles, but does also increase his strength
• To stay relevant, Fred has been creating his own disasters, ones which he knew he could control
• Fred explains how he used smoke, but no real fire to give the illusion of danger at the lodge, while also weakening the wall so he could break through it
• Spider-Man's senses tingle, and he hears a noise coming from the front door, whipping it open, Roxanne snaps a photo of Fred in his costume without his mask on
• In a cliffhanger ending, Ludlow crashes through the wall, pronouncing that he (too) is the Smithville Thunderbolt

Low Points

• The dialog in the prologue for the story is so choppy, with many panels only having one or two words, it's difficult to read
• Racial slurs in this issue - Not cool, Marvel

Oddities

• None

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

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Comics Corner: Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars 8

    

Title: Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars
Issue Number: 8
Release Date: December 1984

Highlights

• That iconic cover
• First appearance of the symbiote, and Spider-Man in his black suit
• Iron Man gets his alien pieces of armor, which later become Omnivore
• The heroes attack the villain's base in an effort to find and help She-Hulk
• Enchantress is conjuring up her own mead, and severely drunk
• Reference is made to Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars 3, 4, and 6
• Klaw frees Lizard from the stasis prison the villains put him in
• Wrecker hits Iron Man with his prybar, damaging the heroe's armor
• Absorbing Man sends shards of metal flying with one blow from his wrecking ball, shredding Spider-Man's suit with the debris
• As Thing attacks Absorbing Man, he transforms back into Ben Grim
• Hawkeye fires a warning arrow at Piledriver, but despite asking him to halt, the villain pushes forward - Hawkeye's next shot penetrates, shocking PIledrive, who has never been wounded before
• Mr. Fantastic burns his hands pulling Iron Man in his hot armor from the path of another blast of plasma from Volcana
• Hawkeye and Ben Grim distract Lizard and Klaw with a rousing game of patty cake
• The heroes take over the villains base, locking them up in the dungeon
• Captain Marvel and Hawkeye leave to go get Wasps body to bring her to the base for a proper burial
• Colossus uses the mist from Zsaji's hut to see into her mind, and realizes that Wasp was only on the edge of death, but that the healer used so much power to help her that she herself almost died
• Captain Marvel and Hawkeye arrive at the village to find Wasp alive
• Mr. Fantastic fixes and enhances Iron Man's armor with the alien technology, and sees that the man underneath the armor isn't Tony Stark
• After fixing up Thor's suit, the Hulk tells Spider-Man of a machine in the room behind him which can repair any type of cloth with just a thought
• Spider-Man unintentionally steps up to the wrong machine, and a black blob falls in front of him
• While his spider senses trigger, the ball envelopes his hand, encasing him in the black suit - A new era begins

Low Points

• None

Oddities

• None

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

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Comics Corner: Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man

   

Title: Peter Parker, The Spectacular Spider-Man
Issue Number: 8
Release Date: July 1977

Highlights

• First full appearance, origin, and death of The Empathoid
• Reference is made to Hammer films
• Flash Thompson final gets to see Sha Shan, only to be told Achmed Korba, AKA Brother Power, is her husband - But that mystery will continue to unravel later
• Reference is made to The Amazing Spider-Man 108, and Marvel Two-In-One 15
• Spider-Man fixes his damaged web shooters
• Spider-Man says he's going to leave The Empathoid's body with the Fantastic Four

Low Points

• None

Oddities

• None

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

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Comics Corner: Marvel Team-Up 8

      

Title: Marvel Team-Up
Issue Number: 8
Release Date: April 1973 

Highlights

• First appearance of Karl Lubbings, Mayor Samuels, and Man-Killer
• Death of Mayor Samuels amd Karl Lubbings
• Origin of Man-Killer
• Reference is made to Claws of the Cat issue 1
  

Low Points

• Dang! Spider-Man straight up punches a woman in the face
• Story ends abruptly
  

Oddities

• The Cat attacks Spider-Man to prove herself so that he'll talk to her
  

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

 

 

 

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Comics Corner: The Amazing Spider-Man 8

Title: The Amazing Spider-Man

Issue Number: 8

Release Date: January 1964

Highlights

• The Living Brain is eluded to be able to figure out who Spider-Man is
• Peter Parker, tired of being bullied, fights Flash Thompson in a boxing ring and beats him

Low Points

• Decent, but not great, story of a super smart computer which goes on a rampage
• Secondary story in the issue shows Spider-Man acting not only as the antagonist, but also a jerk, to the Fantastic Four

Oddities

• No explanation is given as to why Spider-Man is acting like a jerk to the Fantastic Four, specifically to Human Torch

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

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