Comic Promos, Mighty Marvel Checklists

THE MiGHTY MARVEL CHECKLiST: WEEK 34

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SATURDAY 18th MARCH 1989

A funny cover by Brian Williamson and Bambos Georgiou to mark the Easter school holidays for readers of The Real Ghostbusters, while those buying Transformers and Action Force were probably gasping in horror rather than giggling, thanks to Andrew Wildman’s shocking image.

The free gift was a Slimer-shaped jelly, a special sweet treat for that particular Saturday morning. I loved those things! I’d keep the plastic moulds to fill with my favourite drinks and stick in the freezer on warm summer days. Just me? Inside, a story about haunted shopping trollies explains a lot about those at my local supermarket, and Bad News was a very funny tale of a TV-addict ghost watching his own bust live on the gogglebox.

Cover artist Andrew is also a news story on the editorial page inside Transformers with the news of the birth of his third child, which was a lovely little moment in the comic. In the main strip, Starscream looks much more like last issue’s cover and it’s a cracking read, one of the very best of the American stories. It also sees the beginning of the fascinating dynamic between Optimus Prime and Scorponok that’d continue to play out until for next two years until they become firm friends(!) and it came to a tragic end.

The checklist is a good one this week.

How strange that the previous issue of Thundercats’ was the one to bring a brand new look to the comic instead of waiting until the first monthly issue to do so. It now contained two strips, the first was all about one of the most annoying cartoon characters ever while the other was a reprint. I don’t think it lasted too long after this if my memory of these checklists serves me right. Dragon’s Claws #10 missed out on top billing again but the ‘Don’t Miss’ title this week is rather special for us because it’s actually been covered on the blog before.

Doctor Who Magazine #147 not only contained that very funny comic strip of the Seventh Doctor’s run-in with The Sleeze Brothers, it also contained a full guide to season 25 of the classic show which began with a certain story called Remembrance of the Daleks. This just so happened to be the very first Doctor Who story I ever watched, so it was a nice surprise to read about it when I’d bought the issue solely for the brothers’ section of the blog.

So, I said previously we’d make up for the lack of comics adverts these past few weeks…

We’ve no less than three this week, beginning with the big news that The Marvel Bumper Comic was going weekly with #14, the same issue number as The Real Ghostbusters’ first weekly the year before. This wasn’t the only thing the two comics had in common either if you look at the free gifts coming up. A new weekly schedule usually meant a degree of success so it’s a surprise to know the comic would end up cancelled before the end of the year.

That’s a hell of a packed line-up too, so we know each strip had to be very short but it still intrigues me. Another star of the Bumper Comic at a later stage would be William Tell, who we saw previously when his non-existent fortnightly comic was advertised across Marvel UK’s range. Here, those first strips were collected together into a graphic novel so at least they could get them out there. Not that anyone in the UK was aware of the show yet.

Finally for this week, a brand new humour comic was revealed!

Oh dear. Not only has the printing gone horribly wrong for the advert’s debut but there’s no indication of what It’s Wicked! would actually be. The inclusion of Slimer (whose popularity Marvel UK was rinsing as much as they could) told us it would be a funny comic, but the line of text at the bottom read like it was telling us something completely different. It’d essentially be a ghosts-and-monsters-themed take on Beano and The Dandy but it didn’t last long, just 17 issues in the end. With this advert as the pre-release hype I can see why kids didn’t exactly rush out to buy it.

If you thought that was a bad advert, wait until you see one (of two) to come next week. It changes one line of text from a year-old advert to publicise a supposedly new Spring Special, but it’s really just a carbon copy of a previous comic with a different issue number. Not the company’s finest hour. I’ll catch you back here in seven.

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BEANO #452: AN iCON iS BORN

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Three months and six years after our last entry comes our third edition of Beano (or, THE Beano as it was called) from DC Thomson’s 80th Anniversary Box Set. It’s another lovely reproduction, the paper feels authentic and the printing once again could easily fool us into thinking we’re reading an original. There was also a big improvement on the title banner by this stage in the comic’s life; there was no need to be disgusted by Big Eggo as the new mascot. He wasn’t inside though. So who was?

It’s another 12-page issue (the World War II paper shortages still in effect) and as a result the overall make up of the issue feels vey different, even compared to the classic issues we’ve seen so far. There are less than five pages of comic strip here, the rest are made up of picture-panel and prose stories. This meant the kids still had plenty to read inside such a small comic and it was back to a weekly schedule after alternating with The Dandy during the war.

Dudley D. Watkins’ Biffo the Bear kicks things off and I’ll admit I can take him or leave him. Reading friends’ Beano books or issues as a kid I was never that enamoured with him, so I don’t have any particular memories of his strips. They must’ve been a bit forgettable for young me despite being one of the comic’s mainstays. He was the cover star from his introduction in #327 in 1948 all the way until #1677 in 1974 when he was dethroned by a certain character who makes his debut in this very issue.

Yep, this was the week readers were introduced to Dennis the Menace, drawn by David Law and developed by him and the comic’s chief sub-editor Ian Chisholm, in this fun little strip I originally read in the 50th anniversary book. While I do prefer the modern Dennis and the more sophisticated humour (obviously such things change over time) I did laugh at the quick transition between the 4th and 5th panels above! Of course, we now know this Dennis is our modern day Dennis’ dad in the current Beano, which is a nice touch. A quaint start for a true comics megastar.

The Granny Green story (now drawn by Gordon Ramsbottom) yet again reintroduces the whole premise as if this was Jimmy’s first time dressing up as his fictional relative, while confusingly also acknowledging he’d done so loads. It’s probably meant to play out as a repetitive gag the children reading are in on, knowing full well what’s going to eventually happen. I can imagine the kids of the day cheering him on to dress up, but today it reads like the exact same story from #1 dragged out over a page-and-a-half.

Noel Fielding’s hilarious TV series The Completely Made Up Adventures of Dick Turpin may have spoiled me somewhat for comical tales about that particular historical figure, but in 1951 I’m sure Fred Sturrock’s The Hungry Little Goodwins provided plenty of smiles. Strangely, the picture-panel stories of this series that ran throughout 1951 were adaptations of earlier prose stories from just a couple of years previous.

Always hungry, the kids’ appetites were insatiable and it was always up to Turpin to get them out of whatever situation their rumbly tummies got them into. It does go rather dark in this issue with its workhouse and all that but it’s still fun and as unique a serial as you’re ever likely to find. On the back cover is a character I remember from reading friends’ copies back at school, and from about three months ago in #272.

This was Pansy Potter’s second series in The Beano, running from 1949 to 1955, with “in Wonderland” replacing “the Strong-Man’s Daughter” as the sub-title. She was now taking up the whole rear cover on her own, such was her popularity. Somehow stepping into a wishing well into Wonderland, Pansy found herself surround by characters from nursery rhymes. Bit random.

Pansy Potter was the first series to be printed in full colour on the back page

Drawn by James Clark by this stage, it might sound like a rather random set up but it hit all the right notes for the readers. All the proof you need of how well received it was is the fact this was the series the comic decided would be the first strip to be printed in full colour on the back page, as mentioned when we last met Pansy.

Elsewhere, Lord Snooty and His Pals are still in the same format (and still on the same page) and Tommy’s Clockwork Town is the unbelievable prose serial of a boy with a full clockwork town and its residents flat-packed in a lorry ready to be deployed in minutes. Jimmy and his Magic Patch picture-panel stories came to an end and the details of that exciting news on the cover amounts to no more than two separate sentences accompanying two stories inside.

Pansy may have finished the issue but I want to finish the review by nipping back to page two and Bill Holroyd’s Have-A-Go Joe. Judging by this one strip alone, Joe seems like someone who was up for anything and the more ridiculous and dangerous the better. There’s got to be an easier why to make a living. That guy he’s working for could also do with some heath and safety in the workplace training if this is how he tests bullet-proof vests. Joe would last for just over 100 issues before disappearing, then appear briefly in The Beano Cinema before returning much later in 1997!

Next time, we’ll jump forward to the ‘Year of Africa’, 1960 and the time of the first laser, the 50th star on the American flag, Cassius Clay winning gold at the Olympics, the iconic photo of Che Guevara, the Civil Rights Act, the opening of the Bluebell Railway and the premiere of The Flintstones. The inclusion of the next issue in the box set celebrates free gifts and, finally, there’s an increase in page count. So, more to read, review and (hopefully) laugh at in The Beano #954 on Monday 26th October 2026.

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Comic Promos, Mighty Marvel Checklists

THE MiGHTY MARVEL CHECKLiST: WEEK 33

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SATURDAY 11th MARCH 1989

The Real Ghostbusters’ cover by Brian Williamson and Bambos Georgiou doesn’t stand a chance this week when compared to the epic nature of that for Transformers and Action Force. They even had Geoff Senior render the scene for the front page! A shame then that it refers to next week’s issue instead.

Inside, Starscream does appear as a yellow ethereal being but for the most part he keeps to his normal proportions so he can get up close and personal with his victims. It’ll be next week before he’ll appear like the cover in some of the best artwork the US comic imports had before the UK team made the transfer. There are plenty of Starscream victims though with the death toll increasing exponentially, while Cobra Commander shows his softer side when he finds his long-lost son.

Across the way, some of toy company Kenner’s original ghost creations made their first appearances in this week’s issue, something they never did in the US comic or the cartoon series. Spengler’s Spirit Guide made me laugh with its details about Egyptian Pharaoh Halitoses Nuff, and a haunted cinema brings to life Mr Stay Puft (again), a vampire Charlie Chaplin and even Howard the Duck is spoofed, which he deserved after that movie!

The editorial in Transformers broke the sad news of the cancellation of Dragon’s Claws so it’s surprising to see it wasn’t given the ‘Don’t Miss’ slot on this week’s checklist. In fact, that honour isn’t given to any new comic, instead going to last week’s Thundercats again. You’ve got to start wondering what that slot is even for by this stage.

The description of the Transformers story, that Starscream is taking on not only the Autobots but all Transformers makes it sound unmissable too, so it could’ve got the top billing and I’d have been happy. Death’s Head #5 was also released this week but is for some reason completely absent here to make room for yet another repeated listing for Action Force Monthly. 

Hopefully more thought is put into next week’s checklist. What I do know is that new comics adverts return in seven days. As promised previously, they’ll make up for being absent these past few weeks because there are no less than three to transport you back to 1989 in The Mighty Marvel Checklist: Week 34. See you then!

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BRiCKMAN #2: SMACK-YOU-iN-THE-FACE FANTASTiC

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Finally Brickman #2 is here. After the brilliant first edition of collected strips from the character’s past I’ve been eagerly awaiting this (the middle issue of a three-issue mini-series) and it comes with four extra pages, a Combat Colin strip and even some extra features. Taken from the pages of Lew Stringer’s own Yampy Tales comic and the Brickman Begins book, the 27 pages of strips are again packed with enough gags to fill multiple issues.

It may be reprints but the new cover brings things bang up to date, especially that “moron cap” on one idiot’s head. Little gags like this are hidden away on every page throughout, and where the first issue aimed its social commentary jokes at Thatcher’s 80s Britain, here 90s culture is very much in the crosshairs. As a teenager of the 90s I was much more aware of the world around me and so a lot of these gags were even funnier to me than the previous issue’s.

We kick things off with a four-page Combat Colin serial from Transformers and it’s one of the most memorable of his entire run. Anyone who read the comic at the time will remember Colin and Semi-Automatic Steve ending up in a very Portmeirion-esque village along with a large collection of heroes and villains. Lew is a huge fan of the original The Prisoner TV series and this works as both a spoof and a love letter to it. It’s also how I was first introduced to Brickman as an 11-year-old reader.

It wasn’t until decades later I found out he wasn’t just a funny creation for this one Combat Colin strip. The main bulk of this issue sees Brickman returning to Guffon City after his adventure with Colin and Steve brought him out of retirement. But it’s been many years since he revealed his identity and left and his return sees a somewhat different city, filled with crime. But this is a Lew Stringer comic and the abundant crime problem isn’t anything like you’d expect, as you can see.

Anyone who has seen the Christian Bale Batman trilogy will know how hated the hero was when he returned and here, many years before those films Brickman (aka Loose Brayne) is met with hatred and fear, even from Commissioner Moron. We also get a funny recap of the character’s origin story without rehashed gags and with cameos from Colin and Steve, which are always going to be funny!

Lew takes plenty of opportunities to poke at the conventions of superhero stories, with a particular slant towards the already silly 60s Batman, as seen here in The Mad Cobbler’s overly elaborate and very slow, tedious death trap. As per usual, nothing is safe from Lew’s satirical pen. Sidekicks, last-minute escapes, villain reveals and of course comic book violence are all ripe for the Brickman treatment.

While there is a “Mature Readers” label on the cover there’s nothing overly inappropriate for slightly younger readers out there if you wish to share the laughs with your kids. As Lew explains in the editorial, “Although the story doesn’t quite venture into Viz territory, it is aimed at an adult readrship”. That adult audience will most likely get the most from it, but it’s also an excellent introduction to slightly more grown up humour for any teen readers out there.

Just like when I reviewed the previous issue I don’t want to give away too much. Some of my favourite moments are so good I’m gagging to share them with you because I just know they’d convince you to rush out and buy this. (Or, since this is 2026, rush to Lew’s online shop and click on it.) But if I did that I’d ruin the surprises and it’s the sudden jokes that come right of nowhere that happen to be my favourites.

So I guess you’ll just have to trust me. The panel below did make me laugh out loud though, particularly that 90s cultural reference. You might need to explain the occasional moment like this to your teenagers but for those of us who were around at the time the comic also succeeds in taking you right back with its gentle ribbing and/or outright mockery. So, despite never having read the bulk of this before it still made me feel like a kid again with the surprising amount of reminiscing I did about that rather strange decade.

The ending is also well thought out and turns an evil scheme on its head in an original, funny way, and for a moment I wished that things in today’s world could be fixed just as easily and enjoyably. There are also a couple of special features, the one about fanzines in the 1970s being my favourite because it took me back to the 90s again, to a time when I was creating a monthly fanzine on my Commodore 64 computer. Lew’s good times reminding me of my own.

All-in-all I’ve giggled, I’ve guffawed and I’ve finished the comic with a huge smile on my face. Does that sound good to you? It should, and you can get your own grubby little mitts on Brickman #2 for just £5.00 plus p&p via Lew’s own KoFi shop. While there, don’t forget to sign up for regular updates via his KoFi blog too. One more issue to go then and with promises of more colour and even brand new material, it sounds like Brickman #3 will be even better! What are you waiting for? Go and get caught up now.

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Comic Promos, Mighty Marvel Checklists

THE MiGHTY MARVEL CHECKLiST: WEEK 32

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SATURDAY 4th MARCH 1989

This week we’ve got two covers that really made me feel like a big kid again. My two favourite characters on Anthony Williams and Bambos Georgiou’s The Real Ghostbusters image and fond memories of the fantastic story inside Transformers and Action Force are portrayed by Andrew Wildman.

In The Underbase Saga the Autobots finally entered the Decepticon civil war and the casualty list was vast! Towards the end of this week’s chunk of story Starscream absorbed the Underbase, the millennia-spanning knowledge base drifting through space and everything was building to all hell breaking loose. On the editorial there was another appearance of the teaser for The Sleeze Brothers, still three months out from their comic arriving, although they did pop up in Doctor Who Magazine this month, not that this is mentioned anywhere.

Across the way, in a strange Spengler’s Spirit Guide the Ghostbusting jargon stuck to that used in the film rather than the cartoon, perhaps giving it away that writer Dan Abnett maybe didn’t watch the series. It was still very funny though, as always. There was also an interesting story that explained how ghost energies actually hold up old haunted houses, as the team find out when one collapses after a bust! How about the rest of the Marvel UK range?

The only other new addition this week is Thundercats #94 and after the descriptions on some recent checklists made it sound like they’d gone back on their promise of a “new, younger look” (which they’d hyped previously), here it’s clear that wasn’t the case. Hand puppets, posters and jokes pages? How the mighty had fallen, and yet another new look? I thought cats liked routines and detested change.

No new adverts this week again. In fact, it’ll be a couple of weeks before we get some more but we’ll more than make up for it when we get there! In the meantime, can I just say I’m thrilled with how popular this series has proven. Across socials it’s been great fun conversing with people about their memories of the specific issues highlighted every week and their memories of their childhood trips to the shops, of reading their comics with family and friends, and more besides. So come and join in the checklists conversation here or on:

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