Monthly Archives: May 2024

Book Previews, G.I. Joe

G.i. JOE COMPENDiUM SET: KiCKSTARTER COMPLETED

Leave a comment
iT’S ARRiVED!!
~ NEW POST NOW UP ~

Below is the original post I wrote when this Kickstarter project launched. It was successful and then some! To find out just how record-breaking it’s turned out to be keep reading to the very end for an update.

Readers of the blog, and in particular the blog’s Instagram account, will know how much I love Larry Hama’s G.I. Joe comic. Skybound Entertainment and Image have the current rights to produce comics based on the Hasbro toy line and alongside their own monthlies they’ve decided to release all of the original, epic Marvel run in a huge, gorgeous box set, including the American Transformers crossover mini-series and of course the later story that kicked off Transformers: Generation 2.

I became acquainted with Snake Eyes, Scarlett, Stalker, Baroness and the rest when they appeared as back up strips in Marvel UK’s Transformers weekly in the 80s and 90s (initially known as Action Force here) and I instantly loved every single one of the characters. Many years later IDW decided to continue Marvel US’s story and produced #156 to #300 before the licence transferred to Skybound/Image. Now, G.I. Joe – A Real American Hero continues anew from #301 onwards, and still with Larry at the helm!

Recently Skybound announced a box set of the original comics would be coming to Kickstarter. It launched on Tuesday 28th May 2024 with a goal of $50,000 (£39,213). It was fully funded in a staggering six minutes and in a little over 24 hours it rocketed past (I’ll put on my best Dr. Evil voice here) one million dollars, making it the most successful first day ever for comics Kickstarter. At the time of publishing this post about half a day later it’s now sitting at $1,214,849/£956,938, pledged by 3,332 people. That’s just phenomenal! (Final amount now updated at the bottom of this post – Phil) As a fan I feel really rather proud of the fanbase, and it’s reassuring that this most likely means the monthly is also selling well enough to last for many years to come.

I not only wanted to let you know about the Kickstarter in case you’re a fan too and wish to pledge, I also intend to show it off to you when I receive it and give you updates as we go. Yes that’s right, I’ve pledged and bought the set! I’ll admit it’s an expensive piece of kit but when broken down into the cost per issue it’s not really. Plus, given the trouble I’ve had trying to get a hold of these classic tales it’s great to buy them all in one go and just be able to look forward to them at last.

By the time I found out IDW were continuing the original Marvel stories their run was already at #250. I collected it for a few years before I stopped buying new comics for a while, but in that time my local comic shop tried everything they could to order in the graphic novel collection of the older stories. Unfortunately Diamond, the international distributors, would often send the wrong volume or a book from the wrong series! I ended up with volumes 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 13!

So I couldn’t read past volume three and no more books ever arrived. When Skybound/Image took over I crossed my fingers they’d have their own graphic novel series but this is so much better! The individual compendiums will eventually be available in soft back formats in comic shops but for now this is the only way to get your hands on them, and they’re all hardback and inside lovely glossy display boxes.

On the Kickstarter you can order either a Joes or Cobra version of the whole set ($300/£235) or the first compendium on its own ($75/£59) to which you can add the softcovers when they’re available. There are also the obligatory digital versions and a wealth of extras such as trading cards and comics signed by Larry (well, there were when I wrote the first draft of this post but they’ve now sold out). There are also stretch goals quickly being unlocked such as a gloss finish to the box fronts (illustrations on both by Andy Hubert and Brad Anderson), bookmarks, posters and more.

Personally I’ve splashed out on the Joes version of the complete set which works out at about £1.19 per issue, plus of course I’ll be getting them in these gorgeous hardback books with all the presentation and extras. It may be a lot to fork out in one go, but even when they were available the IDW graphic novels would’ve cost a good bit more in total, and the original comics go for ludicrous amounts on eBay so this is an absolute bargain in my eyes.

If you’re interested in pledging yourself or simply wish to find out more about what is very likely to be an incredible purchase, you can check out the official Kickstarter page for G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero Compendium Set (link below). I’ll update you all further after the project finishes raising funds. It’s scheduled to end on Wednesday 26th June 2024 so a day or two after that I’ll get something posted up.

Yo Joe!

UPDATE: Not only did Skybound’s G.I. Joe Kickstarter pass its goal in six minutes, it also became THE MOST SUCCESSFUL COMICS KICKSTARTER EVER! That’s right, it broke all previous records and raised a staggering $3,734,499 (£2,956,812) from 10,335 backers! That’s 7,468% of the original goal! This is insane. I couldn’t be happier that something I backed was so successful, and as a result of crushing over 20 stretch goals a wealth of free extras will be accompanying my box set when it eventually arrives. On a related note, this bodes very well for both Skybound/Image’s hugely entertaining G.I. Joe/Transformers reboot series of comics, the Energon Universe, and also their continuation of G.I. Joe A Real American Hero. With this level of support I’m sure they’ll continue for many years to come!

I’ll keep you updated as I receive news of the box set and of course I’ll be showing it off to you when it arrives, scheduled at the minute for the end of this year in America and early 2025 for the rest of us.

iT’S ARRiVED! CHECK iT OUT HERE

GO TO THE KiCKSTARTER CAMPAiGN

MAiN TRANSFORMERS MENU

OiNK Contributors

THE PiGGiN’ GREAT SHAUN THE SHEEP!

2 Comments

On this day back in 2010 the 30th episode of season two of Shaun the Sheep was broadcast by the BBC. Based on characters created by the legendary Nick Park, (spun off from a one-off appearance in a Wallace & Gromit special) the incredibly successful Aardman Animation series was created by Richard Starzak and developed by him, Alison Snowden and David Fine. What they developed was a genuinely funny silent comedy series adults get as much of a kick out of as the kids do. Even so, I didn’t discover it myself until a Christmas special many years later.

Now part of my yearly festivities, I was sore from laughing so much the first (and subsequent times) watching it and went on to view the two full-length movies and several of the regular episodes. Now, after the announcement of a long-awaited new series in 2025, the OiNK Blog is taking a close look at one episode in particular, called The Big Chase. Why has Shaun appeared on the blog? It can’t just be because there are pigs involved. Here’s a hint.

That’s right, that’s co-creator and co-editor of OiNK, Patrick Gallagher. He and fellow writer Craig Ferguson created what is a fan favourite episode to this day and one which encapsulates the madcap hilarity perfectly. To mark the 14th anniversary of its original broadcast I asked Patrick about writing the story and working on the series and his insights make for great reading.

If you’re unfamiliar with Shaun, he’s what’s described as “an unusually clever sheep” who tries to bring a bit of fun and excitement to the mundane daily life on Mossy Bottom Farm (a name which wouldn’t have felt out of place in OiNK). This usually results in lots of frantic slapstick involving Shaun and all of the ensemble cast of sheep, as well as sheepdog Bitzer (my personal favourite) and the dimwitted and completely unaware human, The Farmer. While Bitzer is constantly trying to keep the sheep in line, the friendship he and Shaun share when things go horribly wrong is one of the highlights.

The Big Chase revolves around young Timmy going for a joyride on The Farmer’s expensive new quad bike and the panicked flock giving chase in everything from a tractor to a shopping cart. It’s up to Shaun and Bitzer to rescue Timmy and get everyone back to the farm before they’re discovered, which they do by commandeering a pizza delivery driver’s scooter. So far, so utterly brilliant!

The episode also involves three joyriding pigs, whose car comes complete with an appropriate licence plate for this blog, and a little old lady who nearly gets knocked down several times before she has her wooly hat taken in the chaos. She joins the pigs to chase down Shaun and Bitzer while Timmy and the flock inadvertently run riot.

OiNK Blog: So Patrick, how did you become involved in the series for this episode?

Patrick Gallagher: “The offer of a commission came totally out of the blue, actually. Following the broadcast of the phenomenally successful debut series in 2007, and with the world clamouring for more farmyard frolics from Shaun and the flock, Aardman Animation approached my agent, Dominic Lord at JFL, and invited Craig and me to pitch ideas for the upcoming second series. It was a big surprise, a tremendous honour and an offer Craig and I couldn’t refuse. We had previously collaborated on several high-profile TV shows, including Spitting Image, The Russ Abbot Show and The Basil Brush Show.

“The Naughty Pigs who antagonise the sheep at any given opportunity could inexplicably turn up in their own ‘chavmobile’.”

Patrick Gallagher

“Furthermore, as a co-creator, I had Round the Bend under my belt and was also involved in co-developing Hangar 17. Therefore, writing for Shaun the Sheep would be a much-welcomed addition to our portfolios. The idea Aardman chose to commission out of the handful we submitted was The Big Chase, in which Timmy the baby sheep drives off on the Farmer’s brand new quad bike, sparking a whirlwind of uproarious chaos.

“However, there was a long wait before we got the green light. It was over a year before Aardman’s Development Executive, Dick Hansom (editor of blog comics Jurassic Park and the forthcoming Aliens! – Phil), wrote with the good news. He explained that the delay was due to the expense of making the quad bike, which they had to balance out with cheaper episodes, and eventually did.”

OB: The quad bike does look great but to have this little insight into the decision making because of it is interesting. They must’ve really liked your script. You co-wrote it with Craig, but given how central pigs are to the plot, would I be correct in assuming they were your idea?

PG: “Not entirely; it was a joint decision. We had free rein to use any of the Shaun the Sheep characters, and Craig and I agreed that The Naughty Pigs, who antagonise the sheep at any given opportunity and could inexplicably turn up in their own ‘chavmobile’, would be the perfect foils to instigate mayhem and hilarity in our vehicular-themed episode.”

OB: How appropriate! Can you give us a little insight into what it was like to work on the show for Aardman? And did you ever get to visit the studio and see it being animated? Did the finished product stray from your script or remain close to it?

PG: “It was an absolute dream to work on the show. I’d been a big fan of Aardman since 1977 when I first saw Morph, their claymation character which I loved, on CBBC‘s Take Hart. But Craig and I had to be on top form, as it would demand a lot of hard work and expectations were stratospheric. Shaun first appeared in Aardman’s Academy Award-winning film, A Close Shave. Therefore, the bar for the writing of the TV series had already been set high – literally – to Hollywood standards.

“I found it quite refreshing to focus solely on the action and dismiss any dialogue, in the fashion of writing a silent movie.”

Patrick Gallagher

“Not that we needed reminding, but as we presented our concept to the producer, Gareth Owen at Aardman’s Bristol studio, the gleaming golden Oscar statuette perched behind him caught my eye. And with its shimmer, I could have sworn it whispered, “Time to shine, boys!” But that meeting was the only time we visited the studio. The final produced show remained really close to our original script; however, we expected tweaks since we overwrote the episode by a couple of minutes. Moreover, we would naturally welcome any supplementary changes by Aardman, as they would only enhance the production further.

“On a more specific writing note, we adhered to the three-act structure for the seven-minute episode. The main plot centred on Shaun and the flock chasing after Timmy and their attempts to get him off the quad bike and back to the farm safely before the farmer found out. And the subplot revolved around the old lady’s efforts to retrieve her hat, which had bizarrely become caught up in the chase along with the naughty pigs as she tried to cross the road.”

OB: It all seems so chaotic when watching it, with more and more layers of comedic situations being added on top. It’s really quite a genius piece of writing, and the animation is just absolutely incredible. How difficult (or not) was it to write comedy for a show where there’s no speech whatsoever? Did your background in the visual comics medium help?

PG: “Personally, I found it quite refreshing to focus solely on the action and dismiss any dialogue, in the fashion of writing a silent movie. But overall, I’d say it was as equally challenging to write it without dialogue as it would have been with dialogue. Either way, we still had seven minutes to fill. And yes, I do think my background in comics helped, as I’ve always thought visually and storyboarded my comic scripts for Buster, Whizzer and Chips, OiNK and all the other Fleetway titles I cut my teeth on.”

OB: Should OiNK pig pals see this episode, at least parts of it and especially that licence plate, as a bit of a homage?

PG: “For my part, most definitely. Although the idea of the pigs’ ‘chavmobile’ licence plate reading ‘OI NK 5’ wasn’t scripted by Craig and me. It was the animators who came up with that notion, so it was just coincidental. Or perhaps, more probably, it was a case of serendipity at play, orchestrated psychically by Uncle Pigg from his tropical retirement island.”

OB: Thanks for your insights, Patrick. It’s a perfect seven minutes of unadulterated laughs. Is there anything else about it that you’d like to share with us?

PG: “Yes, just a couple of things. It was brilliant to be associated once again with the ridiculously talented Dave Alex Riddett, the lighting cameraman for The Big Chase. Dave was the genius animator who, 21 years earlier, had been responsible for producing Round the Bend’s iconic stop-motion serials The False Teeth from Beyond the Stars and Attack of the Atomic Banana, which I had written with my dearly departed co-writers Tony Husband and Mark Rodgers. On top of that, Dave was the cinematographer on the Oscar-winning A Close Shave, so we knew that our episode was in the safest of hands before it was broadcast globally.”

PG: “In terms of figures, the series is seen in 170 territories throughout the world but it’s difficult to estimate how many people have watched it. However, according to YouTube, Shaun has amassed 1.7 billion views on their platform alone. Also, in 2010 following its broadcast Shaun the Sheep Series 2, which included our episode, was honoured with three distinguished awards: The Writers’ Guild Award for Best Children’s Television Drama/Comedy, The BAFTA Children’s Award for Best Animation and The International Emmy Award for Best Children and Young People’s Programme.

“And finally, the crowning achievement for Craig and me came in 2011 when a compilation DVD was released featuring eight standout episodes from the second series, including ours. The highlight? The DVD was titled The Big Chase, and our eponymous episode topped the bill as the lead show in the collection… from that very series that swept the board at the 2010 awards ceremonies.”

Blimey. My thanks to Patrick for chatting with me about this particular highlight of his illustrious career. As a viewer Shaun more than deserves all of the praise and awards bestowed upon him. This episode in particular showcases the incredible comic timing of the animators, surely no easy task when animating modelling clay frame by frame. An amazing achievement and I for one am looking forward to the new series. In the meantime there are 159 episodes over six series to catch up on first!

There are also the specials of course, including The Flight Before Christmas which must be watched by everyone during the next festive season after you read this! I know I will be. Again.

Click here to watch The Big Chase on the BBC iPlayer

The Flight Before Christmas is on Netflix. Shown on the BBC every year, keep an eye on the blog’s socials for news of when it pops up on the iPlayer too.

OiNK CONTRiBUTORS MENU

Comic Reviews, G.I. Joe, Transformers: Generation 2

G.I. JOE #138: MORE THAN MEETS THE EYE

Leave a comment

I do love it when I get to start a brand new real time read through and this is one I’ve been particularly looking forward to. Not only have I never read Transformers: Generation 2 before (and as usual I’ll be discovering it one month at a time and telling you about it as I do) but the story actually kicked off in a special crossover event in the pages of another favourite comic, G.I. Joe.

I discovered the Joes and Cobra when they were known as Action Force in the UK in their position as back up strip in Transformers, after their own weekly was cancelled. When reading their adventures as part of that read through on the blog’s Instagram I became a huge fan all over again, collected some of IDW’s continuation and am now a dedicated reader of the same comic under the stewardship of Image Comics.

In case you didn’t know, this actual comic continues to this day and it’s still being written by Larry Hama! So going back to read these issues is extra exciting for me because they’re earlier stories of the new comic I’m reading today. Regarding that title on the cover, the Ninja Force were a sub-section of both sides of the conflict and a new range of Hasbro toys at the time. With Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow as the main characters the comic’s name was temporarily changed to promote the range.

Instantly I recognise the art style, that unique Marvel UK look produced by Andrew Wildman and Stephen Baskerville

That secondary title would be replaced with ‘and Transformers: Generation 2’ from the next issue and initially I thought that was where I’d begin with the four-part story between #139 and #142. But this issue was also in the bundle of comics I purchased from eBay and a quick flick through it showed me why. You’ll see why, so let’s begin.

Instantly I recognise the art style, that unique Marvel UK look produced by Andrew Wildman (also on cover duties) on pencils and Stephen Baskerville on inks, now in this American comic. Together they produced some incredible art for the original Transformers towards the end of its run. Andrew is best know for his Transformers, The Real Ghostbusters and G.I. Joe work, while it’s the former two and 2000AD for Stephen. The art is completed with letters by Rick Parker (Spider-Man, Time magazine, Tales From the Crypt) and colours by Bob Sharen (Alpha Flight, Ghost Rider, Invincible Iron Man), both of whose work I recognise from those earlier back up strips.

“I want that uxorious chrome-visaged twit and his xanthippic consort winkled out like the limeceous bivalves they are!”

Cobra Commander

So I immediately felt right at home. Things begin with one of my favourite characters, Scarlett going through a mental crisis. She’s apparently defected to Cobra although in reality this is just an undercover mission. However, she believes her actions led to the death of Hawk and Stalker, however they survived whatever transpired in previous issues. She just doesn’t know this yet.

Obviously I haven’t read the chapters leading up to this so I can only tell you what happens here. In a nutshell Destro and Baroness are trying to escape from Cobra with the aid of G.I. Joe (a separate story from Scarlett’s). The action takes place inside a tall fortress of Destro’s design that can shift its shape into different defensive and offensive configurations. Destro also included secret crawlspaces behind the walls, where they are currently hiding. However, these have now been discovered, a hole has been blown in a wall and Cobra Commander has sent his troops in to capture them.

At this point in the story it seems Cobra Commander has a… unique use of language. Throughout this issue he seems to use half a dozen words when one would suffice. It adds to his superiority complex and I enjoy it. Only Larry could carry these lengthy speech balloons off in the heat of the action. We also see Destro’s use of cool 80s tech from within his metallic face mask that I hadn’t seen before and we find out just how dedicated the Joes need to be to Scarlett’s mission.

Despite Scarlett and Snake Eyes being very much in love, he and Storm Shadow must treat her like any other Cobra enemy if she’s to remain alive. It’s a fine balancing act that leads to a shocking moment later in the issue. (If you’re wondering, “Xin-loi” is a phrase used during the Vietnam war and roughly translates as “tough luck”, albeit a more vulgar version.) Once inside the crawlspaces, laden with boobie traps, Larry shows he’s still not afraid to kill people in glorious fashion in this children’s comic, something the cartoon couldn’t do.

Storm Shadow and the ever-silent Snake Eyes skilfully parachute in on top of the transforming building and we can see how it’s whole form is shifting about, taking care of many of the Cobra grunts as it does so. I’ve searched online and I can’t find evidence of this strange castle being a toy in the original range but I’m happy to be proven wrong if any readers can point me in the right direction.

I’ve seen some wonderful fan-made models of it though, complete right down to the colour of the stone and the ability to alter its shape. It’s this shape altering that brings us to the first shock of the issue, at least for anyone who had been reading this in 1993 and especially those who had been fans of Marvel’s other popular licenced monthly from a few years previous. As the building continues to change it’s caught the attention of an outside force.

Many fans of Transformers were also fans of G.I. Joe (and this continues to be the case today, like me for example) so imagine the impact that page would’ve had as they’d been reading what is already an exciting climax to a story. That’s just a tiny glimpse, one that perhaps those not au fait with the Transformers wouldn’t have fully grasped, but I’m sure the majority were thrilled. I wish I hadn’t flicked through the issue when I first got it as part of my eBay bundle, I’d loved to have been surprised by this.

Back to that story though and the plan will be familiar to those who have seen The Dark Knight (as one example). To extract Destro and Baroness they’re fastened to Snake Eyes and Storm Shadow, and long wires with balloons on the end are attached to the ninjas. The balloons are inflated and travel far up into the night sky where planes grab the wires and haul all four of them off the ground at high speed.

Imagine being a fan of both franchises and reading this for the first time without knowing it was coming

But what Snake Eyes didn’t reckon on was Scarlett being part of the Cobra team sent to return Destro to Cobra Commander. They come into contact with each other on the roof of the castle. Quite literally! Now remember, Snake was ordered by Hawk to treat Scarlett as if she were any other enemy so as not to blow her cover. What happens as a result is truly the most shocking moment of the issue.

This shocked me even though I know Scarlett is in the modern comic! I can only imagine what impact this page would’ve had decades ago. A few pages later though, this moment proves to be cathartic for Scarlett. Slice, a member of Cobra who is suspicious of her still isn’t convinced despite seeing it happen, even though Dr. Biggles-Jones declares Snake trying to kill her is clear proof of her loyalty.

However, back on board the Joes’ plane Storm Shadow explains Snake had to do the near-impossible; he had a split second to make it convincing and at the same moment make sure his aim was “pure”. It had to be so, so close. Hawk tries to sooth Snake’s obvious anxiety by telling him Scarlett of all people knows how good he is, she knows he never misses “except on purpose”, that even if she still believes she was responsible for Hawk’s and Stalker’s supposed deaths she “now knows that you couldn’t hold it against her!”

Back at the now-stationery castle Scarlet is in incredible agony, yet has a smile beneath all the tears and is just about able to utter the words “I know” before passing out. Amongst all of the action, whether that be the ninja-based, sci-fi or war storylines the comic flipped between, Larry’s characters have always been fully formed, grounded and believable, even when their very existence is far fetched. Decades of writing them hasn’t blunted any of that expertise either.

The panels above form the bottom half of the penultimate page of the strip, with Cobra Commander’s cold reaction to Slice’s request to gut Scarlett, to see how the Joes react as a final test of her loyalty. Then a huge shadow falls over the group. The terrorists looks up in horror. And we turn the page.

What an ending! Again, imagine being a fan of both franchises and reading this for the first time without knowing it was coming. Especially with Andrew and Stephen’s familiar superb work on Megatron! The last time we saw ol’ Megs was in the final UK annual released for Christmas 1991. The Decepticons were trying to use the unstable nucleon (which had had unexpected side effects on some Transformers) to resurrect their fallen leader, recently separated from the body he shared with Autobot Ratchet before The Ark was blown up and crash landed on Earth.

Here he looks suitably patchy, with wires hanging out of battered parts of his body. I knew this was coming but it was still a thrill to read this page as the end of this story. I’m super hyped to get stuck into the next four issues of G.I. Joe and even more so for the 12 issues of Transformers: Generation 2 to come after that! Simon Furman writing that forthcoming series and having these robotic characters resurrected by Larry Hama is going to be something special if this small preview story (as it is for me) is anything to go by.

Before we wrap up, a quick look at a couple of contemporary adverts from the issue. First up, a movie that has been derided in the years since but which I still enjoy. Super Mario Bros was a flop (and the recent animation knocks it out of the park) but it’s a zany, ridiculous and oh-so-90s film that’s completely unique. I have the BluRay and the documentary tells a fascinating tale about its creation. Apparently the original script was great, aimed at a teenage-and-up audience and the cast were very happy with it (as were Nintendo). But just a few days before shooting was to commence the studio produced a new, more child-friendly script that threw everything out that had been created before, so its directors had to shoot something they didn’t like while using all of the sets and effects created for the previous script!

In the documentary John Leguizamo explains how they made the most of such a horrid situation and to me it’s a miracle any movie got made. As much as I enjoy the silliness of the end result, I can’t help but wonder what this talented cast could’ve done without the interference of studio executives who didn’t understand the original source material. Oh well.

Another ad that stood out (among the many, many adverts in the comic that often interrupted the strip on every other page) was for classic video game Flashback. I remember seeing friends play it on their Commodore Amigas and it looked stunning in a demo for my own 3DO but I never played it myself. Well, as it turns out it’s been rereleased for the Nintendo Switch so after seeing this ad I just had to break out the wallet.

It’s a great start to this latest real time read through and for all intents and purposes it’s not even the beginning yet, that’ll come next month with the actual first part of the G.I. Joe and Transformers: Generation 2 storyline by Larry Hama. It seems suitably timely with a crossover movie coming to our screens in the not-too-distant future. Be sure to check back on Sunday 30th June 2024 for the next/first chapter.

GO TO iSSUE 139

TRANSFORMERS: GENERATiON 2 MENU

MAiN TRANSFORMERS MENU

More OiNK, Retrospectives

PiTCHiNG TO PiGLETS PART TWO: FOOD & DRiNK

Leave a comment

I’ve really been looking forward to diving back into this occasional series of posts in which we take a look at all of the real advertisements published in OiNK between April 1986 and April 1990. Still to come are adverts for comics and toys amongst other things, however in a surprise turn it was seeing the adverts for all of the food and drink of the 80s that really transported me back in time.

There were plenty of them in OiNK too, far too many to include in one post, so I’ve whittled them down to 11 of my favourites, all for things I’d have happily chomped down on or guzzled back when I was a kid. Well, there’s one exception to that and as you scroll I’m sure you’ll be able to guess which one. Some of these are no longer available, but even for those that are their adverts are so quintessentially 80s they just had to be included. So let’s get things started with some breakfast, shall we?

I remember those adverts on TV with kids walking down the street with a superimposed red glow around them after eating their bowls of hot, filling Ready Brek, advertised here in #52 from February 1988. I did like that cereal, although I preferred my mum’s huge pots of porridge she’d rustle up. I don’t know about you, but I think a list of ’50 Brill Things To Do Before Breakfast’ would’ve been wasted on me. Getting out of bed and washed and fed was enough to do before school!

“Get yours before the special multipacks dematerialise!”

Golden Wonder crisps

The Bean St. Kids (#39, October 1987) had animated cartoon adverts on TV I seem to recall, complete with cackling villain, but the tins sold themselves. I know we’re told our tastebuds change as we age, so either mine really have or those tins of mini sausages have changed, because as an adult I think they’re completely vile! I tried one of those ‘All-Day Breakfasts’ in a tin of beans and my word, never again. But as a child I loved them, especially with crispy bacon and eggs for breakfast at the weekend.

As our day in the 80s continues it’s time for a mid-morning snack and our house always had multipacks of crisps for us to rummage through, although more often than not they were Crazy Prices’ Yellow Pack crisps (ask your parents, kids). Sometimes we got treated to others though and apart from Wotsits (I remember devouring all of the barbecue flavours before my siblings could) the other household favourites were all advertised in OiNK.

My dad still eats the Salt-n-Shake crisps to this day, although you can only get the salted ones now. This is just as well really because I remember the other flavours didn’t really work. No matter how much we shook the bag like the fella in this advert from #6 (July 1986) we’d always get a mixture of bland crisps and others with so much flavouring on them they’d burn our tongues. Needless to say that “mixing different sachets” to “invent your own flavours” was an atrocious idea too.

I’ll admit I still have a fondness for Monster Munch (#33, July 1987) to this day; the pickled onion ones are a favourite but I just can’t walk past a shelf of roast beef packets without filling the trolley! I was sure the regular Golden Wonder crisps disappeared for a while many years ago but that doesn’t seem to be the case. While they did go into administration in 2006 they were bought by my local Northern Irish crisp company, Tayto and continue to be made here, which surprised me!

“You can meet Jo-Jo, Bruno and our own super hero, ‘Mar-Might’…””

Marmite spread

I remember the Golden Wonder bags of my youth had a little window on the front through which you could see the crisps. The packets were horrible though, becoming very jagged when crumpled and they felt horribly greasy on the inside, things people seem to forget on those talking heads documentaries on Channel 5 where celebrities go all misty-eyed for such things. Here in #15 (November 1986) the promotion to lure us kiddies in was a range of exclusive Sixth Doctor comics, although the lure was lost on me as I didn’t start watching the show until 1988.

On to lunchtime sandwiches and no prizes if you guessed the first of these two adverts (#22, February 1987) is the thing I mentioned above that I didn’t like. I still don’t. I’ve only ever tasted Marmite once but I didn’t eat it. I’m probably sharing too much information when I say I was in my early 20s, I’d been out for a night for a few drinks and at the end I kissed a lady who had just eaten some. Gagging and recoiling from a kiss isn’t a great impression to make.

In #25 (April 1987) bread was advertised in a children’s comic. How exciting. To be fair, it was promoting a free sports bag emblazoned with the loaf’s logo and Champion was heavily advertised during children’s programming as the bread of choice for fit and athletic kids. I hated it back then with all of the little ‘bits’ in it but these days I do love a good granary loaf. Showing my age probably. Mother’s Pride make a vast amount of different breads these days in their Hovis range. I wonder if one of them is the modern day equivalent of this?

Imagine that was your foot!

On the way home we’d visit the sweet shop and long before Jamie Oliver’s sugar tax came in (something I cursed him for at the time but which I now think was for the best) any can of soft drink was so loaded with sugar they were main staples of kids’ diets in the 80s! Cherry Coca-Cola was the latest craze and was advertised with very surreal images on both the telly and in publications. They made little sense but were certainly eye-catching and worked a (sugary) treat, the first two here taken from #28 (May 1987) and #34 (August 1987) respectively.

It doesn’t taste the same anymore. For some reason when the sugar tax came in Coke changed the recipe for Coke Zero (the brand under which the different flavourings now reside) and suddenly it tasted like that horrible Diet Coke stuff (I’ve never been a fan). I moved over to Pepsi Max and actually much prefer it and its range of flavours, so thanks Jamie! I still buy my sugar-full Coke to slow cook my Christmas ham though. (Damn, that’s still too many months away.)

“2p off Milky Way!”

Milky Way chocolate bar

In hindsight ring pulls were so bloody dangerous on a product kids loved, never mind asking us to actually collect the sharp little things, and that advert (#30, June 1987) makes me wince nowadays. Imagine that was your foot! Anyway, collecting them is exactly what we did. I didn’t send any off for this particular product but I’m going to guess many blog readers of a certain vintage will have done so for their Coke or Fanta yo-yos, am I right?

With most of our pocket money spent on crisps and soda what were we going to do about our chocolate cravings? We couldn’t have a can of Coke without a chocolate accompaniment! But we also couldn’t spoil dinner, so we needed something we could eat “without ruining our appetite”. Luckily, Mars gave us a handy coupon for a whopping 2p off our next Milky Way. Hey, don’t knock it, that was a good chunk off back then. The advert was also split in two and spread over the issue (this one appeared in #12, October 1986).

The competition for a Commodore 64 also catches my eye today, it being my first proper home computer, although I didn’t get mine until Christmas 1991. The inside of a Milky Way was chocolate flavoured back then but was changed to vanilla in 1993 and I hated it. Although, Mars’ Flyte came along in 1996 and used the original recipe in a bar aimed at adults. Once I discovered this they were a very frequent purchase. Such a shame they’ve been discontinued since.

This really has been a whirlwind trip down memory lane for both my mind and my taste buds. I feel suitably qualified to appear on Channel 5 now. You can see companies knew how to appeal to us 80s kids. As well as adverts taking the form of comic strips, many offered their own magazines and comics to send off for, and there was always something magical about collecting silly little tokens (or ring pulls) that had the desired affect on us and on their bottom line.

In the next part of this series I’ll be taking a look at the toys advertised during OiNK’s run and you can expect that at Christmas (naturally).

PART ONE < > PART THREE

OiNK’S REAL ADVERTS

‘MORE OiNK’ MENU

MAiN OiNK MENU

Comic Introductions, Transformers: Generation 2

TRANSFORMERS GENERATiON 2: iN REAL TiME

Leave a comment

Even back in the 1990s, when the computer-generated intro sequence to Transformers: Generation 2 first aired I remember thinking it looked very primitive, especially when compared to the graphics being produced by the new wave of CD-based videogame machines. Having collected Transformers toys for a few years until the original comic’s cancellation in the UK in January 1992, this did not inspire me to restart that obsession.

Transformers: Generation 2 was Hasbro’s attempt to relaunch the successful toy line for a new generation of children but it always felt half-assed to me. (So why am I covering the comic on the blog? I’ll get to that.) The cartoon wasn’t even a new series. Instead, it was a rerun of 52 of the original series’ episodes with that CGI introduction (taken from advertising) and some incredibly intrusive computer graphics overlayed on top of the episodes themselves.

The word ‘lazy’ springs to mind. The toys themselves didn’t fare much better to young teenager eyes. The G2 line ran from 1992 to 1994 and, apart from a few impressive new models such as Megatron who now transformed into a tank, most of the initial releases were reruns of previous toys with garish new colour schemes. Oh, and I mean garish! It was very 90s.

Optimus Prime’s ‘new’ toy played a bit fast and loose with the term ‘Robots in Disguise’

Some received new spring-loaded weapons and missile launchers etc., but for the most part even this eager Transformers fan, who would’ve happily continued collecting the original toys, thought some of them looked like cheap knock-offs rather than the official range. The original toys had declined in popularity but they’d had a great run which should be celebrated, and of course the franchise continues very successfully to this day.

Images from Transformers France

With the vast array of different types of Transformers (even ones that couldn’t transform) towards the end I can commend Hasbro for wanting to go back to basics but for me this was the wrong way to go about it. The franchise recovered of course but Generation 2 didn’t excite me as a child and apparently I wasn’t alone. Also, just as a side note, Optimus Prime’s ‘new’ toy in particular played a bit fast and loose with the term “Robots in Disguise”, which was still on the box despite his trailer’s design. Less of a disguise and more of an announcement I’d say.

The colour schemes no longer matched the cartoon they’d repackaged with that CGI, and some of the characters in it weren’t available in any G2 toy form, making it all seem like it wasn’t very well thought out. In the end the toy line was discontinued when the first Transformers: Beast Wars toys began hitting shelves, which went off in a completely different and much more successful direction. 

[The Transformers: Generation 2 comic’s] reputation proceeds it and I’ve seen some of the hard-edged artwork which looks just incredible

So if I’m so unimpressed, why on Earth am I dedicating room to this strange little spin-off on the blog? Well, in September 1994 a new comic arrived on the shelves from OiNK‘s second publisher, Fleetway Publications. I was initially thrilled to see a brand new Transformers comic, even if it was monthly instead of weekly and didn’t seem to have a lot of content by comparison. Still, the first issue drew me in with its cover and the foldout poster inside which the editorial used to describe the comic as a ‘Transformer’ too, which I still think was fun.

Images from Transformers Toys

I didn’t buy any more issues at the time and it only lasted for five months in the end, but what I didn’t know about at the time was the Marvel US monthly (which Fleetway started serialising in #3), written as ever by the original comic’s Simon Furman. I’ve never read the series but its reputation proceeds it and I’ve seen some of the hard-edged artwork which looks just incredible, reminding me of some of Kevin O’Neill’s early 2000AD work. That alone made me want to collect it in recent years.

It was marketed at the time as a more mature comic, less for the kids buying the new (well, new-ish) toys and more for those that had been reading the previous Transformers a few years before. No longer restricted by Hasbro in how he could portray characters, nor having to write in certain toys as a way of marketing new releases, Simon was given free rein to tell the story he wanted.

Because the UK title is so hard to come by for a decent price I’m going to cover the original American one first (a first for the blog), then at a future date we’ll see what Fleetway did with the license. Unfortunately, even the US comic only lasted for 12 months but that’s not an indictment of its quality. After all, just a few years before it the original G1 (as it was called from this point on) comic was cancelled when it was still selling about 100,000 copies per month!

That would be a massive hit today or for a new, original comic at the time, but at its peak Transformers had sold 250,000 a month so all Marvel saw was the decrease, sadly. Even with Transformers: Generation 2 technically being a new title it wasn’t going to reach those previous lofty heights for a licensed comic and, despite sales figures of around 100,000 per issue again, the rug was pulled. However, I’m really looking forward to seeing what all the positive fuss over that year is all about. Technically, there are more than 12 issues too because there were another four monthly chapters to the story before #1!

That’s right, it all kicked off as a crossover event in the pages of G.I. Joe in #139-#142, so I’m going to be including those issues on a month-by-month basis too in real time. As a fan of those characters (thanks to them being a back up strip in Marvel UK’s Transformers G1) I’m even more excited about the prospect of this read through than I already was. In fact, the issue before that again leads into the crossover, so altogether there are going to be 17 monthly comic reviews covering the entirety of Transformers: Generation 2.

It all begins with G.I. Joe #138 on the 31st anniversary of its release State-side on Sunday 26th May 2024. The Transformers have a bright future ahead on the blog and this is only the beginning of it!

GO TO G.i. JOE 138

TRANSFORMERS: GENERATiON 2 MENU

MAiN TRANSFORMERS MENU