Welcome to first post in what should be a fascinating four-part OiNK series this festive season. I came up with some general questions about our favourite comic and handed them over to no less than 11 of OiNK’s finest contributors. Every Saturday between now and Christmas Day I’ll publish all of the responses for each question in turn, so we can get an insight into what it was really like to be a part of the world’s greatest comic.
The OiNK team have always been so forthcoming with information ever since the blog began and their enthusiasm for the comic hasn’t diminished one iota in the decades since they first tickled our funny bones. It’s been a joy to put these posts together and reach out to some of my comics heroes. So what’s the first question?
QUESTION ONE
What’s the fondest memory that comes to mind when you think back to OiNK?
DAVY FRANCIS Cowpat County, Greedy Gorb, Doctor Mad-Starkraving
“Fondest memory was meeting all the artists and writers at the OiNK launch party. It’s a bit of a lonely profession drawing cartoons and comics so it was great to meet up and yack about drawing and comics.”
DAVID LEACH Psycho Gran, Dudley DJ
“That first UKCAC show in 1988, I think, when I got to meet other cartoonists for the first time. I met Davy Francis, Lew Stringer, Davey Jones, Ed McHenry and Banx. It was wonderful. I felt I’d found my people.”
DAVEY JONES Henry the Wonder Dog, Pop-Up Toaster of Doom, Kingdom of Trump
“Probably just that sense of open-mindedness you got from the editors. My main point of contact was Mark Rodgers and I’d send him script ideas which he’d either approve or turn down. But you always felt that he’d be open to any kind of silly ideas. I remember buying a volume of Spike Milligan’s Goon Show scripts from a jumble sale, and for a while after that the stuff I was submitting was a bit Goon-ish. So you felt you could sort of muck about and try out different things.”
STEVE GIBSON artist Judge Pigg, countless GBH Madvertisements, Ponsonby Claret
“Memory? I remember meeting Mark and Tony (Husband) and Pat (Gallagher) as they were cobbling the first few issues together. They were working from inside a cupboard in Manchester back then. It was hard to tell them apart because we all had hair then, including Pat. It felt like an exciting time to draw comics, and I could always meet a deadline because I learned to draw in my sleep thanks to Pat nagging me. Hey Pat! How are you?”
PATRICK GALLAGHER co-creator and co-editor of the whole shebang, designer of the OiNK logos
“Meeting up with Tony and Mark immediately after we received the news that OiNK had been formally commissioned.”
IAN JACKSON artist Mary Lighthouse, Horace (Ugly Face) Watkins, OiNK Book 1988 covers
“Photo story shoot with Mark Rodgers dressed as aliens, and his girlfriend Helen as someone we were trying to abduct from a local park.”
ED McHENRY Wally of the West, umpteen OiNK puzzle pages, Igor and the Doctor
“Printed on quality paper with excellent colour reproduction, everybody could sign their work or get a printer credit, well paid and all your artwork returned. What’s not to like as they say.”
GRAHAM EXTON writer Fish Theatre, Herbert Bowes, Murder in the Orient Express Dining Car
“Visiting Tony‘s house with Mark was brilliant because Tony was such a nice chap. I noticed his stack of Peter Hammill albums in a corner – we bonded over music. We also had a fun time discussing Uncle Pigg‘s helpers, the Plops.”
JEREMY BANX Burp, Mr. Big Nose, Jimmy ‘The Cleaver’ Smith
“A lot of fond memories. Getting the ideas and drawing them up against the clock was hard work but fun. Meeting up with the other OiNKers at conventions and stuff was a highlight. I remember, with great fondness, the process of getting the idea that Burp‘s organs should be independent living beings with their own ecology. Also when I realised that his liver should be Dr Devious, the notorious super villain. The nice thing about that was it felt like the character was revealing himself and it almost wasn’t me doing the work at all.”
LEW STRINGER Tom Thug, Pete and his Pimple, Pigswilla, writer of Ham Dare
“There are lots of happy memories but I think just having regular work in an IPC comic for the first time felt like a major achievement, even though I’d been contributing to Marvel UK for a few years by then.”
KEV F SUTHERLAND Meanwhile, The Three Scientists, March of the Killer Breakfasts
“It was my big break, so the best thing was being a proper professional comics creator at last. I was holding down a day job and doing my OiNK work at night, and it had taken a whole year of sending something off every single week before I got in. I would send something to 2000AD who’d say ‘you’re too cartoony, you should send it to OiNK’, and to OiNK who’d say ‘you’re too action-y, you should send it to 2000AD’. OiNK broke first.”
And so it begins! Even though very few of the OiNK team ever worked from their Manchester offices, you’d never think it from these replies. They were clearly a fantastic team, whether they ever met each other or not, and admiring of everyone else’s creations. It pleases me no end that it seems OiNK was such a great comic to work on. Make sure you come back next week, Saturday 7th December 2024 for question two, which will be:
As is traditional on the blog the first festive post after the Christmasintroduction is the next volume in the Big Comic Book series from Fleetway, collecting together more classic strips from their flagship title Buster, as well as Whizzer and Chips and Whoopee, the latter of which had already ceased publication by the time this series began. This hardback 256-page whopper pretty much keeps to the same formula as before, which is no bad thing.
With all eight books on the shelf behind me as I read, it feels like a real event to finally be able to crack open another and see what’s been included this time. Of course, I grin from ear-to-ear as I flick through it and spot a certain toothless great white shark on several pages, once again drawn by John Geering from the pages of Buster. He may not have been the original artist but for me he was the first whose undersea world I saw and this strip is written by OiNK’s very own Graham Exton.
I just laugh so hard at how expressive John’s version of the character is. Despite a shark being somewhat limited in details, John’s expert way with Gums’ eyes can convey everything from sadistic humour to intrigued, self-importance or even fear! I adore his drawing of the white whale too. As for what appears to be some kind of distant, abandoned underwater city and a briefcase or petrol can in the first panel, I’ve no idea. I’ve even asked some experts and we’re none the wiser. It just seems too specifically drawn to be some random background detail. Perhaps it refers to something from a previous Gums strip.
This isn’t the last you’ll hear of Gums or the only highlight of his you’ll see this Christmas. If you’re a fan of the Jaws wannabe you’ll want to come back here on Wednesday 4th December 2024 to read a full review of Rebellion’s first Gums book! It collects together all of the original Monster Fun strips and I’m hoping it’ll prove to be one of the highlights of the holiday season on the blog this year (I haven’t read it yet).
This is the first I’ve seen Boy Boss., written by OiNK co-editor Mark Rodgers. According to Graham, “His experience of Big Business were working in a betting ship in Whitby, tending bar at his dad’s British Legion in Redcar, and packing tampons for the Christmas rush at Lewis’s department store in Leeds. So he was very much winging it.” (Thanks for commenting on the post with this, Graham!)
Originating in Wow! and merging into Whoopee, Boy Boss is the owner of a huge multi-national corporation but he’d rather be out playing with his mates. That’s the basic premise. He also has a put-upon assistant by the name of Jasper who tries to keep him on the straight and narrow and ultimately boring life that would serve the company’s bottom line the best. While there are funny moments, I can’t help but notice two of his strips make jokes of things we rightly scorn today, namely getting employees to work through the breaks and insisting they’re reachable on days off or even on holiday (which at the time of writing is a hot topic on social media).
I’m not for one moment suggesting artist Frank Diarmid (Roger the Dodger, Kid Kong, Frankie Stein) would’ve supported such things, it’s just a silly comic strip and they’re genuinely funny, especially the endings of both where Boy Boss is actually on the receiving end of his own ideas. I’m just making the point that these are examples of some the contents of these books showing their age a bit.
They were already classic strips from older editions of the three weeklies when this was published in 1988, never mind now. However, having read three of these mammoth books so far it’s comforting that they still read so well decades later. Although, there may be one character who could be seen as somewhat problematic today, who I’ll get to further on.
Just how big does a VCR need to be?!
I had to check on the artists for the next two strips with those friends of the blog, Lew Stringer and John Freeman. For (deep breath) Ivor Lott and Tony Broke with Milly O’Naire and Penny Less (phew!) I was quick to assume it was Sid Burgon but there’s no signature. While it was rare for cartoonists to be allowed to do so back then (OiNK very much broke that mould), Sid always did and his strips elsewhere in this book have his name written on them.
Originally appearing in Cor!, the original strip with just the two boys continued all the way through to Buster’s final issue. The girls had been stars of Jackpot and when it too merged with Buster they came along and the strips also joined together, although the girls’ names were dropped from 1985 despite continuing to appear.
[Speaking about a friend of mine], the similarities to Benny Bones couldn’t be ignored
Every week Ivor and Milly would boast about some material possessions they owned, usually things that were bigger and grander than those owned or coveted by Tony and Penny. Inevitably, in the end their boastful ways would land them in trouble and the two “poor” characters would have the last laugh. There’s a not-very-subtle lesson in there for us all, and I enjoyed seeing the imaginative ways the strip would lead to its predictable conclusion. Although, just how big does a VCR need to be?! Surely more expensive technology is meant to be smaller and sleeker, even in the 70s and 80s?
I haven’t forgotten about the issue of the artist responsible and below is the other strip I wanted to bring up. Whizzer and Chips star, Benny Bones was the ultimate in lazy children and would often put more mental effort into how to get out of doing something than it would take to do it, often falling asleep in the process.
On the day I read this strip my friend Vicki and I were watching the same TV show in our two separate houses. Over a text she asked me what time it was over at and I told her she could just press the button on her remote to find out. Her response was that she was watching it in bed and was too lazy to do that… despite the effort it took to ask me via text! The similarities to Benny couldn’t be ignored, but the fact this very strip contains a similar moment was such a coincidence it had to be included in this review!
So anyway, I found out Colin Whittock drew Lazy Bones until 1986 but there’s no information on who took over. This strip is likely to have been drawn before then but it’s somewhat looser in style than normal. As for Ivor et all, the same conclusion was drawn by the experts. Perhaps Sid was on holiday, for example, and someone had to ghost his style. We’ve no way of finding out so for now I’ll say they’re most likely by Sid and Colin respectively, but there’s a chance some unknown cartoonists were responsible.
Originally in Cheeky Weekly then Whoopee, the Paddywack mini-strips by Jack Clayton were basically about an idiot who made stupid mistakes. While it was never confirmed, there was an assumption he was Irish, back at a time when Irish people could be the butt of jokes in the playground. In these more enlightened times we simply wouldn’t do that anymore. Name aside, there’s nothing in any of the strips of his I’ve read that I’d have a problem with, and I live in Belfast.
I do remember as a teenager telling one of those Englishman, Irishman and Scotsman jokes to an English friend who had told many of them to us. But of course we changed it so the Englishman was the butt of the joke. He was greatly offended! He completely missed the point we were trying to make and continued telling us there was nothing wrong with the way he told those jokes, but ours was wrong. Take from that what you will.
Drawn by the always brilliant Mike Lacey, Kids’ Court only ran for a few years in Whoopee in the 1970s, but it was so memorable when I originally read it in these books and Big Comic Fortnightly. At its core it’s a basic role reversal strip but it’s done so brilliantly and so chaotically it feels highly original. In this world the kids are the cops, the judges and the juries punishing misbehaving adults. I particularly like the way the captured park warden is still in the letterbox when he gets his court date! That made me laugh.
On the very next page from Kids’ Court comes one of the double-page spreads for Jim Watson’s Store Wars, a strip of two halves for me. Originally in Whizzer and Chips, it was basically another version of Ivor Lott and Tony Broke, with Mr. Superstore and his mega-store constantly trying to put the tiny, local Bloggs and Son shop out of business but constantly failing to do so, often spending huge amounts of cash in the attempt.
Having deleted my Amazon account last year I’m enjoying using smaller businesses online and across Belfast so this strip felt particularly relevant upon reading it, if in a highly exaggerated way of course. Why is it a strip of two halves? Because in every example in this book there’s a very funny outcome but there’s always a somewhat patronising statement from Mr. Superstore explaining the joke. They’d be much funnier without these.
Every year I’m trying to show you different strips than those I’ve shown you in previous Big Comic Books (apart from Gums, of course) and lastly for this year is a character I have no recollection of whatsoever from childhood, which is a shame because his pages are great. I did enjoy his inclusion in The Tom Paterson Collection though. From the pages of Whizzer and Chips and drawn by the hilarious Tom, here’s Guy Gorilla.
Transforming into a giant gorilla whenever he eats peanuts, he retains a modicum of awareness of who he is and doesn’t cause any real harm, just a lot of panic and mess. I think it’s a really fun set up and the more episodes I read in this book the funnier it got that no one knows it’s him! Everyone is very aware that there’s a random gorilla hanging around somewhere and Guy’s excuses about why he’s never there at the same time can be so silly, but they take his word for it every time. A great little strip that unfortunately only ran for about a year in total.
And that’s us for another year, folks! As you can see below there’s still a ways to go. With five more Big Comic Books (and two Funny Fortnightly/Monthly volumes) you can expect more classic highlights from some of the most renowned UK cartoonists of all time up until Christmas 2029 at least! That’s if you don’t all get bored of me in the meantime.
This year you can also expect reviews of Rebellion’s Gums collection on Wednesday 4th December and the Buster Book1990 (released in 1989), the first to feature fan favourite OiNK characters after the merge, which you can check out from Thursday 19th December. It’s already shaping up to be the best Christmas on the OiNK Blog yet!
Links to all of this year’s posts are in piggy pink below
As I sit in my living room, buoyed by my tree lights twinkling, my electronic fire-effect fireplace animating and my Apple HomePod providing the sound effects, and warmed by a combination of my gas heating finally being on all day and a Starbucks Eggnog Latte in my belly, I welcome you all to Christmas 2024 on the OiNK Blog. What a feast I’ve got in store this year.
I really try to better each year’s festive season and if I do say so myself I think I’ll achieve it with what’s coming your way. There may be no more OiNK Books to cover but that doesn’t mean Uncle Pigg’s comic won’t be the star. Kicking off on Saturday 30th November 2024 is the first of a four-part weekly series called The OiNK Interview Series, starring no less than 11 of the comic’s top contributors!
Every Saturday during the build up to Christmas Day they’ll provide answers to one specific OiNK-related question, the same question to everyone. It’ll be a fascinating look behind-the-scenes of OiNK and its creative team. This is one series of posts I’m particularly looking forward to, but that’s not all for the pig pals among you.
In fact, pig pals themselves are the stars of this year’s Christmas Day post. Ever wish you’d purchased some of that groovy OiNK merchandise? Some pig pals still have their Prime Porky Products all these decades later and are more than willing to make the rest of us jealous by showing them off. So that’s exactly what a handful of fans will be doing on The Big Day.
Also this Christmas season is the third part in our occasional series of lovely retro adverts from the pages of OiNK, suitably enough all of the Toys and Games that had us drooling. You can check them out on Friday 27th December. Also, watch out for an interview with OiNK co-editor Mark Rodgers in the pages of a Christmassy Speakeasy from 1987, in which he discusses OiNK’s creation, controversies and their plans for the weekly. That’ll be here on Thursday 12th December.
I’ve already featured both of OiNK’s annuals but our coverage of its characters in seasonal books doesn’t stop there. The first Buster Book to feature Tom Thug (as well as Pete and his Pimple and Weedy Willy) gets the full OiNK Blog treatment on Thursday 19th December. Before that, the 1989 volume of its sister title, Big Comic Book starts off our Christmas celebrations on Wednesday 27th November in the third year of its blog read through.
My very favourite star of Big Comic (he’s a highlight of every review in that series), Gums has his own book out, Classic Gums. I received it last Christmas and it’d make for the perfect hint to throw to your loved ones! You’ll be able to check out highlights from the toothless wonder in his own review on Wednesday 4th December. We’re not done with the annuals though.
Michael and K.I.T.T. have been yearly stars of the blog and 2024 is no exception. My favourite TV series of my childhood… actually, of my life… may have lasted for four years but it had five annuals altogether. The middle book in the Knight Rider Annual series has more strips, prose stories, interviews and those oh-so-80s pin ups for you to check out on Tuesday 17th December.
The Transformers made their debut on the blog this year with the Generation 2 real time read through and full access to the epic seven-year-plus Instagram read through of the original UK comic. Beginning on Sunday 15th December is the first of a new yearly series of in-depth reviews of the Transformers Christmas issues from that original run. You’ll also see the previous issue’s Next Issue promo on Sunday 1st December. The first year of that comic was very different to what you remember, believe me! So make sure you check that out.
The Christmas issue of Transformers contains reader drawings as part of the festivities, and in a special post this Christmas I’ll be showing the earliest examples of Young Me In Stuff, namely some of my childhood comics and magazines. The first time it happened was met with much exhilaration at the surprise of it all, so the post will go up on the anniversary of my drawing seeing print, on Tuesday 10th December.
Let’s also not forget our three current real time read throughs! This Christmas you can expect the special, final issue of the simply hilarious The Sleeze Brothers (#6) on Monday 23rd December, a festive Christmassy cover adorns the Aliens comic of all things (#7) on Christmas Eve (the perfect day for a little horror story or three) and the Dinobots are the cover stars of Transformers Generation 2 #4 on Sunday 29th December.
Phew! Throw in two personal posts on Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve on the blog (links below), and a review of this year’s Christmas Beano on John Freeman‘s Down the Tubes website, and I hope you can appreciate why I’m feeling exhausted just telling you about everything that’s to come! I love writing this site and I particularly adore doing so when it comes to all the Christmas content. It’s going to be the best yet, so Merry Christmas everyone! Now, let’s have some fun!
(If you’d like your own Tom Thug Christmas angel for your tree, you can print out the page from OiNK in this post.)
I was very happy to find the main strip in this third issue of Marvel US’s Transformers Generation 2 ended after only 16 pages. Not because I was glad that particular story was over or anything, rather because it meant there was another back up strip to enjoy. After hoping we’d see the same format as last time return, the issue is off to a great start for this fan of Marvel UK’s winning formula, which the US comic is now embracing.
The main story, as ever written by Simon Furman, is called Primal Fear and I needn’t have worried about its title being similar to ones from the previous generation. Although the ‘ancient evil’ storyline is still to be built upon, for now this involves a sector of the galaxy that preys on hidden fears and aggression buried deep within the subconscious of any visitors.
It kicks off with this first page that’s notable for its heavy use of wiring and hoses within the framework of the robots. It reminds me of the live-action Transformers and something certain dark corners of the internet complained were unnecessary and ugly, proving some fans really don’t know their history (much like story elements of the films they complained about which were actually inspired by the original comics or cartoon).
Manny Galan (Sonic the Hedgehog, The New Warriors, Street Sharks) has taken over as penciller on the main story with inks by Jim Amash (Archie & Friends, Deadpool, Night Thrasher) and Marie Severin (Kull the Conqueror, The Haunt of Fear, Alf). I’m not sure how I feel about it if I’m honest. At times it feels like some of the earlier UK art and I’m all for that, it has a real classic vibe to it. However, at other times it comes across like they’re struggling with how the Transformers move; they can come across stilted, as if drawn from how the action figures moved.
Hound in particular looks like he could decapitate himself with a good sneeze
But it’s those necks full of robotics that I can’t help but notice. I may have been a big fan of the realism brought to giant alien robots in the live-action films, but here the necks in particular can look ridiculously elongated. Below are two such examples. This doesn’t happen on every page, but when it does it’s like the artist is trying too hard. Upon occasion it’s just too extreme for me. Thank goodness for Richard Starkings’ and John Gaushell’s letters and Sarra Mossoff’s colours returning.
Hound in particular looks like he could decapitate himself with a good sneeze, or perhaps he’s starring in an 80s futuristic movie with a person dressed up in a robot suit, the excess of wires hiding the shape of the actor’s neck. I do, however, like the reflection of Jhiaxus on Prime’s mouth guard. So, what’s this about an ancient evil feeding off others’ primal instincts?
The Transformers were created by Primus to fight and destroy Unicron, which they successfully did in the final year of the original comic. But that in-built aggression is a natural element of their being and something Jhiaxus argues is their true nature, believing Prime and the Autobots’ wish for peace is sacrilegious and ultimately doomed to failure. It’s these deeply buried instincts that Prime has been more willing than normal to embrace over these first few issues.
Indeed, Prime goes very dark in some parts of this early fight and initially I didn’t like these scenes at all. I thought they were just following on from the previous issues and were another example of how his character was more hard-edged. A lot of this is very out of character indeed, but once Simon gets the chance to explain all about this sector of the galaxy (and what’s really happening to Prime) I breathed a sigh of relief, and it’s a great little story.
Optimus eventually gets through to Jhiaxus as only he can, by talking him down and trying to make him see reason. Every ounce of Prime wants to fight back as Jhiaxus continues trying to violently finish things. But we soon realise Jhiaxus is fighting back so desperately because in the heat of battle he gets an element of peace from his own devastating past. He doesn’t want to remember who he was… but he does, below.
Confusingly, the page above is read in columns, although by looking closely you can see the first panel crumbling away into the image of the screaming Decepticon leader. He was a sadistic killer, murdering for the sport, and his greatest fear is that his so-called ‘higher calling’ of galactic conquest in the name of his race is nothing more than his past self dressed up in a more respectable cloak.
As Prime states, they were all created to fight and kill. It’s a heavy moment that hadn’t really occurred to me until now. No wonder Prime’s been struggling to hold back those darker feelings, when the events of the previous two issues seemed to outdo everything they’d achieved over millions of years. Something is forcing them to regress into what they were eons ago; earlier selves they’d overcome to become something greater, even if they’re on opposing sides of the conflict. This is the Prime I remember!
Much like a twisted version of Peter Pan’s shadow, the creatures have attached themselves, but they weaken as the Transformers walk away. And walk away they must. They can’t fight these things, or each other. To do so would release more rage and simply bait these creatures further. It takes a much stronger character to walk away from a battle and the two leaders order their warriors to back away and leave, agreeing to a temporary truce until they next meet.
However, on the last page of the story Jhiaxus can’t help himself and decides to wipe out all life on the planet to prepare it for colonisation. If this will come back to bite him in the time we have with this comic I don’t know, we’ll have to wait and see. Jhiaxus’ anger at letting the Autobots live grows as he gives his orders. Is this anger being fed by the aliens? He’s made for an excellent baddie so far and we’ve only scraped the surface of his character. A truly excellent creation of Simon’s.
Old Evils is the back up strip and, speaking of great baddies, one of my absolute favourites is back. Firstly though, it carries on from the main strip as Jhiaxus returns to his ship, thankful there’s no sign of any Decepticons from the millennia-old war still alive to tarnish what he’s trying to do in the Decepticon name. Then, elsewhere in the galaxy we see an alien vessel attacked by a much larger ship commanded by none other than Bludgeon!
I’m sure this small strip is very much a prelude of what’s to come, much like the best black and white stories in the original UK comic’s later life; stories which added more depth and foreboding to the US strips, when we’d see elements of storylines long before American readers. The main point here is to bring Bludgeon and the Decepticons we all know so well back into the picture and send them off to our home planet!
I was wondering if Earth was going to get a look in since all of the stories so far have been set in deep space and it’s only a 12-issue run. Not that it was meant to be a 12-issue run of course… or was it? The first Transmissions page contains a surprise in the very first letter, in which reader Benson G. Yes says he’s aware of the current storyline ending with #12! Of course, he could just mean this particular story involving Jhiaxus rather than the comic itself, but it was still a surprise to read this as I’d assumed something had already slipped out that the comic was scheduled to end.
I was thrilled to read the confirmation that the two-strip format is going to remain, and even more thrilled that the stunning art of Derek Yaniger will continue to thrill me, even if it is only within the back ups. After this, the Marvel Bullpen Bulletin makes a brief mention of long-time Transformers writer Bob Budiansky who had moved over to run the company’s trading cards division, and that’s it for another issue.
I’m glad the main strip was more self-contained than the previous two. While it continued the overall story (particularly for Optimus Prime’s and Jhiaxus’ character arcs), the fact it also had a proper beginning, middle and end was like proper old-school Transformers. Three issues in and it feels like it’s just the beginning of true greatness. Transformers Generation 2 continues with #4 during the what-day-of-the-week-is-it-anyway period of the festive season, on Sunday 29th December 2024. Catch you then.
After the rendered brilliance of last issue’s Chris Halls cover I assumed this still-brilliantly crafted front page image was one of the better American covers, but upon reading the editorial we find out it’s actually by another British artist, Pete Doherty (Judge Dredd, Millarworld, Shaolin Cowboy). The cover of Aliens #6 from Dark Horse International shows one alien being attacked by many others in Hive, which we’ll return to later in the review.
First up is part five of Mike Richardson’s movie adaptation… sorry, I mean ‘Newt’s Tale‘. Again, for this allegedly retelling the movie through the eyes of the young survivor of LV-426 she doesn’t appear at all over the first seven pages, which include another moment from the Special Edition a lot of readers may not have seen at the time. Unfortunately, the tense scene involving the ever decreasing ammo counters of the remote sentries is cut down to this one page.
The ammo counters are quickly referenced later but it doesn’t exactly convey the same amount of excitement as the restored scene in the film. We never saw the actual “shooting gallery” on screen either and it was much more tense that way. Elsewhere there’s a passing comment from Bishop that the aliens also captured the livestock to impregnate, foreshadowing Alien³ somewhat and there’s also one of the best delivered lines in the whole movie.
When Bishop tells them that one of the cooling tanks in the nuclear reactor has been damaged and it’s gone into a state of emergency venting, just when everything else already seemed so bleak and hopeless, Hicks’ line of “How long ’til it blows?” was delivered in such an understated, deflated way by actor Michael Biehn it made us laugh! It had the perfect tone of, “Of course it is.” A comic obviously can’t convey the delivery, but reading the line still made me chuckle.
The big moment here is one that finally involves Newt and it’s the scene in which she and Ripley secure themselves inside the medical facility to rest, unaware (as were the audience) that Burke had slipped in and let a facehugger loose. As this begins, penciller Jim Somerville and inker Brian Garvey produce this eerie, unnerving panel of the two characters asleep while Newt’s decapitated doll’s head seemingly looks on in terror, its mouth covered by Ellen.
As all hell breaks loose in what was a truly terrifying scene in the film, Gregory Wright’s colours come into their own as he gives certain panels a red tone, mimicking the alarm that was going off at the time without the need of large SFX lettering taking up necessary space. However, this double-page spread perfectly conveys a movie adaptation; as a comic in its own right it’s pretty damned good, but for anyone who’d already seen the film it feels rushed and a bit by-the-numbers.
This is simply because a comic adaptation can never produce the same feelings and reactions as a movie, it can never work to the same beats. The best adaptations are those that change the movie to suit the format, and unfortunately this one tries to stay too close to the source material, so overall it’s a bit lacking. This isn’t the fault of the team behind it, they were in a losing situation before it began, and the art is great.
Time for some contemporary Aliens news, pages I always look forward to every month. Well okay, only one out of the four pieces of news directly involves Aliens this month but it’s none-the-less an interesting look back in time to November 1992. Of note is writer Dave Hughes’ description of Thelma and Louise as a “role-reversal” road movie. Really? I also didn’t know it had a director’s cut. Then in the charts Warner Bros were having a great time of it but I pity the poor sods investing in the first three episodes of the weekly V series. I can sympathise. I was one of them. Not a patch on the two previous mini-series.
In the competition the question could only have been answered by those who had seen the film, even though surely those who hadn’t would want to enter, but at least it’s honest about knowing its readers would be lying about their age. Finally, that Spider-Man film sounds like the worst idea ever and at the same time like the most 90s comic movie ever.
On to my favourite strip, Mark Verheiden’s Cold War, our Predator back up and I’ve finally watched the first two movies! Having done so brings a new level of enjoyment to this, my memories of them and my imagination adding to the already gruesome art by penciller Ron Randall, inker Steve Mitchell, colourists Chris Chalenor and Rachelle Menashe, and letterer Clem Robins. The Predators are no longer stationery images on a page anymore, suddenly the still images here are accurately conveying some dynamic movements and thrills.
This is our sequel of sorts to both films and the Americans blow their way out of their entrapment from last month. A stand off occurs between them and the Soviets until Ligachev grabs Schaefer and makes a run for it, knowing both sides don’t stand a chance against the aliens, and even if they could neither side should get hold of those weapons. In the end they’re soon recaptured when the Americans’ expensive winter clothing and weaponry give out in the extreme cold.
Schaefer is in his own clothes (he’s police, not military) and soon the two leads find a ravine they agree they’d have chosen if they were the aliens, with Yashin and his men in hot pursuit and shooting to kill. At one point Schaefer puts his life on the line to shout a warning to them about the aliens but they don’t listen and one-by-one they’re taken apart – quite literally – by one lone Predator standing guard at the entrance to the ravine.
At the time Predator: Cold War may have been seen as a bit of a role reversal between the two super powers
After the build up over the past few months this issue’s chapter is great! I’m not complaining about the story building slowly, I’ve really enjoyed it in fact, and this chapter works so well thanks to everything that came before. It’s a superb pay off for the human tension, not to mention the mystery behind these creatures for this rookie reader. Schaefer’s lone wolf attitude and clichéd 80s action heroism plays off perfectly against Ligachev’s humanity, which I’m guessing at the time may have been seen as a bit of a role reversal between the two super powers.
In the end, Schaefer’s heroics almost see him die at the hands of the Predator and it’s only Ligachev emptying dozens of bullets into it at close range that saves him. Even if I hadn’t seen those movies recently this strip does a superb job of conveying the terrors they’re up against. The odds couldn’t be more stacked against them in the icy wilderness and I can’t wait for the next chapter!
The widescreen release of Alien is up for review this issue and it’s by Jim Campbell again, who is thankfully a lot more positive than he was about the Aliens Special Edition. I remember this exciting time when favourite films of mine would get director’s cuts and widescreen releases, the latter of which really appealed to me. While we didn’t have a widescreen TV for several more years, I could easily ignore the black bars and enjoy a whole new cinematic experience for the likes of Jaws and the James Bond series.
Jaws was like a whole new film than the one on the 4:3 VHS I’d almost worn out, and despite the 60s Bond movies not being all that wide I still restarted my collection. I completely agree with Jim that this was a much better way to watch movies (even on regular 4:3 screens) and on the many benefits it brought; everything from just enjoying the full picture to actually benefitting the story, characters and, for the likes of Alien and Jaws the way the director created the suspense and jump scares.
Jim says the widescreen version of Alien better represents director Ridley Scott’s vision for his film and I completely agree. But surely that’s what the Aliens Special Edition also did for James Cameron, a version that Jim said was unnecessary and gave a negative review for in #2. Of course today these points are moot since we’ve moved on from this particular transition point in home media.
Poor Max! Part six of Hive continues the worst-plan-in-a-science-fiction-story ever and on the front cover we’ve already been told there’s a traitor in amongst the aliens, so we know synthetic Norbert has somehow survived. How he did is shown to us but not explained, as you’ll see.
We kick things off with Max dead and there’s a hole in his chest, ringing bells for anyone who had seen Alien³ in the cinema by this point (although I prefer the Collector’s Edition story in this regard). In keeping with the forced tension I talked about last time, Dr. Myakovsky can’t reach Max and he’ll obviously fall deep into the hive depths if he stretches too far, but he still tries to. Because of course he would.
Sigh. I saw that coming. And then of course Julian Lish and Gill open fire when they’re not meant to bring attention to themselves. Because, you know, tension and all that. Then comes possibly the strangest part of Jerry Prosser’s story since we saw Norbert and Max playing together in #1, back when the story had so much interesting potential.
Seemingly destroyed last time,Norbert appears to be able to pull from the alien hive around him to repair himself, and even grow a gun? No explanation is given as to how this is possible, and even though the art by Kelley Jones and colouring by Les Dorscheid are great, it really could’ve done with some letters by Clem to explain what the hell this is all about. It just looks weird. It’s also a bit too handy plot-wise and they escape the hive.
Rounding off the issue is the comics checklist and The Terminator has disappeared so DHI must’ve only been finishing off the previous publisher’s run. Then on the letters page there’s a mix of positive and negative correspondence regarding Alien³. The positive ones take the time to explain their opinions, while the negative ones are just angry rants with no reasoning, claiming it’s the end of the Alien series, that it was an insult to “true fans” (that old chestnut) and one even states that since fans are spending their money on these films they should demand what stories are told. It’s like social media before social media was a thing.
Given the results of the readers’ survey (image below), the letters really do evoke a certain hell site on the internet.
With that terrifying image we come to the end and I’m really looking forward to the next issue. I’m genuinely excited by what the next chapter of Cold War could contain and we may even be getting near the end of Hive. But most of all there’s the promise of finally taking a closer look at the first of Chris Halls’ Christmas covers! Christmas in an Aliens comic! When can we expect our next bit of horror? Why, on Christmas Eve 2024, naturally. Isn’t that the best time for a little horror story?
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