Monthly Archives: May 2025

Comic Reviews, Transformers: Generation 2

TRANSFORMERS GENERATiON 2 #9: THE DARiNG DUO

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As Optimus Prime watches on, portrayed as a dust cloud in the gathering storm, Jhiaxus’ minions crumble to dust as the mysterious dark force in the universe wrecks havoc on Derek Yaniger’s latest Transformers: Generation 2 cover from Marvel in 1994. It may be a more basic cover than what we’re used to from Derek but you may enjoy it, because he’s nowhere to be found inside for the first time in this series.

Simon Furman’s Swarm kicks off with the Autobots examining a planet ravaged by this… whatever it is, while Megatron looks on impatiently. Just as with the original series, the comic (which remember is primarily aimed at children) can get away with showing the husks of dead, rotting – or rather, rusting – bodies because they’re robots, not flesh. This is the first time they’ve found physical evidence of Prime’s visions.

Megatron knows Jhiaxus isn’t to blame so he isn’t interested, meaning Prime still hasn’t told him the truth behind his visions. I still can’t wrap my head around that decision, it feels so out of character for him. We do get a moment of Grimlock and Megatron agreeing (which is a shock in itself, I think to them too) when they both seem equally concerned about still being on this planet whenever whatever is responsible returns.

But Prime is committed to this path and assembles a scientific team to investigate, temporarily ignoring the pleas to leave. Megatron sincerely believes Jhiaxus could wipe them from the universe and this is just a distraction, but Prime is convinced it’s the real threat, that there’s a link somehow, although he’s no idea how. Hey Prime, maybe talk to your new ally and work it out?

We the readers zoom off to a primitive planet across the galaxy where the aforementioned next generation of Cybertronians are laying waste to the land and its people who have suddenly found themselves on the brink of extinction. But the ease at which they’re being wiped out by Mindset and his Stormtroopers (another reference to the World Wars after Jhiaxus’ goal in previous issues, nothing to do with Star Wars) comes to a shocking premature end as they look to the sky.

The time it takes to move from its position on the horizon to killing them is apparently so quick they don’t even have time to form thoughts, which is a rather terrifying idea worthy of a good horror film. This thing is alive and begins to react to the attacks from Jhiaxus’ troops, reconfiguring itself into different shapes to take on their various forms. Is it transforming?

It absorbs the metal of its enemies to grow and completely ignores the organic species. We get a brief look inside its mind as it transforms (my word use) into a familiar bipedal shape, beginning to feel some form of familiarity with the ‘food’ it’s just consumed. As Mindset stands up to it, it notices this one is stronger. However, it also realises it has a purpose and a need. But what could that be? Cue Mindset’s last desperate bid to survive.

His fate sealed we take a trip to the Warworld, the Decepticon spaceship being used by both them and the Autobots. Having finally left the planet they’ve taken off in search of Jhiaxus again. Prime laments the choice and once again is off thinking to himself. Then he feels something inside his body as Mindset and his troops are wiped out. He knows “it has begun” and at the exact moment elsewhere on board Onslaught of the Combaticons has some kind of reaction too. Why Onslaught? And I love that description of the Combaticons!

A following caption says this bond between the team members goes deeper than they know. How so? I’m intrigued. The story ends as Starscream (with a head full of stupid-looking human teeth again, hence no photo) approaches Jhiaxus and offers the heads of Prime and Megatron in return for a position of power. Then it’s on to the Tales of Earth back up strip.

Finally Optimus is opening up to Megatron about this new foe. The results from the survey are in and presented by Preceptor (naturally). He concludes that on a genetic level the entity’s configuration is identical to theirs. Megatron takes it surprisingly well and seems to understand Prime wanted proof before telling him. Seeing the two of them actually discuss their situation and work together is really interesting to this long-time reader. It reminds me of Prime and Scorponok’s mutual respect towards the end of G1, a high point of the original comic.

Prime isn’t even particularly pissed off that Megatron stole the Matrix anymore and they seem to respect why they each do things the other diametrically opposes. It feels like a maturely-written situation and I commend Simon for being able to bring something fresh and original to these two characters after so many stories by this point. Prime admits he previously left the mind machine early, which was when we readers found out this entity is a byproduct of the evolution of their race beyond Primus’ intentions.

You’ll notice Derek Yaniger isn’t the artist for Tales of Earth this issue and he’s certainly missed. Don’t get me wrong, Manny Galan is on top form (as are inker Jim Amash, letterer Richard Starkings and colourist Sarra Mossoff) but it does strike me there’s no need for a back up strip without a change of artist. This month it’s a continuation of the main story rather than a parallel tale and it’d all work just as well as one. It ends with Jhiaxus attacking them on Earth. It’s been another incredible issue.

Below, you can see this month’s Bullpen Bulletin contained a small snippet about one of Marvel US’ licenced titles, something which very rarely happened in these news columns. The 150th issue of G.I. Joe, a comic which began two years before Generation 1 of Transformers, was about to hit stores. Surely a huge event, yes? Indeed. Little did fans know only five issues later the comic would be cancelled.

Looking back we can find solace in the fact IDW would resurrect the series in the next millennium and produce #156 to #300 and now Image Comics and Skybound have taken up the mantle from #301 onwards, all still written by Larry Hama. You can check out the phenomenal box set of the original Marvel comics released by Skybound on the blog too.

On the letters page Derek is praised by both readers and the comic, however it’s announced another artist will be taking over the back up strip next issue. The fact it’s none other than Geoff Senior softens the blow somewhat! Now that’s something to look forward to. There’s also a brief mention of the rumour of a UK G2 comic which may have elicited excitement at the time, given the epic G1 UK comic’s legendary status. Unfortunately it’d be a quickly cancelled five-issue run (from Fleetway, not Marvel).

A reader asks if a Jhiaxus toy was available and the comic tells him the answer is no but that it “doesn’t matter” because “in #12 he – ah, but that would be telling!” That sounds like a rather large spoiler if you ask me. Finally, on the inside back cover is an advert for The Shadow starring Alec Baldwin. I remember this being on TV one afternoon about a decade ago and, having nothing better to do, I sat down and watched it. You know what? I’d never even heard of the character but I really enjoyed it. I must watch it again sometime.

While I obviously wish the comic had carried on for many more years the ramping up of the story feels more organic this month, with the Optimus Prime/Megatron scenes the standout moments for me. It all points towards something really rather special to come in that final issue. We’ll take another step closer in five weeks on Sunday 29th June 2025.

iSSUE EiGHT < > iSSUE TEN

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Aliens, Comic Reviews

ALiENS #12: HEY MAN, i DON’T WANNA RAiN ON YOUR PARADE

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Cefn Ridout’s editorial begins by describing Paul Johnson’s cover as “provocative” and a reminder of the pathological horror in the films. I agree. Aliens #12 from Dark Horse International already has my spine chilling. As I explained last month, anything involving a baby or young child like this will always terrify me. I wonder what people thought when they saw this on their shop shelves back in 1993.

Elsewhere in the editorial (presented here to give you the full issue credits) it sounds like the H.R. Giger interview, which I was really looking forward to after seeing the headline on the cover, will be another rant about Alien³, something I’m getting tired of at this stage. Let’s hope it’s better than that. We’ll find out further below. But first up are the last 12 pages of the UK exclusive strip, Peter Milligan’s Sacrifice.

The first half of this evokes a wonderfully creepy atmosphere and I just love the alien’s entrance and Ann’s reasons for being there, which I detailed last month. It takes what should be a ridiculous set up of one person going up against the alien with nothing but medieval-style weaponry and gives it real heft and purpose. Can her mother forgive her? Does evil really exist? By extension, does her god?

But in the end she finds she isn’t as alone as she thought. Inspired by her words and her bravery the villagers have come to her aid and trap (albeit temporarily) the alien in netting, giving her some breathing room. Even our scar-faced villain Ricketts comes good but pays the ultimate price as the sacrificial lamb of the piece before the alien falls foul of their trap. This is something I have a problem with, though.

Don’t get me wrong, I like the end result and its originality for an aliens story. Its acid blood also slowly leaks out and begins to melt the spikes, allowing it to writhe closer to freedom again. But where did the trap come from? Okay, Ann was gone for hours but if the villagers had been out there making it both she and the alien would’ve heard them. Was it always there? If so, why was it not mentioned before so it didn’t feel like such a handy coincidence? It makes no sense and it’s disappointing as a solution.

Ann is pulled into the pit by the alien’s tail and pulls out her grenade to sacrifice herself. But first she must know the truth. She must know if it really is the devil, to look it in its eyes and know if her faith was even real. Of course, we know the aliens don’t have visible eyes but the image from Ann’s dreams comes back to haunt her as she sees the glow of the villager’s fire torches reflected in this simply superb image by cover artist Paul.

The spikes behind its head giving the impression of horns is a nice touch too. Indeed, while the story has suddenly taken a turn for the worse the art remains sublime. It truly has been revelatory and a key factor in the chilling atmosphere these past few months. But Paul isn’t finished yet. The story may have had a silly resolution but you can’t fault the visuals of it.

Such a shame this is followed up by Ann somehow surviving that explosion despite being in the pit! We also find out she’s now in a relationship with Masters. Yep, the man who wouldn’t listen to a woman saying “no” gets the woman! This in particular has not aged well. It does have a refreshingly bleak ending when she doesn’t find her “god”, but overall the conclusion has not lived up to what came before.

The Motion Tracker news pages by Dave Hughes make the mistake of taking one negative review in an earlier issue of this comic and concluding that the Aliens Special Edition was “divisive”. No it wasn’t! This reminds me of silly online headlines I read now when a Doctor Who episode gets almost universally praised, even getting nearly 100% on sites such as Rotten Tomatoes, but because one or two “fans” give pointedly critical reviews the episode is described as “controversial” or “divisive”. Rubbish!

Speaking of negative reviews, the graphic novel of Hive is announced. I won’t go into that again, you can read back over previous issues to see what I thought of it (it ran from #1 to #9). There’s an interesting Egyptian-themed teaser image for the upcoming Stargate movie which I’ve never seen before. Finally in the details of movies coming out that might interest readers, the comic makes the sacrilegious decision to name Iron Eagle as the definitive Louis Gossett Jr. movie when surely it’s Jaws 3-D.

On to the Colonial Marines strip and it takes up eight pages in the middle of the comic, with things get off to a light, fluffy start.

As you can see it’s full of the usual tensions we got in the film. There’s nothing original here although it’s told in a fresh way with a set of believable characters, even if some of them do seem like copies of those we’ve already seen. This month’s story is basically the next stage in the infiltration of the sun gun complex but it’s highly enjoyable, especially our main character, Lieutenant Joseph Henry.

It’s interesting that the synthetic human isn’t going and I suspect (as does Henry by the looks of it) that there’s more behind that reason than just his cost.  Elsewhere, it appears those cheap 70s sci-fi aliens are somehow controlling the xenomorphs rather than being a separate group of antagonists. It rather depletes the threat of the comic’s title species if I’m being honest. The fact they sometimes look like spoof versions of themselves doesn’t help either.

Let’s hope I’m wrong and the addition of these new aliens doesn’t dilute our regulars too much.

So, on to that interview with the original designer of the aliens and their world, the incredibly talented H.R. Giger. I know his artwork is rather twisted and often his non-Alien work can be quite sensuous, but there are points in this chat that just feel damned creepy. I mean, wanting to make this alien killer more erotic?! I also agree with the decision made not to use his updates to the creature as they would’ve changed too much, especially his plans for its mouth/teeth and hands.

At least David Fincher is talked about positively here. The amazing special edition of Alien³ (which is not a “third sequel”, the clue is in the name) also reinstated the ox and the film can now be seen as Fincher originally intended before all of the studio interference, making it possibly my second favourite of the series after Aliens. I’m not sure who wrote this piece but as a reader they come across a bit obsequious. Were they hoping Giger would read this and be so grateful of their sucking up he’d hire them? I jest of course, but you get my point.

Replacing the Predator strip is the first part of Horror Show, an eight-page Aliens strip written by Sarah Byam (Billi 99, Black Canary, What If), drawn by David Roach (Nemesis the Warlock, Batman and Demon, Tales of the Jedi), coloured by Alex Wald (Shaolin Cowboy, American Splendor, Playboy) and lettered by Phil Owen (Dark Horse Comics). A character who is very clearly a pastiche of Orson Welles runs a company that uses technology to research people’s fears. They pay his company to place them into a realistic nightmare scenario as a form of therapy, to help them overcome it.

In reality the dream sequences are being recorded and used to create virtual Total Recall-like horror entertainment for profit. We see someone attacked by a shark and lose a leg, only to be confronted by an alien, their near-meltdown being music to Orson Masch’s ears. Even an alien costume turns up. This could be an interesting ‘Aliens meets Total Recall strip’, but I have this niggling feeling this could be another Hive, a strip that also reduced the aliens to a man-made version of some form.

In the continuing publication of the Tribes novella the team are infiltrating a hospital that was formerly an alien hive. However, in an interesting twist they suspect the hospital staff of leading some form of pro-alien religion and the reader discovers a doctor who appears to be gestating an alien queen inside themselves. However, they’re trying to delay it to a specific time. We don’t know why yet.

The Technical Readout feels like a bit of a cop out this month, being little more than a paragraph about the Colonial Marines and a quick sketch. On the Bug Hunt letters page a reader has the terrible idea of treating Alien³ as a Dallas-style dream sequence and the comic’s recent changes have been met with high praise. The call for Aliens: Countdown’s artist Denis Beauvais’ return is met with the news that his Frankenstein strip will be appearing in Dracula (it didn’t). Of course, with hindsight we know that comic would be cancelled in a few months, so will we get to see any of that strip before then? We’ll find out in its real time read through.

This issue may have struggled to reach the heights of the simply amazing #11 but that’s not to say it isn’t without its highlights. Paul’s artwork always shines, Tribes is the best read this time and Colonial Marines is still enjoyable and has bags of potential. I’m very hyped to see what the new exclusive UK strip is next time, to see more of Lt. Henry and his crew and to see if the Mars-based Schwarzenegger movie can work its magic into Horror Show. I’ll catch you (or if not, a facehugger will) on Tuesday 24th June 2025.

iSSUE 11 < > iSSUE 13

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Comic Reviews, Dracula

DRACULA #6: VLAD THE LAD

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It’s quite different this month, isn’t it? Although John Bolton’s new logo is reminiscent enough of the movie’s for it to feel like a natural progression for the publication. Inside, the continuation of Vampirella’s story and the Bloodlines news pages help with the transition into something very different too. The movie adaptation was a Topps Comics production in the States and Dark Horse International sticks with them for the next main strip.

Speaking of sticking, there’s a free glow-in-the-dark sticker (which I admit looks a lot better through my iPhone’s lens than in person). It’s a somewhat child-friendly gift for a comic with a strip containing bloody beheadings. In fact, it’s rather strange the comic no longer comes with the “Not suitable for younger readers” warning. Although I doubt the sticker would’ve convinced many parents to buy this for their child!

Movie adaptation writer Roy Thomas is scriptwriter for what is basically another adaptation, this time of history books. A three-issue mini-series marketed in the States as “The True Story” of Dracula, in reality very little of the real Vlad the Impaler made it into the Count character in Bram Stoker’s book, such was Stoker’s limited knowledge of Vlad or the time in which he lived. This issue contains 15 pages of the first chapter but there’s so much crammed in I was surprised after reading it that it wasn’t more.

Introducing himself as Dracula complete with fangs, a crumbling castle and assorted monsters and supernatural entities, he welcomes us to his tale by gliding in on a green mist before presenting “the year the cross-wielders call 1431”. His father, Vlad Dracul is a protector of Christendom, was named after the Order of the Dragon and is the military governor of Transylvania and Prince of Wallachia. He’s actually just a strongman for sultan Muran, receiving fortune, land and protection in return for loyalty and the people’s taxes. We see a happy family life with young Vlad, Mircea (oldest brother) and Radu (the youngest). However, it’s not long until we see their true nature.

Young Vlad snitches on someone questioning why their family name means both “dragon” and “demon” in the country’s native tongue. Taking pride in showing his boys how vicious he can be to anyone who questions him, his father has learned from his overlords who impaled their enemies’ heads on spikes (something Vlad III would later become known for). His father takes them to Gallipoli to learn about how their nations relate to one another, but it’s upon this trip that a major event in Vlad’s life takes place.

Muran has discovered elder Vlad has been playing east and west against each other and reaping the benefits. The Turks had invaded the sultan’s lands of Transylvania and Wallachia and Vlad had stood back and let them, thinking he could befriend whoever the ultimate victors would be. In revenge for this disloyalty his two youngest sons are taken in as “guests”, but they’ll be treated as hostages if their father is ever disloyal again.

Young Vlad trains to be just as vicious a warrior and becomes good friends with the sultan’s son Mehmed, learning how to rule through fear while his younger brother becomes loved by the harem! During the next year their father proves his disloyalty yet again and in an uprising he’s killed, whilst his eldest son and heir to his throne Mircea is buried alive. Muran then passes down their belongings to young Vlad who he sees as a more loyal successor.

I’ll admit it’s difficult to review this. Esteban Moroto’s (Conan, Red Sonja, Cadillacs and Dinosaurs) art, Paul Mounts’ (Fantastic Four, Ultimates, Reborn) colours and returning letterer John Costanza evoke a lovely classical feel despite this being a new comic at the time, and I find it fascinating because I never knew any of the story of Vlad the Impaler beyond the few pieces in Dracula which were somewhat accurate. However, I’m not sure if it works as a comic strip.

As a history lesson it’s very entertaining and I was drawn in by the story of this man in his youth. But, as a comic strip it reads like an adaptation of a text book, with chunks of the text turned into speech for the players. So yes, it’s a strange one. The original story it’s based on is interesting, and I look forward to comparing it to Dracula, but it’s presented in such a stilted way in its script.

In the middle of the comic is a multi-page, in-depth interview with Anne Rice, writer of the Interview with the Vampire series amongst others. For once it’s not just quotes lifted from various other sources, Dave Hughes actually met the lady herself during what sounds like an exhausting promotional tour. I’ll admit it’s a novel and movie I know nothing about but from reading this and doing a bit of research I have to say I’m intrigued. After last month’s feature on the BBC’s Dracula mini-series this comic is filling up my Hallowe’en viewing rightly.

I’d no idea the novel was released the year before I was born. I’d always assumed it was relatively new when the film was produced. The movie was still in preproduction during this interview and there’s no mention of Tom Cruise. In fact, I was disappointed to read online of Anne’s negative reaction to his casting. However, once she saw the movie she said he “is Lestat” and admitted she was completely wrong (even calling him up to apologise) so now I’m even more eager to watch his performance.

“We want our rewards from life and we don’t sacrifice them to bring justice to all mankind. The whole lure of the sensuous world fascinates me.”

Anne Rice

I’m always fascinated to learn of a writer’s process, whether I’ve read their work or not, and this feature does not disappoint. It covers the original novel’s creation and how long it took to go from initial idea to finished story. There’s also an interesting dissection of the appeal of vampire stories, although this would appear to be flipped on its head a few years later when Buffy became such a huge hit.

The Bram Stoker’s Dracula movie is cited as proof that tastes were changing, although I think Anne’s description of Silence of the Lambs seems a bit overwrought. It’s in the creation of her original novel, the changes made to the character, her belief it wouldn’t work but she kept going, as well as the ultimate reception that combine to be really interesting. It also doesn’t hurt seeing John Bolton’s gorgeous illustrations from the comic book adaptation of her second novel.

(I did ask Siri to play the Sting song mentioned here and I only made it halfway through it.)

There’s no one-off strip like last issue’s Werewolf which I’d have preferred over Vampirella, but fortunately her tale is a vast improvement over her previous entry. It’s a complete 12-page story by Archie Goodwin and drawn by Tom Sutton, in which she is tracked down by a member of the chaos cult. This is done via a cat, so I was immediately enjoying this more than last time. The two villainous characters are a frail elderly lady and her unwilling but ultimately murderous son with echoes of Psycho, released nine years earlier. (Son Lenny even spies on Vampirella through a hole in a wall behind a painting.)

Their backstory boils down to the cat being mind-controlled by Mrs Jethryn because she’s bound to the library building by a curse that allowed her son to be resurrected. After a battle with Vampirella, Lenny’s happy to be killed and finally freed. I can happily report the cat gets a happy ending too. Released from her control it runs off home with the woman’s soul trapped inside, unable to influence the cat or even make her presence known. I’ve no problem with much older strips appearing (for example the classic Machine Man in early issues of Marvel UK’s The Transformers was a great fit) and this small story is fun to read. However, we see Vampirella stealing a raincoat to protect her from the weather… so why can’t she steal some actual clothes?!

Dave returns for his usual Bloodlines news pages and you may wonder why you see Space:1999 here. It’s because of the guest stars who might be of particular interest to readers. I’ll also admit the two-part episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation sounds intriguing, and that’s coming from someone who’s never seen a full episode. I do find it strange Children of the Night’s narration is criticised when you consider how Bram Stoker wrote Dracula.

On a more positive note I was thrilled to see the interview with Anne was just the first of a series with female authors, so that’s something I’m really looking forward to next month. The issue ends with the first letters page, Fang Mail, which is a great name and there’s an advert for Manga Mania which had a whopping 88 more pages yet only cost 45p more. You’ll see examples of these Dark Horse International adverts in a special collection at a later date on the blog.

The comic had proved to be a success while it was adapting the movie with good sales and a good reception from readers. However, now knowing it would be cancelled just a few issues later it’s clear not everyone was a fan of the new contents. Still, I look forward to finding out more about Transylvanian history when #7 hits the blog on Sunday 15th June 2025.

iSSUE FiVE < > iSSUE SEVEN

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Comic Reviews, OiNK Contributors

DAViD LEACH CONQUERS THE UNiVERSE #4: THEY SAY HE’S VERY FUNNY

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How many times in your life have you heard someone start a sentence with, “They say…”? For example, “They say the best way to beat a cold is…”, or “They say it’s better to have loved and lost…” etc. How many times have you used that phrase? Countless, I’m sure. But have you ever wondered who “They” are? This has been the silly premise of David (Psycho Gran) Leach’s hilarious David Leach Conquers the Universe self-published comic series, which reaches its conclusion with the long-awaited #4.

Starting out as deranged conspiratorial ramblings in the first issue we soon came to realise David’s life is supposedly being controlled by a bunch of strangers playing a Dungeons & Dragons-type game. Now it’s time for the inevitable confrontation. But how on Earth did our hero possibly survive the end of the previous issue? (If you don’t know what I mean, go and buy it!) David’s solution takes a few pages to explain.

By this stage we all know this version of David loves to talk. Incessantly. Inspired by the cliffhanger serials of his youth and how they foiled their own seemingly impossible cliffhangers, he’s basically cheated. But the long-winded explanation is not only worth the price of entry on its own, it also speaks to something that seems to have niggled at David’s (real life) brain for decades. 

It’s a great start! The issue is chock full of ludicrous storytelling and so many quick fire gags you may need to catch your breath every few pages. For example, in a flashback scene David arrives at a hospital to be greeted by a man who asks, “Mr. Leech?” To which David replies, “It’s ‘Leach’”. Obviously this spelling correction only works on the written page of a comic, seeing it as part of a verbal conversation is really funny.

There’s a surprise return of a former foe, housed in a corridor of cells reminiscent of Silence of the Lambs. In fact, David walks straight past Hannibal on the way to his much scarier enemy. Apart from this diversion the whole issue takes place in the games room of ‘They’, which sounds small in scale compared to the previous issues but have faith in David; what transpires here is bigger, sillier and funnier than everything that came before.

“I set out right from the first issue to make an autobiographical comic that was a complete pack of lies”

David chatting to me about the series

It all boils down to a one-on-one with the main baddie and as seems tradition with this series it’s dialogue-heavy, with David often talking the ear off the villain and driving them crazy in the process. Below are two excellent examples taken from just such a scene including another staple of the comics: David’s pot shots and wry digs at himself, his personality or his career. (It’s all very meta, but in a good, non-social media way.)

Now and again an item will pop up which will seem completely random and out of place. Anybody familiar with the dramatic principle of Chekov’s gun should know these things aren’t random at all and will pay off at a later stage, especially in the hands of such a talented writer. With David Leach Conquers the Universe you soon start trying to anticipate the groan-worthy pun to come, which is ultimately the real reason behind the introduction of these seemingly random things.

Throw in a surprisingly touching moment involving David’s family and a funny epilogue to conclude it all and you’ve got a well-rounded ending to this years-long mini-series. Any OiNK fan, or simply any fan of genuinely funny comics, will find loads to enjoy throughout these four issues and I can’t state emphatically enough how much you’ll love laughing along with them. This final issue is a great pay off for the end of the series too.

While the above advert doesn’t include the third issue of Psycho Gran Comic Capers Cavalcade you can check out highlights from it on the blog already, but we’re here to talk about David Leach Conquers the Universe. If you’ve already read the first three instalments you can purchase the 36-page finale for just £5 (plus £2 postage) from the Dead Universe comic shop in Aylesbury by popping in, phoning (07852 836307) or emailing them (info@deaduniversecomics.com).

Alternatively, you can simply order direct from the horse’s very talkative mouth and get yours from David himself. Just use his email (davidleach2000@yahoo.com) on PayPal. What if you haven’t read any of the series? Then get caught up for just £20 for all four issues (plus £5 postage) and David will happily send you them all in one great big bundle of joy! I highly recommend that you do.

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Competitions

OiNK BLOG DOUBLES COMPETiTiON: MAY 2025

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Thanks once again to all who entered last month’s competition to win an issue each of OiNK and Buster. Any pig pal worth their salty bacon should’ve known the FULL name of Jeremy Banx’s spoof character inspired by the Dracula novel in OiNK Weekly was of course Doctor Hieronymous Van Hellsong, and yes, I required the full name.

Congratulations to Dan Fish of Harlow, England who appears to have grown into a fan of the nemesis of all pig pals! I still hope he enjoys reliving some moments from our favourite comic, though. This month I’ve got no less than NINE comics to give away! Wildcat was created by legendary British comics editor Barrie Tomlinson and while it may have been short-lived before merging into Eagle it left its mark on me as a kid, and judging by the response to its coverage on the blog I wasn’t alone.

In order to complete my collection of 12 original fortnightlies I had to buy a few bundles and ended up with doubles of nine of them. The prize is the first eight issues and the tenth thrown in for good measure too (to which there’s a slight tear to the cover, just so you know). Wildcat told the story of the last few thousand humans left alive in the cosmos after Earth’s destruction as they tried to find a new home. Containing great characters, epic storylines, stunning art and thought-provoking anthologies that touched upon some topical issues, Wildcat is still a fascinating read today.

So what do you have to do to enter? Well, as usual you’ll have 14 days to search the blog for the answer to this question:

Q – Which three comics make up the blog’s Barrie Tomlinson trilogy?

When (you think) you’ve got the answer you can either email it to me at oink.blog@icloud.com (all emails will be deleted after the winner has been selected, I’m not fancy enough to have a newsletter), or use the contact form you can find on the right-hand side of your desktop screen or under this post on mobile. Your entry must be with me by midnight on Wednesday 14th May 2025.

After this date I’ll contact the winner to ask for their postal address. Unfortunately, due to rising postage costs the competitions are only open to UK and Ireland readers. I’ll ask the winner if they can take a photo of themselves with their prize for inclusion in the next month’s competition post. (If you win you don’t have to send a photo of course, but you do get to show off if you do.)

Wildcat is classic sci-fi with a twist, and was written and drawn by some of the greatest talent Fleetway Publications ever had. If you’ve never read it you won’t want to miss out on your chance to grab some for free, and if you remember it I know you’ll be eager to relive it.

The next competition is gonna be Big, so come back on Sunday 1st June 2025 to see what you could win.

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