SATURDAY 18th FEBRUARY 1989
The cover of this week’s The Real Ghostbusters drawn by Brian Williamson and Bambos Georgiou instantly takes me back and across the way Andy WIldman’s cover to Transformers and Action Force signals a return to American writer Bob Budiansky’s swansong epic. What a week this was!
That fiery ghost that’s all mouth, teeth and flame was one of the best creations the comic ever produced and I mustn’t have been alone in thinking it because it’d return a few times, on this occasion alongside other fan faves when the containment unit was breached. In another story a giant ghost cat was more cuddly than scary, and in the end we find out it was actually a good ghost and the team sided with it as it protected stray cats out on the streets of New York from cruel humans. Aww.
After the epic Time Wars we were back to the second half of the even-more-epic Underbase Saga. I loved this probably even more than Time Wars because Starscream was at the centre of everything; his massive ego getting hold of unlimited power was hugely entertaining and the resulting casualty list was even more shocking than the UK story. Dreadwind also gives one of his best answers on the letters page, check it out at the link below. Both of these comics deserved the ‘Don’t Miss…’ slot on the checklist as far as I’m concerned. What a shame there wasn’t one then, despite being on the Ghostbusters’ contents page.
Which 80s TV fans recognised the quote I used last time when referencing this week’s advert? I remember watching Alf’s first season (before it shifted to satellite TV and out of reach for many of us back then) and not really understanding what all the fuss was about. Then again, even at a very young age I had an aversion to obvious laugh tracks on sitcoms instead of live audiences. Due to how Alf was filmed they just couldn’t have a studio audience, but the laugh track suffered as they all do with guffaws and roars of excitement from the American ‘audience’ for every little thing that happened, whether it was funny or not.
I sound like an old man! But that was also how I felt when I was only 11. Only later in life have I remembered Alf apparently ate cats too, though obviously not on screen. That’s not going to endear him to me now, that’s for sure. Anyway, no advert next week but the checklist will be back with a comic we haven’t heard from in a long time. A Bumper post coming up in just seven days.
Join in the checklists conversation here or on:
Bluesky
Instagram
Facebook
TRANSFORMERS 206 (Instagram)
OiNK Blog 