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?
It’s taken me a while to write this. I wanted to take the time to tell you a little about my dad, I just didn’t think I’d be writing this so soon. In August, just five short months after my mum passed and I wrote about her, my dad passed away. He was never the same after mum died and on the way to the hospital he kept kissing his wedding ring, ready to go and join her. It’s been a tough year.
If anyone ever asks me about my dad the first thing I mention is always his sense of humour. He was always lovably daft. I remember as a child when he was making himself a cup of tea and I’d shout into the kitchen from the living room, “Can I have a cup?” he’d say yes, and then proceed to come out with his tea and an empty cup for me. “Well, you didn’t say you wanted anything in it.” Then off I’d go to make my own cuppa!
Me and dad on the Isle of Man in 1984
Or how about the life lessons our dads teach us when we’re in our formative years? Like when mum would’ve asked him to do some dusting around the house while she was out, and he’d pull me aside to show me which ornaments to swap about into the wrong places to make it look like he’d done it. Dad’s sense of humour was wonderful and I remember growing up and discovering stand up comedy through him too with the likes of Billy Connelly and Dave Allen, and watching Married with Children together.
It’s strange the random memories that come back when we lose someone we love, and how previously forgotten childhood memories can resurface, clear as crystal in our minds. I remember being very, very young and we lived at the bottom of a hill. My dad owned a motorbike back then and when he came home from work he’d always stop at the top of the hill and wait for me to come running out of the house and all the way up to him so I could ride down on his back. I can see that in my mind as if it were yesterday, something I hadn’t thought of in decades.
Me and dad, Douglas in 1983
As I approach the first Christmas without them I can hear their voices telling me to celebrate and enjoy my favourite time of the year. I’ll make sure I do, in their honour. In fact, this festive season I’ll be partaking in a certain hobby for the first time since childhood, one which my dad and I enjoyed together at times. When I was a kid he sourced a huge wooden board for my Hornby trains and painted it with grass, rivers and roads. I look forward to opening my first model train set in about 30 years this Christmas and thinking about how much dad would’ve been right there with me enjoying it.
My mum and dad split just after I left high school and I didn’t see him for many years. I was in my 30s when he moved back to our hometown and I went to visit him, happy with the news they were talking and had become friends again. They seemed so genuinely happy. I shouldn’t have been surprised then when my dad phoned me one day asking if I had any use of some old TV equipment at mum’s apartment. I asked why and he said he needed to make room for his stuff. I’d no idea they’d even got back together! That was a very happy day.
Mum and dad at my cousin Neil’s wedding in 2012
Dad hadn’t been well for some time at the home where he’d spent the last few years. However, the last time I saw him he was in good form and had seemed to perk up towards the end. In hindsight it was like he knew he was going to see mum again soon. I’ve never understood that whole ‘They’re no longer in pain’ thing people say. I do now, and I’m happy he’s at peace and the two of them are together again.
Me with my mum and dad at my cousin Elaine’s wedding in 2015
My mum and dad both watch over me now from atop my bookshelf in this photo, the same one I showed you earlier in the year. It was the last one I ever took of the three of us together because I so rarely take photos of myself. I know I’ll see them again. Although the wait will be agonising I’ll never stop thinking about them and how they raised me. I hope I can make both of them proud.
To end with, here’s a photo my dad took on a family holiday to the Isle of Man back in 1985. He found the licence plate so hilarious he just had to take a picture of it, which he gave to me when we got them developed. I found it while looking for photos of him and it made me laugh so hard remembering him in that moment!
There was no issue of Marvel UK’s (Epic imprint) monthly comic during October 1989. The fifth issue of The Sleeze Brothers was released at the end of September (just three weeks after the previous issue) despite its cover date being ‘December’. The sixth and final issue wouldn’t arrive until just two days before Christmas either. Why the big gap? I have no idea. I just know these were the release dates thanks to information in sister titles Transformers and The Real Ghostbusters.
But after really (really, really) enjoying the issues so far that’s just too long a wait with nothing new from El’ Ape and Deadbeat for the blog. Thankfully, there was a neat little extra in the first issue that I decided to hold back to help plug this gap. It’s a page at the rear of the issue where the Sleezes looked upon the team responsible for bringing them to life in the first place. Suitably enough, it’s a criminal line up! But it’s even better than that.
Drawn by the regular team of penciller Andy Lanning and inker Stephen Baskerville, it paints quite the picture of Marvel UK’s finest, doesn’t it? I’ve praised this team endlessly these past few months and for good reason. Looking at this it’s clear to me the weird and wacky world of The Sleeze Brothers needed an equally weird and wacky team behind it all. It gives the impression this was a fun comic to work on and from speaking to originating editor Richard Starkings, that was certainly the case.
I adore all the little in-jokes in the descriptions of each person, although my favourite part is the fact Steve White is drawn as a dinosaur. He produced some gorgeous colouring for another favourite comic of mine, Dark Horse International’s UK Jurassic Park comic, and today his incredibly elaborate and, frankly, bloody stunning dinosaur illustrations fill his Instagram, website and self-published books.
The final issue of The Sleeze Brothers will be reviewed here on Monday 23rd December 2024 but that won’t be the end of their coverage on the OiNK Blog. You’ll have to wait for that final regular review to find out what else is to come in the future, but until then I hope you enjoyed this little insight into the offices of Marvel UK as much as I did. We’ll return to the apparently “not-too-distant future” Earth this Christmas.
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