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SATURDAY 11th FEBRUARY 1989

A silly cover for Valentine’s Day by Brian Williamson and Bambos Georgiou, and a brutal death-laden cover to mark the end of the latest epic by Andrew Wildman, who is credited as “Andy” here. During my real time read through Andrew told me he’d no idea why they did that as he’s never gone by that name. Anyway, that aside Marvel UK had all bases covered.

Despite Slimer making the cover, The Real Ghostbusters focuses instead on Egon and Janine for the lovey-dovey season, although Egon’s idea of celebrations may have suited the other comic above, what with his Spengler’s Spirit Guide focusing on those who have died for love. It’s all tongue-in-cheek of course, and the previously advertised Betty Boop Valentine Card Comic is released for £1.15 according to the editorial. I wonder how many of those they sold?

In Transformers and Action Force the epic to end all epics… um, ends. It does so in fine form with some truly shocking moments drawn by Lee Sullivan. Probably most memorable of all is Galvatron being literally pulled apart, from his outer metal all the way through to his inner electronics by an angry and vengeful universe. What an experience this was as a kid, especially as I’d only begun reading the comic a few months beforehand! Surely this is the big title of the week?

Nope, that honour goes to the new issue of Action Force Monthly, even though it could’ve been given the top spot anytime over the next few weeks (which we’ve seen before for the monthlies) whereas this truly incredible Transformers is here for one week only. Two keys details in Action Force for me are the boast of four stories (so they must be rather short) and the use of the phrase “another outing” (oh dear, a reprint).

Thundercats is also a new entry for the fortnightly comic and it sounds more like the earlier editions once more. A fully British line up too. We’ve got a new comic advert this week as well for another brand new fortnightly. At least in theory. In reality it never appeared and that was only one half of the confusion that occurred when I saw this promo way back in 1989.

A brand new TV series and a brand new comic to accompany it? And of a story I enjoyed as a child too? I was in. I asked my newsagents every week if they knew when it’d be out and I trawled the listings in the family TV Times over and over, week after week, convinced it had to be somewhere in there. Neither appeared. It’s only decades later for blog research that I found out what had happened.

ITV decided to hold the series back for the summer, so with no accompanying telly show we weren’t going to rush out and buy a new comic of it, were we? All of the material created would end up in a graphic novel collection, The Marvel Bumper Comic and a Holiday Special, then the annual would appear later in the year. In the end it was the right call because ITV pulled it from their schedules pretty quickly after they started showing it. It was a big enough hit in the States to get three seasons though and it’s available on DVD under its original name, Crossbow if you fancy it.

That’s us for another week. Next time there’ll be an advert I’m sure will get some of you reminiscing, “no problem”.

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THE MiGHTY MARVEL CHECKLiST: WEEK 28

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SATURDAY 4th FEBRUARY 1989

Now that the three months-long month of January is finally over we head back to 1989 and welcome the latest issues of The Real Ghostbusters and Transformers and Action Force with covers by Brian Williamson and Tim Perkins, and Jeff Anderson and Dave Harwood respectively.

The New York team’s Skeleton in the Closet story takes us to a dark and foreboding take on the land of Narnia with some funny references back to the source material for its fans and there’s a particularly fun Winston’s Diary (well, they all were) this week too. Amongst all the comedy there’s also an advert for Thundercats toothbrushes that (with hindsight) were so basic they weren’t going to be much use against the sugar content of 80s sweets.

In Transformers the penultimate chapter of Time Wars ends with what should’ve been a fantastic reveal for its cliffhanger but it’s given away by that cover instead. It’s still a nice mirror image of the moment when Hot Rod tried to come to the aid of Optimus Prime in the animated movie (to dire results), and Lee Sullivan’s incredible strip artwork contains many panels that became iconic, often reprinted as highlights of the comic’s whole run. The Next Issue panel is also replaced with a full page image of next week’s cover. When you see it in seven days you’ll understand. (Or check it out at the link further below.)

With the same issues of Action Force Monthly and Thundercats as last time and brand new editions of Death’s Head and Dragon’s Claws, it’s the exact opposite of our previous checklist. Death’s Head gets the prime real estate and deserves it but for a reason not mentioned here; it’s one of the funniest issues of the run right from the off. You can check out some of its hilarious highlights via the link at the bottom of this post.

For me personally, the epic finale of sister title Dragon’s Claws is even more deserving of the ‘Don’t Miss…’ treatment. “The finale? But surely there’s one more issue to go, Phil.” That’s right, but writer Simon Furman left that final issue for the conclusion of the main character’s family arc instead, so this month it’s all about the action and it’s a belter. It’s a step up on all of the previous issues and in this excellent series that’s really saying something.

No new comics adverts this week, folks. Next week there’ll be one which confused me at the time, and which had me scouring the TV Times maniacally. I’ll tell all in seven days.

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WEEK 27 < > WEEK 29

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SATURDAY 28th JANUARY 1989

We couldn’t really have two more different covers this week, could we? While Andrew Wildman’s Transformers and Action Force #203 cover represents a rather bleak moment in the Time Wars saga, Brian Williamson and Bambos Georgiou’s cover for The Real Ghostbusters #34 is, well, rather more light-hearted.

That cover relates to a very funny prose story inside, in which a job in Russia proves more difficult than the team thought when every time they bust the ghost it splits in two and another, smaller one pops out. Linking in with this, Spengler’s Spirit Guide becomes Popov’s Spirit Guide for one week only. Across the way and 20 years into the future Marvel UK had some explaining to do for its young readers.

The comic had to explain how they broke off from the American epic Underbase Saga (which also killed off a lot of characters) because they wanted their own strip to run through the 200th issue celebrations. Thing is, all of Time Wars takes place after that story, which would only finish after Time Wars. A suitably confusing bit of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimpy given the tale currently being told.

There’s a particularly funny answer to a query on Dreadwind’s letters page too. A reader asks when Secret Wars III will come out and suggests getting the Thundercats and Ghostbusters involved in the story. Dreadwind explains that after mentioning this in the office he had to talk Ian Rimmer, Simon Furman and Richard Starkings down from the window ledge!

As you can see, three of the six comics on this week’s checklist have featured before and the only new one besides the two in my collection is Thundercats which contained… a Valentine’s Day story? Okay then. Advert-wise, a teaser for a new Marvel UK monthly took up a full page in The Real Ghostbusters this week, and although there wasn’t enough room in Transformers the two brothers Sleeze still managed to squeeze themselves in.

The first issue of The Sleeze Brothers wouldn’t appear until the fourth week of June and would only run for six issues, meaning the adverts hyping it up ran for almost as long as the comic itself. I remember seeing this ad for so long in the pages of my comics that I began to lose all interest in ever wanting to find out who they were. That was, until the first issue actually appeared and I just had to buy it to find out what all the fuss was about.

I’d only buy that first edition as a kid but many years later I rectified that mistake for the blog and read the whole series in real time back in 2024. At the time of writing there’s a special edition of the comic coming to the OiNK Blog later this year too, an issue that’s been sitting on my shelves for a few years now without being opened. So I’ll be seeing this trailer advert all the way until then for a bit of poetic symmetry.

Until next week.

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WEEK 26 < > WEEK 28

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THE MiGHTY MARVEL CHECKLiST: WEEK 26

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SATURDAY 21st JANUARY 1989

Brian Williamson and Cam Smith’s cover to The Real Ghostbusters #33 would have you thinking recurring villain Ponquadragor had returned (last seen in #21) or at least the similar-looking Grim Reaper from #18. But as usual with this comic you could never successfully guess what it was up to.

As it turned out the story involved Winston and Ray being taken on a tour around a haunted house by its owner who recounts the hundreds of ghosts who have lived there, only for them to realise he doesn’t want anything busted and thought they were the heat repairmen. Strip Spook Alley is only two pages long and has barely any dialogue but it’s a hoot, showing the genius of this unique comic and there’s even a solo strip for the best Ghostbuster, Winston! A winner of an issue.

In #202 of Transformers and Action Force, Andy Wildman’s cover must’ve excited everyone who had read Galvatron and Megatron’s first meeting in the recent annual. Dan Reed was on artistic duties for the latest part of the Time Wars epic, and he makes the end of the world look truly apocalyptic! As if that wasn’t exciting and shocking enough, Lew Stringer’s Combat Colin turns evil in his strip.

As you can see, Marvel UK weren’t offering up any new issues of their other titles. I’m not sure why the Thundercats from last week got the ‘Don’t Miss’ treatment instead of one of the comics above. I’ve already spoken about how I’d like to collect Action Force’s own comics and in fact I’ve covered these issues of Death’s Head and Dragon’s Claws the past two weeks! With no new comics adverts either (Betty Boop gets another outing) this is a somewhat light week in our checklist series.

Next week, both comics feature teaser adverts for a new title that wouldn’t even see the light of day for half a year. It’s a fan favourite that’s already had a real time read through on the blog so it’s a bit strange for me to see the teaser pop up now. You can find out which comic I’m talking about in seven days. In the meantime, did you own any of the issues in this week’s checklist?

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THE MiGHTY MARVEL CHECKLiST: WEEK 25

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SATURDAY 14th JANUARY 1989

The first post-holidays issue of The Real Ghostbusters (with cover by Brian Williamson and Dave Harwood) and the first post-200th Transformers and Action Force (with its cover by Dougie Braithwaite and Dave again) were ready to welcome me to Saturday after the first full week of the new school term back in 1989.

The Real Ghostbusters image looks more like a new range of Action Force figures rather than our New York firehouse residents, and for once it refers to a strip inside rather than the prose story. Also inside, Ozbusters isn’t a tale set Down Under, it’s about Egon’s haunted dream in which he’s the tin man, Winston’s the scarecrow and Ray’s the cowardly lion. Can’t fault the imagination in that comic.

Part Three of Transformers’ epic Time Wars may have some printing errors across its pages resulting in some strange colours but that doesn’t blunt its impact one iota, although it’s almost upstaged by Larry Hama’s incredible Hush Job strip in the back up spot, which may have no dialogue but has plenty of drama! Both of my comics were absolute winners this week but what else did Marvel UK have to offer us? Let’s check the checklist.

Thundercats sounds like a regular issue, the likes of which fans enjoyed for most of its run, until that “games and fun” bit at least. The comic’s relaunch for a younger audience was probably inspired by the success of The Real Ghostbusters, even if Marvel’s top-seller didn’t have to rely on such gimmicks. Some of the best issues of Death’s Head and Dragon’s Claws were covered last week, leaving only our ‘Don’t Miss’ comic.

Action Force Monthly lasted 16 issues, so technically longer than the weekly time-wise, and it and its weekly always sounded great. Especially now that I’m reading the G.I. Joe originals I must make it my mission to get caught up with all of the UK stories too. Finally, our only new comic advertisement this week can’t make its mind up whether it even is a comic!

I was never a fan of the Betty Boop cartoons growing up, but many were and I remember she was always on the telly, her merchandise seemed popular and of course she popped up in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. It’s strange to find out there were only two new cartoon specials in the 80s and the rest were reruns. She’s even had a Broadway musical which only closed in 2025!

I don’t remember this comic/card combo at all, I didn’t even recall the adverts when reading these comics again all these years later. Do you remember Betty’s Valentine special? Did you perhaps receive it from a secret admirer? Or send it to one? As usual, I’d love to hear from you in the comments or on socials, the links to which are just below.

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WEEK 24 < > WEEK 26

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