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Comic Promos, Mighty Marvel Checklists

THE MiGHTY MARVEL CHECKLiST: WEEK 32

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SATURDAY 4th MARCH 1989

This week we’ve got two covers that really made me feel like a big kid again. My two favourite characters on Anthony Williams and Bambos Georgiou’s The Real Ghostbusters image and fond memories of the fantastic story inside Transformers and Action Force are portrayed by Andrew Wildman.

In The Underbase Saga the Autobots finally entered the Decepticon civil war and the casualty list was vast! Towards the end of this week’s chunk of story Starscream absorbed the Underbase, the millennia-spanning knowledge base drifting through space and everything was building to all hell breaking loose. On the editorial there was another appearance of the teaser for The Sleeze Brothers, still three months out from their comic arriving, although they did pop up in Doctor Who Magazine this month, not that this is mentioned anywhere.

Across the way, in a strange Spengler’s Spirit Guide the Ghostbusting jargon stuck to that used in the film rather than the cartoon, perhaps giving it away that writer Dan Abnett maybe didn’t watch the series. It was still very funny though, as always. There was also an interesting story that explained how ghost energies actually hold up old haunted houses, as the team find out when one collapses after a bust! How about the rest of the Marvel UK range?

The only other new addition this week is Thundercats #94 and after the descriptions on some recent checklists made it sound like they’d gone back on their promise of a “new, younger look” (which they’d hyped previously), here it’s clear that wasn’t the case. Hand puppets, posters and jokes pages? How the mighty had fallen, and yet another new look? I thought cats liked routines and detested change.

No new adverts this week again. In fact, it’ll be a couple of weeks before we get some more but we’ll more than make up for it when we get there! In the meantime, can I just say I’m thrilled with how popular this series has proven. Across socials it’s been great fun conversing with people about their memories of the specific issues highlighted every week and their memories of their childhood trips to the shops, of reading their comics with family and friends, and more besides. So come and join in the checklists conversation here or on:

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THE MiGHTY MARVEL CHECKLiST: WEEK 31

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SATURDAY 25th FEBRUARY 1989

It’s Predacons versus Pretenders on Lee Sullivan’s Transformers and Action Force cover, while Anthony Williams and Bambos Georgiou’s cover for The Real Ghostbusters was one of a handful of British covers that got used by NOW Comics’ monthly in America.

The Transformers story was full of of icy alliances, double-dealing and back-stabbing amongst the Decepticons, and it was fantastic! It also ends with the reveal of The Underbase, a collection of vast knowledge that previously lay dormant inside Cybertron and was now roaming the stars… and Starscream wanted it! You can check it out at the link below. Then in Action Force that 80s staple the evil twin popped up. Although, there were two Destros so is “evil twin” the correct phrase?

In The Real Ghostbusters one of the strips is only one page in length, which sounds like it shouldn’t work. However, while the main strip every week was usually five pages, the rest could be of any length. This was the idea of launch editor Richard Starkings and when the creative team stepped up and produced the goods it led to Marvel UK’s brilliant one-page strip adverts which you’ll see throughout this Checklist series (I’ve already shown you some).

No new comics ads this week but at least we have our checklist back after a week’s hiatus. To the uninitiated, having one of the smallest Transformers toys and one of the largest as leaders of two opposing forces might sound silly but the comic really made it work. One of the artist credits for The Real Ghostbusters caught my eye here after I was just introduced to their work on the cover of Aliens #21 eight days ago on the blog.

Dragon’s Claws and Action Force Monthly are the same as two weeks ago (although the latter removes the reprint reference) and The Marvel Bumper Comic makes its first appearance since #3 in week 12 (and an advert in week 19). You’d think it would’ve been on the checklist regularly given the variety of content that could’ve appealed to a wide audience. That feels like a huge missed opportunity for Marvel UK to promote it, and given the fact so many listings have been repeated they could’ve used it instead.

Every time I see the Bumper Comic’s rather random-sounding contents I’m intrigued to find out how it reads. Thanks to this checklist series I’ve decided the comic will be coming to the blog in its own real time read through, although a quick search on eBay shows it could be a while before that collection will be complete and ready for review. For now, I’ll sign off and see you back here next Wednesday.

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WEEK 30 < > WEEK 32

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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.

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WEEK 29 < > WEEK 31

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THE MiGHTY MARVEL CHECKLiST: WEEK 29

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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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WEEK 28 < > WEEK 30

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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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