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THE MiGHTY MARVEL CHECKLiST: WEEK 46

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SATURDAY 10th JUNE 1989

That stipple effect on Brian Williamson’s and Dave Hardwood’s cover for The Real Ghostbusters really was ubiquitous with Marvel UK at the time, wasn’t it? While on Transformers and Action Force, Simon Coleby joined the team with his first cover and he impressed from the start!

That skateboard story emblazoned on the cover of The Real Ghostbusters would end up becoming very familiar to readers. Not only would it pop up again in a Collected Comics special, but also twice more in the regular comic before the end of its run. This issue also contained the announcement of the sequel movie. This was the first mention of Ghostbusters II despite its release being just a few months later. The comic would go all-in with promotions, competitions and even serialised the adaptation as its first imported back up strip.

The exciting news in Transformers was that from next week the UK stories would finally be written for the new 5-page black and white format. Survivors came to an entertaining and somewhat intriguing ending this issue, setting up a superb character arc for Decepticon Pretender Beast, Carnivac. Having allied himself with Autobots, he witnessed his friend Catilla’s murder and left the team, swearing vengeance against the Decepticons but going out on his own, not wishing to endanger his new sort-of-allies. A superb character and some great stories to come. On the letters page a fan complained that Combat Colin wasn’t in one issue, so Dreadwind promised it wouldn’t happen again… “until next time”!

Well there you have it, the milestone issue of Doctor Who Magazine did get top billing after all. I still think he should’ve been given the honour last week when it was just released, but I suppose the crossover between the Time Lord and Death’s Head was equally as exciting an event and an executive decision was made. What’s shocking about this week’s checklist is that a new issue of Thundercats wasn’t given the ‘Don’t Miss’ slot. That’s a first for this series!

Last week, Popeye showed up to promote his own monthly comic and unlike the checklist entries it wasn’t much of an event for me personally because I was never a fan of the cartoon. However, I was very much a fan of the cartoon characters starring in their own Marvel UK summer special this week! I’m not sure why one of them is dressed as a magician to promote it, though. Probably something to do with a strip inside but it’s a strange choice without context.

I have happy memories of renting Tom & Jerry videos from my local shop as a child, often containing well over an hour of hilarious cartoons. The store only had a few of their tapes so I became very familiar with them. As did my parents! I have a distinct memory of laughing really hard (and my parents enjoying watching me) at the episode where Tom was a classical pianist and Jerry was asleep inside the piano, and once woken by Tom’s playing his revenge was taken in the usual, highly original variety of ways.

However, I never bought any of their comics. I remember seeing them advertised but still images were never going to be as funny as the high octane insanity of the cartoons as far as I was concerned. Did I miss out? If you picked this up (or any other Tom & Jerry comics) let me know, I’m intrigued as to how they could possibly translate successfully to the page. After this special Clearmark obtained the comics licence in the UK and the next year released a monthly Tom & Jerry comic which lasted only seven issues.

Next week Geoff Senior finally returns to cover duties to launch Aspects of Evil in Transformers, so you won’t want to miss that in just seven days.

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SATURDAY 3rd JUNE 1989

I instantly remembered this issue’s story when I read Egon’s silliness on Anthony William’s and Dave Harewood’s cover to The Real Ghostbusters, and what Jeff Anderson’s cover to Transformers and Action Force promised and the reality inside were quite different things.

Reprints were everywhere at the time and Transformers would eventually explain to its readers it was to allow the US strips to get ahead again and the three-story/black and white format was to combat rising costs. I wish they’d explained straight away though, it could’ve stopped some from leaving and missing out on some truly amazing UK and US stories over the next 111 issues. As a teen I’d never read Wanted Galvatron Dead or Alive so I was a happy little reader getting to enjoy new-for-me Death’s Head!

Anthony Williams was one of the very best artists on The Real Ghostbusters. As entertaining as the cover is, it doesn’t do him justice compared to some of the strips he illustrated. Dan Abnett’s prose story represented by that cover is completely daft, but then again what should we expect from the person who wrote every single one of those hilarious Spengler’s Spirit Guides? Name-Gremlin was just an excuse for lots of silly sounding names. This isn’t a complaint. Far from it. It’s brilliant and even surpasses Dan’s usual quotient of laughs.

Another strange choice for top billing on the checklist this week. While a new issue of Death’s Head was always going to be celebrated, having a milestone 150th issue of one of your biggest titles released this week and it not getting the ‘Don’t Miss’ spot seems strange, especially as how new issues of Doctor Who Magazine frequently got that honour. At the time of writing this post the mag is currently at #630, so marking the 150th of this monthly is making me feel really rather ancient.

The Seventh Doctor guest stars in Death’s Head of course, so perhaps we can forgive Marvel UK this once for its choices, as long as the big issue of DWM gets the same treatment next week, I say. This particular story was another wonderful addition to the Freelance Peacekeeping Agent’s résumé with some genuine laugh-out-loud moments, especially with his own time machine. Although, the ending is a dubious one. It goes against the Doctor’s character in a pretty essential way, almost ruining the whole issue for me. You can read my full review at the link further below.

This week’s advert isn’t for a new comic but rather a series of new books.

I have a distinct memory of obtaining the money for one of these books but only vague ones about the contents. I remember being in a local bar having lunch with family. I would’ve been around 11-years-old and I was given money to play a fruit machine but I had to do so with an adult (technically it was gambling), so a family member played it with me. I won some money, argued over having to give half of it to the person that supervised me and then went to a nearby shop and bought the book with the shark on the cover. (Regular blog readers will know I’ve always had a soft spot for anything with comical sharks.)

While researching for this post some Ghostbusters fan sites have these books listed as collections of strips from the comic. I was sure the book was a prose story with rather large writing and big illustrations which took up most of each page, and I seem to remember it didn’t take me long to read it. Thankfully I eventually found some eBay listings for the other books in the series and my ageing memory was proven right (so you Ghostbusters Wiki pages need to update yourselves). For a moment I thought I’d gotten it mixed up with one of my many, many other Real Ghostbusters books. (I had so many!) Ah, the joys of getting old. Thanks Ghostbusters and Doctor Who!

I’m off to console myself about my advancing years, I’ll see you all back here in seven days when we’ll see if the checklist can make things up to the Time Lord and the latest contemporary ad is (like last week) for a comic based on a classic cartoon, but this time one I actually liked. See you then.

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SATURDAY 27th MAY 1989

Marvel UK’s The Real Ghostbusters comic appeared to be celebrating a week late on Brian Williamson’s and Nick Abadzis’ colourful cover on this day back in 1989. Rather simpler in design but probably more eye-catching was Jeff Anderson’s rather shocking cover to Transformers and Action Force (yup, G.I. Joe were back).

The story that stood out the most to me in the former was Culture Shock. Its main set up was Ray inventing something instead of Egon, even though Ray had done so before. But the strip stood out for a couple of other bizarre reasons. The first was the fact the invention was a blatant Doctor Octopus (Spider-Man) rip-off and Ray fights a random terror dog, the beasts from the original movie, with no explanation as to why one just pops up out of nowhere. Odd to say the least.

The UK strip in Transformers is again drawn by Dan Reed and I just love how his art looks in black and white, and this was before he knew they wouldn’t be coloured; when he does the level of detail he produces is second-to-none. The Classic Cover calendar is for May even though the month was about to end, the June one having been printed in error last month. Never fear, Lew Stringer’s Combat Colin was on the case and you can read it at the link at the bottom of this post.

On to the checklist details and Action Force (G.I. Joe) was back in Transformers after we said goodbye to the Visionaries for the final time last week. The Joes would remain with the comic beyond #300. The opening line to The Real Ghostbusters’ description will have that song stuck in your head all day, but other than that it’s an unremarkable checklist, the other three comics being repeats of last week’s entries.

It’s here that I actually take issue with things. Has interest in doing the checklist waned? Was it being phoned in? I said last week how I was surprised the special 50th issue of The Real Ghostbusters wasn’t the ‘Don’t Miss’ title when Action Force Monthly (which had been given the top spot) would be here for four weeks and could’ve been awarded it another time. To add insult to injury, it’s been given the spot again so there was no excuse last time.

Anyway, on with the latest contemporary comics ad.

I never realised there was a Marvel UK Popeye comic, but then again I was never the biggest fan of the cartoons. As a kid I felt the humour was outdated so it just didn’t appeal to me. (OiNK has a lot to answer for.) This advert isn’t exactly the most elaborate they’ve produced, is it? It looks like it’s been thrown together in rather a hurry, in fact. The comic itself wasn’t that popular either, lasting for only eight issues and one winter special before disappearing.

Next week there’s another odd choice made on the checklist as a big event issue of one of their biggest titles doesn’t get the attention it deserves and one of Marvel UK’s top-sellers gets the horrible “another chance to read” treatment. There’s another ad though, and it’s one that I may not remember from my comics but it does take me back to my childhood nonetheless. See you in seven.

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SATURDAY 13th MAY 1989

Lee Sullivan’s cover for this week’s Transformers and Visionaries combines the issue’s two robotic strips in one striking image rather than using a split screen, while Brian Williamson and Nick Abadzis provide us with my favourite of the four Real Ghostbusters in a solo role.

Sky Lynx was probably my favourite character from the cartoon, simply because he loved himself so much yet was so utterly charming and polite as he fawned. He doesn’t feature in any action this week, instead stealthily stalking Dreadwind, but it still made for an exciting cover even if Dogfight was in a different story. The female warriors are still portrayed poorly in unnecessarily scant clothing but at least they have a biting sense of humour when confronted by typical male arrogance.

At the time of writing this blog post one of The Real Ghostbusters strips feels rather relevant. All those fossil fuels we still continue to dig up are full of the haunted spirits of the creatures they come from. However, in a comic that has already had strong environmental stories, the solution is very strange. A deal is struck with the oil diggers that they’ll not harm the ghosts if the spirits ensure the well never runs dry. Not exactly sending the right message there, something the comic was usually very good at.

That wonderful Starscream tale ends in a surprisingly sad way as the maniacal not-quite-dead Decepticon pleads for release but two Nebulans slaughter him regardless. Death’s Head #7 continues to entertain with the funniest strip of his run and last week’s Doctor Who Magazine remains too. I’ve been informed it’s an Ice Warriors article, not strip, so in a comics checklist there’s no info on the actual comic story. Thundercats continues to limp on, again playing out like the weekly Ghostbusters comic but released only a fraction as often and already containing reprints. At least there was a new freebie to start collecting this month.

As promised, I’ve finally got a new contemporary comics advert to share with you. Now, as a huge fan of the cartoon and his humour strip in The Real Ghostbusters, you’d think I’d have been all over a Beano-esque humour comic with Slimer as the star, wouldn’t you? If you’re unaware of the comic in question, here’s a proper introduction to It’s Wicked after the teaser back in week 34.

At the time OiNK was still fresh in my mind, a comic that spoofed what it deemed to be the tired and safe comics of old. OiNK was a breath of fresh air, so It’s Wicked felt like a step backwards to me. To this 11-year-old it was using a new and exciting character to churn out the same old jokes that had originally put me off humour comics.

Plus, there’s the very obvious way It’s Wicked was a Marvel UK rip-off of Beano and The Dandy etc. Have a look at the cover of any issue and it just screams “DC Thomson could sue us for this”, from every part of its layout right down to the colours used on the logo! We wanted originality and using Slimer in this way felt cheap and nothing more than a ploy to sell us something pretty tacky. It’s Wicked would last for only 17 weekly issues and I never picked up a single one, and never felt like I was missing out. Did you try it? Was it as horrific as I assumed?

Oh dear, that was rather downbeat for the OiNK Blog, wasn’t it? Well, Marvel UK’s range did have its ups and downs, thankfully they weighed heavily towards the former. In fact, next week my own two comics have a big celebratory issue and the return of a favourite Cybertronian of mine. See you back here in seven, then.

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SATURDAY 6th MAY 1989

A rather simple Transformers and Visionaries cover by Jez Hall in comparison to the comic’s usual high calibre of front pages belies another excellent issue inside, while our characters’ dialogue on Dave Elliott’s cover for The Real Ghostbusters doesn’t make much sense given the image, which has been pointed out to me is a spoof of a Fantastic Four cover. This still doesn’t make the speech make sense and who out of this comic’s young audience would know an obscure FF cover? Weird choices abound.

In the American Transformers story the Mecannibals may have looked silly when we first met them but by now they were already among the best original creations the comic ever had. Pure evil with a comedic slant, I loved them! In the UK story the animated corpse of Starscream is the real highlight of the issue. Not confirming whether he’s actually living or dead, this had me glued to the story as a kid! Check out the link below to see Andrew Wildman’s depiction of him including some brilliant in-jokes.

In our other comic, main story Snack Attack had no dialogue whatsoever, playing out like a very funny silent comedy. A bold move for the strip that took up the most space in the issue. Spengler’s Spirit Guide tied in with this week’s prose story and included a spoof history of horror comics, while the Dead True series detailed a spooky urban myth tale centering around jealousy. Another great read all round.

Nice to see Visionaries actually getting a mention this week. In fact, Transformers gets a good chunk of the checklist to detail all of its strips beyond just credits for once. While the Mecannibals were a great addition to the story, the all-female warriors were sadly depicted as cringingly poorly as you can imagine. A bit of a spoiler about the true nature of Starscream there too! Also, you’ve just got to love some of the strip names the Real Ghostbusters team came up with.

Action Force Monthly and Death’s Head are the same issues as last time and if you haven’t checked out the latter before then you simply must read the highlights in the review from the comic’s real time read through, link further below. Such a funny story, full of slapstick. The big issue of the week was the latest Doctor Who Magazine, although I’m not sure if The Ice Warriors were the stars of the strip or a written article.

I’ve had the pleasure of reading some of the classic issues of the magazine for the blog and their rather unique output while the show was in its wilderness years. You can check out the latest of these in the Death’s Head section of the blog, an issue he made a tiny cameo in a few years after his comic ended. That’s us for now. Next time, we’ll finally get our next contemporary comics advert. It’s for a comic that really didn’t appeal to young me despite it starring a favourite cartoon and comics character. You can see what it was in just seven days.

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