Category Archives: Comic Promos

Comic Promos, Mighty Marvel Checklists

THE MiGHTY MARVEL CHECKLiST: WEEK THREE

Leave a comment
SATURDAY 13th AUGUST 1988

The Mighty Marvel Checklist is back after a week’s rest (that first outing must’ve exhausted the poor thing) and there’s a lot more squeezed into its half-page entry inside The Real Ghostbusters (cover by Brian Williamson and Dave Elliott) from this day way back in 1988. 

There was no checklist in #179 of The Transformers and Action Force but this will happen with either comic at different points over the course of the checklist’s run, and since I’ll be showing adverts from both along the way I’m just going to show both covers every week anyway. It also doesn’t hurt that Jerry Paris provided this Transforms cover, with the new and improved Optimus Prime taking on the role of quippy 80s action hero rather well.

The checklist doesn’t do the ‘busters justice this week, because not only do they meet the ghost of King Arthur of Camelot in the story briefly mentioned below, but in another strip the Containment Unit malfunctions and lots of fan-favourite ghosts and monsters from previous issues make cameo appearances and Slimer enters the unit to make the fix for Egon. Two very memorable strips for me.

Our two comics may get short-changed a bit but at least Huckleberry Hound gets his promotion promoted, the Galaxy Rangers edge closer to their final issue and in Thundercats did they really have to rescue those two? Interesting that the Doctor Who Magazine entry focuses solely on the comic strip when it’s only one part of the publication. Then again, it had a lot less pages back then so the strip was a bigger part of the whole.

Finally, Dragon and his Claws got their first inkling of the true nature of their missions for the National Union of Retired Sports Experts (N.U.R.S.E) in the dystopian future of 8162, the start of an arc that would become the main thread of the final issues the following year. I read the whole series for the first time only two years ago and it was a phenomenal comic, one that deserved to run and run but would ultimately be cut short just ten issues in.

As we go through this weekly series any issues of the comics featured on the checklist (or adverts) that have been covered on the blog (or on Instagram in the case of Transformers) will be linked to at the bottom of each post, alongside any titles that have received a more general round up in the Retrospectives section. You never know, there might be more of these Marvel UK comics to add to these links on the blog as time goes on.

Don’t forget, if you remember reading any of these issues let us know on the socials (links in the menu).

TRANSFORMERS 179 (Instagram)

DRAGON’S CLAWS 3

WEEK TWO < > WEEK FOUR

MiGHTY MARVEL CHECKLiST MENU

Comic Promos, Mighty Marvel Checklists

THE MiGHTY MARVEL CHECKLiST: WEEK TWO

Leave a comment
SATURDAY 6th AUGUST 1988

Okay, so as I said on the menu page for this series there were eight weeks in total out of a whopping 74 that The Real Ghostbusters (still fortnightly so no issue this week) and Transformers didn’t print a Mighty Marvel Checklist. However, I did promise I’d also be showing you all of the comics adverts published alongside the checklists as we go, and that they’d help us plug those annoying gaps.

First up though, what’s with that circus-based Stephen Baskerville cover? The Cosmic Carnival is a story I’ve seen derided in the usual negativity-filled corners of the fandom but when I read it for the first time a handful of years back I found it to be a silly but fun story. Taking prisoner the brilliant Sky Lynx and the human children he’s protecting, a space station-based circus puts them to work in small display cages and in the ring for daring feats. It’s actually a clever script that highlighted the problem with zoos of the day, as well as introducing a wider universe of alien species to the comic.

It’s also important to remember we’re talking about a comic starring sentient robots from outer space that can transform into various forms of human transport so sometimes it’s best not to take things too seriously. So, on to that advert and it’s one that brings back memories. Back in 1988 I read the comic advertised this week, the very first edition of The Marvel Bumper Comic. Fleetway had been enjoying great success with their Big Comic Books and had just released their new fortnightly comic version in mid-June. Repackaging reprints had the potential of great returns with little outgoings.

The Marvel Bumper Comic would soon become a fortnightly (then weekly) comic itself but this was the only one I bought as a kid. I remember enjoying it but wishing the strips weren’t so short. Obviously quantity was key here to reinforce the “Bumper” part of the title. Plus it didn’t hurt trying to appeal to as wide an audience as possible. It’s a curious glimpse at the Marvel UK of the day in one purchase if you can find it on eBay. Perhaps one to join the blog at a later date? Perhaps.

Did you buy the Holiday Special edition of the Bumper Comic? Have you any particularly fond memories of it or any of its contents? What did you think of publishers repackaging old strips to coax more pocket money out of our… erm, pockets? Let us know on the socials at Bluesky, Instagram or Facebook, why don’t you? More comics to check off the list next week.

TRANSFORMERS 178 (Instagram)

WEEK ONE < > WEEK THREE

MiGHTY MARVEL CHECKLiST MENU

Comic Promos, Mighty Marvel Checklists

THE MiGHTY MARVEL CHECKLiST: WEEK ONE

Leave a comment
SATURDAY 30th JULY 1988

Welcome to this new weekly series! Off we go! The very first Mighty Marvel Checklist appeared in one of the earliest editions of The Real Ghostbusters when it was still a fortnightly comic, a week which also saw some fella return to The Transformers and Action Force that was kind of a big deal.

Yes, Optimus Prime had been resurrected as a Headmaster (cover by Jeff Anderson). The Autobot leader now had a humanoid companion who could transform into his head(!), combining to form an insanely powerful version of the character. I wasn’t yet collecting the comic at the time (that would come later in the same year), however when I read them all for the blog’s real time read through on Instagram this issue was a real thrill because this was the version of the toy I had as a kid.

Unlike Transformers, The Real Ghostbusters (cover by Phil Elliott) was made up of a handful of shorter stories, all much more comedy focussed (re: bad puns), the best often being the prose series Winston’s Diary which was told from the perspective of my favourite character. Also unmissable was the text-based Spengler’s Spirit Guide, the hilarious manual on all things supernatural which appeared in every issue, expertly crafted by Dan Abnett. And of course there was also the Lew Stringer-drawn humour strip Blimey It’s Slimer, however this issue was the last time Lew would be responsible before it was permanently taken over by Bambos Georgiou.

That’s the quick introduction of the comics I’m using out of the way, so what else was on sale that very same week in the summer of ’88? The first Mighty Marvel Checklist takes me back to watching The Adventures of The Galaxy Rangers on the telly every morning. I don’t remember much about them other than I enjoyed the cartoon but apparently not enough to buy their comic, a title that would only make it to #9 before being cancelled.

I never got on with Thundercats but its comic was a huge success, amassing over 100 issues in total, although I remember from the checklists that it seemed to go through a lot of changes and different frequencies towards the end. Fred Flintstone et all round things up at a time when comics such as Dragon’s Claws and Death’s Head weren’t on the list yet. I also liked the way The Real Ghostbusters is coloured differently just so they could show off the “Real” part in read. Imagine doing that every time it’s mentioned, eh?

As this series continues I’d love to find out if you remember any of the specific issues mentioned in any of the checklists, so mosey on over to the socials on Bluesky, Instagram or Facebook and let’s get the conversation started, shall we? Next week we’ll see our first classic comic advert.

TRANSFORMERS 177 (Instagram)

THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS RETROSPECTiVE

GO TO WEEK TWO

MiGHTY MARVEL CHECKLiSTS MENU

Christmas, Comic Promos, Transformers

COMiNG UP: CHRiSTMAS TRANSFORMERS YEAR ONE

Leave a comment

This must’ve been an exciting cover for fans of the new Transformers comic from Marvel UK, with that crossover event splashed across it, taken from the American comic and drawn by Mike Zeck. But that’s not why it’s being featured on the blog. Inside, this issue contained information on the first of the seven Christmas issues for the Cybertronians produced between 1984 and 1990.

At this early stage the comic was a very different beast to what most will remember. In its first year it was a 32-page fortnightly comic filled with lots of extra features beyond the two comic strips, all of which were given equal billing to the Transformers themselves. Hence why the Next Issue promo has a preview image for Machine Man and our lead characters are nowhere to be seen!

As regular blog readers will know I’ve read all 332 issues (plus annuals, specials etc.) of this series in real time over on the blog’s Instagram and there’s now a blog post enabling you to check it all out in whatever order you wish. The American Transformers Generation 2 monthly is also in the middle of a full read through on the blog at the time of writing. Now, I’m kicking off a special yearly series of posts for the 40th anniversaries of original comic’s Christmassy editions and books.

Beginning in 14 days and continuing over the next several years, every Christmas I’ll be taking those special issues and annuals already covered briefly on Instagram and giving them the full blown OiNK Blog treatment on each of their 40th birthdays. Some of them are amongst my very favourite issues of the comic’s run and the hardback annuals were festive feasts, often including elements of lore that continue to this day in the likes of the recent Transformers One!

The first Transformers Annual wasn’t released until the comic’s second year so in 2024 we’ve just got #7 of the original fortnightly to have a gander at. It’s got a lowkey Christmas vibe compared to what came later but it’s still a fascinating look at how these yearly treats kicked off, and an interesting look at just how different Transformers was in those first 12 months. So come back on Sunday 15th December 2024 for the latest Cybertronian addition to the blog.

GO TO iSSUE SEVEN

TRANSFORMERS AT CHRiSTMAS MENU

MAiN TRANSFORMERS MENU

CHRiSTMAS 2024

Comic Promos, Jurassic Park

PALEONTOLOGiCAL PROMO: JURASSiC PARK ADVERT

Leave a comment

When I read Dark Horse International’s UK Jurassic Park comic I wondered what marketing it may have received in their other titles. Throughout the reviews you’ll see adverts for the likes of Total Carnage, Manga Mania and what could probably be described as their flagship comic, Aliens. It’s on the back page of an issue of that film spin-off that I spotted a full-page advertisement for the new movie tie-in comic.

As I announced last Christmas, Aliens will be coming to the blog this year in a real-time read through of Dark Horse’s time with the licence (UPDATE: Now live). Whenever I buy classic comics from eBay I don’t read them until I’m scheduled to do so for the blog, but I do flick through them, solely checking the page numbers to ensure there’s nothing missing. As I picked up #13 (on sale 24th June 1993) to begin flicking from the back cover to the front, counting down the page numbers as I went, this jumped out at me.

As you can see, I wasn’t the only person something was jumping out on. Using the cover from #1 (by Gil Kane and George Perez), this is promoting the initial run of the adaptation of the film, before the American comic began publishing the first official continuation of the story. At this point in the US bets were hedged before telling readers it was an ongoing comic, so naturally over here they’d do the same. Released every three weeks to start with, it all began on 8th July before the movie had even been released here.

The advert mentions how the art of the strip was based on stills from the movie, which is a strange boast to make. It makes it sound like it could be nothing more than traced-like images, but of course in the end it was a genuinely good comics adaptation which successfully tinkered with the script and the running order of the scenes so it’d work better on the page. Well, for the most part anyway, until they got to the final chapter. You can read the reviews to see what happened there.

The Jurassic Park comic would prove popular enough to survive many cancellations at Dark Horse

Strangely, it’s advertised as a 32-page comic when it actually had 36, but then again Dark Horse didn’t seem to count their covers in the total. Then in a later issue of Aliens (#17) I discovered the exact same advert again minus the green text along the bottom. However, the promotion of a competition with “50 (count them) 50 fantastic prizes” only applied to #1 and not the competitions in the issues on sale at that later time. What does correlate properly are the Dark Horse Checklists.

In each of the early editions of Jurassic Park the checklist showed the upcoming comics that would be on sale over the next month, so they contained details of the next issue. This means we never got to see the checklist released for the premiere issue to see what it had to say, but #13 of Aliens does, just a couple of pages before that advert.

By the time Jurassic Park moved to a monthly ongoing format with brand new stories set after the movie the checklists were dropped from it. There just wasn’t room anymore, however they still appeared in the larger Aliens. Below is the one which promoted the beginning of the first official sequel to the movie, although it unfortunately doesn’t mention the completely awesome Age of Reptiles back up strip.

The question marks might look like they’re keeping the free gift a mystery for some reason, but it’s actually just placeholder text that they’ve forgotten to delete before going to press because #6 didn’t come with a free gift. A few sloppy errors aside it’s interesting to see how one of my favourite childhood comics was marketed to potential readers.

After the movie proved to be such a phenomenal success I thought they’d have advertised the comic more, that they’d have at least produced a new advert to promote the new stories instead of recycling the one they’d already used before the film’s release. Oh well, hindsight is a wonderful gift. The Jurassic Park comic would prove popular enough to survive many cancellations at Dark Horse, only succumbing to the folding of the company itself towards the end of 1994. You can read reviews of them all on the blog right now.

JURASSiC PARK MENU