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Annuals, Christmas, Comic Promos

YULETiDE YEARNiNGS: ADVERTiSiNG ANNUALS

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Around September time back in the 80s my local newsagent would bring out a huge table to began displaying that year’s annuals. I remember this being really exciting and I’d flick through the ones I’d already asked Santa for, impatiently waiting to get my hands on them on the morning of 25th December. For those three months I’d drool over that table (figuratively speaking only, don’t worry) and we couldn’t escape them at home either, with a plethora of adverts appearing in our comics. The Christmas hype had begun. With the Annuals section of the blog well under way now, I’ve decided to take a look at all of the adverts relating to them I could find in my collection.

1984

As a kid I only started buying comics toward the end of 1986, so any adverts before then are from my now complete Transformers Marvel UK collection and I’m surprised to see only one amongst the issues from 1984. The heading may be awkwardly placed but it’s a wide range from the publisher, including everything from Culture Club (“Karma, karma, karma, karma, Karma chameleon”) to The Fall Guy (“It’s only hay, A-hey-hey!”) via the BMX craze, the short-lived Manimal and, erm, the S.A.S.?

I do remember watching Fraggle Rock early Saturday mornings and my vocal impression of Roland Rat was always awful but that never stopped me from annoying people with it. For blog readers the obvious point of interest here is the Knight Rider Annual, the second in a series of five. It was reviewed a couple of years back and I’ve even interviewed its artist, David ‘V for Vendetta‘ Lloyd on the blog too. In fact, the fourth edition will be here a fortnight from today, on Friday 19th December.

1985

Speaking of coming up on the blog this year, in 1985 the first Transformers Annual appeared in shops exactly one year after the debut of the comic. Strangely, this momentous occasion wasn’t marked by any adverts at all, just one brief mention in #37 on 23rd November. It doesn’t say much either, however it does mention the first story to feature the Insecticons, which would’ve been enough for young fans to get frothing at the mouth.

The Transformers at Christmas 40th anniversary posts return this year for their second outing and in fact that’s the very reason for the post you’re reading now. Marvel UK’s Transformers had seven annuals altogether and they’re very fondly remembered. They’ll be taking prime position on Christmas Day every year with a full review. This post marks the occasion of these books joining us, they feature predominantly and many of these ads have been taken from the pages of said comic.

1986

Moving on to 1986 and Marvel finally began to take the importance of advertising these books to their young readers seriously. With other successful comics to plunder for the Christmas market the Transformers weren’t alone anymore,  joined as they were with legendary Marvel stalward Spider-Man, his co-stars the Zoids (Spider-Man and Zoids was the oddest combination comic yet somehow it worked) and newest hot toy and cartoon franchise, those Thundercats.

These ads were also broken up into half-pagers to be squeezed in wherever they could across the publisher’s range. It was a huge step up from previous years. Although, I must admit when I was reading Transformers for the blog’s real time Instagram read through and I came across this advert I did a bit of a double-take and had to check if this was the right image, it’s not that much different than the previous year’s Transformers Annual.

1987

All Transformers Annuals after that would have very different, stand out covers but surely no annual stood out as much during 1987’s final months as OiNK’s first book. I can remember the teases of that fantastic image all summer during 1987 and the final reveal was hilarious, never mind seeing it in its shiny glory in the shop for the first time. There’ll be a special post on Thursday 8th December featuring that cover, when I’ll be speaking with photographer Ian Tilton about the original back cover and what happened when he went to get the photos developed.

On the Fleetway Publications side there was nothing of comparison cover-wise, although the Big Comic Book’s shear size made up for that. More impressive were the covers for Marvel’s lot, with Action Force (G.I. Joe) joining Thundercats and their top-seller, Transformers. However, it’s only now I realise they were quite a bit more expensive (for the time) than the Fleetway books, despite having fewer pages (Fleetway’s had 112 pages, with 84 for OiNK and 256 for BCB, Marvel’s had 64). Well, they were licenced I suppose, and as kids we never felt short-changed with the amount of stuff crammed into them.

1988

This was the biggie. 1988 was a huge year for comics in the UK, even if a lot of the new titles released didn’t last that long. Nevertheless, it still meant a bumper crop of annuals were produced for that holiday season and the vast array of advertisements, particularly across Marvel UK’s range, reflected this. But we’ll begin with Fleetway again and the second (and sadly final) OiNK Book. A fantastic J.T. Dogg cover almost made up for the reduction in pages to 64, which was all the more disappointing when the comic had 48 pages in every monthly issue by that time.

Their group advertisement from the back page of the last OiNK is a rather different mix of books compared to the previous year’s. Buster is conspicuous by its absence and then there’s the addition of annuals you’d assume would’ve been more Marvel UK’s bag (such as SuperTed and Maple Town).

This was the year Marvel really went to town on their promotions. In 1988 group advertisements were accompanied with full-page promos for individual annuals and I’ll begin with the two that bring back the most memories for me, The Transformers and The Real Ghostbusters. Having only just started collecting the former with its Christmassy Winter Special in mid-November this was my very first Transformers Annual, and as for Dr. Venkmen etc. 1988 was the year they arrived in the UK and I had been swept up in it all.

I have so many fond memories of that Real Ghostbusters Annual. You ever own something that just takes you right back to your childhood when you see it in front of you? I was obsessed with the cartoon, comic and toys for a few years and I remember this book surprising me with just how fantastic it was. Would it live up to that now or is it best to reminisce? We’ll find out on Thursday 4th December when The Real Ghostbusters join us for an annual read through for four Christmases. I’ll admit I’m excited at the prospect of this one!

Another book that brings back plenty of childhood memories is the Visionaries Annual. The comic had already been cancelled by this stage so it didn’t get its own advert but it was a part of a group ad and a special page in The Transformers, featuring the annuals relating to it and the two comics that had merged into it at different points. The main strip in the Visionaries book may have been a reprint but as I hadn’t known there’d been a comic it was all new to me and a huge surprise to receive that Christmas (and the next, because my newsagent also sold it the following year and my parents bought me it again thinking it was a new book).

The Real Ghostbusters were grouped in with the lighter-hearted annuals such as Count Duckula. The Marvel Super Heroes didn’t have their own comic in the UK but there were always various  Spider-Man and Hulk comics now and again. Finally, The Flintstones comic must’ve been more popular than I gave it credit for because its annual got its own promo too.

1989

In contrast, the following year Marvel only ran one advert for their entire range, which is a shame because that Transformers book was superb and there are some fantastic covers here that should’ve been shown much bigger (although the Indiana Jones cover seems to be phoning it in). I never knew there was a Dino-Riders annual! I only had one or two of the toys but I did see some episodes of the cartoon (I think one was packaged with a toy?) and enjoyed it. They joined a league of potential obsessions for me that never played out because they weren’t around for long.

1990

In 1990 a whopping 22 annuals graced the shelves from Marvel UK, featuring a mix of ongoing comics, cancelled titles, original nursery books, licences and a few characters who appeared in anthology comics given room to breathe in their own publications. It was also the first time G.I. Joe’s annual was given the proper international name after Hasbro’s relaunch of the brand, and a few years after their TV show was cancelled I was surprised to see Hannibal, Face, B.A. and  Murdock make a reappearance.

Spider-Man fans were in for a treat too with his usual appearance in the Marvel Super Heroes Annual and his own book. Over the next year or two he’d also get his own UK comic again after a lengthy hiatus. Transformers and G.I. Joe also got their own joint ad which had a good idea behind it but not exactly the most exciting of executions. Oh well, at least they got something this year I suppose.

1991

We move into our final year. Not necessarily the last for annual adverts but it’s the last for those in my comics collection (after this year it’s all Dark Horse International comics on my shelves who didn’t publish annuals) and Marvel UK came up with an overall look for a handful of adverts of various sizes. With a few ads to fill they could’ve made each genre-specific but decided not to. The first one is fine and G.I.Joe got to enjoy some space with annuals its readers could also have been interested in. I can’t say the same for Transformers, The Real Ghostbusters and Thundercats though, who seem to have been given something of a raw deal.

Perhaps the person responsible for the adverts weren’t au fait with the titles they were being asked to market? These were the last annuals for some of these licences (definitely for those covered on the blog) so it’s a bit of an ignominious end for a few, but for those already reading the comics these ads were always going to be exciting; we easily ignored the books we weren’t interested in and concentrated on those Dinobots!

There we go, a trip down not one but eight Christmas memory lanes all in one post. I’m so glad I decided to do these yearly (re: slow) read throughs and these adverts have me hyped for the years to come. There’s more love for comics annuals/books on the blog this Christmas too, with no less than six up for review, including on Christmas Day and Boxing Day! Keep an eye on the Annuals menu, the Christmas 2025 introduction, or the blog’s socials for updates on when they’re published. 

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SATURDAY 19th NOVEMBER 1988

Ah, Saturday 19th November 1988. My parents and I were about to travel by bus somewhere and I asked if I could get the latest issue of The Transformers after my mum had bought me the recent Christmassy Winter Special while I was off sick from school. Luckily, my newsagent hadn’t sent back the unsold copies of the previous week’s yet so on this date 37 years ago I very happily read both of my first weekly issues.

Andrew Wildman’s cover was so exciting to me after reading the issue leading into it and it revealed my friend’s mammoth Scorponok toy as the villain behind the scheme. That was so much fun. Even though it’s a small scale story compared to others I’d end up reading, it felt so much more grown up than the cartoon with its gritty human characters and what felt like a real threat to the Autobots. Ca$h and Car-nage! remains a favourite to this day.

Brian Williamson’s cover to The Real Ghostbusters introduced us to an issue that contained haunted tongues but no checklist. Yup, unfortunately both our comics were just too packed to make room for our weekly shopping list, even though it was listed on the contents page of Ghostbusters. Instead, the Dragon’s Claws strip advert was in its place and in the pages of my second Transformers I was introduced to someone else via a similar page.

Written by Simon Furman as always, with art by Death’s Head regular strip artist Bryan Hitch and coloured by Steve White, every Marvel UK fan remembers this particular advert. It perfectly sums up the monthly comic. Action, adventure and a mean looking protagonist, all undermined by a ridiculous scenario and a hilarious sense of humour. If you haven’t seen this before I hope it makes up for the lack of a checklist this week. I’m sure it does.

It wasn’t the only one-page strip advert the Freelance Peacekeeping Agent received and you can check out the other one at the link below. The checklist returns next week when there’ll be snow on the blog’s logo because we’ll be in full Christmas swing, so appropriately enough there’ll be a couple of annuals adverts too. See you then.

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SATURDAY 12th NOVEMBER 1988

On this day back in 1988 the 23rd edition of Marvel UK’s The Real Ghostbusters and the very special 192nd issue of The Transformers and Action Force were unleashed upon the younger members of the public, their covers by Anthony Williams and Stephen Baskerville respectively.

Why was the 192nd Transformers so special? Okay, I’ll admit it was special for me. This was the very first issue of the weekly I bought back at the time after reading that year’s Christmassy Winter Special, although I didn’t get it until the following week alongside #193. As a first issue this one had a fascinating story for young me involving Headmasters disguised as humans and actual human bounty hunters tracking down Autobots. It also featured one of the toys I’d end up with that Christmas, Sizzle, who produced sparks out his rear end… um, I mean out of his exhaust in car mode.

In The Real Ghostbusters there was a massive moment for fans of two of the characters involved. Sort of. Janine finally got a snog off of Egon, which of course was really only part of a haunted dream. Humour comics giant John Geering was also the main artist for the issue, which only added to the overall laughs. Meanwhile, in this week’s checklist the Thundercats comic certainly doesn’t sound like the relaunched comic for a “younger audience”, with what appears to be an epic showdown.

But the two biggest highlights for Marvel UK followers surely had to be the humungous Captain Britain paperback and that premiere issue again. Captain Britain never appealed to me as a kid as I incorrectly saw him as a poor man’s Captain America. In recent years I’ve heard nothing but good things though. His entry also reminds me of those days when it felt like the entire population of the UK only had Nostalgia and Comics to go to for any comics-related events.

Finally for this week’s checklist, and finally in the eyes of fans who had long awaited it, there’s Death’s Head own monthly comic. I know what you’re thinking, didn’t he get this coveted ‘Don’t Miss’ spot last week? Indeed he did, but if anyone deserved it, he did. Or perhaps he ‘advised’ Marvel UK he wanted another week at the top of the league. This made me go and buy it with my pocket money that week (this was my first checklist) but for whatever reason it was months before I read it! The entire run has already been covered on the blog and this first issue was one of the very best of his ten issues.

No adverts this week (none I haven’t already covered anyway) so all that’s left for me to say is if anyone had been lucky enough as a kid to check off all five titles this week they must’ve been very happy indeed!

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WEEK 15 < > WEEK 17

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SATURDAY 5th NOVEMBER 1988

I always enjoyed stories with Janine Melnitz at the centre of them in Marvel UK’s The Real Ghostbusters, but as much as Brian Williamson’s and Cam Smith’s cover excited me when I picked it up from the newsagent as a kid, right now that Art Wetherell and Stephen Baskerville cover to The Transformers and Action Force is the business!

Skullgrin battling his outer Pretender shell? What’s not to enjoy here? A much maligned story by fans took things up a notch and even included the return of my favourite human character (as in, the one I loved to hate), Circuit Breaker. This was also the final issue before I originally became a reader. What an issue to miss out on. Well, that’s been rectified now, that’s what counts. But it wasn’t like The Real Ghostbusters were slacking for ten-year-old me this week.

For the only time in all of Ghostbusters mythos we got the origin story of Slimer thanks to some time travelling on Peter’s part. It seems the green spud was a food-loving (surprise, surprise) King who beheaded jesters who didn’t make him laugh. Although, Egon does say this is only one of his past incarnations, just in case the cartoon ever had their own version (they never did). There’s also a very Fleetway-like strip that sees a baby ghost transmogrifying the team into toddlers, drawn by John Geering no less.

But the big news this week was clear for all to see. The first of many yellow boxes pointing out the big comic for the week was given to the premiere issue of Death’s Head, of course. It was a superb debut, full of action and plenty of comedy. I have a distinct memory of this issue and reading it in bed while off sick from school, such was the impact it made even my greying memory cells remember that. But he wasn’t the only highlight this week 37 years ago.

Action Force had returned to The Transformers and #6 of their own comic was “still on sale” (a space to fill on the checklist?) and I never knew the UK comic had their own exclusive prequel to the cartoon movie. I must check that out sometime. There was also plenty of drama in Dragon’s Claws #6 for Tanya (Dragon’s wife) and Mercy, so it’s unforgivable neither of these brilliant female characters got any mention in the checklist.

As you can see Death’s Head had certainly arrived! The front cover to his first issue made for the perfect advert across much of the publisher’s range and Transformers even ran a little extra half-page featurette. However, judging by the introduction the advert was probably meant to have been the strip version, a brilliant one-page tale you’ll see soon in this series.

Finally, celebrating 25 years of Doctor Who? The series I watched the 60th anniversary specials of a couple of years ago? Oh man, talk about feeling old! I do love writing this blog. I know it’s dedicated to classic comics, but ho boy there can be times when it suddenly hits me just how much time has passed. The fact it’s a Doctor Who advert that’s the culprit this time is not lost on me. I think I need a lie down. See you next week!

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WEEK 14 < > WEEK 16

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SATURDAY 29th OCTOBER 1988

Neither The Transformers and Visionaries nor The Real Ghostbusters marked the spooky season in 1988. Well, the Ghostbusters no more than every other week. Martin Griffiths’ cover for the latter sees the introduction of that rare thing for that comic, a returning villain. While Stephen Baskerville’s cover to Transformers marks the arrival of a story often mocked by fans online, unfairly in my eyes.

Giant sentient robotic aliens from outer space that can transform into Earth vehicles and weaponry. And now, some could also wrap themselves up inside a monstrous outer shell for… disguise? Some fans saw a story where a Decepticon Pretender monster became a Hollywood star (taking the place of a special effect) as silly. Really? Have you read the premise of the comic and the Pretenders? Lighten up and stop taking things so seriously, it’s actually a fun story and I became somewhat fond of the lumbering Skullgrin.

Elsewhere in the issue Visionaries comes to an emotional (for me) end on a cliffhanger, which you can check out in the full review at the link at the bottom of this post. But topping that is the cliffhanger to Combat Colin: “Next week: Mrs. Frumpy vs. The Robot Penguin!!” Meanwhile in The Real Ghostbusters, that aforementioned villain is Ponquadragor, a being that’s been hunting Egon ever since he was a child. A demonic force who’d eventually become a semi-regular visitor and a pal of the team!

What else did comic fans have to choose from this week?

Not much apparently, with Dragon’s Claws #5 from week 11 making a reappearance on the checklist, although it was an important issue with a certain new comic set to be launched any time now. You can check out this fantastic issue in its own OiNK Blog review, link below. Then, the entry for the now-fortnightly Thundercats reminded us that the hyped merge between it and Galaxy Rangers was already over.

On to our adverts and Fred Flintstone et all were very happy about their new larger comic. In reality it had been printed on smaller paper up to this point and was now going to be the same size as the rest of Marvel UK’s output, probably to save on pricing costs rather than anything else. It was kind of like the comics version of “Better Recipe” on confectionary; better for the company’s bottom line.

I’ll admit I’ve never read Captain Britain. Growing up in Northern Ireland in the 80s and 90s, by the time I was a teenager and the target audience the UK’s flag had other connotations that some friends of mine saw as the opposite of heroic. They never said anything against Captain Britain, but my own mind seemed to want to stay away from it for that reason when I’d see his graphic novels advertised in the 90s.

As an adult though, reading this advert it sounds like a fun premise, and one that I clearly and unfairly got the wrong impression of all those decades ago. It’s certainly got a great creative team. On that note we come to the end of this week’s trip back in time with Marvel UK. It’s great to see so many of you enjoying these on socials, long may that continue (because the series is going to continue for a long time whether you like it or not).

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WEEK 13 < > WEEK 15

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SATURDAY 22nd OCTOBER 1988

The Real Ghostbusters tied themselves in with the free drinks offer most Marvel UK comics ran this month in 1988, the cover drawn by Martin Griffiths and in The Transformers and Visionaries Jeff Anderson’s cover foretold of dark stories to come. Exciting times! Welcome to the next Mighty Marvel UK Checklist!

Inside this edition of The Real Ghostbusters is the only place (comics or cartoon) you’ll find any kind of official origin story for their pet ghost, Slimer as we find out who he was in life. As we approach spooky season Spengler’s Spirit Guide tries to explain the origins of Halloween and how it’s when the separation between dimensions is at its weakest. While it’s very funny it completely ignores the recurring villain from the cartoon, Samhain the Spirit of Halloween. Missed a trick (and treat) there!

In The Transformers the Winter Special Collected Comics 11 is mentioned in the editorial. It was the edition of the comic that would ultimately turn me into a fan and ignite my love of these characters. This is also the issue when Megatron kills the time-travelling Cyclonus 20 years before he’s created, setting in motion the events leading to the epic Time Wars. We even see the very fabric of space begin to tear right at the end of the story here. Oh, and no, you couldn’t win a box of Ready Brek, the prize was a clock radio.

Just the four comics this week, with the latest monthly edition of Action Force tying itself in with the newly released home video of Action Force: The Movie, which famously changed the death of a character to a deep coma after the reaction of kids to Optimus Prime being killed off in The Transformers: The Movie. Also, does the Flintstones and Friends comic have any actual comic content? Judging from the checklists it’s hard to tell.

Last week I mentioned how I might just have to add the Marvel Bumper Comic to the blog’s list of real time read throughs after I found out Count Duckula had joined its ranks. In this week’s comics he also stars in an advert for his own Winter Special. Even though Duckula was a British cartoon it was Marvel US’ imprint Star Comics that produced a strip instead. In his natural home there was no regular comic with original UK content, just imports of the American strips into specials and the Bumper Comic. Surely a missed opportunity, especially given how funny the UK writing team for the Ghostbusters could be.

This blog series really seems to have fired the ol’ memory cells of readers out there because there’s been a great reaction on social media. I post the checklists and adverts there to get the conversations going, but of course you can follow along here instead where you also have access to all of the previous entries in one place. (Just click on the link below to the menu screen.) I’ll be back in seven days with even more. There’s plenty to come!

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WEEK 12 < > WEEK 14

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SATURDAY 15th OCTOBER 1988

Were you thirsty on the morning of Saturday 15th October 1988? You could’ve grabbed a free can of Tango with your copy of Marvel UK’s The Transformers and Visionaries #188! You could’ve used it to cool yourself off from Jeff Anderson’s hot cover, or after lumping the hefty 19th issue of the publisher’s The Real Ghostbusters all the way home.

There were no extra pages behind Brian Williamson and Dave Elliott’s cover but the whole issue was printed on matte paper that had a lovely look (giving the false impression of the paper really soaking up the solid black inks) and heavier feel to it. Inside, there was a musical strip starring The Ghostie Boys backed up with a look at spiritual musical instruments in Spengler’s Spirit Guide, such as the Nullify Flute which could cancel out all music but offered “no protection against Tiffany”.

Jeff’s cover depicted a scene from Firebug, a one-off story needed for scheduling reasons but which (like most such tales in Transformers) was great. It had an original and honest-to-gosh happy ending that raised a smile, accompanied by a reader on the letters page saying such UK strips were intelligent while the American ones were stupid! Dreadwind scolds him for being harsh, “After all, we do see fit to showcase their stories in our Transformers comic.” How kind. So, what else was up for grabs?

Thundercats (already minus the Galaxy Rangers) changed up a bit, with an emphasis on appealing to younger readers with the extras first, strip second, and the beginning of what seemed like endless frequency changes. So Count Duckula joined the Marvel Bumper Comic? Now that’s yet another reason to add it to the (long) list of potential real time read throughs on the OiNK Blog.

Having now started watching Doctor Who from the (very) beginning I can better appreciate the magazine’s focus on classic tales such as Keys of Marinus here, complete with its scuba gear-wearing ‘aliens’, although an interview with my first ever Doctor would’ve sealed the deal for me anyway. I never realised Alf’s monthly lasted even this long and below is the advert of his I mentioned last week that made us giggle while not actually featuring the titular star.

This was typical of a few of the adverts for his comic which told us nothing about it but did include a surreal joke showcasing the humour we could find inside (I assume). It may sound strange nowadays, but there was no regular Marvel UK comic starring the classic Super Heroes at the time. After Spider-Man and Zoids and before The Incredible Hulk Presents fans had to make do with specials and annuals, such as the one advertised here.

Next week a new addition to the Marvel fold mentioned above gets their own winter special, and I’m aghast I never picked it up! You can find out who I missed out on when their advert appears here in seven days alongside another checklist. Until then, why don’t you let me know if you remember reading any of the issues above by leaving a comment here or on the socials below? G’wan!

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WEEK 11 < > WEEK 13

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SATURDAY 8th OCTOBER 1988

It feels like no time at all between each part of this series. The weeks are really flying in. It’s reminding me of how much I loved getting new comics every single week and this week 37 years ago was no exception, with The Real Ghostbusters #18 (cover by Brian Williamson and Dave Hine) waiting patiently at my newsagent’s. For my friends the 187th edition of The Transformers and Visionaries (cover by Andrew Wildman) provided all the entertainment they’d need that morning.

The Ghostbusters met Mother Nature this week in a nice ecological tale before three ghosts appeared in their fire station HQ to play cards with Peter. This strip included a memorable moment when the Grim Reaper said he’d go blind with this next hand… and proceeded to pick his eyes out of his sockets! Meanwhile the gigantic Metroplex made Godzilla look more like that rooster from the Kellogg’s advert as he went on a rampage after being woken up from beneath Autobot City.

There’s also a famous page in Transformers history where a conversation between Ultra Magnus and Soundwave is laid out on the page as a homage to a Batman/Joker scene from The Killing Joke. Batman fans can check it out at the link below. Also, the Visionaries began another excellent story that would be their final new comic strip, ever. An excellent week already for Marvel UK but what else was available? To begin with, Transformers fans would definitely have been making a return visit to the newsagent for what was surely an unmissable issue of Dragon’s Claws.

It was one of the very best of their run and because they were up against that Transformers comics creation, Death’s Head! The full review of that one is in both the Dragon’s Claws and Death’s Head real time read throughs on the blog. The Galaxy Rangers story sounds completely bizarre this week, even more bizarre than the millennia-spanning crossover in the pages of Flintstones and Friends, and was the content of the Alf Autumn Special originally intended as a hardback book?

In weeks four and five we saw one-page comic strip adverts for Marvel UK titles, an idea by editor Richard Starkings. The idea was that they could be reused over and over and act as a sample of the kind of strips and art prospective readers would find in their comics. While the Doctor Who Magazine advert below is enjoyable, Richard told me he felt it missed the point of the brief by producing a comical take instead of an example of the magazine’s art. Written by friend of the blog and DWM editor at the time , John Freeman and drawn by Nick Miller, it actually reminds me of a scene in OiNK’s time travel issue when Uncle Pigg comes up against the ‘Butcherleks’ as he introduces the comic to Earth’s inhabitants of the future!

The other advert was a one-off page created by the Transformers comic to promote not only the Cybertronians’ own superb annual but also those of the two cancelled comics that shared the back up strip space (not at the same time). Although, if readers had read the Visionaries comic as stated here they’d have been disappointed with the news the strip was a reprint, especially since it was only a handful of months since its original publication. Despite that, it’s still a favourite annual of mine and a jewel in my collection.

Next week that Alf special gets an advert that made us laugh even though it didn’t involve the titular alien and Thundercats would begin its confusing period of not knowing how often it wanted to appear! Do you remember any of these specific issues released this week way back in time? Did this issue of Dragon’s Claws introduce you to the freelance peace-keeping agent? Did anyone actually build Bedrock?

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WEEK TEN < > WEEK TWELVE

MiGHTY MARVEL CHECKLiST MENU

Oh, and just to be clear, I love that Kellogg’s advert.

Comic Promos, Mighty Marvel Checklists

THE MiGHTY MARVEL UK CHECKLiST: WEEK TEN

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SATURDAY 1st OCTOBER 1988

Welcome back to the tenth week (already?) of The Mighty Marvel Checklist series here on the OiNK Blog. This week’s checklist is taken from The Real Ghostbusters, whose cover by Phil Elliott and Dave Hine doesn’t do justice to the stories inside, especially the strip drawn by Phil! Meanwhile, Andrew Wildman’s image for The Transformers and Visionaries hyped up the main story, only to have this moment reserved for the cliffhanger for next week.

Inside Ghostbusters, the first story isn’t even on the cover and that’s a shame because it’s brilliant. Remember that Looney Tunes cartoon where Daffy is at the mercy of the artist (who turns out to be Bugs)? In this story a ghost begins draining colour from the strip in a similar way in a wonderfully meta story. Then Hell Razor sees Peter chased around the firehouse by his electric razor in one of the comic’s funniest strips of its whole run.

The Transformers comic would’ve been sealed inside a plastic bag this week, what with another Panini sticker album being given away as a free gift. Just three weeks ago the ‘busting team gave theirs away and stickers for it have been popping up in various comics ever since. This time it’s the turn of the currently-MIA Action Force (G.I. Joe). It was definitely the season for playground swaps! What else did we have available to us this week?

Thomas the Tank Engine may have filled the gap of a fifth comic last week, but this time around we’ve just been given a little more information than usual about each title instead. Given how much I loved The Real Ghostbusters it’s a shame I was never a fan of Thundercats because their comic has a great creative team, it’s nearly identical in fact. If only I’d even picked up the issues with the Galaxy Rangers! Oh well.

There’s a smorgasbord of connect in the second Marvel Bumper Comic, yet more stickers and another new story for what many saw as the main stars of this apparently all-reprint title. Although, judging by the description here I think this appeared later in their own comic but was never billed as a reprint. Sneaky.

No new Marvel UK adverts this week but there’ll be two next time and a packed six-comic checklist (so glasses at the ready for a smaller font). In the meantime, as always I’d love to hear from you about your memories of the comics featured every week and if you remember any of these specific issues or stories. Join in the fun on the blog’s Instagram and Facebook and my own Bluesky anytime.

TRANSFORMERS 186 (Instagram)

TRANSFORMERS & ViSiONARiES: PART ONE

WEEK NiNE < > WEEK ELEVEN

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Comic Promos, Mighty Marvel Checklists

THE MiGHTY MARVEL CHECKLiST: WEEK NiNE

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SATURDAY 24th SEPTEMBER 1988

Another Wednesday in 2025 becomes another Saturday morning in 1988 with Brian Williamson and Dave Harwood’s cover to #16 of The Real Ghostbusters and Andrew Wildman’s cover for #185 of The Transformers and Visionaries for our latest look at Marvel UK’s wares in The Mighty Marvel Checklist.

The Ghostbusters comic would sometimes group stories together into themes and that was true of this edition that really raised the temperature, with Peter and Egon off on a hot bust in Hawaii Fire-Ho! and Ray up against some haunted ice cream. Then Tobin’s spirit, of Tobin’s Spirit Guide fame from the movie and cartoon visits Egon in his Spengler’s Spirit Guide to test readers on everything they’ve learned so far.

In Transformers, Soundwave was leading the Decepticons into battle in Space Pirates so if, like me, you heard the cartoon or movie voices in your head when reading these, his vast amount of speech might’ve taken a while to read! In Visionaries, their magical animal selves provide some great spy drama and humorous moments in equal measure, and the biggest toy ever (to my young eyes when I saw it anyway) was up for grabs for free. Now, last week I said there was a surprise entry in the checklist this week, can you guess which one I meant?

You probably didn’t expect to see Thomas pop up here. While I was ten-years-old at the time I was obsessed with the original books and TV show and, despite this technically being a nursery comic, I still collected it for a couple of years. So it was fun to see it sharing space with these other comics, although I do get the feeling now that the inhabitants of Sodor were being used to fill what might’ve been a bit of blank space this week.

Elsewhere, if I’d realised at the time so many of Marvel’s comics were giving away Real Ghostbusters stickers for my Panini album I’d have been buying more of them. Stickers and something new to read? Yes, please. Although, my parents were probably glad I didn’t know. Who knows what else I’d have wanted to add to my reservation list! Finally for the checklist, it was cartoon crossover time with two properties from the complete opposite ends of time coming together.

This week one new advert for Marvel UK’s publications popped up and it’s yet another for their range of annuals. The Real Ghostbusters’ penchant for short comedy strips saw its book grouped together with more of the light-hearted fare. Count Duckula and Inspector Gadget had Marvel annuals? If I’d paid closer attention at the time I think Santa’s sleigh could’ve been weighed down that year, judging by last week’s and this week’s adverts.

That’s you all caught up for another week. Do you remember any of these specific issues? Did you collect any of the series mentioned? Did you own those Duckula or Gadget annuals? Let me know on the blog’s socials on Bluesky, Instagram or Facebook and I’ll see you back here in seven days.

TRANSFORMERS 185 (Instagram)

TRANSFORMERS & ViSiONARiES: PART ONE

THOMAS THE TANK ENGiNE & FRiENDS
RETROSPECTiVE

THE REAL GHOSTBUSTERS ANNUAL 1

WEEK EiGHT < > WEEK TEN

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