OiNK Blog

COMiNG UP: OiNK! #24

18 March 2022 Phil Boyce Leave a comment

One look at the cover of the next issue has me very excited indeed. The Time-Travel Special contains another multi-page Uncle Pigg strip written by Mark Rodgers and drawn by Ian Jackson and is heavily influenced by Doctor Who. In fact Ian’s front cover has our esteemed editor tumbling through space and time dressed as Colin Baker‘s Sixth Doctor. I feel like I’m time-travelling myself, right back to enjoying #24 way back in 1987.

The issue also includes a colourful, hilarious look at the OiNK offices in the year 2000AD, original takes on time-travelling predictions, Tom Thug getting a look at how his life could pan out and let’s not forget Ye Ballad of Snatching Sam, a wonderfully illustrated comic strip for our photo story star. Come back on Monday 21st March 2022 to check out the highlights and read all about one of the best issues yet.

GO TO iSSUE 24

COMiNG UP: OiNK! #23

6 March 2022 Phil Boyce Leave a comment

Now that I’m completely caught up with the reviews held back thanks to being ill, the next OiNK will be here tomorrow on its original release date. The All-Electric Issue couldn’t be any more 80s if it tried. It was a decade that saw so any technological advancements, brand new devices that we now take for granted making their way into our homes for the first time and it was an exciting period to be a kid when I look back.

Television of the 80s is in the OiNK crosshairs, but so are computer hacker movies, personal stereos, radio sound effects and even the TV Licence. There’s also a strip which resulted in a really fondly remembered school moment from my youth and the first full strip for Pete and his Pimple to appear on the blog! Don’t miss it, the full review will be here on the blog from tomorrow, Monday 7th March 2022.

GO TO iSSUE 23

COMiNG UP: OiNK! #22

28 February 2022 Phil Boyce Leave a comment

With the ‘rona on its way out (thank you Mr. Vaccine) it’s time to get caught up with the comics I unfortunately had to set to one side while I rested up and recuperated. Very happy to be feeling well enough to write again and alongside catching up with Super Naturals #9, Jurassic Park #9 and Wildcat #10 comes #22 of OiNK, the Magic and Fantasy Special.

When pig pals see the brilliant Andy Roper cover for this next one they’ll instantly remember one of the strips inside. A fantasy adventure strip by the name of The Spectacles of Doom, it’s a serial that would return a couple more times in OiNK’s run and became quite the fan favourite. It’s worth the price of admission alone (and at 30p it’s not like they were asking for much), so be here on Wednesday 2nd March 2022 for the full review.

(This issue also contains the most quoted line from OiNK by fans. It involves a dolphin and Mr. Big Nose…)

GO TO iSSUE 22

COMiNG UP: OiNK! #21

4 February 2022 Phil Boyce Leave a comment

It’s almost that time of the year again. A time when couples get to spend a romantic weekend away without the kids, or go out for a lovely dinner at a posh restaurant, or spend a night in with a candlelit home-cooked meal. A time for single people to complain that it’s all too commercial, make comments about how true love should be celebrated all year long and not just for one day, or joke about how they’re saving lots of money. (Then the next year they’re with someone and booking that trip away.) I’m of course talking about St. Valentine’s Day.

This Next Issue promo is written by Mark Rodgers and Ian Jackson and there’s a lot to love already. From Mary Lighthouse (critic) arriving with a spiked club to complain about violence, to the gift passed on by Uncle Pigg. You can be sure there’ll be plenty more to laugh at and more for Mary to moan about in #21, the full review of which will be right here on the blog tomorrow, Monday 7th February 2022.

GO TO iSSUE 21

COMiNG UP: OiNK! #20

24 January 2022 Phil Boyce Leave a comment

Tomorrow on the blog the next OiNK review explodes on to your screens with #20, the War Special! War? As a subject for a children’s humour comic? Yup, and every single strip (bar one) takes the theme and runs with it! From a brilliant front cover by Wilkie and his strip about forgotten war pigs, to a hilarious spoof of wartime movies by Davey Jones and Jeremy Banx‘s Mr Big Nose to sing us out, it’s not to be missed.

Not that you could miss it of course. It’s not like it’s only going to be on the blog for a day. It’ll be there forever for you read. But I’ve digressed ever so slightly. There’s also the start of a brand new multi-issue comedy adventure strip called King Solomon’s Swines which is bound to bring back many happy memories both for readers of OiNK in the 80s and for fans of 80s adventure movies.

Be here tomorrow, Monday 24th January 2022.

GO TO iSSUE 20

COMiNG UP: OiNK! #19

8 January 2022 Phil Boyce Leave a comment

Every year in January we’re bombarded with advertisements or social media posts for the next fitness fad, the next diet craze, or the next expensive liquid that will apparently detox our bodies better than our own livers. Many people will make New Year’s resolutions to lose weight, become as fit as an Olympian or join a gym, only for these to be all but forgotten come February. Or at the very least by Easter when chocolate for breakfast becomes acceptable again. This is by no means a new thing, as the next OiNK review will prove.

So with all of our lockdown weight and getting just a bit too comfy in our own company, maybe it’s time to get back out, eat better and trim our bodies down? Or is it time to read another review of the funniest comic ever created and a selection of highlights from within? I’ll let you decide on Monday 10th January 2022.

GO TO iSSUE 19

Christmas, OiNK Comic Promos

COMiNG UP CHRiSTMAS MONDAY: OiNK! #18

23 December 2021 Phil Boyce Leave a comment

As a child I thought the theme of the next issue of OiNK was another pig-related pun, what with it being the HOGmanay special. I’d never heard of the word before and was initially a little disappointed to find out it wasn’t a pun at all. But then I realised with a name like that this Scottish celebration was the perfect way for Uncle Pigg and all of the crazy characters to see in the New Year. At the end of the Christmas issue we all got a special invite. All except one.

I remember receiving the issue a few days before Christmas but I didn’t read it until a day or two before New Year’s Eve. To do otherwise just felt wrong. Plus I was still enjoying the festive issue over and over again. I didn’t want to wish away Christmas so the comic was filed away until the right time. For the blog I don’t know the exact day it came out early so I’ll be reviewing it on the date on the cover instead, Monday 27th December. Surely something to look forward to reading between the food-induced comas.

GO TO iSSUE 18

MAiN OINK MENU

CHRiSTMAS 2021

Christmas, OiNK Comic Promos

COMiNG UP: OiNK! #17

12 December 2021 Phil Boyce Leave a comment

It’s the most wonderful time of the year and time for the most wonderful free gift in the history of comics (not that I’d hype it up and I might be biased) to finally be completed in time for the end of 1986. Part three of Ian Jackson‘s glorious Mount Rushboar calendar poster was coming in the next issue of OiNK and you’ll be able to see it and the finished product in all its glory in the full review of #17 tomorrow.

But even better than that is the fact it’s the first Christmas Special! I should just get this off my chest now, I absolutely adore Christmas and this next issue of OiNK was my first experience of a festive comic. From the snowy logo on the cover photograph of the Queen making a Christmas dinner out of her corgis, to the spoof TV listings inside making fun of the seasonal telly and a multi-page Uncle Pigg story, it was a hoot from start to finish!

Promo written by *Mark Rodgers*, drawn by *Ian Jackson*

Now, finally, I’m getting to read this issue all over again and I can’t wait! The full review will be here at some point tomorrow, Monday 13th December 2021 so come back then for cheer and goodwill to all* in a review which I’m particularly excited to write.

(* except Mary Lighthouse, butchers and, surprisingly, Santa Claus it would seem! Find out why in the review.)

GO TO iSSUE 17

CHRiSTMAS 2021

COMiNG UP: OiNK! #16

26 November 2021 Phil Boyce Leave a comment

Coming up on Monday 29th November 2021 is the 16th edition of OiNK and after all the new characters introduced in the previous issue there was one more to come, and this one would be “fantastic”. He was a regular star of children’s television at the time and I have particularly fond memories of him being part of my Saturday mornings on No.73. He also had his own show which he broadcast from his garden shed, a hand puppet version of himself, lots of celebrity friends (supposedly) and a jazzy showbiz lifestyle in the town of Timperley. Oh, and a papier-mâché head.

Frank Sidebottom, or rather Chris Sievey underneath, would become a regular fixture of OiNK all the way through to its final edition, his felt-tip coloured strips, showbiz news, buying guides and much more a highlight of every issue. Suitably enough his first appearance is in the music special, which features plenty of parodies and themed strips as this full-page promo shows. Don’t miss out, you can click follow or keep abreast of updates through social media (check out the menu above), the full review is in just three days.

GO TO iSSUE 16