It’s time for celebrations as OiNK‘s birthday approaches this coming Monday. Released at the end of the first full year of the world’s funniest comic, Uncle Pigg et all were about to pull out all the stops to mark the occasion. A golden logo on the cover would be just the start of it!
Promo by Patrick Gallagher
There’s a great poster featuring all your favourites including those that had already said goodbye by this stage, a “fantastic” photo story featuring some lucky competition winners and a very special Tom Thug strip which will make classic humour comics fans’ day. Make sure to come back to check out the full review for these highlights and more, it’ll be up on the blog from Monday 18th April 2022.
The first special edition of OiNK arrived alongside #25 and a fortnight before the first birthday issue. It was surely a time for pig pals to celebrate. An absolute treat, the 1987 Holiday Special is a “big, fat” comic made up of 48 pages and is chock full of our favourite characters and loads of one-off content all linked to the summer holiday vibe. It kicks off with possibly one of my very favourite comic covers of all time; a brilliantly set up photograph of a model clay Uncle Pigg lounging in his hammock, cooled off by critic Mary Lighthouse who, along with everything else, is a cardboard cut out.
It’s a piece of pure genius from Ian Jackson and so distinct is it in my memory I can recall taking it with me on holiday a few months after I got it to read all over again, the cover drawing attention and laughs from some of my older siblings. I think one or two of them actually read it as a result. Of course, this wasn’t the last time modelling clay was used to produce an OiNK cover. In fact, it would create the most memorable one of all, one that would be the face (literally) of what remains my favourite childhood book to this day, The OiNK! Book 1988. You’ll see that towards the end of the year.
Put these two OiNK titans together and you get Herbert Bowes, a man with a dog up his nose!
The first interior highlight for me is a double whammy of strips featuring a character we’d only see in this issue. They’re written by Graham Exton, a writer who contributed so much to OiNK and who was instrumental in the creation of some of its characters. It’s barmy, completely ridiculous and so perfectly captured by one of my favourite cartoonists, Jeremy Banx. Jeremy’s artwork lends itself wonderfully to random one-off strips and he has a hilariously surreal sense of humour. Put these two OiNK titans together and you get Herbert Bowes, a man with a dog up his nose!
You wouldn’t have seen the likes of this in any other summer special on the shelf, that’s for sure. While OiNK would never fail to surprise us, regular readers were accustomed to the random nature of the comic and I do wonder what those who picked up the specials for a holiday trip, or who received the annuals for Christmas without having read the comic would’ve thought. I’d love to have seen their reactions and, if my friends were anything to go by, hear their surprised laughter.
Speaking of surprising laughter.
Back when I was writing the previous blog I took this edition to the hospital with me one day to pass the time in the waiting room before my appointment. I had a little chuckle inwardly to myself over Herbert Bowes and moved on, but then a few pages later something rather embarrassing happened which I simply had no control over. Billy Connolly once spoke about what he called “real laughter”. Not the “ha, ha, ha” kind, but the loud, involuntary noise that can erupt from our mouths when something surprising really hits our funny bone. Surrounded by a lot of very serious looking people in that waiting room, I was in completely the wrong place for that to happen. Then I turned the page and saw the title of the next strip.
I erupted. It was only for a second because I caught myself and tried to stop it coming out but it was too late. In hindsight I’d have been better letting it happen, at least everyone else would’ve actually known I was laughing! Instead, what came out was a loud honk before I closed my mouth, my body shaking a little from wanting to carry on. I have no idea what they all thought of me, I could feel them looking but my gaze never left the comic, too embarrassed to look up. I’m not one to care about what other people think of me, but I can’t help wonder. I mean, you should’ve heard that honk.
The final reveal never fails to make me laugh, no matter how often I see this
It was worth it though. I quickly scanned the rest of the special to see if there were any other surprises in store from this character but alas there were none. Graham and Jeremy’s creation would unfortunately never reappear, even though Graham tells me a third episode was planned in which Herbert had the Starship Enterprise up his nose. Despite this being a one-time appearance he’ll remain a memorable addition to OiNK.
The same can be said of the next little treasure, a half-page strip written by David Haldane and drawn by Pete Dixon, this being his sole contribution to OiNK. This is also the first time I’ve noticed the Rubbish Man and Hugo the Hungry Hippo‘s cartoonist writing for anybody else. I can’t help but read this while in my head increasingly dramatic music accompanies each successive panel, that final reveal never (never, ever) failing to make me laugh, no matter how often I see this.
Only in OiNK.
While the focus for me with this edition is very much the one-offs, the special strips and features produced to accompany us on our hols, some of the regular characters have some classic stories to tell. My favourite is The Hollyday Diary ov Hadrian Vile in which he, his dog and his parents head to the beach. Written as ever by Mark Rodgers and brought to life by Ian Jackson this is arguably the funniest strip yet for the eight and five-eighths-year-old and it’s a ton of fun.
It all starts off innocently enough. For once, Hadrian isn’t making mischief as the story begins. In fact, for the most part his intentions are actually good, apart from the outrageous lie he tells when those good intentions land him in hot water. So it begins with him spending some quality time with his dad, burying him in the sand as a lot of young children love to do, while his dad catches forty winks in the sun. It’s after he returns from collecting his usual array of disgusting things that it all takes a turn for the worse.
My two favourite moments here are when Hadrian returns to find nothing but his dad’s hat and the worst thought that enters his mind is being sent to bed without supper. Then directly below is that hilarious panel of a passing stranger frantically racing the tide to free the poor man from the sand. The middle panel of his mum standing with folded arms glaring down upon Hadrian would become something of a running joke in the regular comic too. As the other family members became more prominent we’d see this expression often and it was funny every time.
Time to have a quick look at a smorgasbord of highlights this special edition offers up. Rubbish Man is on holiday and even though we have a giant fried egg monster I can’t help but laugh at the jokes at the expense of English vacationers (and where they choose to holiday). When a young Tom Thug tries to bully a baby we get the origin of his bent nose and in Sgt. Barnpot and his Screaming Maniacs the lead character thinks we’re still at war with everyone because of comics, and Lew Stringer takes a little shot at the ever-merging titles of the day.
Rubbish Man by David Haldane Frank Sidebottom by Chris Sievey Tom Thug & Sgt. Barnpot by Lew Stringer
It appears even our resident alien Burp isn’t a fan of English tourists (both Rubbish Man’s and Burp’s cartoonists are English) and on his trip around the galaxy his holiday snaps produced uproarious laughter in kids everywhere (well, it did for me anyway) and we’ve a Frank Sidebottom board game which could be played with some absolutely lovely player pieces. The Thunderbirds one is my favourite. Finally, Tom’s Toe made a very welcome return in a story about pollution and climate change which had a rather unique solution to the ever-growing problem.
Burp by Jeremy Banx Tom’s Toe written by Tony Husband, drawn by John Geering
As well as Tom there are a few other returning characters. In reality this would’ve been because work on specials always starts a long time in advance. Producing an extra, larger edition of a comic is great but working on it can’t disrupt the regular editions, so work begins very early. When this commenced a lot of these characters were still regulars or semi-regulars in the fortnightly. Billy’s Brain is in here, even Bony Hart makes a reappearance and one of the more memorable early characters pops back up, Jim Needle‘s Pete’s Pup.
It’s strange for me to think this was my first encounter with the monstrous shaggy dog as a child. He would also appear in the birthday issue released two weeks after this special hit shelves but after that he’d only return for a reprint in the second OiNK Book. I became reacquainted with the comic in my 30s, but right up to that point in my mind he’d been a main character. Weird.
Readers will get plenty of entertainment out of this thanks to its manic pace, dark humour and chaotic atmosphere
Now, let’s move on to what was surely be the main event for many comics fans. At the time I was unaware of who Kevin O’Neill was but today I know the man as something of a legend in the industry. Drawing the image of Tharg on the cover of the very first 2000AD he would go on to produce incredible work for OiNK’s stablemate, most memorably the stunning Nemesis the Warlock. In 1986 his whole style proved unsuitable for the American Comics Code Authority but thankfully DC went ahead and published his Tales of the Green Lantern anyway. Later, he would create Marshal Law and team up with Alan Moore for The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. For OiNK’s Holiday Special he drew a four-page parody called The Game is Greed, written by Mark Rodgers.
Lew Stringer was friends with both Kevin and Dave Gibbons, another legendary comic artist who’d appear in the pages of OiNK. They’d meet up frequently at London comic marts and when Lew found out Kevin was a fan of OiNK he asked him if he’d like to contribute. His first strip was actually a collaboration with Lew called The Truth About Santa for The OiNK Book 1988, then later he drew this brilliant script by Mark, but early deadlines for specials and annuals being what they are this was the one that saw print first. I may not have known who he was but I adored the very unique art style and I can remember lying in bed late at night (having already read the comic that morning) pouring over all of the funny details for a long time. I’d never seen anything like this.
Kevin’s sharp lines, exaggerated action and gorgeous colours really pop, making the strip stand out in even the quickest of skims through the issue. This is no small feat for an issue of OiNK. My inner 80s child had a field day reading this and spotting all of the contemporary celebrities we were so used to seeing on our television screens. Younger readers today who may not know some of them will still get plenty of entertainment out of this thanks to its manic pace, dark humour and chaotic atmosphere.
Mark’s script gives Kevin plenty of opportunities to embrace the chaos and bring his kinetic energy to the art with aplomb. My personal highlights here are the caricature of Billy Connolly on the first page, the greed of Mr and Mrs Baldmoron, the moment he’s stripped to the bone by the piranhas and of course that hilarious alligator (oh sorry, “scaly amphibious ant”) complete with Ted’s assistant showing it off from inside its mouth and the purse handles on its back! I’ve said before how the humour in OiNK stands up so well to this day. This strip hasn’t aged one bit and feels like a perfect modern parody of the time period. One of the very best OiNK strips since I started this whole read through.
We finish off with that old tradition of the family holidays, the puzzles and in particular the word searches that were meant to keep the kids quiet. Being OiNK, this is a somewhat unique variant on the theme. The story behind the cover is that Mary Lighthouse (critic) has found herself stranded on the same desert island as Uncle Pigg and she’s going somewhat barmy. Well, more so than usual. There’s no list of words to find, you just have to try to spot as many as possible and one definitely stands out. In typical fashion for this comic the solutions to the puzzles are just as funny as trying them out.
There we have it, the first special edition of OiNK. There’ll be more of them to come, one very soon in fact. The year 1987 was the only one during which we’d have a regular comic from beginning to end, fortnightly all the way through, with some nice extras, merchandise releases, special pull-outs and more, all culminating in the book at Christmas. What a time to be a pig pal! You’ve only a week to go until the review of the Birthday Issue. That’ll be here from Monday 18th April 2022. Catch you then.
Coming up Monday on the blog is the very first OiNKHoliday Special, a 48-page feast of summery goodness featuring the return of old favourites, absolute classics from regular characters and some extra special one-off strips to make it that bit more special. This was a huge deal for pig pals. Preview issue aside it was the first extra edition of OiNK beyond the regular fortnightly and from the moment eyes fell upon the unique Ian Jackson cover fans were not to be disappointed.
These promos for the Holiday Special are taken from issues #25 to #28. The first three were all put together by co-editor Patrick Gallagher (the Tom Thug panel taken from Lew Stringer‘s strip), the final one by Chris Sievey as Frank Sidebottom. The special was released on the same date as #25.
As well as the very best Sekret Diary ov Hadrian Vile yet and the long awaited return of Pete’s Pup, look out for the most unique OiNK character yet whose strips in this edition resulted in a rather embarrassing moment in the hospital for me(!), and 2000AD fans can look forward to the brilliant The Game is Greed which is incredibly drawn by none other than Kevin O’Neill! Yes, you read that right.
The first OiNK! Holiday Special comes to the blog on Monday 11th April 2022.
What’s this, a price rise? It had to happen eventually, but it’s crazy to look back and think about our comics costing only 35p for all of that hard work that went into them. OiNK was already more expensive than its peers and as the likes of Buster and Whizzer and Chips went up 2p each to 26p, our piggy publication went up by 5p to the grand sum of 35p. OiNK was independently produced, contained a lot more individual strips from more contributors and was printed on lovely large, glossy paper, all of which made it more expensive to produce but they also made it worth every extra penny.
This is the Toys and Hobbies Issue and it’s full of interactive elements for the young readers. By that I mean things to cut out and make. In fact, there’s so much here the comic would be nothing but a pile of twisted paper if the reader did them all! I’ll show you one further down the review. To kick things off, apparently for Hadrian Vile and his artist Ian Jackson the theme has conjured up an image of voodoo experiments. As you do. The surprises continue inside with a memorable strip involving killer playthings and the insane artwork of Jon Langford in The Terrible Toys.
Written by Mark Rodgers, this should conclusively show that even such a safe topic could be completely turned on its head by OiNK. Jon’s art always made an impression and this is no exception, especially the fang-toothed Santa Claus at the end. (This wouldn’t even be the scariest Santa we’d see in OiNK!) His use of thick, heavy lines, as if he’s leaning furiously on the page as he draws, and a lovely loose freehand style bring complete chaos to anything he crafted. You can also just about see a couple of edits around copyright names, the most obvious being “Borbie Dolls” where the ‘O’ has been changed. I’m not sure what Hasbro would’ve said!
Back in #20Lew Stringer introduced us to a new character called Specky Hector, the Comics Collector by way of a funny three panel strip. I was delighted to see his return in this issue with a full page all to himself, in which he shares his tips for what he sees as the correct way to collect and store comics, complete with ink stains and finger prints which are very unbecoming of someone who prides themselves on their mint collection. After this I looked forward to future instalments from Hector in whatever form they would take but unfortunately the character never returned to this comic. However, for pig pals who followed some of the characters to the pages of Buster after OiNK folded he would pop up on occasion and you can even read this previous blog post to find out how he’s doing today.
There are a lot of great gags here and I particularly like the front cover of The Beany. Look closely and you’ll see the strip has someone ask for credits and the star of the strip says, “Jings! We don’t run credits!” This was a dig at the comics which never credited their writers and cartoonists, something else which set OiNK apart from the very beginning. This was a specific point of difference for its creators Mark Rodgers, Tony Husband and Patrick Gallagher, that everyone should receive on-page credit for their work and it was a hot topic in the UK industry at the time. So I particularly liked this joke.
“I’m even giving up my old hobby of collecting squashed hedgehogs!”
Tom Thug
Just as a point of interest, I don’t personally protect the comics I collect and read for this blog in carded plastic bags or store them away out of sight. Mine are all proudly displayed on shelves around the small office in my house (I say office, it’s the spare bedroom with a desk instead of a bed) and can be picked up and instantly flicked through. I remember a friend years back would go to painstaking lengths to keep his comics and novels pristine and the way he’d hold them while reading looked so uncomfortable. To me, a bookshelf full of novels with cracked spines shows they’ve been loved. The same goes for my comics. Don’t get me wrong, I look after them, but comics are for consumption, to be read over and over, and most importantly loved. I don’t think Hector would really disagree with that sentiment.
Also in this issue is the second part of that Tom Thug story which began last issue. To recap, Wayne Brayne tricked Tom (not difficult) into thinking he was seeing his older self as a decrepit pensioner spending his last days in prison and it terrified him. Determined not to end up that way we saw him reformed, prancing down the road barefoot with bunches of flowers and a shiny halo above his head. Originally I’d thought it was just a funny ending for that issue and things would be back to normal this time. But that’s not the case and the strip kicks off with his dad getting the shock of his life.
This is a great strip, from the question mark beside the title, to his idiotic attempts at being nice and his eventual return to form. There’s even a quick reference to a hobby for the theme. I particularly like the panel where he swings at Wayne and punches the tree, the exaggerated punch and the pain in his eyes are perfect. In the end he hasn’t even returned to his normal thuggish ways out of his own choice. Instead he’s once again been manipulated by Wayne, this time at the encouragement of the locals and even Tom’s own dad. It’s a great end to a very funny two-parter.
In the pages of OiNK Wayne always reminds me of a younger version of Ian Hislop, editor of Private Eye and team captain on Have I Got News For You. Interestingly however, when Tom’s strips became regular full-colour pages in Buster we found out Wayne is actually black, which was sadly a rare thing in our comics at the time. Speaking to Lew, he tells me he imagined Wayne as being black at some stage before the colour strips, however at one point OiNK gave him pink skin when someone at the office did the colouring.
Dead Fred written by Mark Rodgers, drawn by Wilkie Hadrian Vile written by Mark Rodgers, drawn by Ian Jackson Rubbish Man by David Haldane Blow Peter by Tony Husband
Here are some of the other highlights of the issue, with Dead Fred taking on a handy new hobby, in The Sekret Diary ov Hadrian Vile the young lad’s completely normal pastimes get him into trouble, Rubbish Man uses some of his memorable superpowers to great effect and in the strangely named Blow Peter co-editor Tony Husband takes aim at the very random things the programme would’ve built and encouraged their young viewers to copy.
On the front cover we were told there’s a “fantastic cut-out zeo-trope” inside. It’s a name that flew over my head as a kid but when I saw the page I instantly recognised the device used to produce basic animation. The fact it was billed as “fantastic” could only mean one thing, that this was going to be on Frank Sidebottom‘s page. I wasn’t wrong. Chris Sievey‘s imagination and ability to come up with unique ideas for his character’s pages never ceased to surprise.
I remember versions of this on children’s television at the time. The correct spelling is “zoetrope”, originally named when its inventor William E. Lincoln took the Greek words meaning ‘Wheel of Life’ to describe his new toy, which produced animated drawings before the days of film. As Frank explains, once assembled and spun the user looks through the holes, each one flicking by to show the frame on the opposite side, one by one. When spun quickly this gives the illusion of motion and it’s surprisingly good, as I found out when I built it recently.
With the zoetrope, a cut-out stage and finger puppets depicting Uncle Pigg, Snatcher Sam and Mary Lighthouse, as well as a DIY Harry the Head which involved cutting out his features and gluing them to a pink balloon, there wouldn’t be much left of this issue if we’d actually created everything included. I don’t remember doing any of them, or indeed any of the board games or other models which required cutting my precious OiNKs. I may not have stored them in big plastic tubs away from sunlight, but I didn’t cut any of them up! Well, apart from coupons for the merchandise, of course.
Always a great character with consistently funny strips, Jeremy Banx‘s Burp was hitting a stride about this time in OiNK’s run that would continue without faltering all the way to the end of the weeklies when he’d disappear from the comic. Between now and then he’d even get a few two-page strips and some stories so surreal they could make Jeremy’s other regular character, Mr Big Nose look positively sane (almost). This issue’s strip is a favourite of mine and shows just how out of control things can get in a Burp story.
My favourite part is the large panel showing our planet zooming through the cosmos, the speech balloons at various points in its trajectory conveying the speed at which we’re hurtling about, culminating in Burp’s brilliant line, “You’re brutal, you are!” This broke me. In an issue of OiNK it’s always going to be very difficult to point at a page and say it’s the funniest, but even though it’s a closely run race as always, this had me in stitches. It’s even signed upside down to match the final panel. Simply brilliant stuff.
Written by Tony Husband and drawn by Clive Collins, Maggie Pie Collector of Weird Things had been a semi-regular in the early issues of the comic but her most recent appearance before now was back in #14. She would only appear a few more times (twice more in the comic and once in the first annual) and given how the theme includes hobbies she just had to be present in this one. Not only did she get her usual (well, unusual) story page, she also presented us with this guide to stamp collecting.
There’s some special news in the middle of the comic
I particularly like the Penny White and the Latverian ‘Big Brother’. At ten-years-of-age I wasn’t really aware of any world events and had never been bitten by the stamp collecting bug, but enough of my friends collected them and I’d seen enough episodes of The A-Team freeing villages that I still found these funny.
There’s some special news in the middle of the comic. Throughout its life (and after) OiNK would produce a variety of holiday specials, books and special editions. The first of these was the 1987 Holiday Special and it went on sale along with this issue as the advert below by co-editor Patrick Gallagher announced.
This was really exciting as a child! I also have some very distinct memories of that particular edition, both from my childhood and from later on in life and I’ll share these with you when I review it in just seven days from now. But this wasn’t the only reason for pig pals to get excited and I’ll explain that right after our final highlight of the issue.
Drawn by Steve Gibson, Watch the Skies takes inspiration from the Highway Code’s road signs to create a symbols guide for airplane spotters everywhere. Reading just the first two had me laughing. This is the final interior contribution to the issue (the back page had a script to go with the finger puppets I mentioned earlier) and was just below the Next Issue promo, which is where the further exciting news could be found.
The next issue of OiNK is the birthday issue! That’s right, can you believe it’s already been almost a full year since this read through of the world’s greatest comic began? The issue marks the end of the comic’s first year rather than the beginning of the second as would be traditional (typical OiNK), and marks a year since the release of the preview issue. This might seem strange at first but remember the preview wasn’t a shrunk down, miniature sneak peek of what was to come, it was a full-sized issue and worthy of celebration.
But wow, a full year has passed already. There’s still plenty to look forward to over the next year-and-a-half of OiNK and next up is that Holiday Special on Monday 11th April 2022, followed swiftly by #26 on Monday 18th April. Extra rashers all round. See you all soon.
In three days the it’ll be time for the next issue of OiNK to celebrate its 35th anniversary, the Special Toys and Hobbies Issue. With another Ian Jackson cover (that’s two in a row, us lucky porkers) it includes guides to collecting comics and stamps and plane spotting, all in the best possible OiNK way. It also has the funniest Burp yet. As a quick preview, the previous issue had this very difficult quiz to end on.
Promo by Patrick Gallagher
The issue would also have plenty for readers to get their creative trotters on, not to mention plenty to get their scissors and sticky tape into. There’s even an extra special piece of DIY interactivity from Frank Sidebottom which would also require a record player. Confused? Come back on Monday 4th April 2022 to see what I’m on about.
Another exciting Gil Kane cover that bares absolutely no resemblance to anything that occurs inside, or any other issue or even the movie. It’s the second of two covers from the American preview comic, the previous one shown off last month. That Topps Comics preview contained two small strips set before the events of the movie and the first was underwhelming to say the least. The second, the headline story inside this issue, is far better and concentrates on the man we all loved to hate, the person behind all the chaos, Denis Nedry.
Portrayed by Wayne Knight in the film, Gil produces a great likeness here while not getting so hung up on it that he ends up expressionless. Betrayal is written by Walter Simonson and tells the tale of Nedry’s arrival on Isla Nublar to work on the computer systems that would be so instrumental in the creation and eventual downfall of the park; networking of computers, park systems, zoological simulations and crowd control measures all make up his complicated job. Dick Giordano (Detective Comics, The Sandman, Superman vs The Amazing Spider-Man) joins Jurassic Park to ink Gil’s pencils, John Workman returns as letterer, as does Renée Witterstaetter as colourist (and Story Editor for this and the sequel story later in the issue).
Some fans online have mistakenly said there’s an error in Nedry’s and Hammond’s relationship in the film. Hammond‘s favourite phrase was, “Spared no expense” and yet Nedry is constantly saying he’s underpaid, his boss unwilling to negotiate. Here, Simonson picks up on a plot thread from the novel that the film touched upon (and those fans missed) and elaborates on it. Nedry’s bid was very high, no expense was spared, but it was made before he knew the secret of what the attractions on the island actually were. Once he found out he thinks he underbid, but Hammond is a man who honours his word and expects others to do the same.
Realising the fortune Jurassic Park is going to make Hammond, Nedry constantly tries to spin that his work is going to be far more complicated than first estimated, but really it’s not true and he’s just pushing for more money. Hammond doesn’t budge. His computer experts perfectly relayed to Nedry what was required, the fact the animals are dinosaurs doesn’t change anything. Six months in however, Nedry begins to realise extra money will never be forthcoming from his computer work and when he overhears Henry Wu discussing the embryo laboratory he clicks that’s where the money is, in the dinosaurs, and their embryos are perfect for smuggling off the island.
The story ends with his first attempt at reaching out to Ingen‘s competitors but for me the real meat of the story is seeing the beginning of the relationship between these two characters. Also, unlike the previous prequel story (Genesis) foreshadowing isn’t shoved in our faces, instead it just concentrates on telling a good story based around a key plot point in the movie, with the characters at its heart. Hammond comes across as a bit too cantankerous at points compared to Richard Attenborough‘s charming portrayal and more like he is in the novel, but in the end it’s an interesting little prequel and a nice addition to the comic.
There’s no Xenozoic Tales this issue so the remaining strips get more room to breath, although I do miss Tenrec and Hannah. They’ll be back, though. Alongside the eight-page Betrayal and the ten-page Dark Cargo (for a meaty 18 pages of Jurassic Park) is Ricardo Delgado‘s always stunning Age of Reptiles which makes up 11 pages, sandwiched in the middle. It starts off serenely with a large Ankylosaurus enjoying some bark from a monstrously sized tree that dwarfs even this huge dinosaur. Then they hear a noise and step to the side to have a look around the tree. Personally, I think the way this simple gesture is drawn is just so full of character.
I was beginning to feel sorry for the peaceful beast who now found themselves outnumbered three-to-one against our favourite predatory rascals, the Deinonychuses. As you can see from what happens on the next page I needn’t have worried. This is enough to make the smaller dinos run off, beaten with one swipe of a tail. I just love this big action shot though, especially since the build up was so peaceful, it’s such a surprise! We get another little respite when we check in on the Tyrannosaurus rex pack as Long Jaw arrives back and nuzzles the noses of his mate Talon and their baby, with the other male Blue Back and his mate Climber looking on.
The whole pack is angry and soon Long Jaw sees why. The large circular nest is empty of all its eggs except for a few pieces of broken shell and one last intact egg, tucked in next to Talon. We then get a double-page spread and a really brilliant moment as he looks down at evidence of who robbed their nest and, even though a T-rex‘s face shouldn’t be that emotive, we can tell he knows exactly who was responsible. The way Ricardo lays this out with his face between the footprint and those same feet now on a nearby beach is just genius.
Look very closely at that big panel in the middle of the page. Have a look up into the cliffs and, amongst the silhouettes of the craggy terrain you should spot the shapes of a head and a tail. I’ll admit I don’t think I ever noticed this the first time around back in the 90s because it surprised me when I spotted them now. It’s so subtle, I love it. It also leads on to the climax of this issue’s chunk of the story.
After filling their bellies with the eggs the three thieves start making their way up a very narrow path along one of those cliff faces and come face-to-face with our two female Tyrannosaurs. Their size and power in comparison is perfectly captured and I particularly like the overhead view showing just how trapped the smaller dinos really are. There’s even a tiny bird looking on. Little details like this amongst all the action and drama is a trademark of Ricardo’s and one of the reasons I love his work so much.
The leader of the Deinonychuses turns and barks orders at the others, one of whom turns and runs at the T-rex coming up behind them, the story cutting off for this issue as they leap into the air, claws bared. Age of Reptiles was never intended to be told in this way; it was created as a graphic novel to be read from beginning to end in one sitting. But it just works so well, editor Dick Hansom doing a great job of knowing when to edit to make each piece feel like a complete chapter. It’s a great cliffhanger. (Yes, that was very much an intended pun.) However, it’s a particularly frustrating ending this time, which I’ll explain after the third and final strip.
“Phooey on your ‘Chaos’! We’ve got boats, planes, radar…!” Renny
“So does the war on drugs.” Dr Ian Malcolm
Steve Englehart‘s Jurassic Park: Dark Cargo continues with Dr Ellie Satler, Dr Alan Grant and the juvenile Velociraptors transported from boat to a huge air transport and during the flight our human heroes eventually awaken to find their cage surrounded by the hissing, clicking raptors. One tries to pick the lock of the cage just as they did to their own, but Alan’s broken belt buckle from his failed attempt, still caught in the lock, stops them. They run off, the pilot noticing shifting weight so George Lawala (the first in a long line of greedy humans who would underestimate the intelligence of dinosaurs) goes to investigate. He frees Alan and Ellie and gives them shotguns, the chapter ending with them all searching the huge plane.
That’s the main plot out of the way. That’s not to say it isn’t fun, it certainly is, it’s just there are two individual pages elsewhere in the story involving subplots that really stood out to me. The first involves the army’s continuing attempts to clean up the mess of the island’s failed park. Having tracked Alan and Ellie to the beach they’re at a loss as to where they are. For me it’s great to see the new character, INgen‘s Dr Fischer back again (he first appeared in #6) and I’m still hoping we get to see more development of him in the future. But it’s the person on the next page that elicited the highest level of excitement when I read this back in 1994.
Of course, nowadays we’ve seen Dr Ian Malcolm, so memorably played by Jeff Goldblum, in The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and he’ll be returning again in the sixth film, Jurassic World: Dominion later this year (at the time of writing). At the time his return was a complete surprise. If the comic had a proper editorial and Next Issue promos I’m sure this would’ve been mentioned before it happened, so for once I was glad of the minimalist approach. It meant the surprise was kept until this very moment. He just appears in this one sequence as he recovers from his injuries from the movie but it’s exciting to see the character in this first official sequel, and he’s perfectly drawn by Armando Gil and Dell Barras (with John Costanza on letters and Renne colouring).
Also mentioned here is ‘The United States Central American Command Center’, or ‘CENTAMCOM’, the comic’s own take on the real world CENTCOM and the resources they have in their search. It brings a larger scope to the background story that’s slowly developing while the main plot focusses on our two main characters. I always enjoyed these aspects of the films, always wishing they’d delve deeper into the inner workings of INgen and the larger world within which the stories were set. Then it all ends with the biggest shock of all. Under the final panel we’re unceremoniously told #11 wouldn’t be on sale until Thursday 9th June. What?
This issue went on sale on Tuesday 29th March 1994, so suddenly my favourite monthly comic was telling me I had to wait ten weeks for the next chapters to all these stories. Can you now understand why I was so frustrated earlier? The use of the JP logo on the cover instead of the previous title graphic (I love the logo but preferred the previous one for the comic) was just the first big change to come. Ironically, this issue felt once again like the first one I bought, settling back into a great format after a couple of months of trying to fit too much into its 36 pages. But that would all change. I’ll go into that next time because at this point originally I hadn’t a clue why there was such a long wait. You’ll just have to wait to find out too.
I’ll finish off with a look at the very-90s adverts this issue contains. There’s a teeny tiny liddle widdle radio which would’ve been right up my alley back then and it isn’t dissimilar to that given to Bond by Q in Skyfall many years later. The back cover has an advert for Dark Horse International‘s Manga Mania as the animation style started to take hold here, mainly thanks to Akira (with a hint of things to come for Jurassic Park on the bottom-left of its cover) and there’s a convention to match. Finally, those highly expensive phone-in competition lines which, when you think about it, should never have been in the pages of comics such as this (or the magazine Commodore Format I was collecting at the time which had plenty of them) when so many young readers could be tricked into spending a fortune on their parents’ phone bills. (No, I didn’t.)
So, with a clifftop battle in full swing and a pack of deadly Velociraptors on board a cargo plane we have to be patient and take a breather from the comic for a while. It’s difficult enough to not read ahead but this is going to be ridiculous! I’ll just have to cope somehow. The next Jurassic Park review will be here from (big sigh) Thursday 9th June 2022, just one day before the release of the next movie in fact. Oh, now I’m all excited again!
Welcome back to Ghostworld for the very last time. Just a month after the final issue comes Fleetway‘s Super Naturals Holiday Special for 1988, as ever edited by Barrie Tomlinson. Kicking off with a Sandy James cover which would’ve been fun for any kids who received the oversized Tonka trucks for Christmas, here we have 48 glossy pages which, much like the Adventure Book, focus more on the action aspects of the comic rather than the horror.
There are two exceptions (including a reprint from Scream!) which check the horror box for the young readers, but other than that it’s all licenced strips and extras. That means there’s no ventriloquist’s Doll or readers’ suggestions for Scary Cat, both of which were highlights of the regular comic so that’s a shame, especially knowing this would be the last publication in the series. But let’s not get too down, the idea of a Holiday Special was to have lots of fun one-off stories to read while off school. Let’s see how the Super Naturals fare with theirs, shall we?
It starts high in the air in SkyJack! The evil Super Naturals flub an attempt to transport themselves into our world, with onlySnake Bite able to make it and imaginatively the strip has him crashing through a tiny airplane window, terrifying all the passengers on a transatlantic flight to America. Hypnotising the pilots, he shares his strength with them to save the crashing plane, but only because he wants to use it to dive into Washington which would cause much more destruction in our world.
Snake Bite was always the most interesting of the evil characters and the set up for this story is great. We even have Hooter and Lionheart using the Ghost Finder to nudge the plane up just enough so that it’s trajectory is right for the pilots to take over before Lionheart slashes a hole in the fuselage and throws Snake Bite out, who loses his telepathic control as a result. I like how it’s not an easy, miraculous rescue plan, as Hooter bluntly states. It’s just a shame the artwork doesn’t match the exciting potential of the script.
It’s even more of a shock when you find you who the artist is. It’s Geoff Campion‘s work (Eagle, Lion, Valiant) whose work I’d loved in Ring Raiders, another of Barrie’s titles. However, here things feel somewhat rushed, even unfinished in places, such as when the Ghost Findercrew make their entrance the buildings in the background look like rough layouts. As the story goes on more details are lost and backgrounds become even more sparse, almost like it was hastily finished for a deadline. It’s not the usual exemplary work we’ve come to expect from Geoff and I’m intrigued as to why, but unfortunately that’s a question lost to the mists of time. It’s still a fun story to open with, a really enjoyable complete tale perfect for a Holiday Special.
To make a special even more so, there are always a few extras. We have new pin ups of the toys, some of the marvellousposters from the fortnightly have been shrunk down to A4 size, a one-page GhostlingTale features a thief making his getaway only to board the Titanic and there’s a pretty poor quiz. Much like the one in the Adventure Book it’s just a series of strip panels and the questions are all a variation of “Who is in this picture?”. We do get some lovely reader art in Ghostworld Gallery including a superb rendering of Skull by David Round who was clearly a fan of Alan Langford‘s depiction of the character.
There’s also a page called Incident at Rock Canyon which looks suspiciously like an unused cover. Drawn by Sandy James it clearly hadn’t reached the colouring stage when the comic was cancelled. To accompany it is a short story by way of explanation, reminding me of the inner front page to the Ring Raiders Special printed after that favourite comic of mine also abruptly ceased. It’s a nice addition and it’s always interesting to see work that was still in progress for future issues.
Next up is a Scary Cat Challenge story. This isn’t based on a reader’s idea like some of the very best in the regular series, instead it’s a reprint from Scream! #9. Part of the Library of Death series in the comic, Ghost Town was written by Fred Baker (Roy of the Rovers, Lion, New Eagle) and illustrated by Mike Dorey (Action, Warlord, 2000AD). An old Western town in America witnesses the arrival of its first automobile, which promptly has a brake failure and ploughs straight into a dynamite storage (of course it does), blowing it and the whole town up in a huge chain reaction of explosions. That’s just the beginning.
In the then-present day of the 80s two young lads pull up to a gas station in the desert and ask for directions, but there’s more to the little old man who helps them than they realise. They soon find themselves in an old fashioned town instead of back on the highway and are greeted by the sheriff. The only problem is he’s a waking, talking skeleton! Telling the boys they’re going to stand in a fair trial for murder, soon a whole town full of dead bodies with other ideas are chasing them down.
Cornered in the sheriff’s office with his guns, the young men have no choice but to try to shoot their way out and get back to their car, but they’re no match for one of the local gunslingers. Seeing the two innocent lads gunned down was quite the shock when I turned the page! I know it was created for a different comic but to see it in the pages of Super Naturals it makes quite the impact. I never owned this edition as a kid but if I had (and not knowing this was a reprint) I know I would’ve loved this story because of this horrific final page.
The next strip is the definite highlight of the whole comic, even though it only comes in at four pages. I believe the artist for The Making of Evil could be Keith Page although this is unconfirmed. The middle couple of pages are your typical tale of Skull and Burnheart causing terror and destruction as they set fire to a small Austrian town at the end of the nineteenth century. They’re defeated by Lionheart and Thunderbolt but our main focus is the young boy the evil Super Naturals crash in on at the beginning of the their story.
The strip doesn’t explicitly tell us his name but instead treats the young readers with the intelligence to either know straight away who this is, or to piece it together by the end. I was still in primary school when this was released so I wouldn’t have been taught anything about World War II at this point, but some slightly older readers may have, and even if they hadn’t a rereading in a year or two would’ve brought a fresh, terrifying perspective.
The boy’s reaction to Skull inspires the evil leader to bestow upon him unlimited power to score against those he hates, but even Skull can only hope the boy will spread some form of fear; he has no idea of what he’s actually created. For now we see the boy carry on with their work, helping spread the fire and blocking the streets from help. In the final issue’s review I said how it would’ve been great to see the Super Naturals interact with more myths from our past like they did with the Lady of the Lake, but to see a real-world evil inspired by Skull is something I didn’t expect! It’s a brave move by the comic and an inspired story that once again shows the potential of the franchise.
I also adore that awesome Tomb of Doom looming over the characters as they disappear back into Ghostworld, and I wish it had been depicted as such throughout the whole series. Then, after that somewhat creepy tale comes a bit of comic relief in the shape of Ghostlings, this time focussing on Hooter and Scary Cat and as ever it’s drawn by Anthony Williams. The slight plot sees the witch trying to wreck a bit of havoc by having lions escape a zoo close to a town.
Hooter tries to stop her by using his magical sleeping potion but he’s quite a clumsy wizard is our Hooter and he drops it in a mid-air kerfuffle between the pair. But luck is on his side and instead of Scary Cat being put to sleep the animals end up having a doze instead. However, when Scary Cat transforms back to her witch form the hard landing sees her join them in the land of nod. Our hero is then easily able to carry her back to the Tomb. Silly stuff, but then again the best Ghostlings strips always were, that was the whole point of them.
Racetrack Riot is the special’s prose story and follows F1 driver Alan Dixon as he test drives a new super powered engine, which of course Skull wants for his Bat Bopper truck. Alan and his team are kidnapped and forced to remove the engine from their car. Outside Lionheart, Thunderbolt and Hooter (who is making up for being underused in the regular comic by the looks of it) are watching closely. It’s our clumsy wizard who comes up with the plan and after transforming into his owl form he swoops in from the skylight on which they’re perched and seemingly attacks the F1 team.
There’s method in his madness of course. It looks like a regular owl, possibly nesting somewhere nearby, has flown in. So the evil characters simply ignore him while at the same time in this form he doesn’t inadvertently scare the humans into freezing in fright for once. Instead, they dive into the maintenance pit under the car for cover. This allows the main Super Naturals to launch an attack and duke it out without fear of harming anyone. It’s inconsequential stuff but entertainingly written by Barrie Tomlinson. Unfortunately though, we’re not sure who the artist was.
The final story in the comic and for any of these characters is Tooth and Claw and I believe it could also be drawn by Keith Page. I’ve checked with some sources and parts of this (in particular the Super Naturals themselves) seem to be in his style but the jury is out for how the wild animals are drawn. So it could be Keith. Anyway, the story is set in an unnamed country suffering from a drought, its inhabitants hungry and the animals dying. Through a sacred temple emerge Skull, Snakebite and the underused Rags (as someone interested in Ancient Egypt I wish they’d used him more, he’s a Pharaoh who can turn into a cursed mummy) in the Bat Bopper and Lionheart, Eagle Eye and Mr. Lucky in the Ghost Finder.
As they give chase the good guys are surprised to see the villages have been left untouched by their evil counterparts, until they come face to face with a wild stampede. Hypnotised by Snake Eyes, the animals have either been forced into a frenzy to chase down and eat the human flesh of the nearby villagers, or into a mad rage to stomp all over their homes and kill them underfoot in the case of the elephants. But the plan hasn’t reckoned on one simple thing, namely Lionheart’s third and final form.
It’s surprising to think the character hasn’t been placed into this kind of environment before now. It’s the kind of story which could’ve been developed into a serial to delve deeper into his mind, especially if he befriended other lions. After all, he was given this lion form by Specter for a reason, could he have found a kindred spirit in them? But then again, the comic was still in its infancy when it was cancelled, so who knows what could’ve happened. I have to say though, it’s fun to see him take to this form with relish, acting like an actual wild lion and fighting off the hypnotised, innocent animals (without killing them). Only a few characters got the chance for any kind of development by the end and unfortunately Lionheart wasn’t one of them. This is like a teaser for what could’ve been.
Before we sign off from the last ever edition of this comic there’s just time for a quick plug for some of Fleetway‘s range which may have appealed to the target audience. Battle had merged with the new Eagle after a phenomenal run, Roy of the Rovers was still going strong and another of their licenced comics, Mask had proved a lot more popular, lasting 80 issues and it was certainly a hit with some of my friends. These could be described as the Barrie Tomlinson range, as he edited all of these.
A reprint of a Skull poster with the top and bottom chopped off to fit the inside back cover, followed by the title logo on the rear round things off and that’s it. In an edition which contained a lot more fun and action-orientated strips, the horror stories of the Scream reprint and the Hitler tale really stand out. So does the action-packed Lionheart ending, if only to show what could’ve been as a great example of the licence.
Never again would the young readers see these fun characters and the horror strips that came along with them for the ride. While there seems to be very little to tell from the creative team because memories seem vague when it comes to Super Naturals, keep an eye on the blog for some possible extra content in the future nonetheless. It’s sad to see the comic end and it’ll remain a treasured part of my collection, taking pride of place on the Barrie Tomlinson Trilogy Shelf. I hope I’ve been able to do my bit in keeping the memory of this classic alive.
So I’ll be honest, I can’t really describe this as a comic review, that would be rather cheeky of me. But then again, it was a bit of a cheat for Marvel UK to call this the Visionaries Spring Special too. Don’t get me wrong, when I spotted this on the shelf back in 1989 I was thrilled. I hadn’t known there was a monthly comic the previous year, having only become interested through the cartoon which aired here in the UK after the comic had already ended. I received the annual for Christmas and then in April their origin story (which I’d just read in the Annual) was reprinted as a back up strip in The Transformers, which I’d just started collecting a few months prior. It was after that I spotted this edition.
Through these I discovered there had been a regular comic, albeit a very short-lived one and I was sad I’d missed out on the further adventures of these characters. So this special was all new to me. A brand new strip featuring two of my very favourite characters from the cartoon, whose toys I owned and whose origin story I was now (very) familiar with. I was in comics heaven. But readers of the monthly may have felt somewhat shortchanged. Have a look at the ‘Special’ next to #5, the final edition of their comic.
They look somewhat similar, don’t they? This continues inside. In fact, this is an exact copy of #5 bar only a few exceptions. Obviously the issue number has been changed on the cover (although the incorrectly coloured Darkstorm remains) and the editorial on page two has been rewritten, aimed now at more casual readers rather than those who had been following along. The layout and images originally created by the monthly’s editor Steve White remain the same, however.
The strip, Dream Maker, is presented once again in its entirety and makes up the remainder of the comic’s interior. Written by Gerry Conway, with pencils by Mark Bagley, inks by Romeo Tanghai, letters by Janice Chiang and colours by Julianna Ferriter it’s a great strip, that much is true. Altogether there are 24 pages here with the exact same external gloss paper making up the outer eight pages and the regular Marvel UK stock for the rest. On the last page of the strip, page 23 of the comic, the final message has been edited to include the new logo for Transformers and the issue number and date of the original merge have been removed.
At this time Transformers was changing to a three-story format and to mark the first seven issues of the new look they were reprinting the first Visionaries story (this would mark the third time we saw it in one year). It kicked off with this lovely cover promoting the new look, including the return of the Knights, drawn by John Stokes.
The reason behind this was to let the G.I. Joe story get ahead and create a buffer between the monthly US publication and their weekly UK printings. So really, to say at the end of the Spring Special that fans could “Follow the further adventures of the Visionaries” wasn’t exactly true. Instead, anyone picking this up and then buying Transformers would be met with one reprinted story and then nothing after that, so no further adventures at all.
This is the first comic series on the blog to reach its conclusion
So, as I’m sure you can understand there’s no point whatsoever in me reviewing this story all over again when I did so in depth in July last year. It is a great story though and if you see this edition on eBay and want to dip your toes in I’d highly recommend it, although it appears to be a somewhat rare item and I was very lucky to spot it. I only bought it myself to complete the set. We do get a nice new advertisement on the back for something of an experiment by Marvel UK to launch their own humour comic in competition to Beano and The Dandy, which had something of a surprising mascot.
The Visionaries Spring Special comic brought me so much joy as a kid. It gave me a glimpse into the world of the Visionaries as presented in their comic form and I loved it. It was read several times and felt so mature, so grown up compared to the other toy-based comics I’d collected previously, something I’ve gone into throughout the series on the blog.
Nowadays though, as the final comic we’d ever get it’s clear this special was nothing more than a bit of marketing to get some additional readers to buy Transformers. Even the advert for it in the pages of other Marvel UK comics was exactly the same as that used one year previous (almost to the day) to promote the monthly, with only the issue details changed.
Left: The Real Ghostbusters #1 – 12th Mar ’88 Right: Transformers #211 – 25th Mar ’89
A curious addition to the series but it does complete my set. I’d already come to terms with the fact there’d be no more new stories after the annual but seeing this story again just reminds me of the potential the Visionaries had to become one of the very best licenced comics stories ever.
This is the first comic series on the blog to reach its conclusion so if this is the first you’re seeing the Knights of the Magical Light there are ten other posts just waiting to be read. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I did writing them! As clichéd as that reads, it’s still true.
This Vanyo cover with lead character Turbo Jones is an exciting mystery, begging the question of how he ended up in this predicament after the conclusion last issue. The ever-changing colours of the Wildcat logo bring us this variant, almost matching the creature below it. It’s a great start and I’m sure it thrilled me at the time, not knowing of the sad news within. There’s no clue here, and there isn’t until the end of our first strip, so let’s start there and see how things pan out, shall we?
Brought in front of the Burroids‘ leader, The Brain, Turbo faces a trial for supposedly defecting to the other side, the Arglons. Of course, he was actually captured and forced to work for them, but he escaped and made it back to help his friends. However The Brain, for all of its apparent knowledge (it is a big floating brain in a glass sphere after all) isn’t too hot when it comes to assessing the situation, or indeed holding a fair trial. Simply deciding not to believe Turbo, he’s sentenced to walk the Valley of Death.
The first of these obstacles is the creature from the cover, who Turbo eventually dispatches by decapitating two of its heads and strangling the third. It’s a great, action-packed sequence and begs the question, if this is the first obstacle what are the rest like? He ends up trapped in the deadly vines of a fruit tree as he tries to take some food but thankfully Robo finally catches up with his master. (Oh sorry, I mean friend!) There’s a nice moment between the two when Robo apologises for having emotions and worrying about Turbo, and Turbo telling him he’ll never complain about that!
A complete shock, especially at only 12 issues in
Their friendship has always been an interesting one and at times surprisingly sweet among all the action and excitement. As they make their way deeper into the valley Turbo plunges into a trap, crashing through branches laid out on the ground over a hole, so clearly there’s someone else here. It’s a great action episode while still maintaining the characterisation we’ve come to love. The Turbo Jones story has always achieved this perfect balance, testament to its writer (and the comic’s creator and editor) Barrie Tomlinson. However, in the corner of the final panel are the words, “This story continues in the first issue of Eagle & Wildcat – on Sale April 1st.”
As a child I was devastated. Not again! I obtained my free Wildcat Preview issue with the final edition of OiNK which had crushed me because I’d never had a comic cancelled on me before. As I’ve mentioned previously it had felt like OiNK was passing the baton to Wildcat and so this was a complete shock, especially at only 12 issues in. As usual the news was promoted in as positive a light as possible and on the next page was this advert for the first of the combined issues.
As much as these ‘Great News For All Readers’ kind of messages tried, it was always sad for those collecting the cancelled comic. There would be an attempt to make it sound like both titles were merging into one awesome comic, but in reality it was always clear one was getting the chop and a little bit of it was going to appear in the other. So, just like when three of OiNK’s characters joined Buster, I didn’t follow Wildcat into the pages of Eagle. However, I’ve some news on that front which I’ll get to below.
For now, let’s continue with the final colour episode for David Robinson‘s Joe Alien (in Eagle he would be in black and white). Facing down the oncoming storm of murderous vegetation and seeing the roots encircle his men, our peace-loving alien has no choice but to do the one thing he hates the most, he resorts to violence and picks up a laser to free his team. They retreat into a cave that has walls covered with eggs belonging to the Dargonlites, the giant slugs from previous issues. Happily for me (because I think they’re a brilliant creation) there’s one left guarding the eggs and they take to the trees with fervour in defence of the unborn young.
This one slug takes care of the advancing hordes and just as Joe and his men leave we see one of the hatchlings burst out of its egg with the promise of survival after their devastating loses last time. But this is Wildcat, we can’t be having too much of a happy ending, so as they continue their search for the missing shuttle the mossy floor itself comes alive like an evil turf, rolling up to engulf them. It’s certainly an imaginative cliffhanger, I’ll give you that.
The story would continue in Eagle but readers would have to wait, the little box at the end promising the story will continue in a future issue. As you saw in the promo only Turbo and Kitten would be in the comic to begin with, what with limited space available for the merge. This was another reason I didn’t carry over my comic order. Yes, there’s only so much room for the Wildcat strips and nothing could be done about that, but for young me I only wanted to read about these characters and didn’t like the fact I’d only get a small portion of Wildcat every week.
Joe does go out on a high though. His plight on the planet has been huge fun. Originally drawn with the fervent imagination of MassimoBelardinelli it wasn’t long before the incredible Ron Smith took over and I’ve loved every single panel he’s produced. Even when the plot slipped a little (just for an issue or two) his art still made this one of the best strips every single time. Joe remains very much an enigma and it’s such a shame we won’t get to see him develop and find out about his mysterious past.
James Tomlinson‘s Kitten Magee strip is full of twists, turns and surprises this issue, making the cancellation all the more frustrating. With Kitten knocked out we see Aurora take command of the team and soon they’ve lured one of the large Hoboans on his floating platform to within reach, commandeering his vehicle. In the process he falls off and through a glass window, which kills him. This makes our team an even higher priority target, to be terminated on sight. We return to them for the cliffhanger but first we catch up with their leader and her pet.
Crud calling Hobos “mate” raised a chuckle. At first I thought these fishy creatures might turn on their owners like the ones out in the public pools (and that might still happen of course) but for now we’re left not knowing what’s happened to the little metal fella. We catch up on the rest of the team for the final two pages, hiding in a food storage unit full of rotting, stinking meat. We get an interesting nugget of info on the Hoboans here as Doc postulates that given the shape their bodies are in, this may be the only way they can consume food, when it’s already broken down by rot and decay. I really enjoy little details like this, it makes the fantastical feel more grounded.
This is the first time the story has focussed on the team without Kitten and it works so well. They’ve each had a little bit of time in the spotlight in individual scenarios before, enough so that when they’re interacting with one other they feel like well developed individuals and not just cannon fodder. The story ends with the discovery of a hidden doorway and an ancient city, destroyed by the Hoboans a long time ago. The stench, the dust of remains, a whole civilisation wiped out of existence, this is such a surprising twist and these final pages ooze atmosphere.
Damn it, why did more people not buy into this superb comic? It should’ve carried on for many more years! The letters page reassures readers a few times that the stories and characters are going to continue, still trying to sell it as a 50/50 Eagle/Wildcat merger. Unlike Super Naturals the address is still here as readers’ contributions would continue and there’s even a guest appearance from Max, Eagle‘s fictional editor.
Loner, written by editor Barrrie Tomlinson is our final serial and just like Joe it would be a while before he’d appear again. This is extra annoying because, even though the plot recently hasn’t been all that hot, the cliffhanger asks so many questions. Anyway, you’ll remember from #11’s review how our mercenary friend was plummeting back to the forest fire below. He has a messy save as he lands on and smashes the eggs in the nest he flew away from. I’ll admit his next thought as the fire races up the tree towards him made me laugh.
If you’ve been following along with these reviews you’ll know this second tale in Loner’s epic quest has felt a bit too loose, a bit too made-up-as-it-goes-along for my liking. I was prepared for more outlandishness this issue and awaited whatever random event would befall our hero. I could never have predicted what transpires here!
It begins with the wind picking up and spreading the fire even quicker across the forest floor. Of course to Loner in his miniaturised state it feels like a hurricane is trying to pluck him up off his feet and in fact that’s exactly what happens. Clutching desperately on to a leaf to stay put, it’s blown away with him still clinging on as the wind whips up the fire below. This is all good stuff so far, for once it’s something you could see happening in this far-fetched scenario, but what if I told you that very same wind somehow blows him so far up he leaves the atmosphere of the planet? Yes, really.
Frozen in the upper atmosphere, Loner’s unconscious body floats out into space and apparently passes relatively close by the Wildcat itself (the second character to do so in as many issues) before he starts making his descent. The comic has always been a far out there, wild and fantastical ride and I’ve loved it for that as well as for its originality. But this is a step too far even for the far-fetched. I can’t remember my reaction to this when I was in the age range of the target audience but this (much) older version of me didn’t like this one bit.
I’m not going to go into detail about logistics or the science, this is a fun children’s comic after all and I’m not about to start taking it all too seriously. But even from a story perspective it just doesn’t make sense and is yet another seemingly random event plucked out of thin air (in this case very thin air) just to be bigger and more exciting than the previous one. Maybe I loved it back in 1989 but I review these classic comics as I find them now, with no rose-tinted glasses and I just want another well constructed plot for one of my favourite comics characters, like we had for the first half dozen issues. But back to that cliffhanger I mentioned, when I suddenly found my interest piqued again.
David Pugh‘s artwork shines as always but that penultimate panel with Loner’s understated shock is simply superb. Our unflappable hero, always ready with his quick wit, actually looks speechless here. It’s not overplayed, his facial expressions not exaggerated for effect. David’s style is so good he doesn’t need to do that. The subtlety and realism in his drawings of Loner while the character is surrounded by fantasy sci-fi elements of psychic alien lizards, cute furballs and giant monsters perfectly captured this particular hero and why I loved him so much.
I imagine my face was somewhat similar to Loner’s when I originally read this, the final cliffhanger of the comic’s run. Has he travelled in time? Is that giant the real Loner? Is this shrunken Loner actually a copy? This is the kind of cliffhanger ending I’ve been craving for the last half-dozen issues or so and it just so happens to be in the final issue. It’s not the end of his story for me, as I’ll get to in a little bit, but before we move on to the final strip there are a couple of ads I thought might interest you.
It’s Holiday Specials time and alongside Mask (which had already folded and finished its merge with Eagle), Roy of the Rovers and Battle was something called the Spinechillers. The top corner of the cover has a tiny little Scream logo but in reality there were no characters or strips within that had featured in the short-lived weekly. It was even presented by a new character called Ghoul (instead of the usual Ghastly McNasty) who had presented a strip the year before in Eagle. There was also news of a free gift in Buster but for me at the time the big news was below that.
Finally, just as Uncle Pigg had promised in the last issue of OiNK there was a new edition of my favourite comic! That final OiNK had introduced me to Wildcat and now here was the final Wildcat telling me of the return of OiNK. Everything had come full circle. Although claiming it hadn’t had the chop is a bit of a stretch. Still, it was exciting and a mood booster after the cancellation of the comic in my hands. Speaking of which, time to read the final strip, this issue’s Wildcat Complete and it’s drawn by Carlos Pino (TV Century 21, Starlord, Ring Raiders).
I really have my doubts about Turbo’s selection process. We’ve seen horrible xenophobes, serial killers, robot slave drivers and now bullying bosses in these anthology stories. With only several hundred people on board from our whole race, who was left behind to make room for these idiots? Zak‘s bosses are all of this type, shouting and screaming at him just because he gets sick easily, and they certainly don’t care that he currently has a cold. To punish him they force him outside to clean the hull of Wildcat and it’s there the above happens.
We can tell where this is headed, War of the Worlds-style
Yuggoth, Master of Chaos looks very much like a man in a rubber suit, 80s Doctor Who-style alien which suits the retro futuristic nature of this read through perfectly. He inhabits poor Zak’s body and straight away we can tell where this is headed, War of the Worlds-style. Of course, Zak isn’t believed by anybody and only he can see Yuggoth’s reflection in the mirror, so he gets scolded some more by his bosses before one of them sets him up with a psychiatrist-droid which is clearly programmed to get the results his boss wants. (Again, how did Turbo pick these people?!) It’s only a matter of time though before our visitor has seen enough to make his move.
In the control centre of Wildcat’s computerised systems the two head operators are female, which is refreshing for an 80s comic. However, they also regularly belittled Zak like his bosses and so I felt no sympathy when they’re the first to die at the hands of this alien foe (bringing the Wildcat Death Toll to 38 in its final issue). Seemingly unstoppable, Yuggoth’s victory seems certain when suddenly he begins clutching at his throat and keels over, dead. Later, a scientist concludes the creature caught a virus its body had no defence against. It was Zak’s cold.
In the end Zak becomes a hero but in today’s post-Covid (almost) world that final panel is just plain scary! It adds to the overall thriller feel to the story, with these humans just opening themselves up to pain and misery thinking it’s their salvation, but clearly that wasn’t the intention of the ending at the time. It just goes to show how these strips not only aged well over the decades, they could even improve.
That’s your lot. With this story Wildcat comes to an end. At the time I had no interest in buying Eagle (sorry, I mean Eagle and Wildcat) so this was where these stories finished for me. Only over these past couple of years, over three decades later, have we finally got Rebellion‘s new graphic novel collections of Turbo Jones and Loner so that I can find out what happened. Even though I purchased the books over a year ago now, I’ve been waiting for the read through to finish before I devour them. Unfortunately though, it’s looking increasingly unlikely the other characters will be getting similar treatment.
I’m currently collecting the remaining Kitten Magee, Joe Alien and Wildcat Complete stories in the Eagle comics released over the twelve months after Wildcat finished, but that’s going to take a while. First, I’ll be completing my original 80s collection with the Wildcat Holiday Special and Wildcat Winter Special, neither of which I’ve read before, so look out for them in May and November of this year. Then after that I’ll go back to read the adventures I didn’t as a kid to see how it all ended (not a real time trek through them all though, I’ll be summing up the Wildcat content).
So I’m not done with Barrie Tomlinson‘s Wildcat just yet, just taking a breather. The Wildcat Holiday Special review will be here from Friday 27th May 2022.
As both an OiNK and a Doctor Who fan, seeing our editor Uncle Pigg dressed as the Doctor, swirling about through time being chased by angry butchers and all drawn by Ian Jackson is an absolute treat for my eyes. What a way to start an issue! As a kid I only began watching Doctor Who the following year and by then Sylvester McCoy was already in the role, but I was fully aware of who this parody was based on. At the time of its publication Colin Baker had finished his final series but had yet to be replaced, his character’s horrid dress sense perfectly captured here.
As we had with the first Christmas issue, this Time-Travel Special sees Uncle Pigg leave the OiNK office and set out on a multi-page strip throughout the comic, courtesy of writer Mark Rodgers. Running late, he stumbles upon butchers unloading livestock and makes a run for it, mistakenly assumed to be one of their escaped pigs. He dives into a rather familiar looking police phone box to hide and the adventure begins.
I love the fact the disguise he’s grabbed in a haphazard hurry from the local fancy dress shop is a dead ringer for the Sixth Doctor‘s eyesore of a costume and the fact it’s his trotter that gives the game away and not his piggy face! He rematerialises three more times on separate pages in the issue, the first set in prehistoric times where cavemen with butcher aprons and hats are chasing down wild boars.
He quickly sets course for home. He wants to stay because the hogs look underfed and miserable, but he can’t change the past, it would be too dangerous. Unbeknownst to him, his sudden appearance scared the butchers so much they end up worshipping the very animals they were trying to eat. Then it’s off to 2987AD, exactly one thousand years into the future and bumps into familiar-looking future versions of butchers, the most terrifying of all! Have a look.
I love this theme of simply adding an apron, hat and butcher’s tools instead of the 80s sink plungers. It’s such a simple idea but absolutely hilarious. Uncle Pigg gets out of this tight spot by sharing copies of OiNK, its humour overloading their circuits and freeing the people from their tyranny. As he leaves he tells them if they need more copies for the fight they should place a regular order at their newsagents. We then see the people later worshipping a statue of him while asking, “What’s a ‘newsagent’?”
Uncle Pigg’s TARDIS pops up at various points in the issue
It’s imaginative, original and genuinely very funny throughout. Mark is nothing short of a comics writing genius and Ian’s artwork brings these ideas to life in a way that completely matches their crazy nature. It’s such a shame this would be the last time they’d create a long strip like this for the character. It’s definitely the highlight of the issue and indeed one of my favourite moments from the whole run, not least because he’s not confined to the pages of his own story.
Much like Star Truck in #3 (and the forthcoming OiNK! Book 1988) which saw our heroes appear among the stars of other strips, so Uncle Pigg (or his TARDIS at least) pops up at various points in the issue and it was fun to spot these as a child. Heck, let’s face it, it’s fun to see it pop up now as an adult, whether it’s in the background or in a way that actually affects the plot of another story.
Pete and his Pimple by Lew Stringer Dick Tater written by Tim Quinn, drawn by Ed McHenry Spotticus the Slave by Davey Jones
We can see the TARDIS floating about in Lew Stringer’sPete and his Pimple strip after Pete accidentally falls into a time warp and ends up in prehistoric times, then in Dick Tater, Dictator of Time written by Tim Quinn (his one contribution to OiNK) and drawn by Ed McHenry he causes a pile-up in between time zones and in Spotticus the Slave he saves the title character from being eaten by a lion. This last strip was (and I quote), “Writed and drawed bi Davey Jonsey, Pillock-of-the-Year 1981“.
The conclusion is right at the back of the comic and the solution is a simple one; just land on the butchers’ heads and free all the captured piggies. A happy ending all round. We even get a little cameo from the Doctor and this wasn’t the first time Colin Baker had been immortalised in an Ian Jackson drawing. Check out #3‘s review for his earlier appearance. What a fantastic strip this has been!
The rest of the issue is just as good, with the vast majority sticking to the theme either by including time travel or being set in the distant past or future. But my first non-editor highlight is neither, it was just too funny and too memorable to leave out. It’s the first time I’ve shown an entry from this series on the blog and it might surprise pig pals to know there weren’t that many overall.
In my head the Rotten Rhymes series was in nearly every issue, particularly during the later fortnightlies but in reality there were only 13 of these funny takes on nursery rhymes, and mainly during the monthly issues towards the end of the run. Taking a traditional nursery rhyme and changing the last line, often throwing away the need to rhyme at all, they’d be written and drawn by a variety of contributors and Humpty Dumpty by Davy Francis is one of the very best.
My memory may have let me down insofar as how many Rotten Rhymes there were, but I can actually remember reciting this in school to several of my friends. It’s strange the little random memories this blog has brought back to the surface. There are others in this series I loved but this always remained the most memorable, simply because of how brazenly it dealt with the main character. But that’s not all from Davy that I want to show you.
Sometimes in humour comics a character could become a one-trick pony, their regular antics basically playing out exactly the same way every issue but perhaps in a slightly different setting. This was certainly the case with some of the other titles I dipped into back then to see if any would interest me in the same way. None of them really did, so I stuck with OiNK exclusively. Some of its own characters could appear on the surface to be examples of these repetitive strips, but in reality they were far from that. Take Davy’s Greedy Gorb for instance.
A boy who eats everything, food or otherwise, is a simple idea that could’ve run dry very quickly in lesser hands. But thanks to Davy every episode was fresh and funny, and he never failed to raise a laugh. The brilliantly named mad scientist Doctor Maddstark-Raving would also get spun off into some strips of his own now and again, such was his potential in Davy’s crazy mind.
It’s been a while since we’ve seen Snatcher Sam in the comic and this issue puts that right, although not in his usual photo story format. Instead, Mike Taylor does a superb job of drawing Marc Riley as the clueless thief (and I think Pat Healy as the guard, previously seen in #7‘s Swindler Sid story). It suits the Olde English theme of the page a lot better than photographs ever could and I think the style Mike has used here is very inventive, giving it a unique feel.
As if reinventing Marc as an actual comic strip wasn’t good enough, that final pun is just brilliant; all of the ridiculousness, the seemingly random pratfalls and idiocy is all building to the name of this Dick Turpin-inspired highway robber. It’s nothing short of comic genius, in both Mark Rodger‘s writing and Mike’s illustrations, hiding behind what on the surface is just plain silliness. Surely that’s the very essence of OiNK?
Chas Sinclair‘s artwork is perfect for stories such as the next one, written by Tony Husband. He has a knack of making a strip look more mature, a little more like something I might have seen in my brother’s Roy of the Rovers or something. For me this works perfectly because given OiNK’s track record so far, the more it looks like a story we’d find in a non-humour comic, the more insane it usually is. Check out Scruff of the Track, Janice and John and Watery Downfor instance. I’m very glad to say No News Is Good News keeps to this tradition.
I really thought the strip was going to end with James Fishpond being hit by the bus and it’d be an OiNK version of The Twilight Zone, the prediction in the newspaper actually causing the event. (The later regular strip, The Swinelight Zonewould do strips like that.) But not only is it completely ridiculous how he’s able to talk aloud about how the bus is going to kill him and devise a plan to stop it from happening, all before the bus actually does so, instead of jumping out of the way, but the poor chap who does get hit is even worse! A brilliantly funny strip that uses the subject of the issue in an original way. Great stuff.
Next to this page is the first of a two-part Tom Thug strip. You might think upon reading it that all would just return to normal by the next issue, but I can remember the final panel here being picked up on in #25. We welcome back Tom’s nemesis, posh clever kid Wayne Brayne who was first introduced in #10 and who would normally outsmart the dimwitted numbskull with ease, but here he’s decided to be proactive in an attempt to stop Tom’s bullying for good. As you’ll see, in a surprise twist the person punished at the end isn’t the one you’d usually expect.
Remember kids, never lower yourself to the level of the bully, even if your intentions are good. I recalled the panel of an elderly Tom but I thought I remembered it being some kind of time travel where an actual older version of himself popped up. Nope, it’s all a ruse but it has the same effect. Another incorrect assumption on my part was thinking it’d all simply be back to normal next time, but you’ll see I was wrong about that too.
Of course, the world sadly did lose Mark in the early 1990s, so this little gag of his is a bittersweet moment
Back in the 80s I can remember one piece of primary school homework when we were asked to imagine what our lives would be like in the year 2000. Cue lots of moving walkways and flying cars. It seemed so far away and it’s scary to think that futuristic date is actually further into the past now than it was into the future when we were imagining it!
We weren’t the only ones to dream of life in the future. Co-editor and writer Mark Rodgers and artist Ed McHenry have created this brilliant back cover to finish the issue. Using the logo of the famous sci-fi comic, a stablemate of OiNK’s from the same publisher, there’s a lot to love here in the little details. Ed is friends with Davy Francis so check out the little desk inscription next to the Cowpat Planet strip, the name of the robot churning out the art, the huge computer monitor layout still using a fiddly indoor aerial, the piggy bank and even a standard office-like holiday rota for plops!
One little detail stands out though. At the bottom you’ll see Mark has written in that his brain is being kept alive in a jar hooked up to a script computer. Of course, the world sadly did lose Mark in the early 1990s, so this little gag of his is a bittersweet moment. However, Mark would want us to laugh and it is funny to think of how his own creation would still expect him to keep on churning out the ideas.
That’s all the time we have for this time-travel issue and it’s been a blast from the past. Mark and the entire team pulled out all the stops for this one and the fortnightlies only get better and better from here on. My own favourite point in OiNK‘s lifespan will be towards the end of the year and I simply can’t wait. Next up though is the Toys and Hobbies Issue, the review of which will be here from Monday 4th April 2022.
