The cover of this week’s The Real Ghostbusters drawn by Brian Williamson and Bambos Georgiou instantly takes me back and across the way Andy WIldman’s cover to Transformers and Action Force signals a return to American writer Bob Budiansky’s swansong epic. What a week this was!
That fiery ghost that’s all mouth, teeth and flame was one of the best creations the comic ever produced and I mustn’t have been alone in thinking it because it’d return a few times, on this occasion alongside other fan faves when the containment unit was breached. In another story a giant ghost cat was more cuddly than scary, and in the end we find out it was actually a good ghost and the team sided with it as it protected stray cats out on the streets of New York from cruel humans. Aww.
After the epic Time Wars we were back to the second half of the even-more-epic Underbase Saga. I loved this probably even more than Time Wars because Starscream was at the centre of everything; his massive ego getting hold of unlimited power was hugely entertaining and the resulting casualty list was even more shocking than the UK story. Dreadwind also gives one of his best answers on the letters page, check it out at the link below. Both of these comics deserved the ‘Don’t Miss…’ slot on the checklist as far as I’m concerned. What a shame there wasn’t one then, despite being on the Ghostbusters’ contents page.
Which 80s TV fans recognised the quote I used last time when referencing this week’s advert? I remember watching Alf’s first season (before it shifted to satellite TV and out of reach for many of us back then) and not really understanding what all the fuss was about. Then again, even at a very young age I had an aversion to obvious laugh tracks on sitcoms instead of live audiences. Due to how Alf was filmed they just couldn’t have a studio audience, but the laugh track suffered as they all do with guffaws and roars of excitement from the American ‘audience’ for every little thing that happened, whether it was funny or not.
I sound like an old man! But that was also how I felt when I was only 11. Only later in life have I remembered Alf apparently ate cats too, though obviously not on screen. That’s not going to endear him to me now, that’s for sure. Anyway, no advert next week but the checklist will be back with a comic we haven’t heard from in a long time. A Bumper post coming up in just seven days.
This month’s cover by Ilya (Ed Hillyer – Crisis, Manga Mania, Jean Genii) isn’t one of my favourites I have to say. It feels unfinished but his style certainly has its fans and so it’s just not for me I guess. It represents the final part of Salvation, even if the headlines make it look like it’s for Colonial Marines. There’s also a feature about H.R. Giger in this issue, so let’s get stuck in and see what we think.
I can’t believe it! With hindsight we know the next issue will be the last, so for Crusade to take a month off is devastating, meaning it definitely won’t be completed in time. The strip may have started off poorly but it’s become a real treat these last six months or so. Let’s hope we at least get some closure next time. It’s funny to read about the readers writing in requesting the comic change to a weekly schedule too.
We just didn’t consider the amount of work that went into our comics and always wanted more of them. I personally never looked at the date my next issue of the monthly Jurassic Park was due because then it’d feel like forever, instead I just let its arrival in the shop surprise me. The response here also reminds me of OiNK’s co-editor Tony Husband and how he felt that comic’s transition to a weekly (from a fortnightly) sucked the fun out of it for him. I do get the irony of this topic coming up in the penultimate issue of Aliens, too.
Dave Gibbon’sSalvation finale is first up with a huge 16-page chunk of the issue, and as Selkirk fights for his life atop the crashed spaceship the ground caves in and he finds himself dangling in front of a nightmare. There are bodies of the crew and the local creatures everywhere with holes in their chests but somehow he’s able to creep into the escape pod and meet back up with Dean. I said last time there was something more about her and I was right, she’s an artificial person (as Bishop would say).
In a shocking turn of events, Selkirk’s prejudices come to the fore and he tortures her for information, all while his internal monologue preys to his Christian god about how he’s doing good. Mike Mignola’s bold, shadowy art adds to the horror of this moment. Yes, she’s a synth but it’s gruesome stuff! Then, when he gets what he needs he simply kills her. He’s a twisted character and it’s a bleak strip because of this. Selkirk’s hatred for synths makes him blind to the fact that without Dean’s programming to save human life he’d be dead by now too. It’s compulsive reading! I find myself hoping more and more he gets his comeuppance.
Basically, the military wants the aliens wiped out but the company wants its bioweapons. This planet had one land mass and a species that reproduced quickly, so perfect for the company, the ship used to deliver the aliens whether the crew survived or not. Selkirk concludes it’s the company, not the aliens, that has been sent by satan and he takes it upon himself to be a martyr for Christianity, to self-destruct the ship and wipe out the entire land mass and all sentient life.
Wiping out all life not like him, seeing non-Christians as inferior, killing someone he liked when he finds out they were different to him, all while going “god’s work” is a scary enough conclusion until we get to the last page. Seeing this huge ship with its even bigger cross traversing the universe and bringing their god’s word to alien worlds is a more terrifying conclusion than anything I’ve read in this comic to date.
The next story is called Alien. Which isn’t confusing at all, is it? Seriously, Aliens: Alien is the name of a new short tale (will we see it conclude next issue?) written by John Arcudi (Barb Wire, The Mask, BPRD), drawn by Paul Mendoza (Tensor Matrix, Rage Across Las Vegas, Dark Horse Comics) and lettered by Vickie Williams (The Web, Star Wars Legends, Spider-Man 2099). Given the name of the original film couldn’t they have thought of another title for this? Very strange.
Set on an alien planet in a small village where the men are in charge and the women are subservient (yawn, how original), their individual face paint markings indicate they’ve made kills during their hunts for food. A teen is the star of this strip and he’s not allowed to join the hunts yet, but while the ‘big, powerful men, ug, ug, ug’ are out on a hunt an alien attacks the village and kills a family, leaving the boy as the only witness.
In fact, the alien has attacked every time the men have been on a hunt recently but there have been no male witnesses until now, so the boy is ordered to join them the next night. They’re going to find and kill the alien. That’s it for this part so there’s not much of a story to sink two jaws into yet, but the art and lettering make up for this. I particularly like Paul’s xenomorph and Vickie’s lettering in speech balloons (you’ll see them next month) which suggests everything is being spoken in an alien tongue and translated for us mere humans.
The H.R. Giger feature is actually written by horror writer and creator of Hellraiser and Candyman, Clive Barker. Initially I thought this was a hell of a coup for the comic, so it’s almost criminal how it’s presented on the page. The choice of background and text colours makes it difficult to read, in particular the first page is almost unreadable. Then there’s the admission at the end that it’s actually an introduction from an already released book, so not the coup I thought it was.
It’s more of an essay on general fantasy art rather than Giger (which makes it a strange introduction to a Giger book) and Clive rightly criticises the “pseudo-sophisticated” rubbish that people often use to write about art and how Giger doesn’t need that kind of review. Yet this reads just like that at times! It’s a bit of a disappointment overall, however I’m intrigued by the image of what looks like a female alien, as it’s very similar to the mysterious female the current Alien comic from Marvel have in their stories. Clearly they went back to the original inspiration.
The last strip this month is the next part of Colonial Marines, an epically-long tale when cut up into chunks for this comic, and one I’ve known from the off we wouldn’t get to the end of because I remembered reading a chapter of it in the final issue, the only one I owned as a kid. Back then I didn’t know anything about the characters but today I’ve been following them from the beginning and so I can’t help feeling somewhat betrayed by the main character, Lt. Henry.
Basically, he’s turned into a bit of a bastard. He doesn’t care at all about helping any of the innocent people he and his team’s actions have hurt by thinking they could outwit the aliens. He also doesn’t care about said team placing their lives on the line for him, as he’s placed explosives in their necks while they were in cryogenic sleep! So now, if they don’t follow his brutish orders he can threaten to detonate them! What?!
What happened to the fun character we got introduced to months ago, the character that’s meant to be someone we care about? Now I’m hoping he gets implanted! The story has changed writers a couple of times and perhaps this is part of the problem. There doesn’t seem to have been any coordination between them to ensure continuity, or any kind of long form plan or overall writer to steer this particular ship.
The new mission is to rid Alpha Tech of the bug men who have infiltrated the company, Beliveau not being a villain after all but someone trying to do the same thing from within. But subtlety is no longer an option. Things don’t get off to a great start when their captured bug man deals some alien jelly to the pilot of their space cruiser, deliberately overdosing him. High as a kite, instead of coming into orbit to collect the team he ends up getting too close and burns the whole thing up on reentry, the bug man sacrificing himself for his cause.
What’s so frustrating is how this started off so well way back in #9 and Henry was the main reason. I’m all for character development and when dealing with the aliens of course people are going to come undone somewhat. But Colonial Marines now feels like a collection of different stories with completely different characters, like each writer wanted to write something else. Such a shame it’s all come crashing down towards the end. No pun intended.
The Technical Readout is nothing to write home about this month, being a simple drawing of the comms panel of the Armoured Personnel Carrier and a lot of bland text, so the final highlight of the issue is a page reporting on the release of the Terminator 2: Judgement Day Special Edition on Laserdisc. Back then I used to lap up details like this about restored deleted scenes etc., but today I much prefer to find out for myself by watching the movies instead, like I did with the superb Alien³ Special Edition.
I have to laugh at the “Why bother with video?” comment. VHS would continue to dominate for a long time after this and even made advances in picture and sound quality. It only eventually gave way when DVD took off. The extortionately-priced Laserdisc could only dream of such success. Saying that, remember this was 1994 and as such we’ll forgive Terry Jones here. After all, who am I to judge when I went all-in on the supposed new entertainment standard, 3DO around the same time?
Oh now I’m reminiscing… how I loved those 3DO machines!
Ahem, anyway, a quick glance of the comics checklist on the letters page confirms Crusade will return next month for its penultimate chapter. Noooo! So close! Oh well, I’ll get back into my 90s head space and try to forget #22 will be the final issue until it’s all over. It feels like no time at all since I kicked off this real time read through, I can’t quite believe we’ve been on this ride together for over 20 months. Just the one terrifying (hopefully) trip to go on Tuesday 24th March 2026.
A silly cover for Valentine’s Day by Brian Williamson and Bambos Georgiou, and a brutal death-laden cover to mark the end of the latest epic by Andrew Wildman, who is credited as “Andy” here. During my real time read through Andrew told me he’d no idea why they did that as he’s never gone by that name. Anyway, that aside Marvel UK had all bases covered.
Despite Slimer making the cover, The Real Ghostbusters focuses instead on Egon and Janine for the lovey-dovey season, although Egon’s idea of celebrations may have suited the other comic above, what with his Spengler’s Spirit Guide focusing on those who have died for love. It’s all tongue-in-cheek of course, and the previously advertised Betty Boop Valentine Card Comic is released for £1.15 according to the editorial. I wonder how many of those they sold?
In Transformers and Action Force the epic to end all epics… um, ends. It does so in fine form with some truly shocking moments drawn by Lee Sullivan. Probably most memorable of all is Galvatron being literally pulled apart, from his outer metal all the way through to his inner electronics by an angry and vengeful universe. What an experience this was as a kid, especially as I’d only begun reading the comic a few months beforehand! Surely this is the big title of the week?
Nope, that honour goes to the new issue of Action Force Monthly, even though it could’ve been given the top spot anytime over the next few weeks (which we’ve seen before for the monthlies) whereas this truly incredible Transformers is here for one week only. Two keys details in Action Force for me are the boast of four stories (so they must be rather short) and the use of the phrase “another outing” (oh dear, a reprint).
Thundercats is also a new entry for the fortnightly comic and it sounds more like the earlier editions once more. A fully British line up too. We’ve got a new comic advert this week as well for another brand new fortnightly. At least in theory. In reality it never appeared and that was only one half of the confusion that occurred when I saw this promo way back in 1989.
A brand new TV series and a brand new comic to accompany it? And of a story I enjoyed as a child too? I was in. I asked my newsagents every week if they knew when it’d be out and I trawled the listings in the family TV Times over and over, week after week, convinced it had to be somewhere in there. Neither appeared. It’s only decades later for blog research that I found out what had happened.
ITV decided to hold the series back for the summer, so with no accompanying telly show we weren’t going to rush out and buy a new comic of it, were we? All of the material created would end up in a graphic novel collection, The Marvel Bumper Comic and a Holiday Special, then the annual would appear later in the year. In the end it was the right call because ITV pulled it from their schedules pretty quickly after they started showing it. It was a big enough hit in the States to get three seasons though and it’s available on DVD under its original name, Crossbow if you fancy it.
That’s us for another week. Next time there’ll be an advert I’m sure will get some of you reminiscing, “no problem”.
It’s with sadness I must once again inform pig pals everywhere of the recent passing on 27th January 2026 of another fantastic OiNK artist. Paul Sample may have only contributed to OiNK once but it was a very memorable occasion. For anyone unfamiliar with it, you’ll soon see why. So I wanted to mark his passing just as I would for any of the regular cartoonists.
Paul was born in Yorkshire and at the young age of 18 moved to London to follow his dreams. Gaining an Honours Degree in Graphic Arts, he was commissioned by such publications as The Times, Today, Melody Maker, Men Only and Rockstar, as well as marketing teams for Ford, the Post Office and British Airways. For OiNK, he was brought in to create the fantastic cover to the second Holiday Special, published in 1988. Not many got to have their drawing over the top of the logo like this!
Paul is best known for his biker character, Ogri. Based on his love of Marvel superheroes and biking, the character began life in 1967 and went on appear in Bike magazine for a whopping 35 years from 1972. Even then he didn’t hang up his helmet, moving instead to BSH (Back Street Heroes). The good-natured biker was phenomenally popular and counts Ewan MacGregor as a celebrity fan, himself known for his biking TV series he even owns an Ogri jacket.
At one stage Cosgrove Hall was interested in turning Ogri into a TV show but in the end they realised there was simply no way to adequately adapt Paul’s very busy illustrations to animation. This was because of the vast amount going on in his backgrounds. His OiNK cover shows just how much he could pack in. So much so in fact, he was granted two pages for a special wraparound cover poster.
I remember hunting out all of the little details I could in this on a holiday when I was a child, before I even opened the comic to enjoy the strips. As anyone who has read the blog for any length of time will know I’m a sucker for a funny shark and Paul’s is just the icing on this particularly ingredient-heavy cake. In amongst the crowds swarming to Uncle Pigg’s copy watch out for an Icarus-type device, a rather creepy starfish and the security guard. Even the crowd all have their own individuality.
It’s such a shame Paul never contributed more to OiNK, his style suits the anarchic humour perfectly and I’d loved to have seen him let loose with strips if what I’ve seen of Ogri is anything to go by. Paul’s website is chock full of examples of comics, books, newspaper and magazine illustrations you’ll love pouring over for a long, long time. His contributions to this world clearly brought plenty of joy and he’ll be sadly missed by many.
Now that the three months-long month of January is finally over we head back to 1989 and welcome the latest issues of The Real Ghostbusters and Transformers and Action Force with covers by Brian Williamson and Tim Perkins, and Jeff Anderson and Dave Harwood respectively.
The New York team’s Skeleton in the Closet story takes us to a dark and foreboding take on the land of Narnia with some funny references back to the source material for its fans and there’s a particularly fun Winston’s Diary (well, they all were) this week too. Amongst all the comedy there’s also an advert for Thundercats toothbrushes that (with hindsight) were so basic they weren’t going to be much use against the sugar content of 80s sweets.
In Transformers the penultimate chapter of Time Wars ends with what should’ve been a fantastic reveal for its cliffhanger but it’s given away by that cover instead. It’s still a nice mirror image of the moment when Hot Rod tried to come to the aid of Optimus Prime in the animated movie (to dire results), and Lee Sullivan’s incredible strip artwork contains many panels that became iconic, often reprinted as highlights of the comic’s whole run. The Next Issue panel is also replaced with a full page image of next week’s cover. When you see it in seven days you’ll understand. (Or check it out at the link further below.)
With the same issues of Action Force Monthly and Thundercats as last time and brand new editions of Death’s Head and Dragon’s Claws, it’s the exact opposite of our previous checklist. Death’s Head gets the prime real estate and deserves it but for a reason not mentioned here; it’s one of the funniest issues of the run right from the off. You can check out some of its hilarious highlights via the link at the bottom of this post.
For me personally, the epic finale of sister title Dragon’s Claws is even more deserving of the ‘Don’t Miss…’ treatment. “The finale? But surely there’s one more issue to go, Phil.” That’s right, but writer Simon Furman left that final issue for the conclusion of the main character’s family arc instead, so this month it’s all about the action and it’s a belter. It’s a step up on all of the previous issues and in this excellent series that’s really saying something.
No new comics adverts this week, folks. Next week there’ll be one which confused me at the time, and which had me scouring the TV Times maniacally. I’ll tell all in seven days.
We couldn’t really have two more different covers this week, could we? While Andrew Wildman’sTransformers and Action Force #203 cover represents a rather bleak moment in the Time Wars saga, Brian Williamson and Bambos Georgiou’s cover for The Real Ghostbusters #34 is, well, rather more light-hearted.
That cover relates to a very funny prose story inside, in which a job in Russia proves more difficult than the team thought when every time they bust the ghost it splits in two and another, smaller one pops out. Linking in with this, Spengler’s Spirit Guide becomes Popov’s Spirit Guide for one week only. Across the way and 20 years into the future Marvel UK had some explaining to do for its young readers.
The comic had to explain how they broke off from the American epic Underbase Saga (which also killed off a lot of characters) because they wanted their own strip to run through the 200th issue celebrations. Thing is, all of Time Wars takes place after that story, which would only finish after Time Wars. A suitably confusing bit of wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimpy given the tale currently being told.
There’s a particularly funny answer to a query on Dreadwind’s letters page too. A reader asks when Secret Wars III will come out and suggests getting the Thundercats and Ghostbusters involved in the story. Dreadwind explains that after mentioning this in the office he had to talk Ian Rimmer, Simon Furman and Richard Starkings down from the window ledge!
As you can see, three of the six comics on this week’s checklist have featured before and the only new one besides the two in my collection is Thundercats which contained… a Valentine’s Day story? Okay then. Advert-wise, a teaser for a new Marvel UK monthly took up a full page in The Real Ghostbusters this week, and although there wasn’t enough room in Transformers the two brothers Sleeze still managed to squeeze themselves in.
The first issue of The Sleeze Brothers wouldn’t appear until the fourth week of June and would only run for six issues, meaning the adverts hyping it up ran for almost as long as the comic itself. I remember seeing this ad for so long in the pages of my comics that I began to lose all interest in ever wanting to find out who they were. That was, until the first issue actually appeared and I just had to buy it to find out what all the fuss was about.
I’d only buy that first edition as a kid but many years later I rectified that mistake for the blog and read the whole series in real time back in 2024. At the time of writing there’s a special edition of the comic coming to the OiNK Blog later this year too, an issue that’s been sitting on my shelves for a few years now without being opened. So I’ll be seeing this trailer advert all the way until then for a bit of poetic symmetry.
Brian Williamson and Cam Smith’s cover to The Real Ghostbusters #33 would have you thinking recurring villain Ponquadragor had returned (last seen in #21) or at least the similar-looking Grim Reaper from #18. But as usual with this comic you could never successfully guess what it was up to.
As it turned out the story involved Winston and Ray being taken on a tour around a haunted house by its owner who recounts the hundreds of ghosts who have lived there, only for them to realise he doesn’t want anything busted and thought they were the heat repairmen. Strip Spook Alley is only two pages long and has barely any dialogue but it’s a hoot, showing the genius of this unique comic and there’s even a solo strip for the best Ghostbuster, Winston! A winner of an issue.
In #202 of Transformers and Action Force, Andy Wildman’s cover must’ve excited everyone who had read Galvatron and Megatron’s first meeting in the recent annual. Dan Reed was on artistic duties for the latest part of the Time Wars epic, and he makes the end of the world look truly apocalyptic! As if that wasn’t exciting and shocking enough, Lew Stringer’sCombat Colin turns evil in his strip.
As you can see, Marvel UK weren’t offering up any new issues of their other titles. I’m not sure why the Thundercats from last week got the ‘Don’t Miss’ treatment instead of one of the comics above. I’ve already spoken about how I’d like to collect Action Force’s own comics and in fact I’ve covered these issues of Death’s Head and Dragon’s Claws the past two weeks! With no new comics adverts either (Betty Boop gets another outing) this is a somewhat light week in our checklist series.
Next week, both comics feature teaser adverts for a new title that wouldn’t even see the light of day for half a year. It’s a fan favourite that’s already had a real time read through on the blog so it’s a bit strange for me to see the teaser pop up now. You can find out which comic I’m talking about in seven days. In the meantime, did you own any of the issues in this week’s checklist?
This month’s cover by Charlie Adlard (The Walking Dead, Nikolai Dante, Savage) may be more comic book-like than the usual painted images we’re used to, but you can’t deny it would’ve stood out on the newsagent shelves. The comic really does appear to being in rude health, not that this would matter in a couple of months. On the editorial page I’ve already had my doubts about Alien War and what’s mentioned here does little to assuage them.
You’d think they’d have had more than one person to play the alien! Anyway, there are your credits for the issue and it’s straight on to the strips and their recap pages have all been given a fresh new look. These are much better, more informative, look great and carry the credits so you don’t have to look back at the editorial to see whose work is terrorising you. Up first is part 13 of Colonial Marines written by Kelley Puckett and unfortunately it’s one of the weakest chapters thus far.
I simply can’t recognise anyone anymore. No one is distinctive so you can’t tell who’s talking or doing something unless their name is mentioned in response, negating any kind of character drama or suspense. Main character Lt. Joseph Henry’s plan is shockingly heartless and not like the character we met and enjoyed so much in the early chapters. To set the kelp beds on fire with a chemical that’ll never stop burning is extreme, and will leave the innocent people here hungry and penniless! To add insult to injury the fire is just forgotten about in the story, its consequences completely ignored.
At one point Vasquez is rescued by a new random character called Herk Mondo, some “legendary” alien killer. This was his first appearance and I instantly disliked his inclusion. Having a lone man capable of destroying hundreds of aliens reduces the xenomorphs to nothing more than pests. It feels like Kelley has backed himself into a corner; a cleansing fire and sudden appearance of a randomer to save the day at the last second is a hugely unsatisfying resolution to a months-long part of this story. Mondo would go on to star in his own comic but that doesn’t make this feel any less than a conclusion plucked out of thin air at the last moment.
Surely the biggest announcement on the cover is the interview with Sigourney Weaver. It’s only two pages but full of fascinating tidbits, even more so with the gift of hindsight. The question of returning to the franchise after Ripley’s death foreshadows what would eventually be the fourth film, although it certainly wouldn’t have the quality she speaks of here. There’s some information about the making of the first two films which should put to rest the silly myth surrounding the filming of the original chest burster scene. It’s telling how she doesn’t mention Alien³ director David Fincher, it appears her project with Dave writer Gary Ross never materialised according to their filmographies and the penultimate question is surely a sad indictment of the times.
I have to say I question the editing of this interview. Sigourney’s answers read like very stilted responses, certainly not like her from the countless interviews I’ve watched over the years. Maybe they’ve been badly edited to fit two pages, or taken from quickly scrawled notes at the Alien War grand opening. A shame, as the information in here is fascinating.
The second part of Dave Gibbon’sSalvation takes up a whopping 16 pages of the issue. Days after killing his captain, Selkirk is still eating his rotting flesh when he finally stumbles across the crashed ship, but he’s being driven mad by fear while he’s awake and by terrifying nightmares when asleep. First Officer Dean shows up to rescue him and of course Selkirk instantly believes this proves god is watching over him.
Dean knows how to get to the escape shuttle, so she takes charge and they slowly make their way through the jungle, coming across some of the primitive ape-like creatures who live there. Taking cover, they witness an alien jump out of the tree canopies and tear one of the creatures apart. Selkirk immediately panics and screams to his god, which of course is an idiotic thing to do. Dean chastises him and tells him to “Shut…”
Too late. Over the next few pages they run through the overgrowth firing in all directions as swarms of aliens descend. I have to say I’ve been loving this tension-filled strip up to this point but let out a bit of a sigh here. I generally prefer stories with one solitary alien, they’re just so much more suspenseful. Now, the movie Aliens is the exception to the rule of course (because it’s perfect) and is my favourite of the franchise. But it was expertly crafted. In everything from Alien: Romulus to these comic strips, when it was one alien it’s more suspenseful and was disappointed when loads turned up. Having our two characters so easily outrun them kind of ruins things here too.
Falling down a multi-tiered waterfall gives them ample distance from the xenomorphs and a chance to catch their breath. Quietly, mind you, as they shelter in a hideout and the aliens begin to stalk nearby. Selkirk starts thinking Dean likes him, that that’s why she came back for him and he starts imagining having sex with her, before coming to the conclusion that god didn’t send her to rescue him, but to test him. The guy is quackers. And a creep.
Dean sets a charge, attracts the aliens, then they make a run for it and detonate the bomb, taking out most of the creatures. Not all though, as Selkirk finds out when he doesn’t see a wire on the ground, trips over it and falls flat on his back in front of an alien for this month’s cliffhanger. There’s a lot to like here, and a lot to love above Mike Mignola’s shadowy, atmospheric art in particular.
I like the fact Selkirk isn’t likeable, in fact he’s a real piece of work. Its original. There’s also something about Dean which makes me believe there’s something we don’t know about her. Is she a figment of his imagination? By the end, after she sets explosives I realised she has to be real, but that initial feeling of ‘something’ is still there. Wonderfully bleak, only the unnecessary inclusion of so many aliens keeps this from being the best strip in the comic’s run so far.
Motion Tracker brings back more happy memories of those days when I began transitioning my VHS collection to widescreen, always excited to learn of a favourite movie being released in the format, and then enjoying seeing more on the screen. Around that time I was also discovering the vast catalogue of movies at my local rental store instead of repeatedly renting favourite films and shows over and over again.
I always knew I should’ve been trying new movies, but it was like wanting to try something different from your local takeaway; after perusing the menu (or the video store) for ages we always pick what we already know we like. But this was indeed a time of discovery and Solar Crisis was one such weekend rental, although I remember absolutely nothing about it. It’s exciting to see Stargate mentioned, I’d loved to have seen the news stories develop if the comic wasn’t coming to its end soon.
UK strip Crusade’s eighth part runs to eight pages and while the art can once again be confusing in places, for the first time every single character featured is well developed and the inter-personal drama is superb. So it appears the Archbishop has been trying to save the city, albeit with human sacrifices! The missing ship crashed through the church, spilling the alien eggs into the Thames from where he’d been able to contain the threat, tying up two of the mysteries including why London had apparently been spared (it hadn’t).
Just as with Selkirk in Salvation, here was another nut job who thought his prayers were being answered and he was doing god’s work when really he’s just twisted. Meanwhile, Channon’s plan is for her and Lesley to slip under the cathedral in their boat and plant enough explosives to take the whole building out. But there are aliens in their way. As always. Inside the church, Foster and Rani discover a crystal boinging to Martha.
Given to her by Rani years before, the Archbishop can’t say whether Martha still lives in the complex or not, he’s seen many pass through these walls… and sacrificed so many! This is getting really good; I’m really caring about the individual characters and the mismatch of settings have come together into one clearly defined whole. If only it hadn’t got off to such a shaky start, we could’ve had this level of quality storytelling for over half a year already.
The Technical Readout this month is intricately drawn but lacks the in-depth prose from early issues. At least the cutaways are back after a long absence. This reminds me of the cutaways from Thunderbirds The Comic in the 90s, even if it does read a little dry by comparison. The drop ship was a cool design in the film though and the model work was top class, so this is a fun look at how it was supposed to work.
Back in #7 of Jurassic Park there was a teaser advert for the upcoming gaming magazine/comic hybrid, Max Overload. I remember later adverts focussed on certain videogame characters alongside a random list of features and it always seemed like a rather cringey idea, even back when I was the target audience. We had our computer and video game magazines, we had our comics, but to join them together always seemed unnecessary. This launch advert from the back page doesn’t change my mind.
A good allrounder of an issue. The initial disappointment with Colonial Marines dissipated with both Salvation and Crusade. However, I can’t help having that nagging feeling over the first strip because it was just so good when it first began. If it had retained that quality this could’ve been a near-perfect issue. Only two more to go. The penultimate trip into the world of the Aliens will be here on Tuesday 17th February 2026.
The first post-holidays issue of The Real Ghostbusters (with cover by Brian Williamson and Dave Harwood) and the first post-200th Transformers and Action Force (with its cover by Dougie Braithwaite and Dave again) were ready to welcome me to Saturday after the first full week of the new school term back in 1989.
The Real Ghostbusters image looks more like a new range of Action Force figures rather than our New York firehouse residents, and for once it refers to a strip inside rather than the prose story. Also inside, Ozbusters isn’t a tale set Down Under, it’s about Egon’s haunted dream in which he’s the tin man, Winston’s the scarecrow and Ray’s the cowardly lion. Can’t fault the imagination in that comic.
Part Three of Transformers’ epic Time Wars may have some printing errors across its pages resulting in some strange colours but that doesn’t blunt its impact one iota, although it’s almost upstaged by Larry Hama’s incredible Hush Job strip in the back up spot, which may have no dialogue but has plenty of drama! Both of my comics were absolute winners this week but what else did Marvel UK have to offer us? Let’s check the checklist.
Thundercats sounds like a regular issue, the likes of which fans enjoyed for most of its run, until that “games and fun” bit at least. The comic’s relaunch for a younger audience was probably inspired by the success of The Real Ghostbusters, even if Marvel’s top-seller didn’t have to rely on such gimmicks. Some of the best issues of Death’s Head and Dragon’s Claws were covered last week, leaving only our ‘Don’t Miss’ comic.
Action Force Monthly lasted 16 issues, so technically longer than the weekly time-wise, and it and its weekly always sounded great. Especially now that I’m reading the G.I. Joe originals I must make it my mission to get caught up with all of the UK stories too. Finally, our only new comic advertisement this week can’t make its mind up whether it even is a comic!
I was never a fan of the Betty Boop cartoons growing up, but many were and I remember she was always on the telly, her merchandise seemed popular and of course she popped up in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?. It’s strange to find out there were only two new cartoon specials in the 80s and the rest were reruns. She’s even had a Broadway musical which only closed in 2025!
I don’t remember this comic/card combo at all, I didn’t even recall the adverts when reading these comics again all these years later. Do you remember Betty’s Valentine special? Did you perhaps receive it from a secret admirer? Or send it to one? As usual, I’d love to hear from you in the comments or on socials, the links to which are just below.
It didn’t really matter what was on the cover of The Real Ghostbusters this week, did it? Your attentions were always going to be drawn to Transformers, which has lost the “The” permanently and Action Force temporarily for the week to make way for the celebrations.
Lee Sullivan’s gorgeous wraparound cover poster deserves a photo all of its own and you can check it out at the link at the bottom of this post as per usual. This was my first milestone issue as a kid and boy did it make an impact! Time Wars really picked up the pace and looked incredible thanks to Robin Smith’s art, the extras were great fun and the highlight in that free booklet surprisingly wasn’t the info on the Transformers for new readers, it was the self portraits of the comic’s artists. Definitely check them out below too!
What a way to start 1989, eh? Not that the Ghostbusters team were resting on their laurels. Phil Elliott and none other than Cam Smith provided the cover of another all matte paper finish for a lovely weighty feel in the hands, Spengler’s Spirit Guide to monsters included The Big Gurgler, The Wigglesbro’ Wyrm and The Not-really-quite-nasty-enough-monster of Chatham, and in a story set on Wall Street the team met a ghost who was the embodiment of greed. The prose story was a Winston’s Diary entry, not ‘Jaws of the Beast‘ (below) which was the name of Nick Abadzis’ story in the recent annual.
Of course Transformers was always going to be the must-buy comic of the week and it more than deserved the accolade. Captain Britain was hanging on in there too and I’ve had so many people sing its praises to me on socials these past few months I might track a copy down someday. Almost as exciting as the 200th edition of one of their comics, the first week of the month (and of the year) brought brand new issues of two certain Marvel UK monthlies too.
The dystopian nature of the shared Death’s Head/Dragon’s Claws future came to the fore in our Freelance Peacekeeping Agent’s third issue with some great depictions of the Los Angeles of the year 8162. This was also one of the funniest issues in his whole run and in Dragon’s Claws little did we know we were two months from the end. The scope of the story was so big, the pace so frantic and the shocks so… shocking, that with hindsight it’s obvious, but at the time readers must’ve been left breathless.
Just the one advert and it’s for another change to Thundercats, albeit a bit late. First the comic was fortnightly, then weekly for the majority of its run, then Galaxy Rangerstemporarily merged into it. Upon their departure the comic became fortnightly again with #84 on Saturday 15th October 1988, and that week’s checklist told us the comic was now full of games, puzzles and posters. Sounds like a comic refocusing to aim for a younger audience, doesn’t it? Yet this is the first advert I’ve seen for it in either of these comics.
Well folks, that’s us one checklist into 1989 and you can expect another checklist post every single Wednesday all the way through to Christmas 2026! In fact, the festive checklist of ’89 would end up being the last of the series. Before that we’ve a full year of reminiscing and of feeling old to look forward to. We’re off to a flying start, but what other memorable moments will there be? Let’s find out together. See you in seven.
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