Tag Archives: Brian Williamson

THE MiGHTY MARVEL CHECKLiST: WEEK 47

SATURDAY 17th JUNE 1989

There’s something strange (in the neighbourhood?) going on with the speech balloons on Brian Williamson’s and Dave Harwood’s The Real Ghostbusters cover, while the triumphant return of Geoff Senior to the front page of Transformers and Action Force heralded an exciting beginning inside.

A couple of weeks ago messed up speech was also main gag of the prose story and cover for The Real Ghostbusters, however this time it does so in a different way. Instead of nonsense, Egon’s and Winston’s speech patterns were swapped in a funny tale written by one of the comic’s best writers, Dan Abnett. Speaking of writers, Jane Fabian is a wonderful addition if her Super Bowl strip is anything to go by.

In Transformers, that fantastic cover heralds the start of UK stories written and drawn specifically for the new 5-page black and white format, and it shows! Aspects of Evil told five individual stories with a linking theme of the most evil characters in Transformers lore, beginning with one of the better developed Decepticons, Scorponok. It’s a packed little tale and Jeff Anderson really shows us what can be achieved without colour, upping the ante with his superb inking.

Why did our two top-selling comics get such a raw deal on the checklist?

On a quick separate note, this issue of Transformers and Action Force also contains the first advert for Hasbro’s new Pretender Classics range. The Pretenders had an outer shell (usually human-like or some horrible monster) with the Transformer inside. The Classics were all large humans wearing intricate sci-fi military gear but inside were characters such as Bumblebee, Grimlock, Jazz and Starscream. Their release really excited me as a child because I’d missed out on those toys as I became a fan after they’d originally been discontinued. So why did I never asked Santa for any?!

Back to the checklist and Thundercats steals the top position as it always does, albeit this time it’s taken until its second week on sale thanks to the Doctor. So the only new information here is for our two weeklies, everything else has already been covered. Although, it does beg the question of why our two top-selling comics got such a raw deal on the checklist. They may have always been first and second on the list but the ‘Don’t Miss’ spot seems to be given almost solely to the monthlies.

Transformers has only had that honour three times in nearly a year and the Ghostbusters once, with even its milestone 50th issue passed over while others such as Thundercats hogged the limelight, sometimes two weeks in a row with the same issue. Other comics such as the Marvel Bumper Comic disappeared completely from the checklist after only a few entries. As a promotional tool it’s a great idea but sometimes I do question its contents.

At least next week there’s a brand new, sleazy (or is that “Sleezy”) comic that readers definitely wouldn’t want to miss! See you then.

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DEATH’S HEAD 8

WEEK 46 < > WEEK 48

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THE MiGHTY MARVEL CHECKLiST: WEEK 46

SATURDAY 10th JUNE 1989

That stipple effect on Brian Williamson’s and Dave Hardwood’s cover for The Real Ghostbusters really was ubiquitous with Marvel UK at the time, wasn’t it? While on Transformers and Action Force, Simon Coleby joined the team with his first cover and he impressed from the start!

That skateboard story emblazoned on the cover of The Real Ghostbusters would end up becoming very familiar to readers. Not only would it pop up again in a Collected Comics special, but also twice more in the regular comic before the end of its run. This issue also contained the announcement of the sequel movie. This was the first mention of Ghostbusters II despite its release being just a few months later. The comic would go all-in with promotions, competitions and even serialised the adaptation as its first imported back up strip.

The exciting news in Transformers was that from next week the UK stories would finally be written for the new 5-page black and white format. Survivors came to an entertaining and somewhat intriguing ending this issue, setting up a superb character arc for Decepticon Pretender Beast, Carnivac. Having allied himself with Autobots, he witnessed his friend Catilla’s murder and left the team, swearing vengeance against the Decepticons but going out on his own, not wishing to endanger his new sort-of-allies. A superb character and some great stories to come. On the letters page a fan complained that Combat Colin wasn’t in one issue, so Dreadwind promised it wouldn’t happen again… “until next time”!

Well there you have it, the milestone issue of Doctor Who Magazine did get top billing after all. I still think he should’ve been given the honour last week when it was just released, but I suppose the crossover between the Time Lord and Death’s Head was equally as exciting an event and an executive decision was made. What’s shocking about this week’s checklist is that a new issue of Thundercats wasn’t given the ‘Don’t Miss’ slot. That’s a first for this series!

Last week, Popeye showed up to promote his own monthly comic and unlike the checklist entries it wasn’t much of an event for me personally because I was never a fan of the cartoon. However, I was very much a fan of the cartoon characters starring in their own Marvel UK summer special this week! I’m not sure why one of them is dressed as a magician to promote it, though. Probably something to do with a strip inside but it’s a strange choice without context.

I have happy memories of renting Tom & Jerry videos from my local shop as a child, often containing well over an hour of hilarious cartoons. The store only had a few of their tapes so I became very familiar with them. As did my parents! I have a distinct memory of laughing really hard (and my parents enjoying watching me) at the episode where Tom was a classical pianist and Jerry was asleep inside the piano, and once woken by Tom’s playing his revenge was taken in the usual, highly original variety of ways.

However, I never bought any of their comics. I remember seeing them advertised but still images were never going to be as funny as the high octane insanity of the cartoons as far as I was concerned. Did I miss out? If you picked this up (or any other Tom & Jerry comics) let me know, I’m intrigued as to how they could possibly translate successfully to the page. After this special Clearmark obtained the comics licence in the UK and the next year released a monthly Tom & Jerry comic which lasted only seven issues.

Next week Geoff Senior finally returns to cover duties to launch Aspects of Evil in Transformers, so you won’t want to miss that in just seven days.

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DEATH’S HEAD 8

WEEK 45 < > WEEK 47

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THE MiGHTY MARVEL CHECKLiST: WEEK 44

SATURDAY 27th MAY 1989

Marvel UK’s The Real Ghostbusters comic appeared to be celebrating a week late on Brian Williamson’s and Nick Abadzis’ colourful cover on this day back in 1989. Rather simpler in design but probably more eye-catching was Jeff Anderson’s rather shocking cover to Transformers and Action Force (yup, G.I. Joe were back).

The story that stood out the most to me in the former was Culture Shock. Its main set up was Ray inventing something instead of Egon, even though Ray had done so before. But the strip stood out for a couple of other bizarre reasons. The first was the fact the invention was a blatant Doctor Octopus (Spider-Man) rip-off and Ray fights a random terror dog, the beasts from the original movie, with no explanation as to why one just pops up out of nowhere. Odd to say the least.

The UK strip in Transformers is again drawn by Dan Reed and I just love how his art looks in black and white, and this was before he knew they wouldn’t be coloured; when he does the level of detail he produces is second-to-none. The Classic Cover calendar is for May even though the month was about to end, the June one having been printed in error last month. Never fear, Lew Stringer’s Combat Colin was on the case and you can read it at the link at the bottom of this post.

On to the checklist details and Action Force (G.I. Joe) was back in Transformers after we said goodbye to the Visionaries for the final time last week. The Joes would remain with the comic beyond #300. The opening line to The Real Ghostbusters’ description will have that song stuck in your head all day, but other than that it’s an unremarkable checklist, the other three comics being repeats of last week’s entries.

It’s here that I actually take issue with things. Has interest in doing the checklist waned? Was it being phoned in? I said last week how I was surprised the special 50th issue of The Real Ghostbusters wasn’t the ‘Don’t Miss’ title when Action Force Monthly (which had been given the top spot) would be here for four weeks and could’ve been awarded it another time. To add insult to injury, it’s been given the spot again so there was no excuse last time.

Anyway, on with the latest contemporary comics ad.

I never realised there was a Marvel UK Popeye comic, but then again I was never the biggest fan of the cartoons. As a kid I felt the humour was outdated so it just didn’t appeal to me. (OiNK has a lot to answer for.) This advert isn’t exactly the most elaborate they’ve produced, is it? It looks like it’s been thrown together in rather a hurry, in fact. The comic itself wasn’t that popular either, lasting for only eight issues and one winter special before disappearing.

Next week there’s another odd choice made on the checklist as a big event issue of one of their biggest titles doesn’t get the attention it deserves and one of Marvel UK’s top-sellers gets the horrible “another chance to read” treatment. There’s another ad though, and it’s one that I may not remember from my comics but it does take me back to my childhood nonetheless. See you in seven.

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DEATH’S HEAD 7

WEEK 43 < > WEEK 45

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THE MiGHTY MARVEL CHECKLiST: WEEK 42

SATURDAY 13th MAY 1989

Lee Sullivan’s cover for this week’s Transformers and Visionaries combines the issue’s two robotic strips in one striking image rather than using a split screen, while Brian Williamson and Nick Abadzis provide us with my favourite of the four Real Ghostbusters in a solo role.

Sky Lynx was probably my favourite character from the cartoon, simply because he loved himself so much yet was so utterly charming and polite as he fawned. He doesn’t feature in any action this week, instead stealthily stalking Dreadwind, but it still made for an exciting cover even if Dogfight was in a different story. The female warriors are still portrayed poorly in unnecessarily scant clothing but at least they have a biting sense of humour when confronted by typical male arrogance.

At the time of writing this blog post one of The Real Ghostbusters strips feels rather relevant. All those fossil fuels we still continue to dig up are full of the haunted spirits of the creatures they come from. However, in a comic that has already had strong environmental stories, the solution is very strange. A deal is struck with the oil diggers that they’ll not harm the ghosts if the spirits ensure the well never runs dry. Not exactly sending the right message there, something the comic was usually very good at.

That wonderful Starscream tale ends in a surprisingly sad way as the maniacal not-quite-dead Decepticon pleads for release but two Nebulans slaughter him regardless. Death’s Head #7 continues to entertain with the funniest strip of his run and last week’s Doctor Who Magazine remains too. I’ve been informed it’s an Ice Warriors article, not strip, so in a comics checklist there’s no info on the actual comic story. Thundercats continues to limp on, again playing out like the weekly Ghostbusters comic but released only a fraction as often and already containing reprints. At least there was a new freebie to start collecting this month.

As promised, I’ve finally got a new contemporary comics advert to share with you. Now, as a huge fan of the cartoon and his humour strip in The Real Ghostbusters, you’d think I’d have been all over a Beano-esque humour comic with Slimer as the star, wouldn’t you? If you’re unaware of the comic in question, here’s a proper introduction to It’s Wicked after the teaser back in week 34.

At the time OiNK was still fresh in my mind, a comic that spoofed what it deemed to be the tired and safe comics of old. OiNK was a breath of fresh air, so It’s Wicked felt like a step backwards to me. To this 11-year-old it was using a new and exciting character to churn out the same old jokes that had originally put me off humour comics.

Plus, there’s the very obvious way It’s Wicked was a Marvel UK rip-off of Beano and The Dandy etc. Have a look at the cover of any issue and it just screams “DC Thomson could sue us for this”, from every part of its layout right down to the colours used on the logo! We wanted originality and using Slimer in this way felt cheap and nothing more than a ploy to sell us something pretty tacky. It’s Wicked would last for only 17 weekly issues and I never picked up a single one, and never felt like I was missing out. Did you try it? Was it as horrific as I assumed?

Oh dear, that was rather downbeat for the OiNK Blog, wasn’t it? Well, Marvel UK’s range did have its ups and downs, thankfully they weighed heavily towards the former. In fact, next week my own two comics have a big celebratory issue and the return of a favourite Cybertronian of mine. See you back here in seven, then.

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DEATH’S HEAD 7

WEEK 41 < > WEEK 43

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THE MiGHTY MARVEL CHECKLiST: WEEK 40

SATURDAY 29th APRiL 1989

Today way back in 1991, Brian Williamson’s and Nick Abadzis’ cover to The Real Ghostbusters #47 and Art Wetherell’s for Transformers and Visionaries #216 were shining bright from newsagent shelves across the UK. As far as I’m concerned, together they make quite the impact.

I’ve mentioned recently how I’m currently watching Doctor Who from the very beginning and have been for nearly two years. Before I began, I took somewhat less time to enjoy every episode of Grand Designs on Channel 4 (resulting in me beginning to pay for it so I didn’t have any ads while doing so – bliss) and one of Kevin McCloud’s rules is never cut down grand old trees. Advice Egon should’ve followed and he might not have ended up being turned into his favourite fungi.

I really enjoyed these split screen Transformers covers, highlighting the new story format inside. It’s a shame they didn’t do more of them because over the next 100 issues there were some great double-bills I’d loved to have seen presented on the cover this way. Inside, there’s news of the first UK stories to be created specifically for the new five-page black and white strips. I think it would’ve eased the blow for some long-time readers if they’d waited until they were ready to change the comic’s make up.

Race With the Devil was memorable for two reasons. The first being Andrew Wildman’s depiction of a team of archeologists who were very similar to the stars of the sister comic in the photo above. The second was it ending on the reanimated corpse of Starscream. That image stayed with me for decades! Check it out at the link below. The trouble with having three stories now of course means there’s less room for details of each in the checklist, which is a shame because it’s a blinder of an issue.

Last week’s Action Force Monthly and Thundercats instalments remain for obvious reasons, while the only new entry is another monthly title which’ll most likely also be stuck here for a few more checklists. This issue’s slapstick humour perfectly complimented the action and wry wit of Death’s Head, making it one of the funniest issues of the run, which was no small feat.

We’re in the middle of a bit of a dry spell as far as comics adverts go and this continues next week, but don’t despair they’ll be back soon to tug at the ol’ grey cells.

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DEATH’S HEAD 7

WEEK 39 < > WEEK 41

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THE MiGHTY MARVEL CHECKLiST: WEEK 36

SATURDAY 1st APRiL 1989

This week’s Marvel UK cover for The Real Ghostbusters by Brian Williamson and Dave Harwood was overshadowed by the strap line for me. Also, at the time I didn’t realise this week’s Transformers and Action Force cover was something of a big deal.

That’s because it was drawn by John Stokes (Doctor Who, Star Wars, The Invisibles), making his first return to the weekly in three years. The story was great, focusing on the mental toll of being the human part of a Head Master, while the big changes coming next week were hyped with a full-page Next Issue promo. However, it contained no text or details, just three comics panels. The editorial made a big deal about Visionaries returning without mentioning it’d be a reprint. How very on brand after last week’s checklist post (link below).

So yes, that Atari ST competition in The Real Ghostbusters really takes me back. I always loved the look of that machine and was in awe of how a friend used his to produce incredible music, albeit a few years after this, so I never entered at the time. Strip-wise, after contradicting the cartoon last week the comic now contradicts itself by featuring Father Time, forgetting he’d already appeared in a completely different guise in an earlier issue. It was still fun though, as always. On to the checklist.

Death’s Head remains because let’s face it we all should’ve bought every single issue, it was that good and deserved more success. There are also a few details for you there about the sheer amount of stories The Real Ghostbusters comic could include in its 24 pages every week, while Transformers’ checklist entry does little to sell its fantastic, human story beyond a basic action piece. But hey, they had to get the kids interested so we won’t hold that against them.

Action Force Monthly was Marvel UK’s attempt to repackage their content back to the States (as ‘G.I. Joe The European Missions‘), so they had a forgivable excuse for including some reprints. Some of the regular features from the ol’ weekly a couple of years previous were also making their way back into the comic, giving it a feeling of being in rude health. Such a shame in five short months it would just… stop! But those UK stories were superb, the few that I’ve read anyway.

A short one this week but the adverts return in seven days, featuring a dog, a cat and a penguin! You’ll see what that’s all about in week 37 of The Mighty Marvel Checklist.

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DEATH’S HEAD 5

WEEK 35 < > WEEK 37

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THE MiGHTY MARVEL CHECKLiST: WEEK 35

SATURDAY 25th MARCH 1989

Kicking things off for Marvel UK’s two best-selling comics are covers from Brian Williamson and Bambos Georgiou for The Real Ghostbusters and Andrew Wildman for Transformers and Action Force, the latter of which reminds me of a school trip to London in P7.

While there we had to visit Hamley’s toy store, naturally. I bought Ecto-2 while my friend Roger bought Decepticon Pretender Beast, Carnivac. For the remainder of the trip Roger kept it sealed in its box, fearful of losing anything if he opened it before we got home. I didn’t have the patience for that so I took my Ecto-2 helicopter out of its box for a closer inspection… and promptly lost the missile launcher!

Anyway, Carnivac would become a favourite character of mine later in the comic’s run when he’d team up with the Autobot survivors of the recent Time Wars and Underbase Saga storylines. Back to this week and the Ghostbusters comic has a strip inside it that fans would find somewhat confusing. On the checklist it simply states they’re at a haunted film set but that’s only half the story.

They’re actually filming the live-action movie, with them in the starring roles. That’s weird enough, but in the cartoon they’d already visited the set of the film in which the original actors were playing the roles. It was a fan favourite episode (it even contained movie footage) so, combine this with Week 32’s Spengler’s Spirit Guide and it’s clear the comic’s team weren’t researching the show their work was based on.

Despite being an excellent issue and a sequel of sorts to a strip in Doctor Who Magazine, the first appearance of Death’s Head’s fifth issue wasn’t important enough to knock the first monthly Thundercats issue off the top spot. Thundercats seems to be getting the ‘Don’t Miss’ spot more than any other comic. They were really trying to push it, weren’t they? What else were they pushing at us this week, adverts-wise? Two Spring Specials, that’s what.

First up is Droids. This wasn’t an extra edition of a regular comic, rather a one-off special importing an American strip to the UK for the first time. Droids was a cartoon Star Wars spin-off released in the States as a companion series to Ewoks, the latter of which I remember my friends watching. Toys, comics and various other merchandise were all created for what would surely be a sure-fire hit, but in the end Droids only lasted one season of 13 episodes and a special, the comic also cancelled after eight bi-monthly issues so it never got beyond this edition and some Marvel Bumper Comic appearances this side of the Atlantic.

At least Droids brought us a strip we hadn’t seen yet, our next Spring Special was another matter entirely. I remember stumbling upon this edition of the Visionaries comic by accident, buying it immediately and loving it. I’d missed out on the monthly but had devoured the annual the previous Christmas. Little did I know this Spring Special was pretty much just the fifth and final issue of the comic repackaged with minimal changes.

Even the advert was recycled from the one used to promote the first issue the previous year. Released at the same time Visionaries returned to Transformers as the back up strip (a third printing of the origin story within 12 months), this was probably why the special was released. A quick copy and paste of a whole issue and any new readers would hopefully start picking up Transformers as a result. You can check out just how similar it was to the last issue in its review, link below.

After what seemed like a bumper year for Marvel UK in 1988, a year in which we got constant news of new comics and which saw me spending a lot of my parents’ money on them, not many survived and 1989 was turning out to be a year of reprints and big changes to some of their biggest titles. More on that soon!

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DEATH’S HEAD 5

ViSiONARiES SPRiNG SPECiAL

WEEK 34 < > WEEK 36

MiGHTY MARVEL CHECKLiST MENU

THE MiGHTY MARVEL CHECKLiST: WEEK 34

SATURDAY 18th MARCH 1989

A funny cover by Brian Williamson and Bambos Georgiou to mark the Easter school holidays for readers of The Real Ghostbusters, while those buying Transformers and Action Force were probably gasping in horror rather than giggling, thanks to Andrew Wildman’s shocking image.

The free gift was a Slimer-shaped jelly, a special sweet treat for that particular Saturday morning. I loved those things! I’d keep the plastic moulds to fill with my favourite drinks and stick in the freezer on warm summer days. Just me? Inside, a story about haunted shopping trollies explains a lot about those at my local supermarket, and Bad News was a very funny tale of a TV-addict ghost watching his own bust live on the gogglebox.

Cover artist Andrew is also a news story on the editorial page inside Transformers with the news of the birth of his third child, which was a lovely little moment in the comic. In the main strip, Starscream looks much more like last issue’s cover and it’s a cracking read, one of the very best of the American stories. It also sees the beginning of the fascinating dynamic between Optimus Prime and Scorponok that’d continue to play out until for next two years until they become firm friends(!) and it came to a tragic end.

The checklist is a good one this week.

How strange that the previous issue of Thundercats’ was the one to bring a brand new look to the comic instead of waiting until the first monthly issue to do so. It now contained two strips, the first was all about one of the most annoying cartoon characters ever while the other was a reprint. I don’t think it lasted too long after this if my memory of these checklists serves me right. Dragon’s Claws #10 missed out on top billing again but the ‘Don’t Miss’ title this week is rather special for us because it’s actually been covered on the blog before.

Doctor Who Magazine #147 not only contained that very funny comic strip of the Seventh Doctor’s run-in with The Sleeze Brothers, it also contained a full guide to season 25 of the classic show which began with a certain story called Remembrance of the Daleks. This just so happened to be the very first Doctor Who story I ever watched, so it was a nice surprise to read about it when I’d bought the issue solely for the brothers’ section of the blog.

So, I said previously we’d make up for the lack of comics adverts these past few weeks…

We’ve no less than three this week, beginning with the big news that The Marvel Bumper Comic was going weekly with #14, the same issue number as The Real Ghostbusters’ first weekly the year before. This wasn’t the only thing the two comics had in common either if you look at the free gifts coming up. A new weekly schedule usually meant a degree of success so it’s a surprise to know the comic would end up cancelled before the end of the year.

That’s a hell of a packed line-up too, so we know each strip had to be very short but it still intrigues me. Another star of the Bumper Comic at a later stage would be William Tell, who we saw previously when his non-existent fortnightly comic was advertised across Marvel UK’s range. Here, those first strips were collected together into a graphic novel so at least they could get them out there. Not that anyone in the UK was aware of the show yet.

Finally for this week, a brand new humour comic was revealed!

Oh dear. Not only has the printing gone horribly wrong for the advert’s debut but there’s no indication of what It’s Wicked! would actually be. The inclusion of Slimer (whose popularity Marvel UK was rinsing as much as they could) told us it would be a funny comic, but the line of text at the bottom read like it was telling us something completely different. It’d essentially be a ghosts-and-monsters-themed take on Beano and The Dandy but it didn’t last long, just 17 issues in the end. With this advert as the pre-release hype I can see why kids didn’t exactly rush out to buy it.

If you thought that was a bad advert, wait until you see one (of two) to come next week. It changes one line of text from a year-old advert to publicise a supposedly new Spring Special, but it’s really just a carbon copy of a previous comic with a different issue number. Not the company’s finest hour. I’ll catch you back here in seven.

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DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE 147

DRAGON’S CLAWS 10

WEEK 33 < > WEEK 35

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THE MiGHTY MARVEL CHECKLiST: WEEK 33

SATURDAY 11th MARCH 1989

The Real Ghostbusters’ cover by Brian Williamson and Bambos Georgiou doesn’t stand a chance this week when compared to the epic nature of that for Transformers and Action Force. They even had Geoff Senior render the scene for the front page! A shame then that it refers to next week’s issue instead.

Inside, Starscream does appear as a yellow ethereal being but for the most part he keeps to his normal proportions so he can get up close and personal with his victims. It’ll be next week before he’ll appear like the cover in some of the best artwork the US comic imports had before the UK team made the transfer. There are plenty of Starscream victims though with the death toll increasing exponentially, while Cobra Commander shows his softer side when he finds his long-lost son.

Across the way, some of toy company Kenner’s original ghost creations made their first appearances in this week’s issue, something they never did in the US comic or the cartoon series. Spengler’s Spirit Guide made me laugh with its details about Egyptian Pharaoh Halitoses Nuff, and a haunted cinema brings to life Mr Stay Puft (again), a vampire Charlie Chaplin and even Howard the Duck is spoofed, which he deserved after that movie!

The editorial in Transformers broke the sad news of the cancellation of Dragon’s Claws so it’s surprising to see it wasn’t given the ‘Don’t Miss’ slot on this week’s checklist. In fact, that honour isn’t given to any new comic, instead going to last week’s Thundercats again. You’ve got to start wondering what that slot is even for by this stage.

The description of the Transformers story, that Starscream is taking on not only the Autobots but all Transformers makes it sound unmissable too, so it could’ve got the top billing and I’d have been happy. Death’s Head #5 was also released this week but is for some reason completely absent here to make room for yet another repeated listing for Action Force Monthly

Hopefully more thought is put into next week’s checklist. What I do know is that new comics adverts return in seven days. As promised previously, they’ll make up for being absent these past few weeks because there are no less than three to transport you back to 1989 in The Mighty Marvel Checklist: Week 34. See you then!

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DRAGON’S CLAWS 10

WEEK 32 < > WEEK 34

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THE MiGHTY MARVEL CHECKLiST: WEEK 30

SATURDAY 18th FEBRUARY 1989

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.

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TRANSFORMERS 206 (Instagram)

WEEK 29 < > WEEK 31

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