The Real Ghostbusters didn’t have the most exciting of covers this week despite having Anthony Williams’ talent behind it. Over on Transformers and Visionaries meanwhile, for a few weeks the covers would remind readers they now had two stories for the Cybertronians inside.
John Stokes returned for #214’s cover and while the Mecannibals were a fun villain the hyping of a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it fight between Megatron and a Decepticon not mentioned until now is a choice. The American story wins out this week thanks to shady subterfuge from Dreadwind and Darkwing and the funny way they bicker while in their combined form. As a teen it was extra exciting because I’d previously played with the toys of these characters at my friend’s house.
In New York, hair cuttings on a barber’s floor came back to life and, hilariously, Slimer got a job as a ghostwriter! Brilliant. The Real Ghostbusters’ creative team had the best imaginations. Also, after previous issues had contradicted the cartoon, an answer to a letter references the episode that explained the change to their uniforms compared to the movie’s, so someone was paying attention after all. Okay, it’s checklist time.
Yes, Marvel UK, you could say more for Death’s Head. This is a bit too close to that dreaded and overused “Nuff said” phrase they seemed to trot out ad nauseam in their editorials around this time. It was a great issue and this really doesn’t sell it, although it must’ve been difficult only having one paragraph for each of five comics. Alongside the continuing presence of Action Force Monthly #11 is Doctor Who Magazine, which finally seems to be a regular addition to the list.
It’s taken long enough, although I suppose you could argue this is a comics checklist and DWM is a magazine, so that could be why it wasn’t featured for the first several months. Coincidentally enough, I’ve been watching Doctor Who from the very beginning (the very beginning from 1963) for a couple of years and I’ve just watched Silver Nemesis for the first time about a month ago. It was a good ‘un so I can understand why it proved so popular.
I never did collect the Collected Comics series for my two main Marvel comics, although it was one of the Transformers specials that got me into it in the first place. As a kid, once I was reading the weeklies I didn’t see the point in collecting stories I’d already read. As an adult though, I appreciated getting the chance to enjoy classic tales all in one go and catching up on certain story arcs at regular intervals in my Transformers real time read through.
Finally, that Spring Specials advert certainly showed the variety in Marvel’s range, didn’t it? I’m surprised they put them all together on one page rather than separating them into genres or age groups. As it stands, I’ve no recollection of Snorks or Wimple Village, however I do remember Care Bears being on TV Sunday mornings, I’ve reviewed the Visionaries already and I owned that Thomas the Tank Engine & Friends poster mag. Hmm, now that I see this I do remember buying the ‘Collected Stories’ (as they were called) for Thoma, so that’s made a liar out of me!
That’s us for another week and we’re now officially halfway through the lifespan of The Mighty Marvel Checklist. See you in seven.
It was an exciting week as a Transformers reader this week in 1989, which John Stokes’ cover sums up perfectly. Meanwhile, the perfect pairing of Andy Lanning and Dave Harwood worked their funny magic with The Real Ghostbusters.
My friends who were long-time Transformers readers weren’t too enamoured with the new three-story format in the newly-retitled Transformers and Visionaries. We now had a pair of five-or-six-page Transformers stories (and the same size of back up) every week but they preferred the previous 11-page strip and found it hard to adjust. I was used to Fleetway’s action comics though, so this felt like an upgrade over the previous format, even if it took a while before the UK strips were written for the new format.
Visionaries was yet another reprint of the origin tale (to give the American G.I. Joe comic time to get ahead again) but that didn’t dampen things for me as a teen. Although, now I think a reprint of an early G.I. Joe from years before may have been better, as many readers would’ve read this back up strip just the previous Christmas! As a whole it all felt fresh, new and exciting though, and would lead to what would eventually become my favourite period of time with the comic. It also kicked things off with the superbly titled, “Guess Who the Mecannibals Are Having for Dinner?” Great fun.
Obviously, this issue was going to take the top spot on the checklist. It was a mammoth change to such a long-running comic. Yes, it was to save money down the road amid rising production costs. By changing to this format they could churn out the British strips in black and white and run some reprints while still having new strips for the readers, but young me wasn’t aware of all of that and it deserved this fanfare regardless.
Alongside The Real Ghostbusters are the same editions of Marvel UK’s monthly Action Force and Thundercats as last week but we did have some brand spanking new comics adverts. Cartoon Time was essentially the Flinstones and Friends comic from earlier checklists in all but name. That had made it to 24 issues before cancellation and was basically rebranded as Cartoon Time, each issue’s main title relating to a different Hanna Barbera character with the “Cartoon Time” banner off to the side or top.
It certainly proved popular, running for 40 fortnightly issues before turning monthly. This would normally signal the beginning of the end for a comic but Cartoon Time continued for another 38 monthly issues after that, so fair play. Our other advert is for a Doctor Who graphic novel collecting a strip from the pages of Doctor Who Magazine, starring Colin Baker’sSixth Doctor and Frobisher, his penguin companion. No, really.
In reality (well, you know what I mean) Frobisher could take on any form but for some reason preferred to be a talking penguin, and he and the Doctor found themselves on a Death Ship falling off the edge of the universe. The 80s TV show couldn’t have brought this to the screen! It sounds wonderfully inventive and I’m aware it stands in high regard with fans even today.
There are new issues of some top Marvel UK monthlies in next week’s checklist and a whole host of Spring Specials in the ads to jog your memories. See you then!
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.
This post is coming to you during the afternoon of Christmas Day 2025, so with all of the turkey, ham, roasties, stuffing, sprouts and chorizo, maple carrots, roasted parsnips, bacon wrapped cocktail sausages, mushy peas, apple sauce, cranberry sauce and gravy in your stomachs (just me?) you’re not going to be able to move for a while. That means it’s the perfect time to lie down with our latest Christmas annual and it’s the first in a new series. In 1985 there was something of a momentous book sliding down chimneys across the country with the rotund fella, all wrapped up in a simply gorgeous piece of John Higgins art.
Well, it would become momentous with the gift of hindsight at least. This is the first ever Transformers Annual from Marvel UK, co-produced by Grandreams. Basically, Marvel provided the editorial content while Grandreams handled the publishing side of things. Their offices were in the same building and after a few years Marvel would handle everything themselves. This first Transformers Annual was released in the autumn of 1985 for the Christmas market. Ian Rimmer had taken over as editor of the comic a few months before its release but this book had already been completed and edited by the comic’s launch editor, Sheila Cranna.
While it contains some silly fillers the likes of which we’ve seen in other licenced annuals it’s the stories that really stand out. They are superb! In fact, this series of annuals became known for having some of the best stories Marvel UK produced. The strips packed a lot into their smaller page counts and the prose stories were often the best parts of the books, even establishing key parts of Transformers lore. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves, does this first annual ease us into the greatness to come?
Nope, it goes full throttle right from the off with some lovely atmospheric scenes of the army meeting the Autobots for the first time, and even the appearance of Ronald Reagan doesn’t dampen proceedings. Plague of the Insecticons is written by Transformers mainstay Simon Furman (Death’s Head, Dragon’s Claws, To the Death) with art by Mike Collins (Doctor Who, Darkstars, American Gothic) and Jeff Anderson (Judge Dredd, Swiftsure, Zoids), and the gorgeous colours are by Gina Hart (Rogue Trooper, Rupert Bear, Doctor Who).
In much the same way as the live-action movies have integrated the governments of the world into the Transformers universe, here their involvement also makes sense. However, the Insecticons have infiltrated proceedings due to their diminutive size in insect form (prepare for ludicrous mass shifting into huge robot modes). Optimus Prime thinks back to how the secret could’ve gotten out and it boils down to human error, one unscrambled call while Soundwave was monitoring. As they emerge they scream that they’re Autobots and attack the troops, who then turn against Prime.
This was the debut of the Insecticons here in the UK before they appeared in the American comic. They make quite the impact, announcing how they’ll obey their great leader Optimus and destroy the neighbouring city! But as the otherr Autobots chase after them, Prime heads off in another direction. His gut tells him the Insecticons feel restrained (half destroying a city is restraint?), guessing that as new warriors they must be being controlled by a third-party until they master their abilities.
This doesn’t stop him from joining the fight. For the only time in the comic he sends Roller (the small vehicle that resided inside his trailer in the toy) to help out even if it means he has to split his concentration (here Roller is a remote device, not an autonomous vehicle). He finds Ravage with a remote device and ends up tricking one of the Insecticons, Bombshell into planting a cerebral shell on Ravage’s body. These devices made it possible for Bombshell to control the mind of whoever he wished, but here his own mind was being controlled by Ravage, and thus a vicious cycle plays out in the final pages. Wonderful stuff.
The second, shorter strip is And There Shall Come… a Leader! with writer and colourist remaining, joined by John Stokes (Fishboy, L.E.G.I.O.N., The Invisibles) on art and Richard Starkings (The Sleeze Brothers, The Real Ghostbusters, Transformers: Generation 2) lettering. This tale takes us back millions of years and across space to Cybertron and Prime’s first battle as Autobot Commander. Most of the story is taken up with him awaiting the nod from the grand council of Autobot elders, led by Emirate Xaaron (an original UK comic creation who would eventually become a toy), to okay a strike against Megatron.
Up until this point it would seem the Autobots had been holding a defending position, their dedication to peace forbidding them from leading an attack. They’ve engaged in battles but only in response to the Decepticons and under the auspices of the outdated, elderly council. I love how it all comes down to politics in a kid’s book. It’s initially strange to see the toys so accurately drawn instead of the modified comic/cartoon versions but in the end it makes it feel lovingly quaint. With lots of the readers no doubt receiving Transformers for Christmas in 1985 I’m sure it made them happy to see their toys in action this way.
As the Transformers annuals continued, the prose stories would soon become the stand outs, giving us more in-depth characterisations; taking their time to delve into each with their inner thoughts, more intricate or dare I say intimate/personal storylines and even important new pieces of Transformers character lore that would become canon throughout the various incarnations of the franchise for decades to come. This book’s stories may be smaller in scope but they’re no less fun and produce some great images in the mind as you read. Most likely written by Simon, the art is by John Ridgway and coloured by Gina, their illustrations used to highlight key moments. They’re gorgeous and add a great deal to each tale.
Missing in Action sees Tracks incapacitated and left for dead in his car mode, only to be stolen by two small-time bank robbers who see this abandoned Corvette Stingray as the perfect getaway car. The story culminates in a small alien robot-obsessed boy stumbling upon him and getting entangled in a bank robbery that goes horribly wrong, the building exploding in flames and partially collapsing. The rescue scene with Inferno (who looks even better when drawn toy-accurate like this), Grapple and Hoist is a thrill to read.
Hunted! starts off well with one of my favourite Deceptions, Ravage stalking a human expedition leader in the jungles of South America (gloriously illustrated by John, too) and there’s some nice chemistry between Prowl and Bumblebee, as well as some genuine comic timing in the narration. In the end though, it all comes to a sudden end with a resolution that’s far too easy, almost like the writer had suddenly realised they were running out of their word count. But it’s still fun.
There are some corners of the internet that take these tales of transforming sentient alien robots far too seriously, who complain about where the annual stories fit into the overall story arcs. Given how each comic tale could last a month or two in real life but in the fictional world take place over a couple of days, that leaves an awful lot of time in-between in which anything could happen with the characters before returning to the status quo for the next exciting instalment. So I say just go with the flow and you’ll really enjoy this book.
Stories aside, this first of seven annuals also includes the usual kind of filler material we’d find in most other Grandreams annual. There are basic profiles, mazes, word searches and the obligatory dice board game. Given the quality of the strips and prose these basic pages seem out of place. The stories have depth and didn’t talk down to the young readers, so don’t let the fillers put you off.
Then, just to add one more surprise to this children’s comic book, it has a downbeat ending. The Insecticons story has an Epilogue right at the back of the annual in which it’s clear Optimus Prime and the President are on the same side, but have misunderstood each other. The resulting endgame could have dire consequences. If anything, all those silly filler pages only make moments like this all the more powerful.
There’s something special about reading a comics annual at Christmas and I’m thrilled at the prospect of reliving these every December for the next six years. While the toy-like images and the puzzle pages do age it, it’s storytelling and gorgeous art belie the fact it was 40 visits from Santa ago that this slid down the chimney to eager children across the UK. It’s a superb start. It’s a cliché to say it, but there’s definitely more to this book than meets the eye.
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