Z comic - issue 4

I've looked previously at Z comic (from the Zodiac toy shop chain - see this blog here all about this leading toy shop of the 1980s)...

Issue 1 - part 1 was here

Issue 1 - part 2 was here

Issue 2 was here

Issue 3 was here

and now I've finally found a cover image for the 4th, and final, issue. Good luck tracking this one down!

A4 sized, 48 pages, full colour throughout.

Contributors include Mark Hannon, Craig Dixon, Mike Gibas, Leslie Kett, Z. Lagowski, George Nicholas, Simon Dixon, Peter Holman-Read, Peter Reading and more.

Grange Hill photo stories 1-4

Thanks to Michael Caroll (check out his website here and his wikipedia page here) for this particular rabbit hole that I've just been down...

I'm also grateful to this Grange Hill fansite for confirming for me that in 1987...

Golden Wonder gave away one of four comics in every multipack. A6 in size, each 12 page comic book consisted of an exclusive photo story (comissioned for these booklets) involving key cast members and a competition in which entrants could either win a day on set, or (if aged between 11-15) an appearance on Grange Hill.
The titles were as follows :
1) The Sting (featuring Ziggy, Danny and Imelda)
2) Question of Confidence (featuring Danny)
3) Out Of Order (featuring Steven and Cheryl)
4) Misfits (featuring Fay)

Grange Hill photo stories, #1, The Sting

Grange Hill photo stories, #2, Quetsion of confidence

image not to hand - can you help?

Grange Hill photo stories, #3, Out of order

Grange Hill photo stories, #4, Misfits

image not to hand - can you help?

UPDATED: Marvel UK & Berni Inns

Here's one I'm filing under "I don't know much about this comic - so I'm recording it here in the hope that I'll be able to update this post in due course when more information comes to light". 

UPDATE: I'm very grateful to friend of the blog Richard Gilham who was kind enough to send me this note all about these tie-in comics...

The issue [of Muppet Babies] with animal on the cover, Muppet Babies #23, is identical to the Berni Inn copy, apart from the front cover.... even the same adverts, letters etc and nothing has been blanked out.

I can't be certain about the other Berni issue, as I don't have Muppet Babies #17 to compare.

As a point of interest, the date of the original Muppet Babies issues do coincide with two of the Transformers Berni Specials:

Muppet Babies #17 issued on 21/2/87, is the same date as #101 of Transformers.

Muppet Babies #23 issued on 4/4/87, is the same date as #107 of Transformers.

If there are other Muppet Babies Berni Inn Specials, they are likely to be:

Muppet Babies #29 issued on 16/5/87 - To tie up with Transformers issue #113.

Muppet Babies #31 issued on 30/5/87 - To tie up with Transformers issue #115.

The final Transformers Berni Special was #130, but that was issued a few months later on 12/9/87.

As a point of note, I also have the Doctor Who Berni Special, which was a copy of issue #123, being issued for 04/87.

images c/o Ford Castle

UPDATE: With thanks to Wayne Allen who provided this image of the Transformers comics that were also available at Berni Inn

I recently spotted these 2 comics for sale on ebay. 

I wonder if they were available at a Berni inn to keep your kids quiet while you waited for your food?

Were there more than 2 issues?

Why have I never done a Marvel UK Muppet Babies covers gallery?

The first comic above is clearly based on issue #23 (dated 4th April 1987) and I'm sure the 2nd issue is based on a regular issue too.

UPDATED: Marvel UK & Berni Inns

Here's one I'm filing under "I don't know much about this comic - so I'm recording it here in the hope that I'll be able to update this post in due course when more information comes to light". 

UPDATE: With thanks to Wayne Allen who provided this image of the Transformers comics that were also available at Berni Inn

I recently spotted these 2 comics for sale on ebay. 

I wonder if they were available at a Berni inn to keep your kids quiet while you waited for your food?

Were there more than 2 issues?

Why have I never done a Marvel UK Muppet Babies covers gallery?

The first comic above is clearly based on issue #23 (dated 4th April 1987) and I'm sure the 2nd issue is based on a regular issue too.

John Higgins Dan Dare artwork for Eagle annual 1987

A quick shout out for these John Higgins original pages from Eagle annual 1987. If you're interested in acquiring them then look for Steve Blower on that Facebook. Amazing artwork! These are the first 3 pages of the annual/

All other mentions of John Higgins on the blog can be found here

Dan Dare mentions can be found here

new Eagle mentions can be found here

Marvel UK & Berni Inns

Here's one I'm filing under "I don't know much about this comic - so I'm recording it here in the hope that I'll be able to update this post in due course when more information comes to light". I recently spotted these 2 comics for sale on ebay. 

I wonder if they were available at a Berni inn to keep your kids quiet while you waited for your food?

Were there more than 2 issues?

Why have I never done a Marvel UK Muppet Babies covers gallery?

The first comic above is clearly based on issue #23 (dated 4th April 1987) and I'm sure the 2nd issue is based on a regular issue too.

Ewoks - Marvel UK

Michael Carroll's timeline of Marvel UK comics (here) has an array of interestingly short-lived comics on that I thought I should create cover galleries for them. Sometimes this is easier said than done but let's start off with the 10 issue Ewoks comic from 1987-88.

Ewoks, Marvel UK, issue #1, November 1987, 45p

Ewoks, Marvel UK, issue #2, December 1987, 45p

Ewoks, Marvel UK, issue #3, January 1988, 45p

Ewoks, Marvel UK, issue #4, February 1988, 45p

image not to hand - can you help?

Ewoks, Marvel UK, issue #5, March 1988, 45p

Ewoks, Marvel UK, issue #6, April 1988, 45p

image not to hand - can you help?

Ewoks, Marvel UK, issue #7, May 1988, 45p

image not to hand - can you help?

Ewoks, Marvel UK, issue #8, June 1988, 45p

image not to hand - can you help?

Ewoks, Marvel UK, issue #9, July 1988, 45p

image not to hand - can you help?

Ewoks, Marvel UK, issue #10, August 1988, 45p

image not to hand - can you help?

Thundercats promotional comic #2

I looked previously (here in fact) about a promotional Thundercats comic that Steve Parkhouse had worked on. Even more recently I was alerted to the fact that there was a 2nd issue of this comic. Now I find that there's one up for sale on eBay right at the moment. You can bid on it right here - bidding ends the evening of 26th of February

This time the comic is uncredited. The art is not as good as it was before so I'm going to rule Steve Parkhouse out as the artist but I'm struggling to rule anyone in as the actual artist. Any ideas? Just let me know.

Update: I've now been told that...

both these Thundercats/Woolworths promo comics were extracts from the UK Marvel Thundercats comics from 1987. The first promo (18 Oct 1986) from issue #1 (cover dated 21st Mar 87), and the second promo (14 Mar 1987) from issue #2 (cover dated 28th Mar 87).

Maxwell the magic cat, volume 3

The four slim reprint volumes (published by Acme press) of Alan Moore's Maxwell the magic cat newspaper strips are surely high on the wants list of any Moore aficionado. Volumes 1 and 2 seem a little easier to get hold of than volumes 3 and 4 but I've long been more interested in volumes 3&4 as I knew they had Maxwell work by other artists in.

Below we have the artistic highlights of volume 3 - the original art of these images (along with those in volume 4) were all auctioned off at UKCAC87 for charity.

Art by Bryan Talbot

Art by Garry Leach

Art by John Bolton

Art by Graham Higgins (top) and Dave Gibbons (bottom)

Art by Ian Gibson

this fast-driving truck driver is clearing dead cats off the front of his cab - nice!

UPDATED: Denis Gifford books

Having recently failed to acquire this book below it made me wonder of there are any other Denis Gifford books I don't know about out there.

So I thought I'd better see what books I think exist and then see if anyone can spot any gaps, right then, in date order we have as follows...

New addition this time is a collection of comics reprints.

A). Comic reference books

Discovering comics (1971)

Stap me! The British newspaper strip (1971)

The British comic catalogue 1874-1974 (1975)

Happy days - one hundred years of comics (1975)

(published by Jupiter books)

Victorian comics (1976)

British comics and storypaper guide! 1982

The international book of comics (1984)

This book is available with a variety of covers and comes in softback and hardback...

First up a WH Smith exclusive (softback)

Next up a WH Smith exclusive (hardback)

Next, normal edition (hardback)

Next, normal edition (softback)

and then there's this edition too...(softback, 1990)

The complete catalogue of British comics (1985)

Encyclopedia of comic characters (1987)

Happy days - one hundred years of comics (1988)

(published by Bloomsbury books)

Comics at war (1988)

The Eagle book of cutaways (1988)

The best of Eagle annual, 1951-1959 (1989)

The story paper price guide (1989)

The comic art of Charlie Chaplin (1989)

The international book of comics (1990)

The best of Girl annual, 1952-1959 (1990)

Christmas comic posters (1991)

Discovering comics (1991)

Super Duper Supermen! (1992)

(also available as a book of postcards)

Space aces! (1992)

(also available as a book of postcards)

B). Other Denis Gifford books with comic content

Run, Adolf, run: the world war two fun book (1975)

Stewpot's fun book (1977)

The Morecambe and Wise comic book! (1977)

Quick on the draw (1978)

Eric and Ernie's TV fun book (1978)

The two Ronnies comic book! (1978)

C). Catalogues of Denis Gifford's collection

Here are some more images relating to the book that made me write this post initially...

And now a book in Italian...

and now we can add in another Denis Gifford production from 1975...a one-off this, yes, it's "Penny comics of the thirties". A 2nd volume was planned but never produced.