True life stories - channel 4

Here's an intriguing item spotted on ebay recently...

This is an 8-page promotion for Channel 4's Spring 2001 programmes.  Printed on heavy card paper it was stapled into one of the Sunday newspaper colour supplements.  Each programme is presented as a one-page comic strip.

John Cooper on art duties for 'Kevin Keegan'

Woodrow Phoenix on art duties for '57 screaming kids'

Xtina Lamb on art duties for 'Tina takes a break'

Kev Hopgood on art duties for 'Gladiatrix'

John Cooper on art duties for 'Drinking girls'

Chrisopher Kasch on 'The secret rulers of the world'

UPDATED: Roy of the Rovers - M&S merchandise

Back in 2012 Marks & Spencer carried an exclusive range of Roy of the Rovers merchandise - there's more than this just this pinball game to track down but you've got to start somewhere!

And now here's another bit of merchandise - a table football table!

And now here's another bit of merchandise - a set of football quiz cards 

And now here's another bit of merchandise - a celebration trophy

And now here's another bit of merchandise - a blow football set

And now, thanks to Trevor Melvin, we have a mug & sock combo - the socks have 'He shoots He scores - Roy of the Rovers' embroidered on them. 

and also a hand towel, c/o Ian Thornhill

I've also now got a list of what was produced, thanks to friend of the blog Jeremy Briggs who pointed me towards this (contemporary) article from 2012 that lists all 10 things that M&S produced. Weirdly that list doesn't include the football quiz card (above) but there you go. 

For this update I now have images of the M&S edition of the Best of the 1970s reprint book... 

NEXT UPDATE:

over on the Roy of the Rovers facebook page (here) Chris Mabbutt was kind enough to supply these images of the key-ring

YET FURTHER UPDATE:

over on the Roy of the Rovers facebook page (here) Ian Thornhill was kind enough to supply these images of the wallet...

That just leaves me looking for images of...

a). football hand warmers

b). whatever the 3rd thing is in the image below

Some images of some of the missing items - better images sought!

UPDATED: Hurricanes comic - from DC Thomson

So this is clearly not to be confused with Hurricane comic (from the mid-1960s) but is in fact a 7 issue comic published by DC Thomson in 1994 - it was based on a cartoon series that ran from 1993-97 (it says here). The art is all very cartoon-y and is very different to what you might expect from a DC Thomson title. There's also plenty of photos of football players.

I'd like to comment further on the artists involved but for now I'll just start with scans for the particular issues I have - if you can help fill any gaps just get in touch. Thanks. 

UPDATE: I've found a cover for issue #7

Hurricanes comic, DC Thomson, Issue 1

Hurricanes comic, DC Thomson, Issue 2

Hurricanes comic, DC Thomson, Issue 3

Hurricanes comic, DC Thomson, Issue 4

Hurricanes comic, DC Thomson, Issue 5


Hurricanes comic, DC Thomson, Issue 6

Hurricanes comic, DC Thomson, Issue 7 

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).

UPDATED: Colin Maxwell for Commando

To celebrate the announcement from publisher DC Thomson that Colin Maxwell will be writing another issue of Commando I thought it was about time I got a guide together for what he's written for Commando so far...

Commando 5371, published by DC Thomson 29th September 2020

Five soldiers seek refuge from a storm, looking for a place safe and warm.

Four lay down to rest that night, none are ready for the fight.

Three wake to find another gone. Will any of them survive till dawn?

Commando 5413, published by DC Thomson 16th February 2021

Polish Sergeant Jakub Leszczuk is one of the last men defending Lwow in 1939, but as the Russian tanks roll in, his unit rescues a small puppy called Rebus from a collapsed building.

It isn’t long before Rebus becomes far more than a lucky mascot for the escaping soldiers! As they retrain for the parachute regiments in Britain, Rebus’s desire to please and talent for tricks finds him with Leszczuk behind enemy lines in Italy before prepping the ground for D-Day, as this pair of underdogs help turn the tide on the Nazi war machine!

Commando 5433, published by DC Thomson 27th April 2021

Five men found The Dead Man’s Chest,
Hidden in a cave on an island in the sea,
One saw the riches and turned against the rest,
And decided the treasure was only for he.

But away they went to war in the sands,
And the treasure laid forgotten by the five,
As one by one they died by someone’s hands,
Till there was nought but one man left alive.

Commando 5475, published by DC Thomson September 28th 2021

The ORP Tygrys, or Tiger, was a Polish submarine outclassed by Poland’s modern subs, but its Commander, Leopold Swirski, was proud of the ship and his crew. Then September 1st, 1939 came, the Tiger bared its teeth and growled at the invading Nazi hordes. The sub fought tooth and nail to protect its homeland but took too much damage. Licking its wounds, the Tiger and its crew were forced to dock at a neutral port where the vessel was seized and declawed by the authorities. Well that wasn’t going to stop them —as you can’t change a tiger’s stripes!

Commando 5501, published by DC Thomson December 16th 2021 

Three high‑ranking SS officers meet in a remote mansion house near the Swiss border. With them is a cache of looted jewellery, paintings and antiques, forged papers and plans to flee the falling Reich to South America. But, as they talk in secret, they are disturbed by a knock at the door. A member of the infamous Gestapo has come to interrogate them. Does he know about their plans to flee? And what does this all have to do with Resistance fighter Christina Koch?

Commando 5517, published by DC Thomson December 16th 2021 

In the frozen town of Verdalsora, Norway, Georg Fischer is part of the Nazi occupation. However, after witnessing first-hand the brutality of his superiors, Fischer is sickened by the regime he knows he is a part of. His only option is to desert, fleeing into the merciless landscape of the fjords. But with enemies everywhere and death at every corner, Fischer will need more than his wits if he is to survive.

Commando 5533, published by DC Thomson April 12th 2022

April 1982 saw Britain enter a new conflict half the world away. But before the war would officially begin, tensions rose as three Royal Marines were sent on a recce mission far from their base at Port Stanley when Argentinian forces invaded the Falklands.

Left with an impossible mission that could change the tide of the conflict, the three marines must battle both the climate and the Argentinians if they are to save the day.

Commando 5537, published by DC Thomson April 26th 2022

September 1st, 1939. As the German army blitzkrieged its way across Poland, they didn’t have it all their way. The Polish were steadfast in their defence of their homeland, desperately trying to hold back the tide. But the Nazis would rue the day one man, Corporal Tomasz Zielinski, got on board an armoured train named after a legendary dragon. Tomasz and that armoured tank engine were determined to derail Germany’s plans!

Commando 5567, published by DC Thomson August 16th 2022

It started in the desert, tracking down the so-called ‘Sahara Sniper’, where LRDG Sergeant Jeff Nicholson lost his best friend in the worst way imaginable. Now, as the Allies make their way through the Italian mountains, medics are being picked off faster than a sniper’s bullet! Can Jeff and a green American crack-shot corporal finally close in on this rogue German soldier?

Commando 5585, published by DC Thomson October 11th 2022

A plethora of spooky stories sure to send a shiver up your spine. Join six Canadian infantrymen as they tell ghost stories to entertain them on a cold Halloween night in the Netherlands. One by one, they will thrill you with frightful tales from the frontline!

Commando 5649, published by DC Thomson, May 23rd 2023

As soon the armistice was announced, Sergeant Gennaro Ricci wasted no time returning to Naples to see his family.But the city he left was not the city he came back to. The bombed‑out ruins of Naples had been overrun by German invaders who imposed curfews and shot anyone trying to resist. Plus, his sister had been kidnapped by the German major running the whole shebang!

Well, with a little help from the armed and angry partisans and the scugnizzi, street urchins of the city, Gennaro was going to show the Nazis four days in Naples they’d never forget! For those German soldiers who dared to try to tame the city would…See Naples — or Die!

Commando 5667, published by DC Thomson, August 3rd 2023

Before the war, Leonard Young was an enthusiastic aeronautical engineer who wanted nothing more than to build and design the next great air machine —the helicopter. But when he enlisted, the last thing Leonard expected was to be thrust into action, assisting in the theft of a German prototype aircraft in North Africa!

With the help of a group of LRDG men commanded by the indomitable Captain Michael Ross, Leonard was led on the dangerous mission behind enemy lines. But it’s going to take everything they’ve got to survive stealing the helicopter from right under Rommel’s nose!

Commando 5723, published by DC Thomson, February 12th 2024

Tomasz Zielinski had escaped Poland and the German Blitzkrieg in 1939 by hopping aboard a Polish armoured train headed for safety. That was then, and now, in 1940, he was itching for action, but he and his division were in reserve in the west of France away from the fighting. That was until he was approached by a familiar face with a top-secret mission to head straight into danger to steal an engine right from under the Nazis’ noses! Tomasz was about to ride that train once again!

You can find all other mentions of Colin on the blog right here

You can find all other mentions of Commando on the blog right here