Big Comic Fortnightly (1988-94)

Big Comic Fortnightly (1988-94)

Published by Fleetway | 167 issues?

The Dreaming: A Retrospective

-A Tale of Two Houses-

Authors: Various | Illustrators: Various | Issues: 60

'This dark night is full of spirits, bad dreams and old harm dressed up in the deceitful skins of men.'

A Sandman spin-off that lasted an impressive 60 issues (June 1996 to May 2001). It began life as a monthly anthology, telling both single issue and multipart stories that took place either within the Dreaming itself or had the Dreaming play a pivotal role in the telling.

Initially, the various dreamers had little or no connection to each other, but the format changed to an ongoing story arc about a third of the way through its run.

Various secondary characters from The Sandman featured from time to time — most frequently Cain and Abel, Lucien, and Matthew the Raven — but they weren't always the main focus and weren't always named.

It seems to have been assumed that most readers would be able to recognise such characters themselves, and tough shit to anyone that didn't already know. That's the nature of some spin-offs, I suppose.

It's Wicked - UK Comic (1989)

It's Wicked - UK Comic (1989)

Authors + Illustrators: Uncredited | 17 Issues, approx 24 pages each (C2C)

Scream!: Unused Logo, Banners, etc.

Related to the Scream! posts on The 7th and Last blog.

I mocked up quite a few variations of the Scream! logo for posts on The 7th and Last blog. The images weren't used, in the end — at time of writing, anyhow — but there's no reason to leave them collecting virtual cobwebs in a folder, alongside the hundreds of other unused things from dozens of other posts. It's a wonderfully nostalgic logo. Maybe they'll be of use to someone.

The Beano: Fan Club Stuff (c.1980s)

The Beano: Fan Club Stuff (c.1980s)

Overkill Comics (Mockups)

Overkill Comics - FAKE

Is it time for some more FAKE comics? I feel it is.

The options are as numerous as there are artists/bands to choose from, but it works best when there's an associated theme or mascot, as there is with Overkill.

The skull with wings creature made its first appearance on album number three, titled Under the Influence (1988), which, incidentally, was the first Overkill album that I ever owned and is largely responsible for the love of that decade's Thrash music that I still have today.

Named Chaly, the skull-bat has been the cover star of most of their subsequent studio albums. At time of writing that's a 'holy-shit-impressive' nineteen more - and that's not counting Live stuff, EPs, or Compilations, which would add another nine or ten to the tally. 

Overkill are prolific and, with very few exceptions, are still producing albums that put their peers to shame - newcomers and old duffers alike. Yes, that absolutely includes Metallica and Megadeth. [1]

Hawk the Slayer: Watch for Me...: Collected Comic Book Covers

Hawk the Slayer: Watch for Me in the Night (2023)

Collected Comic Book Covers

Related to the Hawk the Slayer: Watch for Me in the Night post on The 7th and Last.

DUNE: The Official Movie Graphic Novel (2022)

DUNE: The Official Movie Graphic Novel (2022)

Author: Lilah Sturges | Artist: Drew Johnson | Colourist: Zid | Page Count: 120

If you look through the contents page of both this blog and my main one, The 7th and Last, you'll notice that I really like Frank Herbert's DUNE. Over the years I've read all six of the original novels multiple times.

Beyond the printed page, I've watched the David Lynch film so much that I could probably replay the entire movie in my head with a fair level of accuracy. And I've even watched the TV Miniseries about half a dozen times. Then there's the many video games, soundtracks, and previous comic book adaptations, all of which vary greatly in their relatedness and believability.

What I've not watched is the film version made by Legendary Pictures in 2021, for various reasons, none of which will add much to this review. The reason I mention it at all is because the comic book in question is an adaptation of it, not of Frank Herbert's original novel.

The film's fans claim it's very faithful to the source, so I figured I'd be in familiar territory, at least. Nevertheless, it means I'm writing about an adaptation of a film that I've not seen, which is a rarity for me. But I'll give it a try.

Masters of the Universe: Posters, UK Comic Specials

MotU: Various Posters from the UK Comic Specials

Alongside their fortnightly MotU Comic, UK fans got specials with unique stories, reprint, and posters/pin-ups. Below the cut are a few of the latter. From MotU Adventure Magazine 01 (1987); MotU Adventure Magazine 04 (1987); MotU Adventure Magazine 08 (1987)

Dead Boy Detectives: Collected Comic Book Covers

DBD: Collected Comic Book Covers

Related to the Dead Boy Detectives: Vols 01+02 post on The 7th and Last.

Voivod Comics (Mockups)

Voivod Comics - FAKE

I'd a lot of fun creating the Manowar Comics (Mockups), so started thinking about what other bands from my record collection would fit the format just as well.

Voivod wasn't my first choice (they were the second), but they were certainly the best one. Quite often the songs are stories in themselves, or part of a larger concept/mythology that's expansive and intriguing. The bands iconography, 'out-there' lyrics and concepts could make for an excellent and unique comic book read.

Covers would, of course, be by Voivod's drummer Away, but if he's too busy with making music to devote to interior art, then perhaps someone like Ian Miller or Dean Ormston would work, both of whom I feel could bring something unique but complementary to the table. 

The images that I found on the internet weren't as high res as the Manowar ones were. Some were full of awful JPEG artifacts, so I went for an 'independent comic, fanzine' approach, leaving some errors and 'jaggies' in place. The result was only partially successful, but it could've been worse. There's a few more below the cut.

2000 AD: A Personal Retrospective

2000 AD: A Personal Retrospective

(aka An Authentic Cover Story)

Like everyone around my age, the ratio of what I've forgotten in relation to what I can remember about my life has a much higher numerical value on the forgotten side of the equation. That's just the nature of aging (and cognitive processes). But I can remember with some clarity the day I first bought an issue of the weekly anthology comic 2000 AD.

It was on a cold October morning, as I walked to school with my cousin and a mutual friend. The journey, somewhere between two-and-a-half and three miles, took me through a part of town that was mostly shops, pubs, hairdressers, and banks.

The town's biggest (and perhaps only) toy shop was also a newsagent, a two-storey building whose first floor stocked, among other things, stationery, candles, shiny glass trinkets, greetings cards, tobacco, and all manner of magazines.

LINK - Marvel UK's Havoc Comic

A link to one of my other blogs. It contains thoughts on issues 01-09 of Marvel UK's weekly anthology Havoc comic, which was all that got published before cancellation. The blog itself is complete and won't receive any more updates. Click the image above to go there.

Dune: The Waters of Kanly (2022)

Dune: The Waters of Kanly (2022)

Authors: Brian Herbert + Kevin J. Anderson | Illustrator: Francesco Mortarino | Page Count: 24 x 4 issues (inc covers, etc; it's only about 82 of actual story content)

'There was a traitor among the Atreides... a traitor.'

The Herbert + Anderson machine just keep shitting them out. And while it's well-known that you can't polish a turd, it seems you can stretch it out into four parts.

Set after the Battle of Arrakeen, as it happened in Frank Herbert's first DUNE novel (1965), it follows Gurney Halleck, the weapons master of House Atreides. In order to properly comment on the story I'll need to refer to the outcome of that battle, so there will be MAJOR SPOILERS for the first novel in what follows.

Folks who've read the novel will know that from Gurney's perspective his beloved Duke is dead, as is the noble's son and the Lady Jessica, all because someone inside of House Atreides lowered the shield walls, giving the Harkonnens a strategic advantage. Gurney and about six dozen other survivors lick their wounds and take shelter with smugglers. The Waters of Kanly invents a story of what he did while he was there, before his return in the original text.

Wonder Woman: Black and Gold - Collected Comic Book Covers

 Wonder Woman: Black and Gold

LINK - Marvel's TUGNC Reviews

A link to one of my other blogs. It contains thoughts on Volumes 01-60 of Marvel's Ultimate Graphic Novels Collection, which was the full collection before they decided to extend it. The blog itself is complete and won't receive any more updates. Click the image above to go there.

Dragon's Claws: Collected Comic Covers (1988-89)

Dragon's Claws: Comic Covers (1988-89)

Related to the Dragon's Claws (2008) TPB post on The 7th and Last.

The ten Dragon's Claws issues and Death's Head #2, in which they appeared.

2000 AD Profiles: The Clown

The Clown

Creators: Igor Goldkind + Robert Bliss | Appearances to date: 16

''Clothes make the man' is how the old saying goes. Of course the apparel we assume doesn't always reflect the pattern of our intentions. Garments conceal as much as they reveal. And for some there is no difference between the costume and the man...'

Dune: Blood of the Sardaukar (2021)

Dune: Blood of the Sardaukar (2021)

Authors: Brian Herbert + Kevin J. Anderson | Illustrator: Adam Gorham | Page Count: 42

[No Quote]

A one-shot story set in the DUNE universe, revolving around a Sardaukar colonel by the name of Jopati Kolona, who, according to the promotional blurb, must 'choose between duty and forgiveness', but it's not in any meaningful way, thanks to the weak characterisation and dull backstory that the 'elite' military leader is given.

Under orders from the Padishah Emperor, Shaddam IV, Col. Jopati participates in a situation that he deems dishonourable, and which gives rise to a moral dilemma.

Interestingly, the story's primary setting is the same as it was in the other one-shot by the same authors that I read recently, A Whisper of Caladan Seas (2021), which featured soldiers from the opposing army. The situations are different but occur around the same time. [1]

Dune: A Whisper of Caladan Seas (2021)

Dune: A Whisper of Caladan Seas (2021)

Authors: Brian Herbert + Kevin J. Anderson | Illustrator: Jakub Rebelka | Page Count: 41

"There is a power in memories... in stories."

An overpriced comic book adapted from the first ever DUNE universe tie-in short story from the combined incompetence of Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.

It purports to be issue No. 1, but it's really just a one-shot. It's just more publisher lies. BOOM!' Studios did the same with the Blood of the Sardaukar one-shot, too.

It's set in the year 10, 191 at the Battle of Arrakeen, which occurred in Frank Herbert's first DUNE novel.

A contingent of Atreides guards get trapped in an Arrakis cave during the conflict, and slowly begin running out of food, air, hope, or anything interesting to say.

The leader of the group is Sergeant Hoh Vitt, a storyteller from a long line of storytellers, who, it's alleged, has the ability to spin a yarn that's so all-consuming and influential to men's minds that it's considered a powerful and dangerous skill.