UK Comics general discussion

[Dominic]

I have an IDW compilation of some old UK comics, and plan to start reading it in the next few weeks. Rather than review it all at once, I plan to post about individual stories as I read them.

And, hey, no need to wait on my account.

Dom
-pretty sure that Gomess will appreciate this thread.

[Gomess]

THIS IS MY YARD, BOYS

Honestly though, the funny thing about the UK G1 comics is that- perhaps obviously- few of us realised back in the day that the full-colour (stretched so the colours went all spotty) main strips came from an entirely different place than the black and white backups.

Looking back though, I can say without an ounce of xenophobia that our stuff was better, both in art and writing.

I mean, come on.

=3

[Dominic]

Generally, I would agree that the UK comics were better.

I could pick out individual exceptions to that, ("The House that Wheeljack Built" and "Shooting Star"), but that would not be fair. Over-all, the UK stuff was better.

I still remember that scene in "Man of Iron" when Trailbreaker got jobbed. He is kind of crawling around....on fire saying something like "oh god, oh god, I am a flaming mess, my god this really hurts", and Jazz is basically talling the kid (that he abducted) that everything is just fine. That scene only gets more disturbing as I get old.

And, you guys got texts stories and everything......

Dom
-finds it funny that the Furman edited Titan series conspicously lacked "Man of Iron", even though it made mathematical sense to include it in the reprints of the origional US run. Just sayin'....

[Gomess]

Man of Iron was a great example of how the UK stuff seemed to prize original short stories over long-running narratives that focused on introducing the latest toys. There was almost no continuity in the UK backup strips, because they were intended to subtly blend in with the US stuff (sometimes failing miserably, such as Goldbug's double origin), and I think that became a real virtue. Often they were much more focused on character, which is of course my thing.

Also, the artwork. Wildman? Senior? I'm convinced to this day my girlfriend bought this pocket-size trade of the death-and-return of Starscream arc just for the image of Zombie!Scream that graces one of the issues' first pages.

[Dominic]

Did you guys get both origins for Goldbug? I thought you had one origin, and we had (a stupider) origin.

Even when the UK was showcasing recent toys, they did it better. (Granted, by the time this was really an issue, Budiansky was burned out. But, the end result was what it was, and still is.)

"Man of Iron" is a big part of why I read reviews today. Shortly after that story was reprinted here in the US as a "special one time only thing", the lettes pages filled up with *American* fans basically saying "why the hell are we not getting stuff this good every month"?. You likely do not know this. But, "Man of Iron" was printed in the US around issue 30 of the comic. Not sure how that converts to UK numbers, but think "low point of the king Grimlock run", circe "Car Wash of Doom". So, yeah, US content did not compare favourably.


Dom
-still chuckles about those letters.

[Gomess]

I definitely recall Bumblebee being killed by Action Force or something. Which I think was the US version? Yeah, somehow they messed up. Or maybe it was just explained in the letters page? They had a habit of being self-referential (I'm assuming the US comic had something similar to Soundwaves, Grim-Grams, Dread Tidings and.... whatever Blaster's was called).

EDIT: Damn 'n' Blast.

[Dominic]

Wait, you had a letter page called "Damn 'n Blast"? Well, damn.

The US letters page was similar to other Marvel books. Letters where generally answered by the editor of a given book or one of their assitants. In a few cases, (which I do not believe included TF), the book's writer answered the letters. There were no "character voice" replies, which I think is what you are talking about.

I did not think that the (really bad) TF/Joe cross-over was printed in the UK. (Even as a kid, I recall wishing it did not happen here.)


Dom
-US comics also lacked those freebie prizes you guys enjoyed.

[Onslaught Six]

Here's the thing: Action Force has a WHOLE weird amount of shit considering its UK origins and how they relate to GI Joe--technically Cobra Commander is Baron Ironblood and there's all this other shit going on. In 1986-87, Action Force was still sorta-kinda undergoing the transition from its original Palitoy origins and becoming more like GI Joe. Not everyone who was in that comic was an Action Force character (yet), so they didn't publish it, and killed off Bumblebee some other way and rebuilt him as Goldbug (because they still had to fit in with the US stories where that happened). By 1990, Hasbro had rebranded the whole thing "GI Joe" and the crossover was okay to release, even if it wasn't in continuity. (And it wasn't. There's no way it *could* be if we assume it's supposed to take place in 1990; things were different in the UK by that point.)

[Gomess]

Grimlock was notoriously cheeky regarding the US comics and the cartoon, describing them as "ripoff kids' stories" compared to the "REAL WAR ACCOUNTS" being told in the UK strips. And Soundwave would always spit(?) after mentioning anything to do with Autobots. And Blaster... had some seriously weird taste in music. Dreadwind was my favourite, constantly insulting the fans, with Hi-Test chiming in now and then with his own text colour.

One of my favourite free gifts was a transfer (y'know, temporary tattoo) that made it look like your skin had been torn away to reveal mechanics underneath. The cover was even tailored to it, showing a human teen proudly displaying his inner workings while.. Iguanus and Bomb-Burst, I think..? stand beside him like "Yeahhhh this our boyeeee!"

[Dominic]

I would imagine that the UK writers and editors had a certain amount of resentment towards the US crew. Not only did they have to dance around the US content, (in a very one-sided relationship), but the US content was generally lower quality (especially at the points when fitting them together became more problematic).


Dom
-always considered the UK a different set of context from the US, especially what with the black and white strips.