1984: CONQUEROR (Harrier Comics)

H.M.S CONQUEROR was the UK's (now long-forgotten it seems) contribution to the international space race... and international publishing.

Created by Martin Lock and Dave Harwood, this pretty blatant Trek-alike started life in the pages of the British fanzines that Lock edited and published.  In 1984, with the direct-sales business beginning to boom (and embracing black & white comics from indie publishers), Lock took his publishing ventures to the next stage and launched Harrier Comics (the company name both a punning nod to the British tradition of naming comics after members of the animal kingdom and also - presumably - a nod to the much-discussed role Harrier Jump Jets had played in the 1982 Falklands war).  Conqueror, and specifically the Special Preview Edition, was the first of what would (briefly) become a booming little business.

I first encountered Conqueror in the pages of (the revived) THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL.  The monthly incarnation, post DAREDEVILS merger, regularly featured a 'new talent showcase' (an opportunity to fill several pages for free) and a fanzine review column (something of a revelation to me at the time... and something that started a lifelong interest in amateur press).  Conqueror snuck into both and the review of the Preview Edition convinced me to get my dad to mail off a cheque for Harrier's inaugural effort.  That's my copy below which explains why it's a bit battered.

A regular bi-monthly book quickly followed, bolstered by some nice (albeit poorly coloured - compare these with his contemporary work on the Eagle Comics 2000AD reprints and elsewhere) Brian Bolland covers.

I must admit that, not yet being a regular comic book store patron (and, besides, I had very limited financial resources), I didn't revisit the alt. Trek universe until the dramatic cover of issue 8 caught my eye in Colchester's Ace Comics.  I snaffled-up issue 9 as well when it appeared... just in time for the book to be axed.  The strip continued, albeit hacked into smaller chunks (ala Marvel UK) in the pages of Harrier's anthology SWIFTSURE.

Obviously Ace weren't shifting that many copies as the entire run eventually made it into their 10p back issue boxes (ahhh... that happy time when half-decent comics could be 10p!) and I grabbed 'em.

The series gets off to a slow start, and the Star Trek parallels were unfortunately a little too blatant, but really ramps up towards the end of the run.

Harrier boasted Alan Moore as "editorial consultant".

Around the time issue 9 hit the stores, Harrier also published the weightier CONQUEROR UNIVERSE one-shot which collected several strips that had originally seen print in the 'zines.

A second one-shot, CONQUEROR SPECIAL, surfaced in early 1987 and - once again - featured a mix of short stories.

Harrier itself were remarkably prolific, churning out numerous black & white comics (notably REDFOX and Lew Stringer's brilliant BRICK MAN special) until being caught in the 1989 black & white bust.  There's a few stand-outs in the run (I'm rather partial to SENTINEL) but - not to put too fine a point on it - there was an awful lot of dross too.  Copies of many Harrier books, including Conqueror, still surface in the cheapo boxes at dealers.

The Chronology, reproduced below, explains how the various disparate strips fit together.

PREVIEW SPECIAL

1984

ISSUE 1

August 1984

ISSUE 2

October 1984

ISSUE 3

December 1984

ISSUE 4

February 1985

ISSUE 5

April 1985

ISSUE 6

June 1985

ISSUE 7

August 1985

ISSUE 8

October 1985

ISSUE 9

December 1985

CONQUEROR UNIVERSE ISSUE 1

December 1985

CONQUEROR UNIVERSE CHRONOLOGY

CONQUEROR SPECIAL

February 1987

1982: SPIDER-MAN ON JIM'LL FIX IT (Marvel UK)

When Jimmy met Spidey!

Here's a piece from Marvel UK's SPIDER-MAN (issue 528, 20 April 1982) about the Web-head's appearance on BBC ONE's JIM'LL FIX IT show.

For those unfamiliar with the format: young viewers would write to presenter Jimmy Savile requesting a 'fix' (not like that) that the show would then arrange and film.  The fixes were a mix of live in-studio (IE cheap) pieces and pre-filmed packages.

Other geek-notable pieces that aired in the eighties included a studio visit to the STAR TREK: THE MOTION PICTURE Enterprise sets on the Paramount lot (featuring an appearance by Shatner himself) and a mini-DOCTOR WHO adventure featuring Colin Baker.

The perpetually old (he always adopted the persona of a slightly eccentric - not to mention creepy - uncle figure) Savile died in October 2011.  After his death its emerged that he was a prolific (possibly the UK's most prolific) pedophile.  Another well-circulated rumour that he also had a penchant for necrophilia hasn't been substantiated.  He used his position as a TV personality, as well as charity worker, to mask his activities.

The revelations, and the way the current generation of BBC senior management handled them (to cut a long story short: badly) sent the corporation into a tailspin and led to the resignation of the Director General.

Because of these revelations, it's highly likely the BBC will lock the long-running show in the archive, unseen, forever (the WHO one is on THE TWO DOCTORS DVD... get it before they delete it!).

1985: EAGLE FEBRUARY COVERS (IPC)

Here's another month's worth of eye-catching EAGLE covers, this time dating back to February 1985.

The highlight of the month was the four-part Doomlord's Alien Datafile four-part poster (not a free gift, you just had to clip-out and assemble the four instalments).

British Rail were also giving away 10,000 (so, I imagine, basically everyone who entered) free memberships to the famous (it says 'ere) Rail Riders Club.

1979: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA SUPPLEMENT IN STARLOG MAGAZINE

STARLOG MAGAZINE issue 27 (October 1979 - see my previous post here) also featured this really nice eight-page pull-out supplement devoted to the just-cancelled BATTLESTAR GALACTICA.

Pre-internet, the episode guide would have been invaluable (especially for British readers who wouldn't start to see the show for another year) but its the side-bar articles on the merchandising (how awesome would that electronic Galactica have been?, the Marvel comic book (including some obvious - albeit honest - quotes from Editor-in-Chief Jim Shooter) and the glossary of the show's space-aged lingo that are more fun.

The supplement was obviously prepared before ABC and Universal signed aboard for GALACTICA 1980 although it does show the studio was actively trying to drum-up business to get the show back into production.

The second overseas theatrical flick was, of course, MISSION GALACTICA: THE CYLON ATTACK although the specially-shot additional material was used in the syndicated TV movies instead.

The eight pages were printed on yellow paper but - to speed up the scanning process - I've made them black & white here.

I *think* the episode guide also appeared in the first STARLOG EPISODE GUIDE BOOK although its remarkably hard to come by (IE I don't have a copy to check!).

1978: THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL HOUSE AD (Marvel UK)

Here's another MARVEL UK house ad, for THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL, from August 1978.

Excelsior! 

1984: THE ROBO MACHINES PART TWO (EAGLE)

The ROBO MACHINES reach Earth!

I'm not intending to post all of the RM strips from EAGLE but I've scanned the first few weeks worth by way of an introduction to the less well remember rival to THE TRANSFORMERS.

This is Part two, originally published in EAGLE cover-dated 17 November 1984.

1994: MARVEL UK at LONDON'S GRAND CHRISTMAS PARADE

Those Marvel costumes (see previous posts) were drafted into service again in late 1994 for the inaugural LONDON GRAND CHRISTMAS PARADE.

MARVEL UK published a double-page of pics in the thirty-first issue of THE EXPLOITS OF SPIDER-MAN.

1978: MARVEL UK HOUSE AD

This is an October 1978 MARVEL UK house ad, plugging the virtues of the two superhero weeklies: SUPER SPIDER-MAN and THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL.

1979: UNIVERSAL HARTLAND in STARLOG MAGAZINE

Is STARLOG MAGAZINE issue 27 (cover-dated October 1979) the greatest issue ever published for Star Warriors of a certain age?  I think it might just be!

A quick glance at the cover below (BATTLESTAR's 'Ship of Lights') reveals the goodies to be found inside.  I've scanned several of the articles and I'll post them over the next few days, starting with the cover story: a fascinating look behind-the-scenes at the early days of the Universal Hartland effects house, the studio's in-house team set up to churn out the effects for (the latter episodes of) BATTLESTAR GALACTICA and BUCK ROGERS IN THE 25th CENTURY.  

1985: THE BEST OF 2000AD MONTHLY LAUNCH AD (IPC)

This is a house ad for the launch of THE BEST OF 2000AD MONTHLY, IPC's belated all-reprint spin-off.

It finally offered a cheap-and-cheerful alternative to Titan's expensive (albeit with better production standards) and hard-to-find (unless you were a regular Forbidden Planet visitor) albums.

This was an easy money cash generator for IPC because, of course, it didn't pay the creators anything extra for the reprinted material.

The publisher rolled-out a number of similar "Best Of" monthlies in an attempt to prop up falling revenues in the comics division as sales of the weeklies continued to decline.

Copies of THE BEST OF 2000AD still regularly turn up in dealer's back issue boxes and often seem to sell for around the 50p mark.  The line-up varies from issue-to-issue but most can be relied upon for a solid dose of thrill power and make an economical (and portable) alternative to the modern hefty trade paperback collections.

It eventually clocked-up 119 issues, running between October 1985 and August 1995.  The imminent arrival of the JUDGE DREDD movie (and the expected sales bonanza that never happened), and a diminishing supply of black & white art suitable for the format, led to the launch of a (short-lived) successor CLASSIC 2000AD.

14 September 1985