Saturday, 12 September 2015

1984: QUESTPROBE ISSUE 2 mini-comic (Marvel UK)


From 1984: Another unsung oddity from the MARVEL UK pantheon... The A5 second (and probably final) British issue of QUESTPROBE.  The Annex had previously published the first issue as a one-shot colour magazine, with minimal promotion in the regular line.

This follow-up looks like it was produced specifically as an in-pack item for the game and not sold separately. 

It reprints the full US issue and also included several pages of game tips, character notes and a guide to loading the game (for Spectrum 48K, Commodore 64, BBC Model B, Atari and Dragon 32K).

It promises the FANTASTIC FOUR in the third issue but, because Marvel's partner, Scott Adams, went out of business the following year its unlikely to have ever appeared on this side of the Atlantic. The third issue, which actually starred just the Thing and the Human Torch, did see print in the States.

The fourth US issue was scuppered by the bankruptcy but Marvel, not ones to leave paid-for inventory to gather dust, eventually reworked it for MARVEL FANFARE 33 in 1987. 

Marvel and Adams' Adventure International had planned 12 releases but faltered after three games.



1 comment:

  1. I remember seeing this come out of the box for this game and thinking 'Wow! That's small.'

    I think the Questprobe storyline followed up in the pages of Mark Gruenwald's Quasar.

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