1983: TV GUIDE KNIGHT RIDER COVER

From June 1983: The Hoff, and K.I.T.T turbo boost onto the front cover of a slightly battered copy of TV GUIDE magazine.  

The Glen Larson creation had made its debut on NBC the previous September.  

The series ran for four seasons, wrapping in April '86.  CODE OF VENGENCE was a blink-and-you-missed-it (especially in the UK where it was never imported) spin-off that aired sporadically in 1985-86.  Two TV movies (KNIGHT RIDER 2000 and the all-but-unrelated KNIGHT RIDER 2010) hit screens in the following decade.  Universal's first-run syndication people figured 'more is more' by launching TEAM KNIGHT RIDER in 1997.  Viewers on both sides of the Atlantic chose to look the other way.  Another TV movie aired, to greater fanfare, in 2008 followed by a weekly series which couldn't keep the viewers coming back.

Various movie revivals were mooted by Hasselhoff, Larson and others over the decades but - to date - nothing has actually gone in front of the cameras.  Yet another small-screen version is apparently currently in production... demonstrating that a thin premise ('car talks so that the actor doesn't need to really act... and can be replaced if thay ask for a rise') really can go a long way.  

1983: LOOK-IN'S STAR FLEET STRIP: EPISODE 1

From January 1983: the first installment of the weekly STAR FLEET strip, published in LOOK-IN.

The strip ran for 32 weeks, reflecting the lifespan of the 24-part TV show which had debuted on ITV the previous October (the day before STAR WARS had its TV premiere... making it a big STARLOGGED weekend).

The series has - unusually - pretty much a single story arc divided into an episodic format.  It is probably not worth trying to figure out where the Look-In strips fit into that extended adventure.

The art is by British comics - and Look-In - mainstay Mike Noble, who first entered the business in the early 1950s.  He's well known for his work on assorted Gerry Anderson-based strips and, from 1970, the British STAR TREK strips.  In the following decades he kept busy with Look-In's numerous TV adaptations (TIMESLIP, THE ADVENTURES OF BLACK BEAUTY, KUNG FU, THE TOMORROW PEOPLE, SPACE: 1999, THE MAN FRM ATLANTIS, THE FAMOUS FIVE, ROBIN OF SHERWOOD and others)

The series (known as X-BOMBER in its native Japan) has been out on DVD for a few years now and is well worth revisiting.  The puppets are more clunky than you remember and the effects are old school (no motion control CSO shenanigins herein) but the drama is surprisingly intense for a kids show (regular characters die) and the plots engaging enough.  And you can't beat the nostalgia burst.  The DVD comes with a small booklet which reproduces some - but, I think, not all, of these Look-In strips.  A nice bonus feature.

1983: PALITOY ACTION FORCE ADVERT

From the summer of 1983: Timed to coincide with the ACTION FORCE IPC mini-comics promotion (free fortnightly inserts in EAGLE and BATTLE which - I think - also went out as giveaways to toy stores) Palitoy also ran a multi-buy promotion on the figures.

Unfortunately, the ad's designer or typesetter didn't think through the font size and colour combination very carefully.  The artwork isn't up to IPC standards either.  Maybe it was an advertising agency jobbie...

Once again, someone has been briefed to make heroes-of-the-moment the SAS the main part of the image.  But there's also an attempt to capture the more futuristic elements of the range (Buckethead not withstanding) which is more than BATTLE ACTION FORCE usually did when it got going later in the year.

1983: JAMES BOND: OCTOPUSSY EAGLE/ SHREDDED WHEAT PROMOTION

From August 1983: a two-page promotional tie-in between EAGLE and SHREDDED WHEAT promoting the Roger Moore JAMES BOND outing OCTOPUSSY.

Has anyone still got the in-box stickers?

1983: ACTION MAN TOY ADVERT

From 1983: a Palitoy ACTION MAN promotion, as published in EAGLE.

I was never much of an AM fan (indeed, I never owned one) but this must have marked the dying days of the big-doll-for-boys.  He was being out-maneuvered on the toy shop front line by two other Palitoy products: STAR WARS and Action Man spin-off ACTION FORCE.  The line was shuttered the following year as part of a General Mills (yup, the food people also did toys) restructure which saw Palitoy as surplus to requirements.

It's interesting to note that the 'space' and SAS figures are front-and-centre, reflecting the ongoing interest in science fiction as the Star Age continued and the popularity of the SAS in British pop culture (see also: ace action movie WHO DARES WINS) following the 1980 Iranian Embassy siege in West London.

SAS FORCE, along with traditional land army Z-FORCE, were also the major players in ACTION FORCE, particularly in the pages of BATTLE ACTION FORCE.  The more 'out there' Q-FORCE and obligatory SPACE FORCE were only drafted in when Palitoy's marketing and sales departments had some products to shift.

1983: STAR WARS RETURN OF THE JEDI PALITOY TOY PROMOTION

From 1983: A great double-page advert from Palitoy promoting - with a competition - the launch of their STAR WARS: RETURN OF THE JEDI action figure range.

I remember the excitement of going into the local independent toy shop (Child's Play) ahead of the film's release and seeing the new figures for the first time.  And checking the card back to see all the new characters that would be in the next film.  And wondering why two of them had been crudely blacked out.  limited to one purchase, I settled for the Emperor's Royal Guard because - frankly - it looked so cool.  Little did I know they would be little more than set dressing in the film.

1983: THE EAGLE RELAUNCH

From 1983: EAGLE's big news revealed!

After a week of waiting to find out what the latest exciteing development from the South Bank would be... it just amped up again!

Four extra pages!  Nine 'great stories'!  A spud gun! File that one under: freebies you are unlikely to see today.

What's not to love?

I know I couldn't wait for the next issue.  But... all was not as it seems...

I assumed that the illustrations were just for consistency.  It never crossed my mind that Eagle was about to abandon the photo-strips for good.  Four extra pages also sounded a pretty good deal.  But the IPC ad men had neglected to mention that the trade-off was that the weekly, previously one of the best looking on the shelves, was about to switch over to the newsprint formula already adopted (one suspects with no great enthusiasm by their editorial teams) by most of the rest of the Youth Group.  The con was - very much - on.

And I had a week to find out...

1983: EAGLE TEASES 'IMPORTANT NEWS' AHEAD

From 1983... and the days when even news about news was enough to generate excitement amongst comics readers.

The tease that something was to be announced in the follow week's issue was a sure-fire way to ensure a fortnight's worth of tension and anticipation.  A week to wait to find out what the news was... and another week to wait for the relevent issue to arrive.

Sometimes the announcement would be disappointing (like a really duff free gift.  Or even worse: a freebie that was actually just part of someone else's marketing campaign for cornflakes or baked beans) but sometimes - if the gift looked promising or a relaunch/ reboot was involved - it would ratchet up the anticipation to at least eleven.

The masterclass in this regard was 'Tharg's Megaplan', an extended piece of multi-week puffing that promised something whopping.  Playground rumours suggested a bold new look.  Or a Judge Dredd spin-off (we didn't know, of course, that IPC had wrestled with that one for years).  Or the impending merger of THE EAGLE (Dan Dare and - especially - Doomlord looked natural transfers... even if older Tharg acolytes might have been horrified by the idea).  In the end it turned out to be a record.  Which seemed like the sort of project that engaged the staff of the weekly far more than it excited the readership.  Despite the cross-promotional opportunities if it became a hit.  Which it didn't.

This was the first official notice that change was coming soon.  Although readers more attentive than I might have already been able to read the runes.  EAGLE had already dropped in its first reprint strip (One-Eyed Jack... now about to be issued in book form) and was generally shifted from photo-strips to more traditional comic strips.  Which didn't demand the same high-quality printing.  Many other IPC weeklies already appeared in the cheaper 'newsprint' format so it would make sense, from a production and economic point-of-view, to align Eagle with the rest of the line.

A fortnight to wait... but only seven days until more stickers for the RETURN OF THE JEDI sticker album (which - curiously - I always found very dull.... possibly because so many stills from the film were available across so many sources).

1983: WEETABIX POP STICKERS ADVERT

From 1983: crispy-or-stodgy British breakfast mainstay WEETABIX (once the home of DOCTOR WHO, STAR TREK, FLASH GORDON and DC SUPERHEROES) tries to up its cool quota (by channel non-threatening Radio 1 DJ and all-round BBC go-to guy Mike Reid, who no-doubt made a few quid off this one) and giving away some pop-tastic stickers in special packs.

The advert appeared in EAGLE.

1983: BUSTER BADGE GIVEAWAY ADVERT

From February 1983: More gold-badge start-of-year gifting, this time from BUSTER.

Once again, IPC's freebies team went back to their go-to people for gold giveaways (see also: EAGLE issue 2 and 2000AD 300) to create this uncanny likeness of the onetime 'son of Andy Capp'.

Clearly the booklet people were already rushed off their feet with other punter-retaining projects but - not to be left out - the Buster gang concocted a game which, it seems, you ad to wait three weeks before you could start playing.  I hope it was worth the wait!

1983: ON SALE THIS WEEK: THE EAGLE ISSUE 58

It's a snatch raid!

On sale thiis week back in 1983: EAGLE issue 58, cover-dated 30 April (remember: the date on the cover represented the 'off-sale' date rather than the day the comic hit newsagents).

By this point, the DAN DARE strip had regained its traditional starts-on-the-cover status, officially maintaining the three-pages-a-week count.  I always considered this to be a bit of a con (and not just because it saved the time, trouble and expense of designing a decent cover each week) as the cover splash demanded strong, bold visuals which - although eyecatching - often didn't add much to the overall story.  Effectively an expanded panel subbing for what would have been a full page of traditionally structured art under the previous layout.

I suspect deadlines and weekly churn played their part and the art remained top-notch throughout.  There was just a need to deliver less panels per week.  Although, look at the detail in that first panel... lovely stuff.

The Dare strip had - at this point - drifted away from the core Return of the Mekon storyline into an extended astronauts-in-training flashback which couldn't hope to measure up to the Mekon and Earth occupied by the Treens. But it was still a lot better than some of the dross - and reboots - that would follow over the next decade.

But, just like the whole photostory era in general, there is still innovation to be found.  Check out the successful inclusion of well made (and well lit) model work into the art!  Another benefit (soon to be lost) of the superior printing used during the early run.  I wonder if the editors of the other weeklies looked on enviously... or whether they were thankful their titles weren't carrying the additional overheads.

1983: ROY OF THE ROVERS BADGE SET ADVERT

From February 1983: New year... new freebies!

IPC's circulation gurus obviously thought that the first months of the year was a good time to perk up their weeklies with a few freebies.... I've found several adverts for cool covermounted goodies from this part of the year.

Maybe they feared that traditional - but casual - readers would drift away over the disruption of the Christmas holiday season.  Maybe they suspected that parents - in the grip of New Year debt - might have made a resolution to cut comics expenditure.  Or maybe they thought that the new years was a chance to lure in some new punters....

Here's ROY OF THE ROVERS trying to tempt fans with a set of 'stick-on' badges (hmm... sounds a bit like 'a set of stickers' or 'one badge... and some stickers to stick on it').These days they'd have to give away six badges, a sheet of stickers and a pencil box.  All attached to the same issue.

And - oh look - the launch of yet another clip-and-collect keep 'em comic back booklet.

'Race to the top' indeed.

1983: DOOMLORD PHOTO PROFILE IN THE EAGLE

From 1983: DOOMLORD (self-confessed 'Master of life, bringer of death') gets the PERSONALITY PLUS treatment in the EAGLE.

Maybe they were short of celebs... or maybe they just wanted to show off - in colour - the excellent mask (apparently an off-the-shelf shopping trip find) and costume.

This is a really nicely-done pre-Photoshot shoot which manages to look a lot more realistic than many TV and movie monsters of the time.  The pic - or similar ones from the same shoot - were also used on the first of THE BEST OF EAGLE MONTHLY (leading a compilation of comic strip era reprints) and the Hibernia Comics limited print run one-shot

1983: STAR WARS: RETURN OF THE JEDI AIRFIX MODEL KITS ADVERT

From 1983: a UK advert for the Airfix STAR WARS: RETURN OF THE JEDI model kits.  With free poster offer... and the Marketing department were very smart in their selection of stills to adorn young boy's bedrooms across the land.  Those sticky fingers weren't just because of the glue don't-you-know.

1983: MANIX CUTAWAY FROM THE NEW EAGLE

From 1983: Remember MANIX, the SIX MILLION DOLLER MAN knock-off from EAGLE?  Ever wondered what he looked like in his pants?

Here's a fun piece of pre-Photoshop design work which really shows how innovative the much maligned photo-strip era of the new EAGLE could be when the boffins in King's Reach Tower put their mind to it.

1983: ACTION FORCE TOY ADVERT

From July 1983: a Palitoy advert for the ACTION FORCE toyline, originally published in the EAGLE.

1983: THE ORIGIN OF DAN DARE'S MEKON IN THE EAGLE

From January 1983: the origin of a species.... and a great dictator.

The second part of DAN DARE's look back at the origins of the Treens and their bulbous-headed overlord: the mighty Mekon.

Once again, Ian Kennedy's art really pops off the page thanks to the superior print quality EAGLE enjoyed during 1982-83 before the newsprint reboot.

I would be the first in line to buy a nicely put together compilation of this material.  Although I bet the three-page format, including the centre-spread, would be a pagination nightmare to compile.

1983: ADVERT FOR BATTLE'S AIR ACES BOOKLET

From January 1983: an IPC in-house advert (published in the EAGLE) for another one of those clip-and-collect circulation-maintaining booklets so beloved of the Youth Group during this period.  This time: BATTLE'S AIR ACES BOOKLET!

1983: DOCTOR WHO'S JON PERTWEE INTERVIEWED IN EAGLE

From January 1983: Jon Pertwee talks WORZEL GUMMIDGE and DOCTOR WHO with the (new) EAGLE.

He doesn't mention it here, but he'd be back in the Tardis before the end of the year....

1983: DAN DARE RECOUNTS THE ORIGINS OF THE TREENS IN EAGLE

From January 1983: EAGLE issue 44 takes a brief break from the ongoing RETURN OF THE MEKON storyline (albeit now running under the Fireflight title) to recount the history of the Treens.  Script by Pat Mills, amazing art by Ian Kennedy.

The revived DAN DARE strip (featuring - for TV licensing reasons - the grandson of the original Pilot of the future) often played fast-and-loose with the continuity of the original strip so I have no idea if - and how - it fits together but readers in 1983 wouldn't have been much the wiser escept via the hazy memories of their own parents (the original Eagle, a shadow of its former self, shuttered in 1969) and the - rather nice - compilation books of the original strips published around this time.

I've long maintained that the RETURN OF THE MEKON strip (along with the photostory era of DOOMLORD... which STARLOGGED has covered in the past) really needs to be reissued in a decent format.  And I think these three pages demonstrate that.