1995: LAST ISSUE ALERT: THE VERY LAST TIGER

From March 1985: The end of the dirt track for IPC's venerable TIGER.

Published weekly (barring, no doubt, the odd bout of industrial action) since September 1954, the sports-centric 'paper' was a mainstay of the IPC Youth Group offering for decades and ultimately clocked-up 1555 regular issues and who-knows-how-many spin-offs.

Along the way it spun off ROY OF THE ROVERS into his own weekly in 1976 and - as was the IPC way - also absorbed a lot of its own, more vulnerable, sibblings.  HURRICANE, JAG, SCORCHER and SPEED all shared the masthead at some point.

Unusually, the combined EAGLE AND TIGER ('Big news for all readers...') was a pretty balanced combination of the two weeklies.  It really felt like someone in management thought TIGER deserved a fair send-off.  Of course, over time, the TIGER strips started to fade away and the shared masthead became smaller and smaller... and eventually (and with no fanfare) vanished entirely.  The Tiger logo was even redesigned for the merger so that it sat neatly alongside the Eagle's.

I was never a fan of TIGER so the merger - whilst a bit of an event - wasn't 'great news' for me.  Indeed, the likes of Star Rider and Golden Boy were strong clues as to why Tiger was no longer in business.  I had only ever bought one copy, published the previous summer, which just happened to be the week that BATTLE, EAGLE and TIGER all gave away free ACTION FORCE figures.  Palitoy's purge of their warehouse overstocks is still, officially, the Best Free Gift.  Ever.  I probably ended up with several copies of that week's Tiger (I was already reading the other two) but I don't remember actually reading any of it.  But I recently bought a copy of that very same once-owned issue (with convention-busting Billy's Boots cricket cover!) with the intention of finally getting around to dipping in.

1985: STREET HAWK LOOK-IN STRIP

From June 1985: A random instalment of the STREET HAWK strip from the pages of LOOK-IN weekly.  I always think of this shortlived series as the greatest Glen Larson show that Glen Larson had nothing to do with.

The series, part of the super-machine Star Age sub-genre, had a peaktime slot on ITV and probably had a higher profile here than it did back in the States.  It is now available on DVD and even comes with a new documentary.

1985: SPEAKEASY ISSUE 56

From November 1985: UK fanzine SPEAKEASY reports big changes at DC... and the launch of Marvel's ultimately ill-fated NEW UNIVERSE.

1985: JUNE CHADWICK DISCUSSES V: THE SERIES WITH STARLOG MAGAZINE

From 1985: The STARLOG MAGAZINE with JUNE CHADWICK during the (brief) production of V: THE SERIES.

Including some stills from the classic lizard-on-lizard grudge match: 'I've never been defeated in mortal combat'

1985: MICHAEL IRONSIDE DISCUSSES V: THE SERIES IN STARLOG MAGAZINE

From January 1985 (but on-sale in late '84): Genre legend Michael Ironside talks to STARLOG MAGAZINE about his stint on V: THE FINAL BATTLE and V: THE SERIES.

The interview clearly took place during the early days of the weekly series and it is interesting that he notes the problems of balancing a sprawling cast with an action-adventure format.  The producers addressed this issue mid-season... by chopping half the cast.... including Ironside.

I doubt that the mid-season purge was welcomed by everyone who got the chop (and some of the choices were - ahem - odd) but I think Ironside was happy to move on... to the movie TOP GUN.

1985: JOE KUBERT SPEAKEASY FANZINE COVER

From December 1985: SPEAKEASY, the British fanzine, issue 57.

1985: SPEAKEASY ISSUE 56

From November 1985: SPEAKEASY issue 56 reports a busy month of comics news. 

1985: SPEAKEASY FANZINE ISSUE 55

From September 1985: SPEAKEASY, the UK comics fanzine, issue 55.

I have, somewhat to my surprise, a long run of this 'zine stuffed into various boxes.  But ths is the earliest one that I have in my (obviously very incomplete) collection.  Back issues don't generally seem to come to light very often, especially compared with some of the higher profile 1970s and '80s titles like FANTASY ADVERTISER.  I imagine this is everything to do with how widely these were sold in comic book stores rather than via Marts and Mail Order.

It evolved, over the next few years, into the leading British news title for comicbookdom, even going tabloid for a while to emphasise its news credentials.  It then switched back to a magazine format, initially still on crappy newsprint, before settling down as a glossy mag.

It then went all professionals and became BLAST magazine, riding the coat tails of the brief boom in 'mature' comics early in the next decade.  Copies of that incarnation can still be found, without too much trouble, stuffed into dealer's mag boxes across the land.

1985: FANTASY EMPIRE ISSUE 16

From March 1985: the 16th issue of American fan magazine FANTASY EMPIRE.

1985: BEEB MAGAZINE ISSUES 19-20

From 1985: the June issues of BEEB magazine, the BBC's not-long-of-this-earth rival to LOOK-IN.

Only two issues in June?

Yup, without warning publisher Polystyle pulled the plug after only twenty weeks on the shelves, presumably having been underwhelmed by the early circulation figures and concerned that sales would only slump further over the long summer with more outdoor distractions, and less top-notch telly, available to kids. 

There's already a sense, just by looking at the last few covers, that the editor was trying to move away from a heavily reliance on BBC properties (many of which had already gone on summer hiatus) to the more rock solid, year round, appeal of pop people. 

But it just didn't work out...

1986: 2000AD'S DICEMAN ISSUE 3 (IPC)

From 1986: the third issue of the glossy spin-off 2000AD'S DICEMAN, Pat Mill's bold experiment to meld Tharg's inventory of established characters (and new creations like Diceman himself, on the left) with the Fighting Fantasy boom.

1985: BEEB ISSUES 15-18

From May 1985: the BBC's BEEB weekly issues 15-18, including the infamous must-have-seemed-a-good-idea-at-the-time Gary Glitter cover...

1985: BEEB 10 - 14

From April 1985: A bumper month of BEEB magazines, just as the TV schedules transition from the autumn/ winter season to the "that'll do" summer makeweights.

The Star Age connection is, of course, Peter (Chief Scout) Duncan... who undertook the ultimate dare in FLASH GORDON.

1985: BEEB ISSUES 6 - 9

From 1985: the March cover dated issues of Polystyle's Look-In pretender BEEB.

It's another motley crew of cover stars with Carty, Cheggers, a dog and the self-proclaimed Son of God (and ardent fan of 'V').

It's little wonder that the early circulation figures were somewhat - ahem - soft.

1985: BEEB MAGAZINE 1-5

From January and February 1985: the first five issues of the ill-fated BBC kids weekly BEEB.

This was a belated pretender to the LOOK-IN crown: a me-too title that attempted to leverage the might of the BBC schedules to create a viable rival. It didn't quite go to plan.

Unlike LOOK-IN, published by ITV Publications and a spin-off from TV TIMES, Beeb didn't have the advantage of being inside the BBC tent or the muscle of a best-selling listings magazine to back it up. It was a licensing deal between BBC Enterprises and Polystyle, the struggling erstwhile publishers of TV COMIC and COUNTDOWN.

Beeb tried to be all things to all readers and managed to miss the mark. It felt curiously old-fashioned and lacked the sense of dynamism of its rival. The range of covers in the first month demonstrate this: a dull mix of BLUE PETER dressing up games (of the sort that could only excite Biddy Baxter and the BBC Goveners) and layouts reminiscent of teen girl mags. Hardly something to get young boys buying.

The adventure strips were covered off with adaptations of Glen Larson's AUTOMAN (a short-lived show that had more impact on the BBC ONE schedules than it did in the States) and THE TRIPODS (a more dynamic take on the plodding TV show, apparently from the pen of Pat Mills). DOCTOR WHO was off limits because of the Marvel deal and its tenuous future in the minds of BBC management. Drippy zoo vet drama ONE BY ONE offered neutral territory for boys and girls underwhelmed by action. GRANGE HILL, late of IPC's standalone magazine and SCHOOL FUN, was a predictable choice. Gag strips were supplied by the TBE FAMILY NESS and, on loan from NUTTY, BANANAMAN.

As the cover of the first issue suggests, the feature pages were populated by tie-ins with various other BBC shows including the reliable page-fillers BLUE PETER and SATURDAY SUPERSTORE.

The masthead was rather cleverly in the style of the current BBC logo, although it was far from ubiquitous on-screen and in print compared with modern iterations.

The Beeb name (derived from "Aunty Beeb") was revived during the BBC's early pioneering days on the internet when it was used for the Corporation's commercial website and online activities to keep them distinctly separate from the Public Service licensee-fee funded bits. That overlap and duplication was eventually streamlined away.

Because this wasn't an in-house BBC publication it didn't have automatically access to BBC airtime, an advantage thet LOOK-IN certainly enjoyed. That put it at a commercial disadvantage in the circulation wars. BBC Magazines didn't make the same mistake a few years later when it launched FAST FORWAD, a similar title that borrowed far more from SMASH HITS and the music magazines. That was given what must have amounted to thousands (even millions) of pounds of free airtime by running regular ads in the key 5.35pm junction sandwiched between the official end of CBBC ("except for viewers in Northern Ireland") and the start of the ratings juggernaut that was NEIGHBOURS at its prime.

Copies of this title are surprisingly hard to find, perhaps reflecting the levels of reader indifference back in 1985. I recently came across a complete run... and snapped them up for STARLOGGED.

1985: ROMULAN SHIP RECOGNITION MANUAL from STAR TREK: THE ROLE PLAYING GAME (FASA)

From 1985: the ROMULAN SHIP RECOGNITION MANUAL supplement for the FASA-published STAR TREK: THE ROLE PLAYING GAME.

I'm not that much of an expert in Trek lore but I do know, in 1985, their screen appearances had been limited to a few episodes of the original series... where they were sometimes seen to be using Klingon warships because the cash-strapped production couldn't bankroll the new miniatures and effects work. That NuStar have made the job of writing this both easier (because they had something of a blank slate to work from) and harder (because they had to conceive a whole fleeting vessels based on scant screen time).

The end result is an enjoyable flight of fancy which sits nicely alongside the Federation and Klingon editions thet I've posted previously.

1985: KLINGON SHIP RECOGNITION MANUAL (FASA STAR TREK ROLE PLAYING GAME)

From 1985: Know your enemy (and, eventually, your friend)... the ever so handy KLINGON SHIP RECOGNITION MANUAL, an in-universe supplement created for FASA's STAR TREK THE ROLENPLAYING GAME. 

I've previously published the Federation equivalent and I'll post the Romulan edition in the near future. 

TV and movie budgets, combined with finite screen time, meant that before TNG we hadn't actually seen much of the Klingon space fleet... so FASA's creative team basically made it up. Padding out the scant information presented for the screen-seen craft with copious supplementary 'facts' and a fleet of hitherto unseen vessels that might make game night more interesting. 

I suspect most Trek fans, unless they were also Role Playing fans, were largely oblivious to the existence of these guides as they sold mainly through games outlets rather than comic book stores or traditional book stores. 

1985: BEEB MAGAZINE (POLYSTYLE)

From May 1985: A somewhat unfortunate cover (in retrospect) from Polystyle's BEEB.

This weekly was a belated attempt to get a BBC version of LOOK-IN off the ground, built around BBC talent and any BBC TV show deemed of vague interest to the target audience (hence the choice of deathly dull zoo vet drama ONE BY ONE as one of the strips).

The main differences between the two rivals was that LOOK-IN benefited from being an off-shoot from TV TIMES and therefore owned by the network of ITV local operators. BEEB, on the other hand, was published by Polystyle and not BBC Magazines (the BBC Enterprises offshoot that housed the RADIO TIMES) and therefore more arms length from the corporation. Plus: it tried to be all things to all readers and was pretty dull compared to its main rival and the other adventure weeklies of the time. 

Polystyle had previously published TV COMIC, the long-running weekly which (despite a brief renaissance towards the end) they'd finally crashed into a mountain a year or so earlier.  

LOOK-IN was also able to leverage its ownership to bag regular promo slots across the ITV network and helpful plugs within programmes. BEEB couldn't invade BBC airtime in the same way which left it at a disadvantage. The BBC didn't make the same mistake when it launched FAST FORWARD a few years later, giving the in-house mag copious free airtime (Fast-Fast Forward) in the critical 5.35pm BBC ONE junction sandwiched between the official end of CBBC and the start of NEIGHBOURS (except for viewers in Northern Ireland... who opted away half-way through the final bit of Children's in-vision continuity). 

Launched in late January 1985, it vanished without warning after the 20th issue in early June. 

Other strips included Larson-tastic AUTOMAN, THE TRIPODS (a great deal more exciting than the TV show), BANANAMAN (new strips based on the animated series based on the NUTTY character from rival DC Thompson) and - not for the first or last time - GRANGE HILL. 

1985: THE MOVIE SCENE MAGAZINE ISSUE 1

From 1985: Another entry from the random scans department... the launch issue of the more highbrow British cinema mag THE MOVIE SCENE.

I found this recently and picked it up because it was a title that I had no previous knowledge of. It looks like it ran for nine issues between February 1985 and the following January. It started with a monthly frequency but seems to have paused for several months between the sixth and seventh issues.

1985 GRACE JONES, FROM CONAN THE DESTROYER, ON THE COVER OF THE SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN ISSUE 88 (MARVEL UK)

From February 1985: Grace Jones graces the eye-catching cover of MARVEL UK's THE SAVAGE SWORD OF CONAN THE BARBARIAN magazine issue 88. The still is, of course, from the sequel flick CONAN THE DESTROYER. 

This is from the UK title's final year in print (although the Barbarian would make two further comebacks over the next decade), issue 93 was the last, and it's safe to say that it was probably the feature films that were keeping the venture afloat at this point. 

The MWOM masthead continues to adorn the cover as one of the most incongruous mergers in the history of the Annex of Ideas officially continued. In reality this was the reprints of the X-Men limited series MAGIK and a few feature pages. The reprint, launched in MWOM's lacklustre finale, was presumably chosen because its fantasy fare was a reasonable post-merger fit but it still seems unlikely that Conan's self-contained audience would have been overwhelmed by the sudden invasion of the superhero universe. Did the merger prolong Savage Sword for a few more months... or did it hasten its demise?