1987: SUPERNATURALS PREVIEW EDITION (Fleetway)

From October 1987: One of the forgotten toy/ comics combos of the decade: SUPERNATURALS.

I never owned any of these action figures or vehicles myself but - if my memory serves - they used glow-in-the-dark technology as their USP.

Tonka didn't have the wherewithal to launch an animated series (and, even if they did, the market was pretty crowded by this point) so formed a marketing partnership with Fleetway (nee IPC) in the UK to get the premise into a comic.  

Following the tried-and-tested M.A.S.K business model, Fleetway kickstarted interest in the new launch by giving away a preview edition with their other weeklies.  This, of course, doubled as an ambitious plug for the toys themselves on the assumption that far more people would read the preview (and possibly buy the toys) than would actually start buying the new title.  

The preview was bagged free with 2000AD 546 and EAGLE 263.

In addition to the one-shot, the polybag also included a double-sided card insert with a rundown of the various characters featured in the stories.  

The regular fortnightly comic lasted a mere nine issues before Fleetway pulled the plug.  A Holiday Special (possibly published purely to meet any outstanding contractual obligations and to burn-up any existing commissioned inventory) and Adventure Book (reprints from the fortnightly) also appeared.  

The strips never reached it to the States (although they may have been syndicated to other territories) and it's unlikely any copies of the comic ever crossed the Atlantic either.  

1987: SUPERNATURALS US TV ADVERT

I looked back at the free SUPERNATURALS PREVIEW COMIC a few posts back (a lucky 50p Geek Shop find) so I thought I'd follow-up with one of the toy commercials.

This is an American TV spot and - as I recall - the British ones were (slightly?) different.  I don't recall if the footage was the same (they actually manage to make the toys look pretty neat) but I'm almost certain that the British ads featured a short, sung, jingle along the lines of "Soooopernaturals".  It's stuck in my head for decades, despite my almost-total contemporary lack of interest in both the toys and the comics.  That's the power of advertising!

1987: SUPERNATURALS PREVIEW ISSUE (Fleetway)

I picked this up for 50p at the weekend: 2000AD Prog. 546 (31 October 1987) with free SUPER NATURALS 16 page Preview Issue & Fact File, still unopened in their original bag.

Super Naturals was yet another toy tie-in, this time based on a range of figures and vehicles from Tonka Toys.  The advert below, which appeared on the back cover of the preview comic, shows some of the toys in the short-lived range.  Like Hasbro's VISIONARIES, the main gimmick was holograms.

There was no animated TV tie-in, a shortcoming which may have helped seal the early fate of the toy line.

This freebie issue came bagged with copies of 2000AD and EAGLE (also dated 31 October 1987).  The first regular issue went on-sale shortly thereafter.  Subsequent issues appeared fortnightly.

Also tucked into the bag, but not mentioned, was a cardboard Fact File with a brief paragraph on the key characters.

The regular comic followed the format of fellow Fleetway toy tie-in M.A.S.K: a mix of colour and black & white interior pages on semi-glossy paper.  Both enjoyed a standard of printing superior to Fleetway's own in-house weeklies.

The fortnightly obviously failed to make much of an impact and quietly vanished.  A quick search online suggests it only clocked-up nine issues before cancellation.  Management pulled the plug completely and didn't give Super Naturals - ahem - an afterlife in another Fleetway book.

Fleetway did spin-off an ADVENTURE BOOK in early 1988.  I need to unearth my copy, but I believe it featured material left unused when the regular title was cancelled.

PREVIEW EDITION COVER

BAGGED EDITION OF 2000AD

FACT FILE

Front

FACT FILE

Back

PREVIEW EDITION

Back cover