1984: THE A-TEAM TV COMIC Advert (Polystyle)

 

Apparently not even the persuasive power of the Big Man himself could save the long-floundering TV COMIC... but at least he tried.

The British perennial (launched in 1951... predating ITV by some four years) had looked unloved since the previous decade but publisher Polystyle had attempted to breath some new life into a tired looking product by snapping-up the rights to Universal shows like TALES OF THE GOLD MONKEY and THE A-TEAM.  

Ironically, this full-page prompt (which adorned the back page of 1984's THUNDERBIRDS special) probably stayed on the shelves longer than TV COMIC itself did.  The last issue (1,697) appeared in newsagents in June 1984... and copies of the Special presumably remained on sale into September or later.  

Mister T and co. quickly gravitated to their more obvious home... the pages of LOOK-IN (ITV, of course, enjoyed considerable success with the show so it seems surprising that ITV Publications ever allowed the license to go elsewhere) which didn't stop MARVEL UK churning out two specials (in 1985 and 1986) reprinting the US adaptation of the show. 

Polystyle bounced back, ever so briefly, with BEEB the following January.  Their new weekly tried (and failed) to transplant the LOOK-IN formula to the Corporation's stable of shows and presenters.  Not even the powers of David Icke and the improbable combination of Gary Glitter and Roland off Grange Hill could make that one fly...

1985 - BEEB ISSUE 1 (Polystyle)

BEEB was the blink-and-you-missed-it (beginning in January 1985) attempt by publisher Polystyle (who'd recently put the long-terminal TV COMIC out of its prolonged misery) to build a rival to LOOK-IN by - sensibly enough - pulling together a look-alike built around BBC properties.

Beeb (of course, the nickname for the corporation) ticked all the boxes with gushing TV, sports and music coverage, all pegged (wherever possible) to BBC shows likely to appeal to kids (as the cover below shows, that inevitably included BLUE PETER and SATURDAY SUPERSTORE).  It's sobering to think that Janet Ellis was considered enough of a draw to prominently feature on the first cover.  

The comic strips included THE FAMILY NESS, ONE BY ONE (groan), TRIPODS (notoriously, the show that managed to make the occupation of Earth by giant alien war machines seem dull), BANANAMAN (already appearing in DC Thompson's NUTTY but winning a slot here by virtue of the Goodies-voiced cartoon)  and - from the States - the (only) comic strip adaptation of Glen Larson's short-lived AUTOMAN (somehow overlooked in the merchandise gallery on the recent DVD release).  

Beeb closed - without warning - a few months later.  I thought it lasted a mere 12 weeks although online sources quote twenty.  LOOK-IN, launched back in January 1971, barely noticed and soldiered on until 1994.

The BBC didn't make the same mistake again: its next venture into the teens-and-under market, FAST FORWARD (1989-95) was published in-house by BBC Magazines and benefited (until the rules changed) from heavy on-air promotion (Fast-fast-Forward) in the critical junction between the official end of CBBC and the beginning of NEIGHBOURS.

1982: BATTLE OF THE PLANETS in TV COMIC

When the history of British comics is periodically recorded, this is one long-running title (launched in November 1951.  By way of comparison: ITV didn't start until 1955) that tends to get short-shift.  If it's mentioned at all, it tends to drop off the radar in 1979, as soon as it dumped its long-running DOCTOR WHO strip (leaving the way clear for Marvel UK to snap-up the license).  TV COMIC actually soldiered on (for an incredible 1,697 issues) until June 1984.  It's unlikely anyone mourned its passing.  I only very slowly became aware of the fact that I wasn't seeing it on the shelves anymore as I hunted the latest issues from IPC and Marvel UK.

Finding copies post-1980 today is nigh on impossible.  Presumably because so few were selling at the time and, also presumably, not to the sorts of kids that would savour them for future collectors.

Which is a bit of a shame as it appears to have staged a belated attempt to claw back readers from the likes of LOOK-IN (its closest direct rival) by running several (always uncredited) action/ adventure strips alongside the more humorous fare of Popeye, Tom and Jerry and British Telecom's mascot Buzby.

As this August 1982 (number 1600!) shows, they were doing a competent adaptation of BATTLE OF THE PLANETS, a strip that seems to have been entirely overlooked whenever G-Force's comic strip incarnations are discussed.  It's hard to judge from one instalment (and the cover in unintentionally, I assume, hilarious) but it seems to be just as good as Western's admitedly-not-very-good US version (reprinted in the UK in the BOTP Special and annual).

Publisher Polystyle was also savvy enough to sign deals to adapt TALES OF THE GOLD MONKEY, THE A-TEAM (before the strip shuffled across to LOOK-IN) and - ahem - MISTER MERLIN.

They attempted a comeback in January 1985 with a much more blatant Look-In clone, BEEB, built (as the name suggests) around the BBC's roster of programmes and stars (GRANGE HILL, THE TRIPODS) in strips and articles.  It wasn't a success and vanished suddenly after only twenty weeks.  

1983: BATTLE OF THE PLANETS TV COMIC HOLIDAY SPECIAL

Back to 1983 and Zoltar's fiendish and overly-complicated plans to conquer Earth. The about-to-expire weekly TV COMIC was running a weekly BATTLE OF THE PLANETS strip and published this one-shot spin-off, using US reprints.

BOTP aired on BBC ONE for several years at the turn of the decade.  It was, of course, a reworking of Japan's seventies series GATCHAMAN.

The Holiday Special cover is original, not quite on-model, and uncredited.

ENEMY WITHIN originally appeared in Whitman's US BATTLE OF THE PLANETS 7.

ISSUE 7

June 1980

GHOST SHIP originally appeared in Whitman's US BATTLE OF THE PLANETS 6.

ISSUE 6

June 1980