NECA Toony Terrors vs Scooby Doo. The Lost Mysteries

 NECAs Toony Terrors line of figures seem influenced by the art work of ibtrav who meshed classic horror villains into the Scooby Doo style to show us the 'lost mysteries' of mystery inc.

 Though slightly taller than the Scooby Doo action figure line the Toony Terrors do still gel pretty well on display with them.

Tales From The Crypt British Edition

In 1954 the UK saw it's own short lived run of EC comic reprints. Two issues of Tales From The Crypt, one issue of The Haunt of Fear and supposedly one issue of The Vault of Horror though I have yet to find any images of Vault. Much like in american, horror comics in the UK were used as an easy target to blame for children behaving badly so that parents didn't have to face any hard truths about their own parenting ability. As always the government were quick to jump on the bandwagon so that they could appear to be fixing a complex problem but not having to actually do anything other than censoring harmless comic books with no evidence to back up any of the accusations against such material. EC comics were quickly banned in the UK and the few issues that were produced have become rather rare and almost forgotten.

Death's Head

Death's Head returns to Marvel comics with his own title again, returning to his original design. After his introduction in the 80s Marvel UK comic his design was updated for his own series. He then underwent a radical make over with an EXTREME 90s look in the Death's Head II series. It's good to see him back in his original design. The over the top muscular 90s cyborg look is so out.

Ghostbusters EC Comics Homages

IDW homaged EC with their Mars Attacks comics and continue the trend with the cover of Ghostbusters Get Real issue 2. Inspired by The Vault of Horror issue 25.

The Real Ghostbusters animated series also gave a nod to EC with a Weird Science style comic book cover featuring in the episode Mr Sandman, Dream me a Dream. 

Mars Attacks EC Comics Homages

IDW homaged EC comics Weird Science covers, in particular Wally Woods art work with their Mars Attacks First Born covers. Appropriate as Wally Wood helped design the Martian for Mars Attacks and EC comics were an influence in the creation of the original Mars Attacks Topps cards.

The Real Ghostbusters UK Comics

 The 80s saw multiple titles for The Real Ghostbusters, extending all the way into the early 90s.
In 1988 the main weekly The Real Ghostbusters title launched. The title lasted until 1992 with 193 issues

 Various issues were reprinted in bumper sized Collected Comics for 13 issues ending in 1994

 Slimer also had his own short lived comic starting in 1989 to tie in with the changes to the animated series which had by this time become Slimer and The Real Ghostbusters. Slimers solo outing lasted an unlucky 13 issues.

 1989 saw another Slimer-centric title. It's Wicked was a Beano and Dandy style comedy comic but dedicated to supernatural and horror themed characters with Slimer being the face of the series much like Dennis the Menace was to Beano and Desperate Dan was to Dandy. This lasted 11 issues.

A fun spin off from the main Ghostbusters comic was Puzzlebuster. A puzzle magazine themed around the Ghostbusters and included short comic strips featuring the characters.

Conan the Barbarian UK Comics

Conans UK comic career started in 1975 with the weekly released Savage Sword of Conan. This title only lasted 18 issues however and was at the time considered a failure.
In 1977 the title was rebooted with a larger, magazine format on a monthly basis and would eventually become Savage Sword of Conan the Barbarian to tie in with the Arnold Schwarzenegger movie. This run proved more popular, lasting 93 issues till it's end in 1985.

Conan would continue to appear in other titles such as Mighty World of Marvel, Avengers, Valour and Planet of the Apes among others. Almost 20 years after the first release of a UK Conan comic, the character returned in 1994 with Conan the Adventurer. Released to tie in with the then current cartoon series of the same name. This title only lasted a mere 3 issues though before being cancelled without warning.

Indominus Rex Jurassic World Mattel

Jurassic World Brachiosaurus from Mattel Jurassic Park Legacy Collection

Toy Story 4 Mattel 7 Inch Figures

Mattel have released a fantastic line of 7 inch figures based on the characters appearing in Toy Story 4. Looking like they have been taken straight from the screen these figures feature a good range of detail and articulation that will please older collectors as well as being play friendly for children.

Action figures for the previous three films have all been the 5 inch scale so hopefully Mattel will gradually expand the new 7 inch line to include characters from older films in the franchise such as Zurg and Lotsos gang from Toy Story 3.

It would also be great to finally get some decent action figures based on the Battlesaurs from Toy Story That Time Forgot. The figures released for that line in 2015 were only 4 inches tall so didn't even fit scale wise with Mattels previous toy Story figures from the third movie. So much wasted potential as the Battlesaurs were given great designs in the movie short that would appeal to 80s kids who loved Thundercats, He-man and Skeleton Warriors. 

Mattel have really improved upon their efforts from Toy Story 3 and Toy Story That Time Forgot. The third movie figures looked good but had minimal articulation and the Toy Story The Time Forgot figures were quite small and cheap, wasting the potential of the designs. Much like Mattels Jurassic World toyline they really seem to be putting the effort in now to create good quality toys that will appeal to adult collectors and children alike with great sculpts and articulation at a decent size too.

I'd also love to see the inclusion of characters from the nigh on forgotten and underrated Buzz Lightyear of Star Command series. 

Batman Legends Ends

After 15 years and four volumes, the UK Batman Legends comic title has sadly come to and end.

In 2003, almost ten years after the last Batman comic ended in the UK, Panini picked up the license for the character and gave us Batman Legends. The comic was styled like the popular Marvel collectors edition comics Panaini have published in the UK since the mid 90s, collecting three issues of the American comics in each issue, starting with the popular Hush story line. The comic lasted 41 issues till Panini lost the license to Titan Magazines. Titan relaunched the title as Batman Legends volume 2, keeping the same format as Panini had used. 57 issues later the title was relaunched yet again as volume 3. Simply called ‘Batman’ the comic was relaunched to tie in with the release of Dark Knight Rises in cinemas and the launch of the New 52. It primarily reprints the US Batman and Batman and Robin comics. In September 2016 the title was again relaunched in it's 4th volume as Rebirth Batman, later dropping the Rebirth to simply be Batman again. It was during this time that the title, along with all of Titans DC reprints became bi-monthly releases. An indicator of poor sales. Batman having been the only Titan DC reprint series to show any level of success. Others Such as Superman, Supergirl, Wonder Woman, Suicide Squad, Green Arrow etc had all fallen by the wayside after only a few issues each. Even the Batman title had begun to suffer after poor distribution from Titan. A title change in one of the Batman comics had caused it to totally disappear from the W.H Smith database. A mistake Titan never seemed to rectify despite multiple customers informing them that their local Smiths no longer stocked the Batman comic.  The poor reception of most of the recent DC shared universe movies also can't have helped matters. 
Finally, at issue 14 of what was essentially Batman legends volume 4, the title along with all the Titan DC comics were cancelled. 

There was little send off for the DC universe from Titan. Not even an editorial inside the front cover lamenting the end of the series or thanking the customers for their loyalty. This really reflects Titans attitude towards the comics they produce. Little real care or passion seems to go into what they do. With little to no customer interaction on social media or through editorials. 

15 years isn't a bad run for a UK comic, however it is sad to think that there is once again no Batman comic in the UK. There was a span of 9 years between 1994 and 2003 where the UK had no Batman title on the shelves. Hopefully it won't be as long this time before another publisher picks up the license. Perhaps Panini will regain the rights to publish Batman as they had in 2003. 

Mars Attacks Toys and Action Figures

Over the years Mars Attacks has had a few different action figure lines based on the property. The most well known being the Trendmasters line from 1996 that tied in to the Tim Burton movie and was based on the films designs. The was followed up by a wave of Martians based on the 90s Topps comic book designs which were far more EXTREME!!!! with viscious looking fang filled faces, overly muscular bodies and dynamic yet hard to stand poses.
Mezco produced a figure based on the original Topps trading card art work which is at a more adult collector standard to fit in with the likes of NECA toys.

Mars Attacks has also had multiple comic books published over the years. The 90s Topps comic which featured far different designs to try to appeal more to a 90s audience. The in the 2010s IDW picked up the license and gave us comics based far more on the original art and concept. Most recently Dynamite comics has launched their Mars Attacks comic book also using the iconic original designs. 

Masters of the Universe Adventure Magazine

                     Masters of the Universe issue 8 from 1988 published by London Editions.

Weird Science Transforms to Mars Attacks

Bucky O'Hare Toad Troopers

Boss Fight Studios Bucky O'Hare Toad Trooper figures. Each Trooper comes with two heads, interchangable hands, a cap and a helmet so you can mix and match to create different looks and army build a toad empire. The new Boss Fight Studios figures are the same scale as the original Bucky O'Hare action figure line which is a nice touch for displaying together. The Boss Fight figures feature more accurate sculpts to the comic book designs and modern articulation.