Saturday, October 29, 2022

It's Amazing, Spectacular, Web Of!

 I feel like I haven't written enough about comics here of late. Modern superhero comics aren't really much to write home about, although the world of the X-Men is rather good at the moment - rather than follow the usual pattern of reinventing the whole series on an annual basis, they've stuck with a status quo and told a fair few good stories in it. "Immortal X-Men" is especially worth reading, and "X-Men Red" can be pretty good too.

But way back in May I said something here about Amazing Fantasy #1000, saying I'd buy it "however overpriced and minimal its content might be", and I should probably apologise for being unreasonable there (about the 'minimal' thing, at least, and you do get a good amount of entertainment for the eight-dollar price). It's actually really awesome!

72 pages, plus the covers, and containing nine different complete Spider-Man adventures. That's the kind of format that started the popularity of superhero comics in the first place, and the kind of thing Marvel and DC should be doing more of! Modern writers and artists struggle to tell a story in eight pages or so; it's becoming a lost art. But the ones featured in this collection all do a good job of it, and I hugely recommend reading this celebration of Spidey if you haven't seen it yet!

Dan Slott wins the Zoomy prize for the best story of the lot - Spider-Man's sixtieth birthday goes the way his life always goes, but shows along the way what a great guy he really is. Kurt Busiek, with typical brilliance, gives us a sequel to Amazing Fantasy #15 with a twist, and Anthony Falcone and Michael Cho provide a perfect restatement of Spider-Man's core principles. And the others are all great fun as well, letting each writer/artist combination explore their own personal take on the iconic webslinger! Go out and buy it, if you haven't already! It's well worth a read!
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Tuesday, October 25, 2022

When was Thundercats on British TV?

 I did promise to provide full details, so here's the correct viewing order for the classic cartoon Thundercats. That is, the order in which they were shown on British TV - the DVDs claim to have the episodes in the order they were first shown in the USA, but I'm still very doubtful if that's true. In any case, a lot of American showings were in roughly the same order as the BBC showings, and the DVD order unquestionably has some episodes in the wrong sequence ("Trouble With Time" explicitly comes before "Pumm-Ra", for example).

Here's the first series, with dates, times and writers:
16:55Friday 02 January 1987ExodusLeonard Starr
Friday 02 January 1987The Unholy AllianceLeonard Starr
16:35Thursday 08 January 1987BerbilsLeonard Starr
16:30Thursday 15 January 1987The Slaves of Castle Plun-DarrLeonard Starr
16:30Thursday 22 January 1987Trouble With TimeRon Goulart & Julian P. Gardner
16:30Thursday 29 January 1987Pumm-RaJulian P. Gardner
16:35Thursday 05 February 1987The Terror of HammerhandRon Goulart & Julian P. Gardner
16:35Thursday 12 February 1987The Tower of TrapsLeonard Starr
16:35Thursday 19 February 1987The Garden of DelightsBarney Cohen & Julian P. Gardner
16:35Thursday 26 February 1987Mandora - The Evil ChaserWilliam Overgard
16:35Thursday 05 March 1987The Ghost WarriorLeonard Starr
16:35Thursday 12 March 1987The DoomgazeStephen Perry
16:35Thursday 19 March 1987Lord of the SnowsBob Haney
16:35Thursday 26 March 1987The Spaceship Beneath the SandsLeonard Starr
16:35Thursday 02 April 1987The Time CapsulePeter Lawrence
16:35Thursday 09 April 1987The Fireballs of Plun-DarrWilliam Overgard
16:35Thursday 16 April 1987All That GlittersBob Haney
16:35Thursday 23 April 1987Spitting ImageHoward Post
16:35Thursday 30 April 1987MongorPeter Lawrence
16:35Thursday 07 May 1987Return to ThunderaBob Haney
16:35Thursday 14 May 1987Snarf Takes Up the ChallengePeter Lawrence
16:35Thursday 21 May 1987Mandora and the PiratesWilliam Overgard
16:35Thursday 28 May 1987The Crystal QueenLeonard Starr
16:35Thursday 04 June 1987Safari JoeStephen Perry
16:35Thursday 11 June 1987Return of the DrillerHoward Post
[Summer break filled by repeating the 12-part European drama 'Silas']
16:35Thursday 10 September 1987Turmagar the TuskaC. H. Trengove
16:35Thursday 17 September 1987Sixth SensePeter Lawrence
16:35Thursday 24 September 1987Dr DometoneWilliam Overgard
16:35Thursday 01 October 1987The Astral PrisonPeter Lawrence
16:30Thursday 08 October 1987Queen of 8 LegsStephen Perry
16:35Thursday 15 October 1987Dimension DoomBob Haney
16:35Thursday 22 October 1987The Rock GiantPeter Lawrence

Those episodes were repeated on Saturday mornings as part of Going Live (or On The Waterfront, or UP2U) from 9 April to 3 December 1988, and then again on Saturday mornings at 8:35 on BBC1 from 7 October 1989 to 14 April 1990... except, for some reason, for the last four episodes, which went out on Sunday mornings from 7 January to 28 January 1990 (so while the other, earlier episodes, were being shown on Saturdays).

But there was a whole other series' worth of episodes that must have been just lying around at the BBC for years, which finally made it back to the 4:35 timeslot on CBBC in autumn 1990...

16:35Monday 10 September 1990Lion-O's Anointment First Day: The Trial of StrengthLeonard Starr
16:35Monday 17 September 1990Lion-O's Anointment Second Day: The Trial of SpeedLeonard Starr
16:35Monday 24 September 1990Lion-O's Anointment Third Day: The Trial of CunningLeonard Starr
16:35Monday 01 October 1990Lion-O's Anointment Fourth Day: The Trial of Mind PowerLeonard Starr
16:35Monday 08 October 1990Lion-O's Anointment Final Day: The Trial of EvilLeonard Starr
[Strangely enough, "The Rock Giant" was shown again on October 15th]
16:35Monday 22 October 1990The Thunder-CutterWilliam Overgard
16:35Monday 29 October 1990Mechanical PlaguePeter Lawrence
16:35Monday 05 November 1990The DemolisherBob Haney & Peter Lawrence
16:35Monday 12 November 1990Feliner - Part OneStephen Perry
16:35Monday 19 November 1990Feliner - Part TwoStephen Perry
16:35Monday 26 November 1990ExcaliburPeter Lawrence
16:35Monday 03 December 1990Secret of the Ice KingBob Haney
16:35Monday 10 December 1990Sword in a HoleWilliam Overgard
16:35Monday 17 December 1990The WolfratC. H. Trengove
[No Children's BBC on Christmas Eve]
[Or New Year's Eve]
16:35Monday 07 January 1991Good and UglyPeter Lawrence
16:40Monday 14 January 1991Divide and ConquerLee Schneider
16:40Monday 21 January 1991The MicritsBruce Smith
16:35Monday 28 January 1991The Superpower PotionC. H. Trengove
16:35Monday 04 February 1991The Evil Harp of Charr-NinDouglas Bernstein & Denis Markell
16:35Monday 11 February 1991Tight SqueezeStephen Perry
16:35Monday 18 February 1991Monkian's BargainLee Schneider
16:35Monday 25 February 1991Out of SightC. H. Trengove
16:40Monday 04 March 1991Jackalman's RebellionBruce Smith
16:35Monday 11 March 1991The MountainDanny Peary
16:35Monday 18 March 1991Eye of the BeholderKenneth E. Vose
16:35Monday 25 March 1991The Mumm-Ra BerbilJeri Craden
[No Children's BBC on Easter Monday]
16:35Monday 08 April 1991The Trouble With ThunderkittensKimberly B. Morris
16:35Monday 15 April 1991Mumm-RanaBob Haney
16:35Monday 22 April 1991TrappedStephen Perry
16:35Monday 29 April 1991The ShifterMatthew Malach
[No Children's BBC on May Bank Holiday]
16:35Monday 13 May 1991Dream MasterHeather M. Winters & Annabelle Gurwitch
16:35Monday 20 May 1991Fond MemoriesLee Schneider
Not shown at allThe TransferLawrence Dukore & Lee Schneider

"The Transfer" should have come between "Trapped" and "The Shifter", according to similarly-ordered episode guides on the internet. Like most of the last twenty or so episodes, you're not missing much by not seeing it (they seem to have churned out any old rubbish to fill the 65-episode contract, after starting with so many classics), but that's where to watch it if you're going for a full marathon viewing. Which, despite that 'any old rubbish' comment, I heartily recommend that you do! Thundercats Hoooooo!
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