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I possess zero doubt that February 1986 saw those of a superstitious persuasion anticipating nothing but disaster.
The 9th of that month was, after all, the moment when Halley's Comet reached its perihelion. Also known as its closest point to the sun. Previous sightings of that body had coincided with such disasters as William the Conqueror smashing up a small town near Hastings. Serious stuff, indeed.
As far as I'm aware, this time, global catastrophe never appeared - although Su Pollard did almost reach Number One on the UK singles chart, with Starting Together.
She was, however, kept off the top spot by Billy Ocean's When the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Going which spent the entire month in a position of chart supremacy.
The British album chart was similarly becalmed, with the pinnacle being held for all of February by Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms.
When it came to film news, it was a highly significant month; as it was there and then that a combination of John Lasseter and Steve Jobs founded Pixar.
Being a space alien, Tharg was, presumably, busy keeping a close eye on the comet but, inside the comic he edited, we were being treated to our usual supply of Halo Jones, Strontium Dog, Sláine, Ace Trucking Co and, of course, Judge Dredd whose current storyline was a thing called The Secret Diary of Adrian Cockroach.
As you can tell, I don't have a lot to say about any of that stuff but it all sounds solid enough and, somehow, gave us a cover with singing chickens on it.
Would a joke about the Dave Clarke Five have been understood in 1986 by 2000AD readers?????
ReplyDeleteIts more likely readers of the progs in '86 would get that than the reference to Cyril Lord Block in the Judge Dredd storyline that ended in prog 455, Paul.
ReplyDeleteSteve, you forgot to include 2000ad Dice Man #1 that came out this month.
https://www.comics.org/issue/673883/
-sean
None of the histories of 2000AD I've read have given any explanation for the crap puns in this month's progs.
ReplyDeleteSeriously, what was going on at editorial at this point? And are THREE Robin Smith covers in a row really the way to increase sales?
Following on from McScotty and Sean's observations, Adrian Mole had been a thing 2-3 years earlier, so not exactly finger-on-the-pulse stuff there either.
Of this month's films I'd go for Pretty In Pink, which kind of shocks me too. But I think The Hitcher is overrated, House was a one-and-done video rental for me, and I never warmed to Hannah & Her Sisters at all, despite liking Woody Allens stuff through the 80s.
And f*** 9 1/2 Weeks.
I actually found the dated references in 2000ad - especially Dredd - to have a kind of charm, Matthew. There was something enjoyable about the awkward fit with a futuristic comic that had some sub-cultural cachet.
ReplyDeleteI mean, Googie Withers Block... I remember thinking when I read that - who the #@€# is Googie Withers? I bet it was John Wagner who came up with that one! That was kind of idiosyncratic. More striking than, say, Frank Zappa Block, which was still somewhat old fashioned, but clearly coming from someone who thought he was being cool. Probably Alan Grant (I expect he did the Steely Dan references too).
Agree about the Robin Smith covers. Presumably if you're the art editor doing them yourself is the easiest way to get what you're after. Dare I suggest the extra money from drawing three covers that month came in handy too...?
-sean
I was anticipating disaster in February 1986 because I realized I was sitting A Levels in four months time and hadn’t exactly stretched myself over the previous 18 months…
ReplyDeletePretty in Pink was ok but it sort of annoyed me how the ‘alternative’ small town America girls were Smiths fans. I believe this is what the young people now call inauthentic.
I agree these covers are duff.
DW
I turned 20 during February 1986 but that probably wasn't the disaster foretold by Halley's Comet. Actually the biggest disaster of Halley's Comet was...not being able to see the bloody thing! It orbits the sun every 75 years but on this occasion the comet's route was so distant from the Earth that it wasn't visible with the naked eye which was a huge disappointment - I'd bought a 1986 Halley's Comet calendar too. Thankfully the Hale-Bopp comet of March 1997 was a spectacular sight which obviously heralded the Tory disaster in the general election a few weeks later!
ReplyDeleteSean, you obviously didn't watch 'Within These Walls' which was an ITV drama series from the '70s set in a women's prison. The governor was played by Googie Withers.
ReplyDeletePhillip, didn't you like 'Brass In Pocket' by The Pretenders? It reached #1 as I recall.
ReplyDeleteGoogie Withers was married to actor John McCallum, who among other things was the producer of the original "Skippy The Bush Kangaroo."
ReplyDeleteColin - I'd forgotten about that! Yes, it's quite good, as is 'Back on the chain gang'. Maybe my abiding impression the tail end of the Pretenders, with 'Just another night in your veins' (?), an example.
ReplyDeletePhillip
Funnily enough Colin, I did not watch Within These Walls.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I did catch quite a bit of Prisoner Cell Block H much later. If women in prison melodramas aren't Australian - or indeed on TV after the pub shuts - I'm not interested.
DW, when you say 'inauthentic', are you referring to American small town girls into the Smiths, or the way they were shown in the film? Not really sure what would be wrong with the former. That kind of thing makes sense as a reaction to the mainstream US culture of the day.
Plus, they'd even have the excuse that the Smiths were exotic. Which the English didn't...
I find that stuff kind of interesting, how - and why - people respond to culture from different places. Like, who would ever have predicted that Morrissey would have a huge Latino fanbase in the US?
(No wonder he doesn't sound off about Trump like he does Britain First, "Tommy Robinson", and all those eejits).
-sean
I noticed Steve is showcasing some anthology magazines from the U.K.
ReplyDeleteI've been reading old issues of Warrior online (https://readcomics.top--I think) and geez, what a magazine.
I've read Moore's Miracleman before, but there was a lotta of other things in that magazine to like. And I'd never read V for Vendetta.
It came out around the time that I was religiously reading Epic, here in the U.S., another great magazine.
I would even occasionally snag a copy of Heavy Metal, if I had a couple extra bucks and a wild hair up my ass.
Now that...was weird.
M.P.
Sean
ReplyDeleteProbably both. In my experience very few girls were into the Smiths during the period they were actually together (1982 to 1987). They sold minimal records in the US, and so I find the high number of Manic Pixie Dream Girls who apparently ‘love’ the Smiths a bit of a stretch. Same with every 1980s fantasy series (Stranger Things and many others) having their loner/outsider/just misunderstood hero loving Joy Division and Bowie’s Heroes. Neither Love will tear us apart or Heroes even made the Billboard 100 in the US, but seemingly half the cool kids had the posters, T-Shirts and all versions of the 12” single.
Not that anyone else should care, but it has always bugged me (minimally). The US readers will now tell me the Smiths were all over US radio, back in the day. Notwithstanding this, I am a John Hughes fan.
Morrissey seemed to gain the Latino fan base around the time I stopped paying attention. I did see him around 1990 and noted a few biker types, who were actually more likely Latinos, wearing leather and bandanas.
DW
That sounds right about the Smiths not being big in the US at the time DW.
ReplyDeleteBut I think theres long been a music Anglophile tendency among some earnest young people. Probably more in college towns though...?
M.P., I was the other way round in my younger years - I read Heavy Metal regularly, and Epic more occasionally (if it had something particularly good in it).
Mind you, I even read Warren's 1984 mag quite often. In my defence, the early ones featured Richard Corben's Mutant World, and the mighty Alex Nino was a regular contributor.
-sean
Sean-
ReplyDeleteThey had Epic in the U.K.?
Now, Heavy Metal was a different deal. It's my understanding that the American version was, ah, more experimental..or graphic...than Metal Hurlant.
It's weird. I would've expected the opposite to be true.
..and who could forget Richard Corben! I'll read anything he drew.
Sadly, the days when you could walk into a drug store or bookstore and see a copy of Eerie on a spinner rack are long past.
M.P.
Yeah, you could get Epic here, M.P. Its Europe, not outer Mongolia.
ReplyDeleteWell, it was Europe then. You could also get - in London at least - Metal Hurlant and assorted other French mags of the era. More before the direct market really took off, back when shops like the Forbidden Planet needed to stock something regularly and there weren't enough English language titles.
By the mid to late 80s you had to go to French language bookshops. Or, you know, France.
I don't know if I'd say Heavy Metal was more 'experimental'. The original American material they published seemed more deliberately obscure maybe? Not the Corben stuff (although quite a bit of that first appeared in French).
Mind you, it's been a few years since I've picked up a new HM. From what I've read, the Kevin 'I liked it so much, I bought the company' Eastman era has been a mixed bag.
-sean
I had no idea it still existed. Once again, I'm surprised.
ReplyDeleteM.P.
...It's just come back to me. That guy, Villeneuve, the French Canadian who directed those Dune movies, sat down for an interview on NPR. I heard it while I was driving around. He mentioned Metal Hurlant as an influence, and even remarked on the difference between the American and French versions.
ReplyDeleteThat's why that was in my head!
It struck me as odd at the time.
Dune wasn't a bad movie, but that goofy kid is rather annoying.
M.P.
The whole look of modern science-fiction came out of Metal Hurlant, M.P.
ReplyDeleteRidley Scott says in interviews it was a big influence on Bladerunner (specifically for instance, that the opening was inspired by the start of Moebius' Long Tomorrow).
In fact he actually employed Moebius - and the rest of Jodorowsky's design team for the original Dune that didn't end up happening - on Alien.
And the look of Avatar clearly came out of old Richard Corben comics. The parts where James Cameron wasn't lifting from old Roger Dean record covers, obviously.
-sean