A Look Back At STAR COMICS

In 1984 Marvel Comics started their new young readers imprint STAR COMICS! At the time Gold Key, Harvey and other children's publishers had shut down production of their young readers lines so Marvel started up this new imprint to grab those beginning readers. 

The first STAR COMICS book to reach the stands was an adaptation of the movie, The Muppets Take Manhattan in November of 1984. Marvel saw how popular the book could be and decided to not only publish licensed books, but also to create their own new characters in the mold of the old Harvey comics. This led to the creation of Royal Roy, Planet Terry and Wally The Wizard.

Wally The Wizard and Planet Terry would both last 12 issues, while Royal Roy only lasted 6 issues. This was due to a lawsuit by Harvey Comics claiming the character infringed on their creation...Richie Rich! These Marvel made characters were a nice try by the company to start a new universe, but it would be their licensed comics that would leave the biggest impression.

They had some of the best characters that the 80s had to offer all in glorious four color beauty! If you were a kid during this time, chances are they had a title for you. Thundercats, Masters of the Universe, Strawberry Shortcake and so many more! This line holds a very special place in my heart, because...

The first comic I ever remember owning was Heathcliff #16. This was STAR COMICS longest running series at 56 issues. I loved this comic and read it over and over. These comics were great! Unfortunately the STAR COMICS imprint was discontinued in December of 1988. A few of the titles were continued under the Marvel banner, but most were done and never seen again. It was a short run, but damn was it AWESOME! 

In Search of The Goonies Novelization

Every once in a while I like to challenge myself to find a piece of my childhood that will bring back great memories of my amazing childhood. This time around I have found myself on a quest to find and purchase the novelization of my favorite movie of all time...The Goonies! This book search didn't happen just out of the blue, but thanks to some of the guys I follow on Twitter like Shawn Robare of Branded in the 80s fame. I've read some of these adaptations of movies and sometimes they contain altered events and deleted scenes that never made it into the movie. I am hoping this is the case with The Goonies. So I searched online...

but the prices were a little out of my range. After that didn't go as planned I ran another search, this time for used bookstores in my neighborhood. I found 3 of them in the area! It looks like I am now on my own Goonie adventure, but instead of looking for rich stuff I was hoping to uncover a wealth of  fantastic fiction. I have journeyed to 2 of the bookstores so far, but no Goonies novels were to be found. Instead I picked up some other great literary works of art based on a few awesome characters that were popular back in the day. Here is what I scored for under $5!

Alf: Mission To Mars (Checkerboard Press, 1987)

Heathcliff: In Outer Space (Marvel Books, 1985)

My Pet Monster: Goes To School (Western Publishing, 1986)

Pound Puppies: Problem Puppies (Western Publishing, 1986)

Roger Rabbit: Make The World Laugh (Western Publishing, 1988)

TMNT: The Storybook Based On The Movie (Random House, 1990)

Not a bad haul overall. At least I found something to bring home and read to my kids before they head off to bed for the night. But it wasn't what I was looking for, it wasn't The Goonies. Well, I still have one more shop to check for my paperback white whale! Wish me luck and pray I don't end up like Chester Copperpot!

Retro Revival Challenge: First Comic

So this week, participants in the Retro Revival Challenge were asked to write about our first comic or comic book experience. I still remember the first comic I ever received...Heathcliff #16!

My sister bought this for me in 1986 when I was around 5 years old. She also bought my brother a Mickey Mouse comic that same day. She brought them home and read them to us on the couch. I still have this comic packed away somewhere in a long box.

One thing I remember from that book was the advertisements. My sister would read them to us as if they were commercial breaks in the comic. The one that stuck out the most was the ad for Bonkers! Ugly Balls. These balls were just a rip-off of the popular Mad Balls franchise, but man did I want one. I never did get it in the mail, but the search on e-bay has begun!

Another great first in my comic collecting career was my first Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles comic. It was the Archie published Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #20. My Dad bought this for me when I was really sick one time and I could not leave the couch. I remember reading this issue over and over again. Me and my brother were huge Turtle fans at this time. We had the toys, played the games and watched the cartoon, but I had never experienced the Turtles in comic form before my Dad bought me this book. Since then I have completed the Mirage 1st & 2nd series, the Image 3rd series and I'm close to completing the Archie Adventure series and the Mirage 4th series. This was the one that started it all! Thanks Dad.

Check out these other participants and their comic firsts:

Retro Ramblings: Take a trip back to the 90s!