Classic Covers Calendar
From Transformers Wiki
In 1989, as part of its blowout 200th issue, the Transformers comic by Marvel UK introduced the "Classic Covers Calendar". This feature would celebrate the history of the comic by printing the inks of a classic cover with new (uncredited) colours in a two-page spread, centrefold style, paired with a portion of that year's calendar. All the dumb stubbies had to do was print one instalment in the comic once a month. What could go wrong?
What went wrong
January's instalment didn't even spell "calender" correctly. An inauspicious start.
The main problem was that the Classic Covers Calendar was plagued with scheduling issues. With the understanding that contemporary cover dates reflected the seventh day after release, we can estimate each issue's publication date. The pattern emerges that over half of the calendars were published after their corresponding month was already underway, usually about four days late, with the January calendar dropping on the 7th. April's calendar was the first and only instalment to actually release on the first day of the month.
This was followed by calendar for June, published erroneously in place of May (and in what would have been good time, too!) before the May calendar arrived 27 days too late, far beyond its usefulness. July and August's calendars were released in advance of their months beginning, though by September things had once again started turning up slightly belated.
Readers were encouraged to remove their Classic Covers Calendars from their comics to display as posters; this would have been fine if they had kept being printed as regular centrefolds, but by halfway through the year the calendars weren't actually printed in the centre pages. This was because of rising production costs; from issue 225 onwards, the middle eight pages of the comic were printed on a cheaper paper and only in black ink, pushing the calendars outward. This necessitated the comic's editorial give instructions on how to remove and replace staples.[1] A non-zero amount of calendars were printed overleaf from the main strip; pulling them out for use would divorce the comic story from its closing page(s). The calendar would also push other features out of the book, with Dread Tidings getting the chop on five occasions, much to the consternation of its host.
More subjectively, the Classic Covers Calendars were just... not good? The calendars reused the original inks of each cover, paired with new colours by an uncredited artist. Due to the limitations of the printing process, this meant that the new colours were much flatter than the painted front covers that were the norm when they were originally published. Barry Kitson's March page and both of Robin Smith's contributions were particular casualties of the loss of painted details. Naturally, the calendars also removed the trade dress and speech bubbles present on the original covers, altering each image's composition – and even context in some cases, with Starscream's shouted defiance of the festive spirit in "Stargazing" being more of an angry shrug in a snowstorm. (Incidentally, December 31st is presented as being on the same Saturday as December 30th.) Additionally, the variety of covers was lacking, given it was an opportunity to revisit the book's history, with "Headhunt", "Enemy Action!", and "Grudge Match!" each represented twice.
The calendar did not return in 1990.
Gallery
January | February | March | April | June | May | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Calendar | Issue 200 |
Issue 204 |
Issue 208 |
Issue 212 |
Issue 216 |
Issue 220 |
Cover date | January 14, 1989 | February 11, 1989 | March 11, 1989 | April 8, 1989 | May 6, 1989 | June 3, 1989 |
Approx. publication |
January 7, 1989 | February 4, 1989 | March 4, 1989 | April 1, 1989 | April 29, 1989 | May 27, 1989 |
Original cover |
Issue 117, "Hunters" |
Issue 134, "Headhunt" |
Issue 138 "Ladies' Night" |
Issue 152, "Enemy Action!" |
Issue 133, "Headhunt" |
Issue 136, "Grudge Match!" |
Original artist |
Geoff Senior | Lee Sullivan | Barry Kitson | Lee Sullivan | Dave Gibbons | Robin Smith |
July | August | September | October | November | December | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Calendar | Issue 224 |
Issue 229 |
Issue 234 |
Issue 237 |
Issue 243 |
Issue 247 |
Cover date | July 1, 1989 | August 5, 1989 | September 9, 1989 | September 30, 1989 | November 11, 1989 | December 9, 1989 |
Approx. publication |
June 24, 1989 | 29 July, 1989 | September 2, 1989 | September 23, 1989 | November 4, 1989 | December 2, 1989 |
Original cover |
Issue 129, "Buster Witwicky and the Car Wash of Doom" |
Issue 142, "Child's Play" |
Issue 130, "Worlds Apart!" |
Issue 153, "Enemy Action!" |
Issue 135, "Grudge Match!" |
Issue 145, "Stargazing" |
Original artist |
Robin Smith | Dan Reed | Geoff Senior | Lee Sullivan | Jeff Anderson | Barry Kitson |
Notes
- The Combat Colin strip in issue 220 'explains' the June/May gaffe by blaming the evil genius Professor Madprof, whose time machine had mixed up the seasons (riffing on the then-recent mild winter and cold spring weather in real life).
- Re-use your calendars! It might be too late for 2023, but set a reminder for 2034!