Supplements
The supplements to Buster came in two
different types. They were either pullouts that were ready straight away, or cut out
and keep collected over a period of weeks.
The most popular were the Guy Fawkes and Hallowe'en masks, though to start with Guy
Fawkes mask were delivered as free gifts. From 1989, they were stapled into
the centre pages and every year the last edition of October and first of November
were the Hallowe'en and Guy Fawkes Masks.
The first of the cut out and keep books was Buster's Bonus Joke Book, added to the
comic between 5th and 30th January 1980. However it wasn't until 1992 that there was
a boom in these special additions to the comic. Throughout May 1992 you could collect
the Top of the Class Puzzle Challenge Booklet and in October the same year JEO
produced Cliff Hanger's Adventure Book.
Fast Fun Joke Book and Summer Fun Book, 1993
Starting in March 1988, Buster gave us The
Fast Fun Joke Book (running for every issue that month) which was reprinted again in between
the 15th May and 5th June 1993. The reprint was followed a few weeks later (17th July to 4th
September) by the first Summer Fun book, a selection of puzzles and jokes to pass the
summer months.
The Summer Fun book was popular, and the following year it returned, this time
published earlier (1st July - 19th August) to ensure it was completed by mid
summer.
Summer Fun Book 1994
The final cut out and keep book was the 35th Anniversary
over four issues from 9th June 1995 this special collection of Buster celebrated 35
years of fun. It played back some of the classic Buster strips of the past as well as
looking at how Buster has changed over the years.
Buster's Birthday Special 1995
The final parts worth mentioning here are the Calendars.
In 1994 & 1996 (though oddly enough by my reckoning not 1995) Buster gave us a
pull out calendar. The 1996 version even marked the fortnighly Monday's that Buster
came out so what we wouldn't forget. Of course the release day changed midway through
the year from a Saturday to a Wednesday, so the calendar became confusing after a
while!
Of course, it wasn't all cut out and collect. For those of little patience there
were several one off pullouts in the comic. Whilst I can't speak for the earlier
decades (though all information gratefully recieved Webmaster@bustercomic.co.uk) The 1990s
were not only full of Hallowe'en and Guy Fawkes masks.
There were many posters from Dr. Zitbag and Tom Thug. Additionally, in 1993 Buster
gave us two Badtime Bedtime Stories.
The Badtime Bedtime Series of
1993
Co-inciding with the first part of the 1996 calendar, Buster also gave us Joker's
Joke Book.
Joker's Joke Book from
1996
Finally, a bonus mention to Oink! The comic itself, launched
in May 1986 but the week before its release we got a special pullout preview supplied
in The Buster Comic! Not quite a supplement I know - but you could pull it out, so I
thought I'd give it a mention!
My collection only stems back to the early nineties, but if you can provide more
insert info, let me know Webmaster@bustercomic.co.uk
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