Welcome back to Rotten Ink. The Holiday Season is in full swing as the air has that chill and Jack Frost is really nipping at our noses, so I say we grab a hot chocolate and put another log on the fire as we need to talk about another iconic hero character from my youth that was a star in comics, cartoons, toys and even video games. This hero is the one and only Bucky O’Hare who was very popular for a very short time in the 1990’s. I am sure many of you readers grew up being a fan of Bucky O’Hare, and this update I am sure will flood you with memories of reading the comics, watching the cartoon, playing with the action figures as well as playing the video game and that is a good thing as the holiday season should make you feel like a kid again! So with that, let’s travel to space and see what Bucky O’Hare and his crew have in store for us this winter’s day.

Bucky O’Hare is a character that was created by the team of Larry Hama and Michael Golden and who made his debut in 1984 in the Continuity Comic series called “Echo Of Futurepast” and would appear in that series throughout its run even gracing the cover a few times. And Bucky’s adventures in that series were a hit for readers who enjoyed his space themed adventures as the popularity of Star Wars and Star Trek was still very high around this time. And when Echo Of Futurepast came to an end after 9 issues in 1986, the character would finally get his own comic series in 1991 in order to help promote the character who was now getting his own cartoon, toys and merchandise, and it was clear that around this time toymakers were looking to cash in on the big success of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as they had taken the world of comics, toys and cartoons by storm and was making many companies big money. Bucky O’Hare was already a comic star way before the TMNT were around, and he was a wise choice to try capture some of that talking fighting animal money. But while Bucky O’Hare was able to very briefly capture a big following, he quickly faded away and his comic series, cartoon and figures all came to an end and his popularity started to fade. But in some positive news, Bucky O’Hare stayed popular in England longer, and the comic series released alongside the cartoon ran for 20 issues! But while Bucky O’Hare never was able to climb to the popularity of the TMNT nor was he ever able to make that impact in culture like they did, he still to this day has a very loyal following for those who grew up with him and his crew and this to me makes Bucky a true icon of the mid 80’s and early 90’s in both cartoon and toys.

Bucky O’Hare And The Toad Wars! started in 1991 and would be released by Claster Television for First Run Syndication and would run for one season and a total of thirteen 30 minute episodes. For this series Jason Michas voiced Bucky O’Hare, and Jay Brazeau would voice Toad Air Marshall, the main villain of the series behind KOMPLEX, the computer program that would be voiced by Long John Baldry. And I should also note that Marvel Productions was a part of this cartoon series production as well, and it’s odd that Marvel Comics never did a comic series for the cartoon as it would have made a great series for Star Comics if they would have kept that branch running. The cartoon would followed Bucky O’Hare and his crew as they would be at battle with the Toads, and crazy during this battle among the stars Earth kid Willy DuWitt who travels via portals to help in these battles. The cartoon when put out on home media would only be released on VHS here in America, and sadly not all the episodes would get an official release making fans have to get the series on the Grey Market…but overseas the complete series would get a DVD release. And when the episodes aired, I watched every episode during its run as I was a fan of this fun and silly cartoon, and a cool fun fact the first episode aired on my 12^th Birthday! This cartoon was also a big hit at school as almost all my friends watched it, just like most of us also had the action figures. While the cartoon was very short lived, it made an impact on the kids of the 90’s as it was very popular at least in Waynesville, Ohio in the early 90’s.

In 1992 and after the cartoon series would come to an end, Bucky O’Hare made the leap into the world of video games, and more importantly into the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES), as a very fun side scrolling action game. The game would be released by Konami and would have you play as Bucky O’Hare as well as many members of his crew on a quest to bring down the Toads and the game offers a pretty good challenge for players and when released was pretty popular among my group of friends as many of them watched the cartoon and collected the action figures. The game is one that I own and have played over the years and even beat when I was a teenager. Now the game is considered rare and sells for around $120-$200 loose and depending on shape. Also I should say that Bucky O’Hare has gotten the Konami Handheld game treatment and also had a arcade cabinet version that could have had up to 4 players going at once. So say what you will about Bucky O’Hare now, but in the early 90’s he was super popular.

Back in 1991 when the cartoon was going strong, Bucky O’Hare and his crew would of course be made into action figures and they were done by Hasbro who at the time was a very iconic toy company as over the years they have done such series as Transformers, Pound Puppies, Cabbage Patch Kids, Battle Beasts, M.A.S.K., G.I. Joe, Inhumanoids, WWF Superstars, Rom The Space Knight and so many more. The figures would be in scale with the Playmates TMNT figures and would feature Bucky O’Hare and his crew members Dead-Eye Duck, Willy DuWitt, Commander Dogstar, Bruiser and AF.C. Blinky and the baddies in the series included Toad Air Marshall, Al Negator, Storm Toad Trooper and Toadborg. The series would also have two vehicles released, the Toad Croaker and the Toad Double Bubble. The series would only last one wave and I can remember them being on the shelves at Hills and Hearts as a kid. I had Bucky and a Toad Trooper as a kid and I can remember my friend Jeremy having way more of them. I always wanted Bruiser but could never find him, as I can remember I even asked for him for Christmas one year. And as I have grown up, I have gotten more of these figures as I really do like the Hasbro Bucky O’Hare figures as I think they did a great job on these figures and capture the look of the characters really well. So how many of you readers grew up with these figures? Check out the middle picture below as it shows what figures were supposed to be in Wave 2 and that included for the Good Guys, a new version of Bucky, Jenny, Pit Stop Pete, Rumble Bee and Kamikaze Kamo! And for the Baddies it would have added Total Terror Toad and Sly Lee-Zard.

Bucky O’Hare once the cartoon and action figures was released also had a flood of merchandise released for fans to collect over the years and this includes Home Media, Shits, Coloring Books, Lunch Box, Watch, Stickers, Video Games, Colorforms, Sleepingbags, Shoes, Watches, Puzzles, Halloween Costumes among other cool items for fans to collect and add to their collections. But sadly because the cartoon did not last very long nor did the toy series the merchandise would stop being made pretty fast. But thanks to Bucky O’Hare building a cult following over the years newer merchandise has been made about him showing that classic character never truly go away. And growing up, I had the toys, coloring books as well as the NES Game.

It’s crazy to think that in 2024 that Bucky O’Hare is not as popular of a character for the days youth and to be honest he pretty much just has a following with those kids of the 80’s and 90’s who grew up reading his comics as and watched his cartoon. But to be honest I did see a young lady that came into my job buy Bucky O’Hare toys and she was super happy to get them, so maybe the modern generation will discover and become fans of him. It is now time for us to get to the review part of this update and I would like to thank both Game Swap Kettering and Lone Star Comics for having these issues in stock an making this update possible. I would also like to remind you that I grade these comics on a star scale of 1 to 4 and am looking for how well the comics stay to the source material, its entertainment value and its art and story. So if you are ready, let’s head to space and watch as Bucky and his crew croak some Toads!

Bucky O’Hare # 1   **1/2
Released in 1991     Cover Price $2.00     Continuity Comics     # 1 of 5

A fleet of Toad airships are on the tail of Bucky O’Hare and his crew opening fire on them and causing Bucky to have to give the order for his crew to get to their battle stations. As Bucky and Jenny are in the cockpit Dead-Eye Duck mans the guns as Blinky and Bruce are in the engine room trying to make fast repairs. The Toads make a direct hit and this kills Bruce The Ape and leaves the ship in really bad shape and as Dead-Eye Duck and opens fire back at the Toads, Bucky rushes to the engine room to see if he can help Blinky get it fixed so they can high tail it out of the battle, but there is no time and they must make a decision fast to try it not knowing what will come of pushing the ship to warp drive. Meanwhile on Earth in the city of San Francisco were young Willy DuWitt is working on his science fair project as the youngster loves science but seems to get picked on by fellow kids for being to smart and even his own parents give him a hard time as they are hippies and want him to protest the world…and all he wants to do is work on science stuff! Back in space Bucky makes the decision to flip the switch to warp just as Willy turns on his experiment on Earth and something big happens!

This first issue is a very fun read and drops us right in the middle of the action as Bucky and his crew are under attack and must make a decision that could kill them all…but they are already pretty much dead if they don’t choose, so it’s very much a double edged sword. And at the same time super smart Earth kid Willy is working on a science fair project that seems to match up with Bucky’s warp drive issue and you know this is leading to the meeting of the minds! Bucky O’Hare is a great Captain and his crew clearly respect him and its crazy that he finds himself in a situation that could leave them all dead all because the Toads hate all things mammal! He clearly trusts his right hand gal Jenny and respects the heck out of the shooting skill of Dead-Eye Duck and even values the words of Blinky his robot friend. Poor Bruce the ape is killed dead pretty early in the issue when he takes a blast, and I will say Bucky does not seem too sad about the loss. The Toads seem to be having fun tormenting Bucky’s crew and yet also know that they are a threat and are very skilled. The issue is filled with lots of spaceship fighting action as well as drama as Bucky O’Hare must think quick on what to do to try and save his crews life, and really you can tell it’s very stressful for him. Poor Willy DuWitt is a youngster who is smart and loves science, but seems to not be able to catch a break in the world as he is mocked and picked on by his fellow youngsters and even his own parents don’t understand him as they are protesting hippies who want him to join their causes. Of course my favorite character in this issue is Bucky O’Hare cause he is a true hero, but if I had to choose another sidekick character I would say Dead-Eye Duck cause he seems to love to kill Toads and is very skilled with his gun. The cover for this issue is fun and showcases the moment Bucky and his gang meeting Willy for the first time and is eye catching. The interior artwork is done by Michael Golden and is really solid stuff and I dig the way he draws Bucky O’Hare as well as all the ships. Over all a great first issue that does it’s best to introduce the readers to the cast and starts off the story running, and with a cool cliffhanger ending makes me want to see what’s next!

Bucky O’Hare # 2   ***
Released in 1991     Cover Price $2.00     Continuity Comics     # 2 of 5

In the room of Will DuWitt, things get really dark and very odd as the darkness is like a gelatin outside his windows and when he hears a noise he heads towards it as on the ship of Bucky O’Hare a gelatin like doorway that leads to the bedroom door of Willy appears and as they investigate Bucky and his crew run into Willy and everyone is shocked and slightly scarred as it’s clear a dimension has been crossed and has caused chaos in both dimensions. Willy and Blinky figure out that the the science project and their damaged engine warp is what caused this rift and is also somehow protecting Bucky’s ship from the Toads attacks. This causes the Toads to leave to get bigger ships to attack with and Willy comes aboard and says that he can build them a new warp unit that way they can get away safely as Willy heads back to his room for parts he is followed by Bucky and Dead-Eye as Jenny and Blinky stay behind to guard the ship and the portal. As Willy gathers the parts the Mother Toad Ship appears and they storm the ship and take Jenny hostage, a short time later Blinky appears and tells Bucky of the attack and capture and this causing Bucky to spring into action! Now Bucky O’Hare along with Dead-Eye Duck, Blinky and Willy DuWitt band together with one cause and that is to save Jenny from the Toads.

This second issue is lots of fun as the plot has Bucky meeting Earth kid Willy who is their only hope to fix their warp drive and to save their butts from being blown up, but also we get the drama of Jenny being kidnapped by the Toads! Bucky O’Hare finds himself now being faced with having to trust a young Earth kid with the maintenance of his ship as well as that he is not really a spy or a danger to his crew, as they kind of just bump into each other thanks to a weird dimension portal door. And like any good Captain Bucky also makes sure to get his crew to their stations and when one is kidnapped and taken he has a call to arms to rescue her. Willy DuWitt himself as well shows that he is noble as he jumps right in to help the crew by repairing the engine and as well going with them to fight the Toads to rescue Jenny. We also learn for sure that Bucky and his crew are out numbered by the Toads who are doing what they do on the orders of Toad Commander who wants all furry lives to come to an end in their galaxy. The issue also has more ship battles to add to the action and we learn that when the dimension door is open the ship can be protected by a force field of time and dimension pieces. The cover for this issue is pretty cool and has Bucky and his friends in a small ship trying to fight off the Toads…this does not happen in this issue but it’s still a great cover. The interior art is once more done by Michael Golden and is very solid work and fitting for the subject that is Bucky O’Hare. I feel that the second issue is slightly better than the first as we are now into the heart of the story while issue one was more of a introduction to our cast of good guy characters. So now lets see what issue three has in store for us, and if Bucky is able to save Jenny and croak some Toads in the next issue!

Bucky O’Hare # 3   **1/2
Released in 1991     Cover Price $2.00     Continuity Comics     # 3 of 5

Bucky O’Hare along with Willy, Blinky and Dead-Eye are back on their ship and are trying to track down the Toad Mother Ship so that they can come up with a plan in order to save Jenny…but they are having to luck! Willy DuWitt asks for a history lesson on the Toads and Blinky is happy to help as he projects it and Willy learns that the Toads were a peaceful race until they became greedy for goods and made the mistake of creating a super computer called Komplex that ended up mind controlling all the Toads and turned them into it’s army of foot soldiers with the goal to conquer the galaxy. And that the mammals of the galaxy is why Bucky O’Hare and his crew was created to fight back and stop them from killing as well as stealing the planets they conquered natural resources. And soon Dead-Eye Duck spots the ship that is feeding off a small planet for energy, and Bucky lands the ship on the other side of the planet and they wait for Jenny who uses her powers to beat the heck out of the Toads and makes her way to her rescue.

What a fun issue as the plot of this one is mostly about what has caused the Toads to turn into such a war hungry and evil race and it all came down to them being very greedy and trying to but all types of things and trusting a mega computer to solve all their issues…but the computer in turn just takes over their brain and makes them fighters for it’s own conquest for power. With the smaller plot being the rescue of Jenny who we learn is one badass lady as she has some very powerful powers an uses them in order to knock out a wave of Toads before calmly walking out of the ship. I also like that in this issue we see Willy DuWitt get his space costume that is really a Berserker Baboon’s outfit and that is a good thing as we also find out that Toads fear the Baboons! This issue also gives us our first look at Toad Commander who is the one threatening and questioning Jenny when she was a prisoner. While this is a good issue it really is more of a history lesson and the action is slowed way down and the rescue of Jenny happens way to fast, but while it is kind of a slow issue the fact we get more of a background on the world the comic series is building makes it a very solid read. The one thing that I have to say is that we are now three issues into a comic series that only ran for five issues and the biggest letdown this far is that we have not gotten to see Bucky O’Hare kick some Toad ass in hand to hand or even gun to gun as of yet. The cover for this issue is the best so far and has Bucky and his crew being surrounded by the Toads and is super eye-catching. And I am sure you guessed it Michael Golden once more did the interior art and like before it’s great stuff. With that lets see what issue four has in store for us, and if we finally get to see Bucky in action and bring down some Toads!

Bucky O’Hare # 4   **1/2
Released in 1991     Cover Price $2.00.    Continuity Comics    # 4 of 5

On this unknown planet Bucky O’Hare and Blinky must find the person in charge to sign some papers giving them permission to fight against the Toads while Dead-Eye Duck and Willy get on a jet scooter to scope out the Toad Mega Ship and see if they can find Jenny. As Bucky meets the strange owner of the planet a Mouse like creature who lives in a utopia room, Dead-Eye and Willy have Toad Fighter Ships aware they are there and Jenny is trying to find her way off the massive ship without exposing to much of her powers. Dead-Eye and Willy are in deep trouble an they come up with an idea to crash land inside the Toad Mega Ship as this would make it so the Toad Fighters can not open fire on them, and in horror Jenny watches as her friends come busting in as does Bucky who can see what is going on thanks to a magic mystical ball that the mouse has.

What a cliffhanger as this issue leaves you hanging on wither or not Dead-Eye Duck and Willy DuWitt survive their crash landing inside the massive Toad Ship all the while their friends can not do a thing to help them! We also get a look at Komplex who has now made himself a robotic body and is watching Jenny as he is intrigued by her witch like powers and wants to learn all he can about her and it. Bucky O’Hare and Blinky are stuck this issue dealing with the odd ball owner of the planet who will not grant them permission to fight, but does spend his time trying to give them things and even allows them to see what their friends are doing. Commander Toad wakes up after being knocked out and is still talking about his fear of Baboons and when he sees the suit on Willy he gets scared and sends out tons of Toad Troopers to protect the ship. Dead-Eye Duck does his best to try and get he and Willy out of trouble and once more shows that he has skills as he is able to out move the Toad Ships as well as at least make it in once piece to crash land inside the big Toad ship. While I enjoyed this issue I once more have to point out that we get a chase in ships, but no action as Bucky himself is trying to get a paper signed instead of fighting alongside his crew to rescue one of his own that is in danger…just very odd as the main hero in this series this far has gotten to do very little. The cover is ok and once more just showcases a space ship chase, and the interior art by Golden is good. It is crazy to think that we only have one more issue to go an this far the creative team has kind of just putted along and have yet to showcase what Bucky O’Hare and his team can do, so lets hope the final issue gives us the action we need.

Bucky O’Hare # 5   **1/2
Released in 1992     Cover Price $2.00     Continuity Comics    # 5 of 5

Bucky O’Hare and Blinky soon find that the Mouse has control of reality and that the lavish utopia they were just in was not real, while Dead-Eye and Willy survive the crash but the suit of Willy’s has caught fire and Dead-Eye shoots him with foam to put the flames out. The Toad Troopers show up just in time to see Willy who looks like a Baboon be foaming around his mouth and they think he is mad and the Troopers run away in fear. The Toad Commander ends up sending a Void-Droid out in order to kill Dead-Eye and Willy who are looking for Jenny as well as a way out, and the Void-Droid is very dangerous…but Willy is able to destroy it with one shot from his squirt gun! Shortly after Dead-Eye and Willy find Jenny and the three end up in a workshop an see a Toad Ship and know that this is their way to escape. Meanwhile Mouse is flying Bucky and Blinky on a rock to their friends all the while talking about the universe and it’s secrets. While inside Toad Troopers are on the heels of Dead-Eye and friends as we end on that cliffhanger.

Whelp, as you can see, this comic series just never got finished as the terrible Continuity Comics never released the rest that was just a reprints of a over priced 1986 Graphic Novel that was around 48 pages that they charged $40.00 for. And if Continuity didn’t fill every issue with a mountain of ads this series could have been fully released. And I am not sure why the comic was not finished, but if I had to guess maybe low sales or even just pure laziness from the company. The plot of this issue has Dead-Eye and Willy surviving the crash inside the Toad Ship and finding Jenny all the while Bucky is stuck with the Mouse who just babbles on about how smart they are and the secrets of the universe…like Bucky never makes it to the Toad Ship in this issue…so silly. One part of the comic that was really awesome was the Toad Troopers running in fear when they think Willy DuWitt is a rabid baboon due to the foam he was sprayed with to put out the flames as his suit was on fire. I feel that if you were a reader who was a big fan of Bucky O’Hare or even just discovered the character thanks to the toys and cartoon this unfinished mini series did the character dirty as he never gets to showcase why he is such a bad ass green fur rabbit captain from outer space. As this whole series besides the first issue they do not showcase him as the hero we the fans know he is. Plus I feel that they make Dead-Eye Duck, Jenny, Blinky and Willy DuWitt seem more like the heroes as throughout the five issues they see more action and bring down more Toads than Bucky does. While the pacing is off from issue to issue it makes sense as the comics are just taken from the old Graphic Novel and it was clear Continuity put zero time and care into these single issue reprints as they took this chance just to over kill the comics with ads and the same ads in almost every issue at that. The cover for this issue is really cool and shows Bucky, Dead-Eye and Willy all looking like they are ready for action as a portal is behind them. The whole comic series interior art was done by Michael Golden and his style is pretty cool and very fitting as I feel he draws not only Bucky O’Hare great but also space in general. I really did enjoy this series up to the unfinished end and think that Bucky O’Hare deserved better than how Continuity Comics treated him and that publisher would close up in 1994 after many years of legal issues, poor sales and readers pointing out just how poorly their comics were done. To sum it up a fun read for sure but unfairly treated by a terrible publisher who clearly had no respect for their readers nor creators. Checkout the artwork below to see the style use by Golden in this series.

Bucky O’Hare was a great character who entertained his fans through the 1980’s and early 1990’s, and some could say even to this day as new fans have found his comics, cartoon and toys and have discovered just how cool he and his crew are. I really wish that at the time of his cartoon’s release that a company like Marvel Comics or Archie Comics would have gotten the comic rights as I truly think that they would have done him justice and would have more than likely given a true final issue and not pulled the plug before the story was even finished. And for those who have never read or watched Bucky O’Hare, give it a shot this holiday season and see if you become a fan. Well with that, our Bucky update has come to an end and our next update will be our big Christmas Eve one and will be about the Greek God Zeus! So until next time, read a comic or three, watch a film or two and as always support your local Horror Host. See you next update as we spend some time on Mount Olympus with the father of such heroes as Hercules!