ALF (1988) 9

ALF (1988) 9

Writer Michael Gallagher chose the January 1989 issue of ALF to survey the coming year’s calendar.

Billed as the “All Holiday Issue,” readers won’t be familiar with any of them as ALF takes issue with the Tanner family’s obsession with Earth celebrations. To appease their intergalactic guest, patriarch Willie allows ALF to commemorate a Melmacian holiday. ALF chooses Twangle the 23rd, “Eat Off The Floor Day,” celebrated in honor of his home planet’s greatest inventor, Alexander Graham Cracker, the creator of linoleum.

This is followed with a tale of “The Melvoutinary War,” Alf’s version of fight for independence and the final story, “A Tree-Mendous Mistake”, the alien’s version of Arbor Day where celebrants wear a plant for the day.

The comic book ran about the length of the series, four years, with 50 issues while 99 episodes aired on television. ALF proved marginally more successful than My Favorite Martian which series’ creators may have copied the premise from. My Favorite Martian’s comic book only lasted nine issues, though.