Back to the Future "Biff to the Future" Part 2 Back to the Future: Biff to the Future #2 IDW Story by Bob Gale and Derek Fridolfs Art by Alan Robinson Inks by Alan Robinson & Jaime Castro Colors by Maria Santaolalla Letters by Neil Uyetake Cover A by Alan Robinson February 2017

 

Biff to Hollywood!

 

Notes from the Back to the Future chronology

 

This issue opens on April 4, 1960.

 

Didja Know?

 

Biff to the Future was a six-issue comic book mini-series published by IDW in 2017. It tells the story of the alternate timeline created when Old Biff from 2015 gave his teen self in 1955 the 2000 edition of Gray's Sports Almanac, resulting in the dark 1985 discovered by Doc and Marty in Back to the Future Part II.

Characters appearing or mentioned in this story

Charlton Heston

Biff Tannen

"Jeeves" (Wilton bartender)

Bernie Kessoff (dies in this issue)

Pierre LeFontaine

Marilyn Monroe

Deke Dirken

Buford "Mad Dog" Tannen (mentioned only)

George McFly

Lorraine McFly

Biff's chauffer (unnamed)

John Wayne

Andrew V. McLaglen

Maureen O'Hara

Ronald Reagan

Didja Notice?

Though it doesn't quite say so (for copyright reasons), this issue opens at the 32nd Annual Academy Awards. The 32nd Awards ceremony took place on April 4, 1960 as seen here. It was held at the RKO Pantages Theatre (not RKO Hollywood Theatre as seen here, though it was known informally as the Hollywood Pantages).

The Awards after-party is shown held at the Beverly Wilton. This is a stand-in for real world Beverly Hilton hotel.

On page 1, a reporter states that Ben-Hur won an unprecedented 11 trophies at the awards show. This is true, including Best Picture.

Charlton Heston (1923-2008) won the award for Best Actor that year in Ben-Hur as stated here. On page 3, Biff steals Heston's spotlight at the party and refers to him as Noah "in that Twelve Commanders flick." This is another of Biff's bunglings of common terms and phrases. Heston played Moses, not Noah, in a the 1956 film The Ten Commandments.

On page 4, Biff refers to the bartender at the Wilton party as Jeeves. This refers to the fictional valet Reginald Jeeves who appeared in novels and short stories written by British author P.G. Wodehouse (1881-1975), also appearing in radio, films, and television. The stories were so popular that the name "Jeeves" has come to associated with any valet or butler.

After opening a film studio (Tannen Pictures) with producer Bernie Kessoff, the alleged plan is to make The Biff Tannen Story or a movie starring John Wayne. John Wayne (1907-1979), also known as "the Duke", was a popular American actor, especially known for his roles as tough American cowboys and soldiers.

Poolside at the Beverly Wilton, Biff meets Marilyn Monroe and tells her he's seen her in magazines like Oh LàLà. This is a fictitious adult magazine, a copy of which was seen in Biff's possession in Back to the Future Part II.

On page 8, Bernie hires some actresses for Tannen Pictures under contract before Warner Brothers could.

On page 10, the copy of the Hill Valley Telegram with the "Biffo Box Office" headline has the date of November 6, 1955, even though the scene takes place in 1960! For some reason, this mini-series constantly uses that date on every issue of the Hill Valley Telegram!

On page 10, notice that Lorraine is pregnant with her husband George's baby. It must be her oldest son, Doug McFly.

In panel 2 of page 10, George appears to be watching The Twilight Zone on television while Lorraine prepares dinner (the door floating through space on the TV screen was part of the series' opening sequence, though not until the 1963 season). The Twilight Zone aired 1959-1964.

Page 10 reveals that the McFly's street address is 9303 Lyon Drive. We saw the 9303 house number in Back to the Future, but this is the first mention of the street name (though we knew it was in the Lyon Estates tract).

The one and only film produced by Tannen Pictures is Dreams of a Madman starring Rock Hudson, Judy Garland, Harpo Marx, and Boris Karloff. These were all real world actors. The film, of course, is fake. After the film bombs and is called one of the worst movies ever made, Marilyn leaves Biff.

On page 14, Biff tells Bernie that Marilyn took the last taxi out of Dodge. Biff is mixing his aphorisms, part "last flight out of..." and "get the hell out of Dodge."

    On page 15, Biff tracks down John Wayne at a movie shoot on location. It appears to be a western film directed by a man named Andy. This and the costumes worn by Wayne and his female co-star suggest it is the 1963 film McLintock! That would make the director Andrew V. McLaglen and Wayne's female co-star Maureen O'Hara.

    Biff tells Wayne he wants him to star in the next Tannen Pictures film, The Legend of "Mad Dog" Tannen. "Mad Dog" Tannen, of course, is Biff's ancestor of the wild west seen in Back to the Future Part III.

On page 16, the line Wayne delivers after decking Biff, "Pilgrim, you caused a lot of trouble this morning," is a line from McLintock!

Also on page 16, Biff's put-down by the Duke makes it to the cover of the Daily Scandal. This is a fictitious tabloid newspaper.

    On page 17, the actor Biff meets at the bar after his altercation with John Wayne is Ronald Reagan (1911-2004), who would go on to a political career and even become President of the United States in our timeline. In the alternate Biff-dominated timeline, Richard Nixon remains president somehow for four terms and planning to run for a fifth in the alternate 1985 of Back to the Future Part II.

    The Reagan films Biff mentions are 1951's Bedtime for Bonzo (with the chimp) and 1954's Cattle Queen of Montana. Biff's parting quote to Reagan "Lose one for the Gripper," was really "Win one for the Gipper" from Reagan's 1940 sports film, Knute Rockne, All American.

    On page 20, the Los Angeles Times has the headline announcing Bernie's death. The date on the paper is August 6, 1962. In reality, this is the date the Times had the headline about Marilyn Monroe's death. It's possible Marilyn did not die in the Biff timeline!

    The Times banner also has "KTTV (Channel 11)" on it. This was a local Los Angeles television station owned by the parent company of the Times at the time. KTTV is currently the west coast flagship station of the Fox Network.