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 The Angels: Lady Penelope, 1967-68
From the autumn of 1967, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons was the new Gerry Anderson phenomenon, unleashed on the media in a wave of publicity to rival that of Thunderbirds. For readers of Lady Penelope though, The Angels was already an established strip and was possibly the most successful lead-in to the series.
By now, the five girl pilots had been fairly well established as characters, and with the debut of Captain Scarlet on both television and in TV Century 21, a series of one-page features called Meet The Angels appeared in Lady Penelope to give readers full biographies of each, and some background to Spectrum, the other characters, and the Mysterons. Most of these were reworkings of information written for the Captain Scarlet annual, published around the same time. Equally, The Angels were given a fair share of cover space denied earlier tie-in Marina - Girl of the Sea.
Ironically, for a strip which had originally been quite hard-hitting and adventurous, the first stories after the Angels officially join Spectrum come over as a little tame. Perhaps it was felt that having both the Captain Scarlet and The Angels strips running simultaneous battles with the Mysterons would be too confusing. So events seem to take place between the missions to counter their threats, and offer another unseen side to the Spectrum organisation.
 The first story concerning Harmony's uncle is not too bad, and seems a reworking of ideals in earlier strips where secrecy concerning Spectrum technology is paramount. But then come two tales which are a little too cosy by comparison...
Checkers the kitten is small, furry and cute (and we defy anyone who sees Jon Davis' depiction not to go 'aawwww'...) but left to his own devices wrecks more havoc on Cloudbase than the Mysterons ever seemed to manage. It is a tale that just does not fit with the series the strip originated from, and perhaps the readership as well. But one has to marvel at the scene of Captain Grey pulling his pistol out to hunt out the poor young feline! After another (thankfully) short story where Melody's sister goes for a joyride in her Angel plane, the final three stories take flight again (no pun intended) and Captain Black joins the strip as regular villain. This unfortunately highlights the problem the strip had previously in finding adequate adversaries for the Angels, outside the format of the series, with only female spy Medusa from the earlier strips coming close as an equal.
Increased to two pages, though sadly only one in colour for a couple of months before it became wholly monochrome, the strip finally came of age.
The Angels had encountered nosey reporters before, but this time Sullivan (no prizes for guessing the inspiration for the name!) is an unwitting pawn of the Mysterons, until he blows his cover and becomes one of their agents. Perhaps sensitive to the slightly squeamish girl readers, this story is not as bloodthirsty as it sounds, but it comes close. Having Rhapsody near to death after a crash (a clever plot device to get her off Cloudbase to become a target) is knuckle-biting enough but Sullivan himself is run down by Black's car in one of the more graphic depictions of violent death in a girls' comic. This is the first and only incident of retrometabolism in The Angels, and perhaps it was felt the strip had gone too far the other way. This does not, however, stop the follow-up being a classic of the genre, and is all the better for having to circumvent the issue.
 With the new realistically proportioned puppets having less mobility, the television Captain Scarlet used suspense as its strength, with action more hardware orientated. The machines were presumably of less interest to girls so the story where Destiny's sister Monique is abducted by Captain Black ups the tension to a more personal level. Similar stories were tried in the Captain Scarlet strip in TV21, with the title hero's uncle and cousin becoming Mysteron agents, but their fates are not really dwelt upon. The use of asteroid dust blocking the Mysteron signals for a period is an inspired plot device for keeping Monique human, making for another nail-biting finale when this is realised.
Even though Captain Black returns in the last story, this is slightly more whimsical with another troublesome girl pilot vying to join the Angels. This begs the question of how secret Spectrum are supposed to be, though it could be argued the Angels' popularity as a air display team was still hanging around! While there is a great finale air battle, Toshi proves a right pain in the aileron, in a longer variation on the theme of Melody's sister going for an Angel joyride. However, one cannot help sharing a wry smile with Lieutenant Green as the girl frustrates Colonel White. It is a nice and reasonably welcome humanising element to Spectrum that would have been out of place in the more macho TV21, and to a degree the television series.
The Angels strip guide - part two
Story Five (aka The Angels start work in earnest!)
Writer: Angus Allan. Artist: Jon Davis. 1 page, colour.
Part 1: Lady Penelope issue 89, dated 30 September 1967
In the Japanese capital, Tokyo, an old man relaxes... but he is rudely disturbed!
Two men drag the man, Tai Kwan, away as a third leaves a note which reads 'Harmony can resolve discord. Kimoto.' Three days later on Cloudbase, Colonel White passes the note to Harmony Angel. Tai Kwan is her uncle, and she and Melody Angel are despatched to investigate. The two Angels approach the volcanic Kimoto Island, and decide to take a closer look, but then they loose control and the planes are sucked towards the crater...
Part 2: Lady Penelope issue 90, dated 07 October 1967
The Angels are Threatened!
Inside the crater, the cause is apparent - the walls are like a giant vacuum cleaner, and the planes have been sucked in like dust! Harmony tries to call for help but a large oriental appears, flanked by armed guards, telling them all radio communication is jammed. The man, Mako - which means shark - wants the secrets of the Angel craft to become a leading tycoon in air industry. The two Angels refuse to help, and Melody threatens to self destruct the planes. But then Uncle Tai is brought forward, and Mako threatens to kill him...
Part 3: Lady Penelope issue 91, dated 14 October 1967
The Angels have no choice!
As a swordsman raises his blade over Tai's head, Mako reiterates his threat. Meanwhile, Colonel White is concerned with the lost of contact, and the other three Angels are launched to search. Harmony and Melody have no choice bu to leave their planes but the cockpits seal after them, and cannot be opened without their voice patterns. Mako throws Harmony aside but by now the other Angels have arrived. The order to activate the air blast is given...
Part 4: Lady Penelope issue 92, dated 21 October 1967
The Challenge!
The Angels dive out of the air blast to make a safe landing on the ocean. While Symphony stays with the planes, Rhapsody and Destiny start the rocky climb up the side of the crater. Inside, Mako believes he has dealt with the intruders, and Harmony and Melody are forced to deactivate the voice operated locks to their cockpits. Put in a cell with Tai Kwan, the girls are surprised when the old man reveals he still has the tools of his old trade - as a locksmith - and they plan to break out at night. Meanwhile, Destiny and Rhapsody have lowered themselves on ropes into the crater hangar, but then they hear people approaching...
Part 5: Lady Penelope issue 93, dated 28 October 1967
The Challenge!
Destiny and Rhapsody jump the figures... and find it is Melody, Harmony and her uncle. but all five have been found by Mako and his men. One attempts to hold Destiny and is thrown over her shoulder. Mako is impressed and, taking off his robe, challenges her to bout of sumo wrestling...
Part 6: Lady Penelope issue 94, dated 04 November 1967
The Fight!
As Mako explains the brief rule of Sumo - to step outside the ring is death - Symphony decides the others have been too long and takes off for a look. As her plane flies over the crater, Destiny uses the distraction to her advantage and pushes Mako into his guards. Symphony is ordered to attack, and Tai Kwan and the Angels take cover. The blast destroys the crater interior, Mako, and the two captured planes - but their secrets are safe. After a long climb back out, the Angels return to Cloudbase with Tai Kwan.
Hue Goes There?:
• No other Spectrum officers appear besides Colonel White and Lieutenant Green.
 Reprinted:
TV2000 - issues 10/1968 to 15/1968
Notes:
• Part 1 of this story coincides with the first appearance of the Captain Scarlet strip in TV Century 21.
• The ransom message begs the question of how Mako and his men knew of Harmony's (supposedly secret) Spectrum call sign, and did not refer to her real name.
• One has to ponder if, like so many of the Anderson strips in the 1960s, the idea of a volcano base was not inspired by the James Bond film 'You Only Live Twice', released earlier that year.
• Mako says his name means 'shark', and you would assume this is Japanese but it is not. It is a type of shark, and the name originates from Maori.
• The cover of issue 93 (right), for part 5 of this story, features Captain Scarlet, Captain Blue and Lieutenant Green from the episode 'Lunarville 7', and Rhapsody Angel - incorrectly captioned 'A challenge for Destiny Angel'.
A Surprise for the Angels! (Story Six)
Writer: Angus Allan. Artist: Jon Davis. 1 page, colour.
Part 1: Lady Penelope issue 95, dated 11 November 1967
Rhapsody Angel is returning to Cloudbase after a mission. With her, she carries a box - a souvenir and surprise present for the girls, she tells engineer Joe and Colonel White. Captain Blue is chatting to Destiny and Symphony in the off-duty quarters, and Rhapsody tells him the chief engineer is loking for him. This is a ruse to get him out of the room, as Rhapsody does not want him to see the surprise...
Part 2: Lady Penelope issue 96, dated 18 November 1967
Inside the Parcel!
The 'surprise' is a black and white kitten, which Symphony dubs 'Checkers'. Destiny is annoyed - the standing orders are 'no animals on Cloudbase'. but before they can do anything, there is a red alert. Angels One and Two are launched, and the others are put on standby. Before long, the other three Angels are launched. But left alone in their quarters, Checkers has got out of his box and decided to explore...
 Part 3: Lady Penelope issue 97, dated 25 November 1967
Cloudbase in trouble!
Checkers enters an air vent into the Direction Control Housing, as the Angels investigate a jet airliner which has strayed too close to Cloudbase. As Rhapsody and Symphony escort it to Glenn Field, the other Angels return to base. In the electronics of Cloudbase, Checkers is playing with the wires. Sometime later, Rhapsody comes into land but there is a failure in direction control, and the whole base plunges wildly, causing Symphony to crash on the deck...
Part 4: Lady Penelope issue 98, dated 02 December 1967
The culprit is discovered!
Symphony gets clear as the flight deck fire-fighting team move in. Lieutenant Green traces the fault using telescanners, to reveal the kitten nibbling the wiring! Colonel White puts out a call, and the Angels realise Checkers is behind the 'accident'. With no option but to come clean, the girls are ordered by White to deal with it. Checkers is now moving into the emergency circuits area, and Symphony's calls to the kitten through ducts have no effect. Captain Grey has no option, and draws his pistol...
Part 5: Lady Penelope issue 99, dated 09 December 1967
Checkers is checked...
Symphony pleads with Grey to give her two minutes, and she races to the Cloudbase kitchens. With some sardines and milk, she manages to draw the hungry kitten from the ducts, and the threat to Cloudbase is over. Colonel White orders Rhapsody and Symphony to use their leave to find Checkers a new home - a long way from Cloudbase!
Hue Goes There?:
• Captain Blue becomes the first regular to be seen besides Colonel White and Lieutenant Green
• In part 3, a Spectrum officer in a blue uniform is seen in the Cloudbase Directional Control area, but it is not Captain Blue. Lieutenant Cobalt (Spectrum Research) perhaps?
• Captain Grey almost becomes the executioner of poor Checkers!
Reprinted:
TV2000 - issues 16/1968 to 20/1968
Notes:
• We get a brief glimpse of the Cloudbase kitchen in the final part.
Story Seven
Writer: Angus Allan. Artist: Jon Davis. 1 page, colour.
Part 1: Lady Penelope issue 100, dated 16 December 1967
After completing a mission, Melody Angel is heading for Cloudbase...
With Cloudbase currently over the Bahamas, Melody's course takes her over Moffatt, a suburb of Atlanta, Georgia - home! She decides to land 'for just a few minutes' at her family's ranch, but even though she is not supposed to leave her plane unguarded, Melody's mother persuades her to come inside and leave young Ellie-Jo on watch. The temptation is tto much for the girl, and she climbs into the cockpit to play. Carried away, Ellie-Jo flicks a switch, and the engine roars into life...
Part 2: Lady Penelope issue 101, dated 23 December 1967
Trouble for The Angels!
As the plane lifts into the air, Melody races outside and contacts Cloudbase to advise Colonel White of the situation. The two duty Angels are launched in pursuit to intercept the plane over the Gulf of Mexico, and attempt to force it to a landing. The radio channel is closed but when the Angels try and signal for Ellie to switch the radio on, she hits the wrong button and is ejected from the cockpit...
Part 3: Lady Penelope issue 102, dated 30 December 1967
Bumpy Landing!
Not strapped in, Ellie is thrown out of the ejector seat, and Destiny has seconds before the parachute opens. Skilfully, she knocks the chair back at the girl with her wingtip, and Ellie grasps the straps as it opens. Using a radio control cable, Harmony is able to bring the unmanned Angel plane down for a landing on the sea. Knowing they cannot leave the plane there, Destiny tells Ellie to get back in the cockpit - but with the radio channel open. Having proven she can fly, they can perhaps talk her back to Georgia in one piece!
Hue Goes There?:
• No other Spectrum officers appear besides Colonel White and Lieutenant Green.
Reprinted:
TV2000 - issues 21/1968 to 23/1968
Notes:
• In part 2, Cloudbase's position is said to be over the Bahamas, which according to TV21 is the location of the world capital Unity City.
• Oops - Melody's biography states she grew up an only daughter with four older brothers but we are told Ellie-Jo is her younger sister.
Story Eight
Writer: Angus Allan.
Artist: Jon Davis. 2 pages, colour & b/w.
 Part 1: Lady Penelope issue 103, dated 06 January 1968
Cloudbase... and three Angels return from a successful mission to block another threat from the Mysterons...
But as Rhapsody touches down, the right skid fails and her plane crashes on the flight deck. As fire crews race to rescue her and put out the blaze, the World President's office is holding a press conference. A live call to Colonel White is made to congratulate him but with the crash, he is unavailable. Lieutenant Green's ill-chosen words lead a reporter to believe Spectrum has some dangerous inefficiencies. The fire is soon controlled and put out but Rhapsody is in a serious condition. Doctor Fawn operates immediately and she pulls through - given a month's rest in Bermuda to recuperate. Melody and Captain Blue are assigned to go with her, and shortly they leave in a Spectrum helicopter. Meanwhile, in the London offices of the International Dateliner newspaper, reporter Sullivan is determined to follow up his Spectrum story but cannot get through security. A man arrives, offering inside information - unknown to the reporter, it is Captain Black...
Part 2: Lady Penelope issue 104, dated 13 January 1968
On the trail!
At Bermuda, Melody, Rhapsody and Captain Blue arrive to find it is Carnival Week. But over the Atlantic, a Westair Hop-Jet is carrying Mike Sullivan and Captain Black to Bermuda as well. Sullivan thinks Black is daydreaming but he is receiving instructions:
"This is the voice of the Mysterons. Captain Black, you will ensure that Captain Blue and the Angels are destroyed and brought back to life under oour control! You will not fail!"
At the Hotel Perot, Blue and Melody try to get Rhapsody to relax - the excitement could trigger problems which mean she may never fly again, and an end to her career with Spectrum. At dinner, things are slightly tense until a man asks Rhapsody to dance. Unknown to her, this is Sullivan, and both are being watched from the shadows by Captain Black...
Part 3: Lady Penelope issue 105, dated 20 January 1968
Mysteronised!
Sullivan is a little too talkative, and Rhapsody suspects he is a newsman. Blue chases him away, and gets a hefty punch for his pains. Sullivan is annoyed at his own sloppiness, but Black has other plans and runs him down in his car, to be recreated in the service of the Mysterons. Black gives the new Sullivan a bomb disguised as a pen, and sends him on his mission...
Part 4: Lady Penelope issue 106, dated 27 January 1968
Trapped!
The next day, Melody, Rhapsody and Blue go for a swim in the sea, watched by Sullivan. But Black tells him the bomb is useless in the open and sends him to the hotel. Melody spots the reporter as he leaves, and returning later Blue asks the hotel to deal with him. Sullivan tries to use the bomb as Blue and the two Angels enter a lift to go shopping, but a hotel bouncer sees him, only to be flung downstairs when the Mysteron resists. The bomb explodes as the lift descends, damaging the cables, and five floors up Blue and the Angels brace themselves for a fatal drop...
Part 5: Lady Penelope issue 107, dated 03 February 1968
Trapped!
Blue sees one chance - a maintenance hatch in the ceiling, and they climb through the open shaft door just in time. As bemused and agitated hotel staff gather, Blue surmises the now vanished reporter must be a Mysteron. While Blue tries to sort out the hotel authorities, Rhapsody is ent back to the room to report to Colonel White. Concerned, he despatches Captain Scarlet to assist. Meanwhile, Captain Black is plotting again, and seeing a high octane tanker at the vehicle service station opposite, plans to use it to destroy the entire hotel...
Part 6: Lady Penelope issue 108, dated 10 February 1968
Rhapsody to the Rescue!
Captain Black uses a gas gun to stun the crew of the tanker and climbs aboard. In the hotel room, Rhapsody cannot relax and paces onto the balcony in anger. She spots the tanker heading for the hotel as Black jumps free and, before an astonished Blue and Melody, jumps to the ground below. Running towards it, Rhapsody jumps aboard and finds the accelerator jammed, and the brakes cut. At high speed, she turns the tanker away and steers along the windy coastal road. Jumping into the water at the last minute, Rhapsody lets the tanker explode harmlessly over a drop, to be found by a relieved Blue and Melody.
Hue Goes There?:
• Captain Blue, for the most part, is seen in civvies.
• As is Captain Black, in a change from the TV21 strips but a move true to the television series.
Reprinted:
TV2000 - issues 24/1968 to 29/1968
 Notes:
• Unusually, in part 1, the Angels planes appear to land on Cloudbase like conventional craft, instead of making a controlled vertical rest onto their launch ramp as seen previously in the strip, and in the series.
• It is never made clear if it is the World President himself is making the call to Colonel White, or one of his staff. Certainly the man holding the conference does not resemble the World President as seen in the series, and later issues of TV21.
• Captain's Black's thought communications to Sullivan in part 4 are written in the angular Mysteron script.
• In part 5, Rhapsody calls Cloudbase on a portable video unit that astonishingly resembles a modern laptop computer.
• After Sullivan throws the bomb, it is implied he quite literally vanishes into thin air - the Mysteron trait of dematerialisation as seen in the episodes 'The Heart of New York' and 'Model Spy'. What is more interesting is that Black could apparently rematerialise him again, but chooses not to. This could explain what happens to reconstructed people and machines after the Mysterons have no more use for them - they do just literally disappear!
• The colour artwork for the first part is still known to exist in a private collection (right).
Story Nine
Writer: Angus Allan.
Artist: Jon Davis. 2 pages, colour & b/w (part 1 only).
2 pages, b/w (parts 2-5).
Part 1: Lady Penelope issue 109, dated 17 February 1968
On Cloudbase, things are much quieter than usual, thanks to an unexpected let-up in Mysteron activity against Earth...
This is due to a layer of space-dust passing between Earth and Mars, preventing the Mysterons from relaying instructions to their agents. While Captain Scarlet and Symphony head for America in an SPJ to investigate a sighting of Captain Black, Destiny returns home to Paris to meet her sister Monique, who is a fashion designer. Unknown to the two girls, they are being watched as they enjoy the sights. As Scarlet and Symphony draw a blank in America, Destiny is horrified when she thinks she recognises Captain Black making a dash across the traffic on the main road...
Part 2: Lady Penelope issue 110, dated 24 February 1968
Destiny on the trail!
Destiny has to tell Monique to 'beat it' and go back to her fashion house while she follows Captain Black. Following him to a run down boarding house in the backstreets of Montmartre, she reports to Colonel White. He diverts Symphony and Captain Scarlet from their abortive search in America. But Black is on the move again, and Destiny hails a taxi to follow him as he drives off. His diestination is both a surprise and concern - Creation Joubert, Monique's place of work! Rushing inside, Destiny finds her sister has already left with a man on a matter of urgency...
Part 3: Lady Penelope issue 111, dated 02 March 1968
Captain Scarlet fears the worst!
Destiny hails a taxi and heads for Rue Matigny, where the boarding house she saw Black enter is. She meets Scarlet and Symphony there but they find Black, who was using the alias Thomson, has already gone. Destiny's fears for her sister's safety grows as Scarlet takes them to the Police Surete headquarters. Black's car is already been tracked, but Scarlet and Colonel White are puzzled at Black's motives, as he cannot be receiving instructions from the Mysterons. Then the news comes the car has crashed, but at the site the Spectrum agents find no bodies. It seems very likely Monique has been killed and resurrected as a Mysteron agent, much to Destiny's distress, and Scarlet is forced to sedate her. A farmer tells them he saw a man and woman heading for the ruined Chateau, and Scarlet warns Destiny that even though one of the Mysterons used to be her sister, they will still have to kill her...
Part 4: Lady Penelope issue 112, dated 09 March 1968
Face to face with Captain Black!
Destiny seems in a daze, and Symphony thinks the sedative is working. As the three enter the chateau, Black opens fire from upstairs, and a gunfight breaks out with Scarlet. But then Black reveals Monique, using her as a human shield and threatening to kill her. Scarlet refuses to believe the bluff as Monique does not react, but Destiny suddenly pushes him through the bannister as he aims. Black is able to escape in the confusion, and leaves Symphony with Destiny as he gives chase. But then they find Professor Menjou, a famous psychiatrist, who claims Black made him hypnotise the girl. Symphony suddenly realises that Monique is not a Mysteron, but Scarlet - thinking she already is - is on his way to kill her...
Part 5: Lady Penelope issue 113, dated 16 March 1968
A race against time!
Destiny races out of the house to be followed by Symphony... but which way did they go? Scarlet spots Black and Monique below him on a slope and fires a shot, but the range is too great and he misses. Then Monique twists her ankle on a tree root, slowing them down. As Scarlet moves in for the kill, a rock thrown by Destiny spoils his aim. Black reveals he cannot receive Mysteron messages because of the asteroidal dust. Menjou arrives, and tells Scarlet that Black had said he needed to keep Monique alive until then, and uses a hypnotic command to give Monique the strength of ten. Black makes a run for it, not knowing the command is a bluff, and Scarlet goes after him. But Monique is safe, and another Mysteron threat has been dealt with.
Hue Goes There?:
• Captains Magenta and Grey are seen in uniform in the lounge, as is another unidentified officer. A couple of other men, out of uniform, are also seen.
• After being name checked in the previous story, Captain Scarlet makes his first major appearance in the strip. He only appears once more in part 2 of the final story.
Reprinted:
TV2000 - issues 30/1968 to 31/1968
Notes:
 • This website's candidate for the best story of the run.
• The second frame of part 1 offers us an alternate view of the Cloudbase lounge (right), suggesting that the side we never see on television may have large observation windows.
• In part 1, Destiny wants a coffee at the Cafe de la Paix, obviously a favourite haunt of hers on leave as she also visits it in the episode 'Seek And Destroy'.
• In the same part, while Paris is obviously an international airport, the unidentified Captain Black seems to want to draw attention to himself by reading a British newspaper.
• The final part makes an interesting statement about retrometabolism - that the Mysterons cannot use it more than twelve hours after the death of a person.
Story Ten
Writer: Angus Allan. Artist: Jon Davis. 2 pages, b/w.
Part 1: Lady Penelope issue 114, dated 23 March 1968
A still sleepy Harmony is woken up for duty on Cloudbase and, as she is offered coffee, ponders "Who'd be a Spectrum Angel?'. Who indeed? Outside the city of Tokyo, Japan. female pilot Toshi takes her twin-jet craft up into the air, and performs a daredevil low level flight over the streets. Flying under the Yokosuka suspension bridge over Tokyo Bay, the attracts the attention of the press and lands amidst a group of reporters. As they ask her story and why she did it, Toshi replies she wants to become a Spectrum Angel...
Part 2: Lady Penelope issue 115, dated 30 March 1968
Problem for Harmony!
Toshi is interviewed by the newsmen, before she is led away by police. But popular protest means she is released quickly, much to the disgust of Colonel White, who calls on Harmony to fly to Japan and tell the girl Spectrum has no need of antics like hers. At the private airfield near Tokyo, Toshi is delighted to see the Angel land, thinking she is going to get her wish but Harmony gives it to her straight. Toshi thinks it is because she cannot handle the Angels sort of flying and, overpowering Harmony, steals her Interceptor to prove it...
Part 3: Lady Penelope issue 116, dated 06 April 1968
Tokyo in Trouble!
Harmony takes of in Toshi's plane in pursuit and calls Colonel White, who is horrified that the girl is making them look fools. Toshi takes the Interceptor through aerobatic paces and then flies into the Nogoya super-highway tunnels cut through mountains west of Tokyo. With her radio cut off, Toshi does not realise a heavy load transporter is about to enter the other end, blocking her exit. But other, hostile eyes are watching...
"Captain Black! This is the voice of the Mysterons! A girl is about to die... in a Spectrum aircraft. We will reclaim her as our agent. Do you hear us...?"
Part 4: Lady Penelope issue 117, dated 13 April 1968
The Crash...
As Harmony cannot contact Toshi, her only hope is to stop the transporter. Ejecting, she crashes the plane into the its path, forcing it to stop short, allowing the Interceptor to fly free. As police converge on Harmony as she lands by parachute, Black watches events. Toshi lands at Tokyo Airport, where she realises the horror of the situation she caused, but Harmony is ordered to take her to Cloudbase where she will get a dressing down from Colonel White himself. But Black has plans to turn this to the Mysterons' advantage...
Part 5: Lady Penelope issue 118, dated 20 April 1968
Trouble on Cloudbase!
As Harmony flies Toshi to Cloudbase, Black contacts the Mysterons, only to receive a chastisement:
"The girl should have been destroyed and brought under our control before she went there, Captain Black... but no matter, your mind tells us you have other plans"
Toshi's impertinent attitude does not go down well with Colonel White, and she still believes she has a place in the Angels. Speechless, White waves her away to the Rest Room with Harmony as he receives a message from the World Government Minister for the Pacific Zone North. Toshi is to be released, gladly in the Colonel's case, but the strong-willed girl now refuses to leave...
Part 6: Lady Penelope issue 119, dated 27 April 1968
Trouble in the air!
Under Colonel White's orders, Captain Blue physically picks up the girl and bundles her into a Spectrum Passenger Jet. But high over the Pacific, it is intercepted by an unmarked fighter. The first missiles knock Blue unconscious, and as two Angels are launched to assist, Toshi takes control of the jet in a life and death struggle to evade the other missiles...
 Part 7: Lady Penelope issue 120, dated 04 May 1968
Crash Landing!
Toshi starts to panic as missiles explode closer, but Harmony and Destiny have arrived and an aerial dogfight breaks out. Black is intent on destroying the jet, but Destiny's strike comes too late as the jet's tailplane is hit. As Black's fighter spirals out of sight, the two Angels escort Toshi and talk her down to a controlled crash landing at Tokyo Airport. Both Blue and Toshi are fine, but the girl finally realises the error of her ways, and decides to one day make an official application to join Spectrum.
Hue Goes There?:
• Captain Blue is once again on hand.
Reprinted:
TV2000 - issue 36/1968 as De Mysterons slaan toe! (The Mysterons Defeated!)
Notes:
• Part 3 describes Captain Black and/or the Mysterons as having 'all-seeing senses'. They are not responsible for Toshi's predicament but in a nod to some of the television episodes and Captain Scarlet strips, it implies they are able to take advantage of accidents to create agents.
• Captain's Black's 'thought bubbles' in the final part are again written in the angular Mysteron script. This almost gives the impression Black is simply acting as a conduit for the Mysterons themselves, whereas usually in the strips he is seen to act independently.
• The 'wingtip-to-wingtip' rescue landing, as seen in previous Angels strips, makes a reappearance in the final part.
• Toshi is renamed 'Thosi' for the Dutch reprint. This would appear to be a misspelling duplicated from the original translations given to the TV2000 production team.
•De 5 Julia's •
 Mention should be made of De 5 Julia's - the full reprint of the strip in Dutch counterpart TV2000. Starting in the summer of 1967, six months behind Lady Penelope, the strip maintained its standalone stance well. Reason for the curious change in title - not even an attempt at translation - is lost in the mists of time. There is speculation that engelen, the Dutch for angels, is a male verb (a quirk of language gender association), and did not fit the female characters. But it may just have been a name out of the blue - a girlfriend or wife of one of his staff. We may never know for certain. What is known is Destiny translates as lot, and so while the other four Angels had reasonable phoenetic equivilants (Symphony became Symfonie), their leader became Fantasie Julia.
What was a faithful reprint came to a somewhat ignoble end in the summer of 1968, as TV2000 changed from lavish magazine style to a cheaper American comic format. After the first part of the penultimate story, full colour print was replaced by flat letterpress colour, and the remainder of the strip published as a whole in the first new-look (or nieuw!!) TV2000. Sharing the fate of the subsequent Captain Scarlet strips, the artwork was hideously and inaccurately coloured, with the Angels and their planes coloured red, and everyone in Spectrum clad in green uniforms with grey caps. Except for Captain Blue, who is inexplicably given Scarlet's red cap in the final complete reprint in issue 36 for 1968.
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By the spring of 1968, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons had finished its initial television run to become last season's fad. With no new Anderson fare for girls, The Angels were replaced by To Win A Gold, a strip about a girl vying to earn a prize to win an inheritance. One senses the hand of The Angels writer Angus Allan here too, in a premise not a million miles to the opening format of his earlier Catch Or Kill. The fact the names of Josephine Butler's solicitors are 'Fennell, Todd and Hooper' make the opening instalment an in-joke fest, alongside a reference to 'Anna Kuhrt' - no doubt related to Century 21 Publishing sub editor Laurie Kuhrt.
As spring became summer, the publication was obviously no longer 'for girls who loved television' (nor had been for a while), let alone the Anderson series, one had to wonder how long the title could even maintain the title Lady Penelope...
The Gerry Anderson Complete Comic History would like to thank:
Angus Allan
Ronald Kroon
and Kim Stevens
- for his help with this feature.
Version 1.1 - 01.09.05
Any comments or notes about any of the strips, please contact technodelic@blueyonder.co.uk.
All text © The Gerry Anderson Complete Comic History, and its respective writers, and may not be reproduced without permission.
All images © their respective copyright holders
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