Space:1999: Look-In, 1976-77

Space:1999 Year 2 came to TV not in a blaze of glory, more a ball of confusion. Depending where you lived, the second year started all over the shop, on different nights, with premieres months apart in the ITV regions. For me it was Granadaland, Friday nights from April 1977 - parent company ATV Midlands were the first to screen it in September 1976, a full seven months ahead of us in the North West! And when we switched on that first Friday for 'The Metamorph' we had no idea what was going on - new music, new titles, new costumes and new characters, with old favourites gone without explanation. Probably only Look-In readers knew what was going on.

Clearly this non-networking made a mockery of any attempt to create national publicity for the new season and Look-In was a case in point. The comic seemed to be adjusting to the new series on a week to week basis and the strip took a while to bed in. A front cover for the issue week ending 4 September 1976 tied in with a new strip adventure and the ATV premiere but oddly there was no introductory feature to explain the series' format changes - this can surely only have been in order to avoid unduly alienating those regions yet to join the new series. All of whom must have wondered why John Koenig was wearing a red anorak on Arnaldo Putzu's cover painting for issue 37 - note that while the commander was in Year 2 garb, Helena was clearly still in Year 1 uniform.

This problem of updating was more keenly felt on the strip itself, with art and script changes obviously being made piecemeal. While ITC seem to have made the removal of Victor Bergman and Paul Morrow from the format clear from the outset - Barry Morse's photo disappearing from a recomposed title masthead - Maya appears from nowhere in the third episode of the new strip, introduced via a text bubble as 'the sole survivor of an alien planet who has thrown in her lot with the castaways from earth'. In episode 4 we meet Tony Verdeschi and suddenly he and the other principals are wearing their Alpha anoraks. Helena has even found time to change from her round necked uniform top to a roll neck! While these changes took a little while to settle in, others were never implemented - Main Mission remained the key setting with no sign of Command Center while David Kano continued to appear throughout this run.

Artwork and scriptwise it was very much as you were - Mike Noble continued to churn out brilliant art each week, with wonderful figure work, composition and character likenesses, and Angus Allan provided good quality action epics sympathetic to the TV series format. Allan would know Noble well enough to play to his strengths and his scripts are full of pitched battles between Eagles and other pieces of gleaming space hardware, and even biplanes and helicopter backpacks - the almost fetishistic focus on shiny spacecraft is pure TV21.

The combat scenes did reach fairly ridiculous proportions but amid the fireworks, Allan (who had by this point, after all, written and edited two excellent Space:1999 annuals for World Distributors) never lost sight, unlike his Year 2 TV counterparts, of the Alphans' ever present need to find a new home and many strips are centred around attempts to achieve Project Exodus. Perhaps the most interesting of these strips has the Alphans land on earth 150 years into the future, an earth that was ravaged by the Moon's exit from orbit and is now ruled by alien robots called Cyberons. A band of plucky guerrillas resist this tyranny and some even manage to flee to a new life on Alpha at the end of the adventure. The rest of earth's survivors are not so lucky - Koenig seems happy enough to let them all rot under Cyber rule!

John Burns filled in for three weeks in the Year 2 era (presumably while Noble was on holiday) and the attempt is perhaps less than successful - Burns works best with his vivid colour work and this brief, slightly murky outing shows how much better suited to monochrome pages Noble's bold line and grey wash style is.

The biggest change to impact on the strip was the arrival of Maya and Allan seizes upon her truly comic strip superpowers with gusto - virtually every story from now on hinges upon her powers of transformation. Only on one occasion does Allan go too far with an insane piece of invention - Maya is able to communicate telepathically with Tony Verdeshi (and later, a miniaturised Koenig) just by taking on their physical forms! A heavy night on the whiskey must surely have been to blame for this piece of daftness. Tony Verdeschi - and Helena for that matter - do very little and it is Koenig and Maya who carry most of the stories.

Space:1999 strip guide - part three

Story Eight
Written by Angus P. Allan.
Drawn by Mike Noble. Pages 20 & 21, b/w.

Part 1 - Issue 37, week ending 04 September 1976
Imagine you lived on the distant planet known to its inhabitants as 'Leptar'. Imagine that YOU, like the Controller-in-charge of Defence Station 12, were awakened one night by an orderly, with news of a new presense in the sky above your Earth. A sudden and mysterious appearance. Large, bright, and - perhaps - menacing...
Drammon is awoken by a subordinate to be shown a Moon which has appeared without warning in the night sky. A soldier by nature, Drammon orders interceptors to investigate, and they find Moonbase Alpha. Landing, a squad of Leptarians find the Alphans immobilised where they stand, as if in a trance. Fearing some form of disease, the squad leaves and orders are given to destroy the Moon. But then, Koenig stirs...

Part 2 - Issue 38, week ending 11 September 1976
Awakening from a deep sleep, Koenig recalls having to destroy an approaching asteroid. The shockwave appears to have triggered a space warp, and the Moon is light years from its previous position. It is Alan Carter who notices the multiple approachs as the Leptarian missiles close in. Carter leads a four Eagle counter defence into space, as Drammon is notified the base has come to life. Contacting Alpha, the Leptarian controller demands to know who they are, and the misunderstanding is quickly realised. Carter is suspicious and does not believe the missiles will be diverted. But Drammon warns that if the pilot attacks them, he is doomed...

Part 3 - Issue 39, week ending 18 September 1976
With no orders yet to the contrary, Alan pushes forward his defence, but then a newcomer to Alpha, the Psychon girl Maya, lets Koenig know she believes Drammon to be sincere. Trusting Maya's instincts, Koenig give the Eagles a direct order to break off, and there are tense long seconds as Carter's finger hovers over the firing stud before he obeys. Drammon tells them to keep their force-shields at full power once the Eagles have returned, and as they draw close, the Alphans begin to wonder if they have been tricked. But Drammon is a man of his word, and the missiles are deflected harmlessly into space. The controller requests a meeting by their leader Tarfon, and Koenig agrees. As a ship leaves the planet bound for Alpha, the missiles are destroyed remotely in a massive explosion. Maya hopes the Leptarians are friendly, as they would obviously have no problems destroying them...

Part 4 - Issue 40, week ending 25 September 1976
The Leptarian ship lands outside Alpha, and the delegation of Tarfon and Drammon are escorted to a full diplomatic welcome by Koenig, Helena, Maya, and controller Tony Verdeschi. Because of their near-tragic mistake, Tarfon is willing to assist the Alphans, perhaps even offering the Alphans a place on their planet, despite their own problems of overcrowding. But while Tarfon and Drammon are sincere counterparts to Koenig's leadership, there are also malcontents in the Leptarian ranks. A senior captain called Martak has a plan to overthrow power, and determines their leaders should die on the moonbase - and the Alphans take the blame. Under a ruse that the Alphans have attacked Tarfon, Martak leds a 'rescue mission' to the base...

Part 5 - Issue 41, week ending 02 September 1976

Martak and his men shoot down guards at the airlock, and take the travel tube to Main Mission. Having the element of surprise, the assassins shoot down Tarfon and Drammon, and shatter the main screen. But Maya, possessing the incredible power of metabolistic transfiguration, changes into a leopard and flattens Martak's two accomplices. The renegade captain flees back to the ship, claiming their leaders are dead, and that the Alphans are to be destroyed...

Part 6 - Issue 42, week ending 09 October 1976
Under Martak's command, the Leptarian ship lifts off. Their communications shattered, Koenig is unable to contact the planet with news Tarfon and Drammon are still alive - just! As Helena struggles to save them, Koenig and Maya take Martak's conspirators in an Eagle, and pursue the Leptarian ship. But Martak is prepared, and launches an anti-matter bomb at them...

Part 7 - Issue 43, week ending 16 October 1976

Martak's officers warn the device will home in on them and, increasing speed to give them distance from the anti-matter detonation, Koenig releases the Eagle's pod. The ruse works, detonating the device, and giving Koenig time to fly too close to the Leptarian ship for Martak to try any more weapons. Meanwhile, Helena and Dr Mathias have saved the lives of Tarfon and Drammon, who are horrified at Martak's actions. Tarfon wants to call Leptar and warn them, but communications are still down. It is up to Koenig and Maya now...

Part 8 - Issue 44, week ending 23 October 1976
Martak is confident that even if Koenig lands on Leptar, no-one will believe him. Maya has a plan of her own, and gets Koenig to fly closer to the ship, alongside an entry port. Stunning Martak's two men into unconsciousness, as Koenig is too busy piloting, she closes to the ship and gains entry. But the airlock is alarmed, and Martak sends guards to kill the intruder. Shots rips through the spacesuited figure as it stands near the airlock. Believing the intruder dead, they do not see the spider on the floor near the body...



Part 9 - Issue 45, week ending 30 October 1976
The guards turn over the spacesuit to find it empty. Scuttling away unseen in the guise of a spider, Maya finds Martak, and climbs a wall. Descending on a thread, she bites him. Both Leptarian ship and Eagle are now entering the atmosphere, and Koenig is concerned. The craft land to an armed welcome, but Koenig stays in the Eagle as Martak appears in the hatch of his ship... and surrenders! A stunned Koenig watches the captain confess all, and contact with Alpha is finally established. Tarfon confirms the story, and the two conspirators are led from the Eagle. Koenig confronts Martak alone... only to find it is really Maya! The realMartak will be arrested when he regains consciousness from Maya's drugged bite. As the Eagle returns, Tarfon tells Tony Verdeschi that their planet may be a new home for them after all.

Where Eagles Daren't...
• No Eagles are destroyed but a pod acts as a decoy and is blown to bits.

Notes:

• The opening scenes on Moonbase Alpha in this story curiously echo the opening of the episode 'Another Time, Another Place' (above). One can almost imagine this taking place straight after the pre-credits sequence, with its occupants 'frozen', and transported by a spacewarp, elsewhere.
• It is a nice touch for once, that the Alphans seem to be on relatively equal terms with an alien race, and the mutual respect between Koenig and Tarfon - as leaders - is apparent.
• And an intriguing ending! Can it be the Alphans odyssey is over at last?
• Parts 1 and 2 of the strip are devoid of any reference to the new series format. Perhaps - as rights were bought in multiples of 13 - this was due to part 1 actually being the last (i.e. the 52nd) of the original licence, and subsequent parts due to the updating of reference material for artist Mike Noble.
• While Tony Verdeschi makes his official debut in part 4, it can be inferred he is the unidentified 'second-in-command' seen at the end of part 3.
• Issue 40 features Commander Koenig on the cover, with a portrait of Lee Majors as The Six Million Dollar Man, painted by Ivan Rose (right).
• Issue 40 also features a full page colour photo portrait of Martin Landau as John Koenig, on the planet set of the episode 'All That Glisters'.
• Issue 42 includes a short feature by Steven Reed, winner of the Space:1999 competition in Look-In to visit Pinewood Studios and see the series being filmed. The following issue published a photo of Steven with Martin Landau in the Eagle cockpit set.
• The Leptarians and their ships would reappear, used as 'reference' by an unidentified artist, in the strip Strategic Objective in the ©1978 Space:1999 annual.
• Various original artwork pages for this story are known to exist in a private collection.
• The Fanderson magazine FAB reference title for this story is The Leptarian Rebellion.
• John Stewart, at his Look-Out website, refers to this story as The Betrayal.
• You can read the entire strip at www.space1999.net.


Story Nine
Written by Angus P. Allan. Drawn by John M. Burns. Pages 20 & 21, b/w.

Part 1 - Issue 46, week ending 06 November 1976
Having helped to crush an attempt by the Renegade Martak, to take over the planet Leptar, Commander Koenig and his friends earn the undying gratitude of President Tarfon. All over Moonbase Alpha, the mood is almost festive...
As Project Exodus nears completion, and the fleet of Eagles are ready to take the Alphans to their new home on Leptar, Tarfon and Drammon are flown back to prepare. But as Drammon recalls the sudden appearance of the Moon in their sky some time previously with the pilot Wassermann, the two Leptarians suddenly disintegrate. Out of control, the Eagle crashes on Leptar as a similar mind-bending effect jars Moonbase Alpha. As suddenly as it started the noise becomes silence, and scanners reveal Leptar to have become a primeval volcanic hell. It seems whatever freak warp that led them here has reclaimed them, sending the Moon millions of years back in time...

Part 2 - Issue 47, week ending 13 November 1976
Koenig wants to know for certain and, accompanied by Maya, takes an Eagle to the planet. Koenig believes possibly a locational disturbance means they are seeing the other side of the planet, but once on the surface it is obvious this is not the case. However, other areas are quieter, and the Eagle flies over the landscape to find a more stable spot where there is breathable oxygen and fertile soil. As Koenig and Maya make tests, there is an earthquake, and a large skeletal frame rises from the lava. It is Wassermann's Eagle - the Moon has not gone back in time but forward, to the death of the planet...


Part 3 - Issue 48, week ending 20 November 1976
Another earthquake destroys their Eagle, and Koenig and Maya are marooned. Alan Carter lifts off in Eagle Two immediately bu the planet is starting to tear itself apart. Carter cannot land as the region is now too unstable, so Maya changes into an ape, and carries Koenig in a momentous leap to the hovering Eagle. Koenig owes Maya his life, but he saved her from a dying planet as well - the only debt is to the other Alphans, denied a new home... for now.

Where Eagles Daren't...
• Two - Wassermann's Eagle turns up destroyed on the devestated Leptar, then Koenig's Eagle falls down a crevasse.

Notes:
• What a twist! As the Alphans find a new home, it is taken from them in this short and shocking coda to the previous adventure. Angus Allan would pull a similar fateful trick in the strip Challenge! for the Space:1999 annual the following year, where the Alphans fight another race of wanderers for the right to colonise a planet.
• Just as Mike Noble had begun to depict the Eagles with four engines, John Burns shows them with three again.
• The issue cover for the start of this story (right) depicts John Koenig and Maya, and the pop group Mud, painted by artist Arnaldo Putzi.
• The complete original artwork for part 1 of this story is known to exist in a private collection.
• The Fanderson magazine FAB reference title for this story is Timeslip.
• John Stewart, at his Look-Out website, refers to this story as Wasteland.
• You can read the entire strip at www.space1999.net.


Story Ten
Written by Angus P. Allan. Drawn by Mike Noble. Pages 20 & 21, b/w.

Part 1 - Issue 49, week ending 27 November 1976
Tossed and buffeted through endless warps and twists in space that have left them completely unaware of their location in the universe, the castaways on their runaway Moon hang onto their hope that some day they'll find a planet with the necessary atmospphere and gravity to provide them with a new home. Now, whenever such a possibility appears, Commander Koenig is apt to restrain any direct optimism...

With the planet having similar dimensions and rotation to Earth but with no response to radio contact, Koenig, Alan Carter, Helena and Maya take an Eagle down. But the signals are being picked up by men at a hideout in the woods, who think it a lure to a trap. Two miles to the east, the Eagle lands at what appears to be a devestated landing site. Investigating, Koenig and Carter find 'bodies' which turn out to be cybernetic humanoids. Someone has attacked them, but as they ponder who and why, two of the men from the hideout - Jaffy and Joeboy - aim a grenade launcher at the Eagle, believing it to be a Cyberon ship...

Part 2 - Issue 50, week ending 04 December 1976
Koenig asks for an electroboost analyser from the Eagle, to try and power up the cybernetic humanoid so it can provide some answers. But as Maya brings it, the grenade is launched, and explodes between her and the Eagle. The next shot is also off-mark, allowing Helena time to retaliate with the Eagle's lasers, causing the men to flee. As Koenig and Carter give chase, the pilot notices the abandoned bazooka is of Earth design! Koenig catches the men, who are surprised their captors are human. More so to Koenig and Carter, as the men are speaking english...

Part 3 - Issue 51, week ending 11 December 1976

Jaffa and Joeboy, in their slightly odd slang, ask how Koenig and Carter escaped from the Cyberons. It transpires the planet is Earth, some time in the future, but as Koenig tries to come to terms with this, Tony Verdeschi on Moonbase Alpha has come to the same conclusion. He cannot allow news of this go outside Main Mission without causing riots, as the people would demand a return whatever the risk. Koenig finds the year is 2154, and the Cyberons took over when Earth was devestated by the Moon leaving orbit, enslaving humanity. But then a Cyberon ship appears overhead...

Part 4 - Issue 52, week ending 18 December 1976
While the others dive for cover back in the forest, Koenig gets back aboard the Eagle and opens fire with the lasers. But the Cyberons have barriers against such weapons, which is why Jaffa and Joeboy used a bazooka, and Koenig is forced to abandon the Eagle just before it is destroyed by return fire. He warns the others to get clear as the Cyberons will no doubt turn their fire on the forest next. The destruction of the Eagle is detected on Alpha, and with contact lost and their leaders probably dead, Tony Verdeschi has no choice but to abandon plans to return to Earth...

Part 5 - Issue 53, week ending 25 December 1977
The Cyberon ship incinerates the area but maintains vigilance for other insurgents. Some distance from the burnt out forest, Koenig and the others struggle from the depths of a river - their only escape route. Their comlocks ruined by the water, the Alphans have no choice but to accept they are marooned with no hope of rescue in light of the situation on Earth. Joeboy tells them the Cyberons have ships, and if they join forces, they could obtain one, and the guerillas could be taken back to Alpha. Carter wants to know how they are going to let Alpha know of the plan, to which Koenig has given some thought, and he asks Maya if she can change her shape into that of Tony Verdeschi...

Part 6 - Issue 01, week ending 01 January 1977

Maya obliges and, before the astonished human guerillas, Tony Verdeschi is suddenly in their midst. Koenig is gambling that by becoming Tony, the real Tony on Alpha will pick up her thoughts telepathically. This is the case, and after a sudden jolt to his mind, Tony is overjoyed with the news they are alive. Maya resumes her own form, and thoughts turn to joining forces for the combined attack. At an old arms store, they find grenades, rockets and rifles - old-fashioned weapons the Cyberons have no defence against. The greatest obstacle however is the expanse of open ground between cover and the Cyberon base. Carter notices a river runs right into the complex, but unknown to them, they have been spotted...

Part 7 - Issue 02, week ending 08 January 1977
As Koenig and the guerrilas make for the cover of the river bank, Cyberon hover-guards - flying troops with helicopter backpacks - are sent to attack. A pitched battle ensues, and Koenig gives covering fire while the others advance. Caught in the open, Joeboy is killed, but Carter's group attack the Cyberon control building while Koenig and Jaffa make for the rocket pads. If they fail, they have all had it...

Part 8 - Issue 03, week ending 15 January 1977
Koenig and Jaffa, under their own covering fire, make it to a rocket. Concerned about igniting the fuel, the Cyberons swarm out of the buildings to attack, only to be incinerated as Koenig and Jaffa get on board and fire the engines. The confusion allows Carter to led the others to a shuttle, which lifts off alongside the rocket. The shuttle picks up the remaining people from the hideout, and both escape into orbit. As two Eagles approach to take the Alphans home and the guerillas to a new start, both hope to find somewhere more hospitable.



Where Eagles Daren't...
• After two near misses by Jaffa and Joeboy (the worst shots in the universe!), the Cyberons blow up the Eagle with thermionic rays.

Notes:
• This would be the only strip of the Year Two format not be promoted on the cover for its start.
• The story is reminiscent of the Timeslip story Robot World from Look-In in 1971, also written by Angus Allan and drawn by Mike Noble. In this, Simon and Liz find themselves on Earth in the year 3547, controlled by robots who have enslaved humanity, and lead a revolution aided by space travellers who returned from a deep space mission.
• As Earth had already been returned to for the very first strip, albeit in the far distant future, can it be surmised that the Cyberons either left or were overcome (by the ants?) at some point. Or is the Moon also warping between different future histories as well?
• It is a pity no further mention is made of the guerrila refugees in the following strips, who supposedly join Moonbase Alpha at the end of the story.
• In part 1, as the Eagle lands, what looks suspiciously like a wrecked Spectrum helicopter from Captain Scarlet can be seen in the background (left). That said, the Cyberon craft at the end of the story also resembles the Zero X MEV. No surprises that Mike Noble drew both strips for TV Century 21.
• In part 2, there is a slightly bizarre scene where Helena and Maya seem to argue about who will take the electroboost analyser to Koenig. Was Angus Allan trying to imply some jealously between the two women, perhaps inspired by a scene in the episode 'The Exiles'?
• Oops - in part 4, Maya is given Jaffa's dialogue in the sixth frame of page 2.
• Coinciding with part 6, in issue 2 for 1977, The Worlds of Gerry Anderson (right) starts on page 22 of Look-In. This would usually be a question and answer format in which Gerry Anderson would respond to readers' queries about his television and film work. Supplementing this would be Starcruiser, a half-page black and white strip written and drawn by David Jefferis.
• Issue 51 for 1976 features a full page colour photo portrait of Catherine Schell as Maya, and issue 3 for 1977 a full page colour photo portrait of Tony Anholt as Tony Verdeschi.
• The artwork for page 1 of part 6 of this story is known to exist in a private collection. Other pages are also believed to exist.
• The Fanderson magazine FAB reference title for this story is Planet of the Cyberons.
• John Stewart, at his Look-Out website, refers to this story as Day of the Robots.
• You can read the entire strip at www.space1999.net.


Story Eleven
Written by Angus P. Allan. Drawn by Mike Noble. Pages 20 & 21, b/w.

Part 1 - Issue 04, week ending 22 January 1977
Moonbase Alpha, deep in their artificial night. The urgent flashing of the video screen in his quarters rouses John Koenig from sleep...
The emergency is an asteroid, almost as big as the Moon, right in their path. As there is no response to radio signals, Koenig is advised the object is uninhabited and orders its destruction. But the lasers have no effect. A remote controlled Eagle is launched with a fifty megaton reaction device, but this also proves ineffective. With the asteroid nearing with every second, Koenig has no option to investigate personally, as a collision will wipe them out...

Part 2 - Issue 05, week ending 29 January 1977

With twenty hours until the asteroid collides, Tony advises Koenig and Carter they need to destroy it within ten or risk damage to Alpha. The intention is to make two orbits scanning for geological weakness with seismoscopes, but as the Eagle approaches the asteroid it gathers speed. As Alpha loses contact with the Eagle, Koenig and Carter strive for control, fail... and their craft bounces across the rocky surface before coming to a juddering halt...

Part 3 - Issue 06, week ending 05 February 1977
Koenig and Carter regain their senses, recalling the massive acceleration and awful feeling of compression. They are unable to make contact with Alpha, who believe the Eagle to have crashed and disintegrated. The two astronauts check the damage to the Eagle, and as the engines look undamaged, think it can still fly. First they complete their mission and plant chain charges in a fault in the surface. Carter notices the horizon seems a lot further away, which Koenig puts down to optical distortion. The Eagle takes off without any problems, but on returning to Alpha without any contact, they find themselves landing on a pad of massive proportions. Somehow they have been shrunk to the size of ants...


Part 4 - Issue 07, week ending 12 February 1977
This explains why the asteroid was not destroyed, as the lasers and explosions were scaled down in the same way. Carter thinks it may be due to an energy core, like anti-matter or a black hole, and Koenig thinks beton rays from the fission of molenium could cancel the effect. But they still need to contact Alpha, but the different dimension is blocking communications. Meanwhile, Tony Verdeschi is trying to consider alternatives and Maya suggests evacuation in the Eagles - but to where? Koenig and Carter try and gain entry through the airlock but they are too short to reach the control. Then Carter has an idea concerning Maya, and leads him back to the Eagle...

Part 5 - Issue 08, week ending 19 February 1977
On a mission, Alan lifts off and slams the Eagle at zero feet on a death-defying series of turns and twists along the lunar surface. In Main Mission, there is only ten minutes to the point of safe destruction of the asteroid and Maya, trying to think, glances outside. In the dust beyond Alpha is written 'GET MAYA TO TURN KOENIG'. Instantly understanding, Maya transforms into Koenig and gets the information from the commander telepathically. A bomb is quickly prepared and fitted to an Eagle. But will Koenig and Carter remain miniaturised forever... ?

Part 6 - Issue 09, week ending 26 February 1977
The remote Eagle is launched on its mission of destruction, and Koenig decides the best option is to follow it. When the asteroid is destroyed there should be an enormous release of energy... which may kill them but there is a slender hope of another effect. With the Eagle in position, Tony detonates the bomb. The beton radiation becomes more destructive the more it is compressed, as Koenig hoped, and the asteroid is destroyed in a swirling vortex. Then Maya spots an object - the commander's Eagle, restored to normal size and its occupants safe and alive.

Where Eagles Daren't...
• Two remote controlled Eagles are presumably destroyed delivering their explosive cargos.

Notes:
• An interesting story, with the attempts to destroy an approaching asteroid again reminiscent of the episode 'Collision Course'.
• In line with the Year Two format, Moonbase Alpha is shown to have laser armaments.
• We're treated to some very different uses of Eagle pod - two different bomb pods, and two Eagles with grappling recovery arms in the final part.
• The shrunken size of the Eagle seems a bit variable at times.
• Using the telepathy again is a nice touch of continuity but worrying in that it could almost be seen as much of a 'get out clause' as Maya's shape-changing abilities.
• The issue cover for the start of this story (right) depicts John Koenig and Tony Verdeschi, painted by artist Arnaldo Putzu.
• Issue 4 features a full page colour photo portrait of Nick Tate as Alan Carter.
• The Fanderson magazine FAB reference title for this story is Mind over Matter.
• John Stewart, at his Look-Out website, refers to this story as Path to Destruction.
• You can read the entire strip at www.space1999.net.


Story Twelve
Written by Angus P. Allan. Drawn by Mike Noble. Pages 20 & 21, b/w.

Part 1 - Issue 10, week ending 05 March 1977
More than anything else, the continued existence of Moonbase Alpha depends on its oxygen recycling plant, and the air-cleansing chemicals are already dangerously worn out! The need is for fresh supplies of the vital mineral Attrion... and for once, fate seems on their side!

Spectrum analysis of the seas on a nearby planet show a high concentration of Attrion, which could be siphoned by Eagles with special processing pods. While the atmosphere is unbreathable, sensors show signs of life even though there is no response to radio contact. Koenig leads a flight of six Eagles - four ferrys and two escorts - on a mission to retrieve the mineral. But as the ferries hover over the ocean and commence operations, a disturbance heralds the appearance of a large sea monster. The lasers of Koenig's Eagle scare it off when it threatens the ferries, but then Maya notices giant birds approaching. Koenig corrects her - they are in fact aircraft. Ancient, primitive aircraft...

Part 2 - Issue 11, week ending 12 March 1977
The strange squadron of bi-planes and open-topped craft attack Koenig's Eagle with explosives fired from crossbows. The superior hull of the Eagle is impervious to the primitive attack, and Koenig can only order Carter and Helena in escort Eagle Two to take evasive action. They do not want to harm the natives, and their craft are so primitive, the lasers would atomise them. But the fliers are determined, and Barran and his leader Moykk decide to sacrifice themselves - for their planet, and for freedom - by crashing their plane into Koenig's Eagle...

Part 3 - Issue 12, week ending 19 March 1977
The plane barely dents the Eagle, but Barran and Myokk have fallen into the sea. As the other planes peel off, Koenig opts to rescue them. As the sea is corrosive to humans, he dons a spacesuit and lowers himself on a ladder. But then the sea monster returns, and while Carter is able to scare it off with a laser again, the disturbance nearly loses Koenig and the aliens. But then the commander's hand clamps round the bottom of the ladder, and he calls to Maya to reel him in with one of them. Overhead, in a circling plane, two fliers decide to return to base for a decision, as Moykk has been captured...

Part 4 - Issue 13, week ending 26 March 1977
As Myokk cannot breathe the air within the Eagle, Koenig gets him into a spacesuit. Although their languages are alien to each other, a kind of telepathic understanding is made, and Koenig is able to reassure Myokk they did not realise the planet was inhabited. Myokk tells them they thought they were Varrakons - possibly other hostile aliens - and his father is governor of the planet. Reinforcements will be on their way, and before long another squadron of planes appear. Among them is a much larger plane, which Myokk warns is 'the destroyer' - piloted by suicide pilots and packed with explosives! Their mission complete, the ferry Eagles and escort Eagle Two return to Alpha, while Koenig and Maya drop Myokk safely back in the sea. As the planes circle to rescue him, Koenig and Maya follow the other Eagles back to Alpha, the mystery of the Varrakons remaining.

Where Eagles Daren't...
• Despite a kamikaze style crashdive into it by the alien pilots, Koenig's Eagle survives to tell the tale.

Notes:
• The ferry Eagles mark another different use for the pods.
• It is also a nice touch to see a planet which does not have a breathable atmosphere for humans for once.
• Some sources suggest this was originally due to run for seven parts.
• The issue cover for the start of this story (right) is the last to feature Space:1999, and depicts John Koenig and Helena Russell with an Eagle in the background, painted by artist Arnaldo Putzu.
• The Fanderson magazine FAB reference title for this story is Return of the Varrakons, and this is also used by John Stewart, at his Look-Out website.
• You can read the entire strip at www.space1999.net.

Look-In Television Annual 1978

Space:1999
Written by Angus P. Allan.
Drawn by Leslie Branton. 6 pages, b/w.
Blasted from Earth's orbit, propelled across deep space through countless time-warps, the Moon hurtles on its seemingly endless journey. In the whirl of an unknown galaxy, the survivors of Moonbase Alpha make contact with an inhabited planet...
An alien ship brings Gantor, emissary of the planet Laar, who transports himself to Main Mission by thought-transference. The alien tells them the planet is ideal for them but before he can answer whether the Alphans can settle there, a brief sudden disturbance seems to transport the Moon back to Earth orbit. Lack of any radio contact concerns Koenig, and he takes Alan Carter, Helena and Maya to the planet. London is a devestated forest wilderness, and on landing they find humanity has reverted to primitive savagery. Scaring off a group of natives hunting a wolf-like animal with their weapons, Alan and Helena are not prepared to take risks. But the act results in retaliation, and Carter is wounded. Changing into one of the animals, Maya leads the natives off without harming them, and is picked up by the Eagle later. But then Gantor appears on the screen, and they find themselves back near planet Laar, for a worrying judgement...

Notes:
• A reworking of Angus Allan's own Mindprobe story from the second Space:1999 annual. The idea would later be reused by Allan for a Battlestar Galactica strip in Look-In in 1980.
• Leslie Branton's art seems to be based on Mike Noble's strips, especially in his depiction of the Eagles.
• The Fanderson magazine FAB reference title for this story is Superiority of the Gun.
• The original artwork for pages for all of this strip are believed to exist.

No strip runs indefinitely in black and white in Look-In - the honour of colour pages were a sign of real popularity - and Space:1999 fared better than most with almost a year in monochrome before being phased out. The final story was just four episodes long and was almost certainly curtailed at the eleventh hour. The plot sets up a meeting with an alien race on a watery planet, a race afraid of the terrible Varrakons … but then this epic in waiting seems to be switched off and we never meet the Varrakons. "The Varrakons? Who are they?" asks Maya as she and Koenig flee the planet. "Maya - I don’t care!" is Koenig's unequivocal response.

The strip was replaced by 'laughs galore' with Just William, based on London Weekend Television's hit Sunday afternoon comedy drama, with Mike Noble ably moving back to hardy sci-fi perennial The Tomorrow People, rescuing it from a spell with ill-fitting cartoonist Bill Titcombe.

The show did well in Look-In through its second 'year' (which in fact ran to 29 weeks in total), with no less than five cover appearances (all provided by Putzu, except no.40, which was a split cover with The Six Million Dollar Man drawn by Ivan Rose) and a series of occasional one page colour photo pin ups which included Schell, Landau, Tate and Anholt. The series also featured heavily in The Worlds of Gerry Anderson page, launched in 1977 no.2.

Of course those (like myself) in the Granada region thrilled by the TV launch of series 2 in April '77 and hearing of a weekly comic strip out there were just in time to miss the party - Look-In's Space:1999 strip had ended the previous week, leaving just the dubious delights of Starcruiser for Anderson fans to be getting along with.

The Gerry Anderson Complete Comic History would like to thank:
Angus Allan
Phil Clarke
Peter Hansen
Jeff Haythorpe
Mike Noble
and Martin Willey
- for their help with this feature.

Version 1.3 - 30.04.07


Any comments or notes about any of the strips, please contact technodelic@blueyonder.co.uk.

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