Stingray - TV Century 21, 1967

Stingray strip guide - part three

Story Fifteen (aka The Missile Trials)
Writer: Dennis Hooper (?).
Artist: Gerry Embleton. 2 pages, colour.

Part 1 - Issue 105, week ending 21 January 2067

Stingray is homing in on World Navy 236 Target submarine. At the controls, Troy launches new sting missiles which home in on the target vessel. It is a perfect hit - but the missiles are unarmed. The sub then dives deeper into an ocean trench, but the crew lose control in a jet current. Stingray follows in hot pursuit but Troy and Phones are not hopeful of picking up survivors...

Part 2 - Issue 106, week ending 28 January 2067
Shore calls Admiral Allen at Submarine Control but is asked to withdraw Stingray from the area - he doesn’t want the WASPs’ help. Stingray is on the point of abandoning the search when they spot an emergency rescue cylinder. They bring the survivor aboard and he tells them that the ocean has swallowed the sub up. The rescued man is transferred to the Navy Carrier but Tempest is again warned against interfering in the Navy’s investigation. Troy and Phones investigate anyway, but Stingray is suddenly drawn into a strange ‘door’ on the seabed...

Part 3 - Issue 107, week ending 04 February 2067
Troy fires sting missiles disabling the source, and is able to continue the search. Admiral Allen is furious to learn that Tempest has disobeyed orders. He decides to take a bathyscaphe and search the area himself. Meanwhile Troy and Phones locate the target sub, but are warned off by the crew - their craft is covered with small creatures eating through the hull...

Part 4 - Issue 108, week ending 11 February 2067
Troy plans an experiment with the generator, just as Allen’s bathyscaphe reaches the tunnel on the ocean floor. Troy electrifies Stingray’s hull, dispersing the creatures. He then fires a limpet cap onto the target sub’s hull and drags it out of the cavern, along with the now-stranded bathyscaphe. The tunnel is sealed off with sting missiles. Admiral Allen is grateful for Troy’s perseverance in rescuing the trapped men and himself, despite having disobeyed orders.

Tomorrow's News Today:
• Issue 107: Stingray Storm!

Reprinted:
Prins Valiant (Holland) - issue 17?
Stingray The Comic - issues 16 to 18

Notes:
• The plot is similar to a simple TV episode, if a little pedestrian and vague - the aliens are left unseen, their motivations unexplained. It is rushed in part, especially in the final instalment - Allen’s bathyscaphe is seen entering the tunnel and is next seen needing Stingray’s help to escape.
• The characters are drawn closer to their caricatured puppet counterparts, but Marina and Atlanta are nowhere to be seen. The artwork is detailed and dynamic with a characteristic use of diagonals and foreshortening, particularly of sting missiles.
• The testing of missiles and the rivalry with the World Navy is reminiscent of the TV episode ‘Man from the Navy’. The bathyscaphe from ‘The Golden Sea’ makes another appearance.
• Oops - Troy and Phones are drawn in the wrong seats in part 2.
• Gerry Embleton uses reference of the World Navy cruisers and helijets from the Thunderbirds episode 'Atlantic Inferno', as also seen on the front page of issue 107.
• Gerry also borrows one of his brother’s frames in part 4 (originally drawn by Ron in the final instalment of The Monster Jellyfish) .
• Stingray is shown to have a retractable robot arm in its underside.

Story Sixteen
Writer: Dennis Hooper (?).
Artist: Michael Strand. 2 pages, colour.

Part 1 - Issue 109, week ending 18 February 2067

Troy and Phones are relaxing off duty on the Florida coast while Stingray undergoes a routine overhaul. In order to carry a cargo of hydronnium, Stingray’s missile armouring has been halved, resulting in a reduced maximum speed. Meanwhile Titan is surveying his fleet of a thousand terror fish, with one purpose in mind - the destruction of Troy Tempest and Stingray. X20 reports to his leader that Stingray has been inactive for some time but is now undergoing new sea trials. He launches a shoal of robot fish to investigate. Meanwhile aboard Stingray, Doctor McManus and Sam Shore put the sub through its trials. X20 learns that Stingray must carry the hydronniun shipment the next day with a reduced maximum speed...

Part 2 - Issue 110, week ending 25 February 2067
Troy and Phones learn that they are to pick up a ton of radioactive hydronnium from the Varde Trench mine and will be automatically redirected to a secret destination. Stingray is launched, with Marina aboard due to her resistance to radiation. Terror fish close in as Stingray approaches the mine’s defence shield, and they make it just in time as the pursuing terror fish are destroyed by the barrier. The ore is loaded aboard Stingray, while outside the barrier a fleet of terror fish wait to attack...

Part 3 - Issue 111, week ending 04 March 2067

With multiple readings on the radar, Troy and Phones take an aquasprite to investigate. They discover a waiting fleet comprising hundreds of mechanical fish. Their aquasprite is spotted and Troy opens fire, destroying three of them before making his escape. Back at the mine, Troy is told they have ten hours to shift the ore because of its molecular structure. He plans to evade the ambush by taking Stingray into nearby undersea mountains, despite the area being alive with giant squid...

Part 4 - Issue 112, week ending 11 March 2067
As the first terror fish attack, Troy and Phones leave Stingray in separate aquasprites, leaving Marina in control. The aquasprites attack the alien fleet, but Stingray is hit and Marina struggles to stay in control. Titan orders his fleet to destroy the smaller ships while he pursues Stingray. Marina manages to hit Titan’s vessel forcing him to retreat. Stingray later reaches the undersea mountain range known as the Shark’s Back range, and Troy and Phones rejoin Marina aboard Stingray. But when they go to check the store, they find a fracture in the wall...

Part 5 - Issue 113, week ending 18 March 2067

Troy only has time to mumble a warning over the radio to Marina before he and Phones are overcome by the radiation. Marina has to pull the two aquanauts onto a missile trolley and get them into the de-radiation chamber before sealing off the hydronnium store and de-radiating Stingray. Meanwhile Titan abandons his damaged terror fish and has it destroyed along with its incompetent crew. On Stingray, Troy and Phones recover but are unaware of the monster squid poised to attack...

Part 6 - Issue 114, week ending 25 March 2067
Stingray is grabbed by the giant squid and dragged down to its cave. Troy uses Stingray’s headlights to blind the squid and get the sub clear. The two WASP men then make repairs to the hydronnium store. They get clear of the squid but are unknowingly on a converging course with Titan’s fleet...

Part 7 - Issue 115, week ending 01 April 2067

Spotting the approaching terror fish fleet, Troy cuts Stingray’s motors and watches secretly as the squids attack the mechanical fish. Stingray makes a break for it at maximum speed but two terror fish follow. Phones heads off in an aquasprite and manages to destroy one of the pursuers, but is hit by the second and has to eject. Titan is just gaining on Stingray when a World Navy convoy strikes and cripples his craft. The Navy escort Stingray to her destination and at a depth of 25,000 feet below, Titan’s escape pod is finally picked up by a remaining mechanical fish.

Tomorrow's News Today:
• Issue 109: Marineville Clampdown
• Issue 111: Stingray Sights Terrorfish

Reprinted:
Stingray Holiday Special 1993.
Prins Valiant (Holland) issues 18 to 20?.

Notes:
• Titan has his own personal golden mechanical fish. A fleet of 1000 vessels seems excessive to capture Stingray - not for Titan though, as he still doesn’t manage it.
• In part 2, Phones feels the mission is ‘too dangerous for a girl’ (a sign of the times and/or the writer’s mindset perhaps), but Marina is shown to be capable of piloting Stingray by herself (a definite step forward from the TV series). It is also a very convenient plot point that she is not affected by radiation.
• As with some of the strips the previous year, although Marina does not speak, her thoughts are shown.

Story Seventeen (aka Cormorant)
Writer: Dennis Hooper (?).
Artist: Michael Strand. 2 pages, colour.

Part 1 - Issue 116, week ending 08 April 2067

Stingray is escorting the World Aeronautical Research Establishment vessel 6 as it conducts flight and dive tests on the new Cormorant B25, an aeroplane capable of travelling underwater. The plane is piloted by John Callaghan and designed by his father Paddy. The flight and dive tests are going well, but just after Cormorant re-emerges from the sea, a Bereznik agent aboard the WARE vessel’s observation deck makes his move, brushing past Atlanta as he leaves. Seconds later the Cormorant’s controls jam, putting it on a collision course with the control vessel...

Part 2 - Issue 117, week ending 15 April 2067
John Callaghan ejects and the prototype is destroyed before impact; Stingray is despatched to pick up the pilot. Meanwhile on board the control vessel, Peterson the Bereznik agent removes his briefcase from the deserted control cabin. General Schmidt’s team examine the control room and the retrieved cockpit and find them completely operational. John Callaghan is therefore placed under arrest pending a court martial for negligence...

Part 3 - Issue 118, week ending 22 April 2067
The Cormorant is to get another trial, and Paddy Callaghan requests that Troy pilot it. Troy later arrives at the World Aeronautical Research Establishment in Florida, where he must first undergo training in the impact assimulator. That night after Troy’s first session, Peterson breaks into the assimilator shed to knock out the speed regulation circuit. The next morning at 6.30 am, Troy arrives to prepare for his next session...

Part 4 - Issue 119, week ending 29 April 2067
The machine goes haywire. Unable to operate the impact brake, Colonel Callaghan shoots out Number 4 junction box, causing the assimilator to slow eventually. Troy is taken to the sickbay to recover, where he is visited by Atlanta and Commander Shore. Peterson calls in to see Troy, but Atlanta recognises him as the man who left part way through the Cormorant’s original test flight. Callaghan suspects that Peterson, as security officer, could have had access to the assimilator...

Part 5 - Issue 120, week ending 06 May 2067
A recovered Troy lifts off in the Cormorant, tracked by Phones in Stingray. The tests go well. Peterson again attempts to leave the control ship’s observation saloon but is stopped by Commander Shore. Troy suddenly finds that the guiding mechanism is locked. Peterson makes a break for it, hurling his briefcase into the sea just as the Cormorant hits the water. Peterson swims off to rendezvous with a waiting submarine, but Phones warns them off with a missile. Peterson is eventually arrested and John Callaghan cleared of negligence. The Cormorant is duly declared ready for service.

Tomorrow's News Today:
• Issue 117: Test Plane Sensation - Stingray In Sea Alert
• Issue 120: W.A.S.P. Plane Sabotaged - Stingray At The Ready

Reprinted:
Stingray The Comic issues 19 to 22.
Prins Valiant (Holland) issues 21 and 22.

Notes:
• Atlanta appears briefly in this story, but is mainly in the background. Marina is again absent.
• The idea of an aeroplane being able to dive into the sea at 2,000 mph and operate as a submarine (without breaking up on impact) stretches credibility, in line with several vehicles in the TV episodes. This time round it is Bereznik attempting the sabotage rather than either Titan and X20 or A.N.Other disgruntled undersea alien.
• Troy is regarded as a good enough pilot to fly the prototype, but the TV episode ‘Rescue From The Skies’ portrays him as barely adequate in the air.

Story Eighteen (aka Lure Of Titan)
Writer: Dennis Hooper (?).
Artist: Michael Strand. 2 pages, colour.

Part 1 - Issue 121, week ending 13 May 2067

In Titanica, Titan is once again plotting the destruction of Troy Tempest. Meanwhile at Marineville, Troy’s boredom is broken by the sounding of launch stations. Stingray is launched to investigate a lull in Terror Fish activity. They find Titanica apparently deserted, so Troy swims across to a drifting mechanical fish...

Part 2 - Issue 122, week ending 20 May 2067
Troy discovers the aquaphibian crew unconscious. Shore orders Troy to tow the fish back to Marineville . . . which is seemingly all part of Titan’s plan. The aquaphibian crew are found to be in a coma, and the examination team discover a note from the crew which Marina translates as ‘Disaster... help us!’. Shore suspects Titan is in genuine trouble, so Troy suggests taking a look inside Titanica; offering help to Titan may be the opportunity for achieving peace between them. Back at Titanica in Stingray, Troy and Marina take the seabugs over to the undersea city...

Part 3 - Issue 123, week ending 27 May 2067
Troy and Marina travel into the heart of Titanica via tube car, and find Titan’s palace deserted. Suddenly the doors begin to close around them. They try to escape but Troy is trapped under one of the doors. Marina makes it back to Stingray just as a shoal of waiting mechanical fish opens fire on the WASP sub...

Part 4 - Issue 124, week ending 03 June 2067
Phones puts up a fight but is outnumbered. Stingray is captured and towed back to Titanica. Titan’s engineers set to work on Stingray to have it repaired ready for operation. Shore realises the increase in terror fish activity means it was a trap all along. He sets a deadline of 48 hours before launching a hydromic missile attack. Meanwhile in Titanica, Titan has Troy, Phones and Marina suspended over a shark pool, to be sacrificed to Teufel...

Part 5 - Issue 125, week ending 10 June 2067
Upon receiving a message, Titan has to release Troy and Phones - the repairs to Stingray are beyond the capabilities of his engineers and the WASP men must help. They reluctantly agree, securing Marina’s release. With time running out, Lieutenant Fisher suggests using the captured terror fish to tag onto a returning shoal of Titan’s vessels. But simultaneously Titan reveals to Troy that the terror fish at Marineville is packed with explosive timed to detonate in twelve marine hours...

Part 6 - Issue 126, week ending 17 June 2067
Fisher arrives at Titanica in the stolen terror fish just in time to overhear Titan’s plan to execute Troy and Phones once the repairs to Stingray are completed. He swims over to Stingray, overpowering the two guards and manages to free Troy and Phones. But Titan is finally ready to destroy Marineville...

Part 7 - Issue 127, week ending 24 June 2067
As Stingray accelerates away from Titanica, Troy leaves the sub under cover. The terror fish explodes, devastating part of Titanica. Troy heads back into the city in an attempt to rescue Marina. He follows Titan and his party of aquaphibians through a labyrinth of passages to another city beneath the ocean bed. Meanwhile Titan prepares to execute Marina...

Part 8 - Issue 128, week ending 01 July 2067
Troy drops a smoke capsule and in the confusion manages to grab both Marina and Titan. With time up, Commander Shore prepares to launch his hydromic missile attack on Titanica. Troy takes a tube-car, knowing the tubeway was broken in the fish-pen explosion. The car glides to the seabed, and Troy and Marina are able to escape. Phones spots them from Stingray and is able to call off the missile attack. That evening back at Marineville, Phones is reprimanded for ignoring Shore’s orders to leave the area... and Titan swears vengeance on the WASPs once again.

Tomorrow's News Today:
• Issue 123: Troy Tempest Invades Titanica
• Issue 125: Titan Captures Stingray - Troy Tempest And Crew Captured By Aquaphibians

Reprinted:
Stingray The Comic issues 16 to 19.
Prins Valiant (Holland) issues 22 and 23.

Notes:
• The plot bears some similarities to the episode ‘The Master Plan’. Titan’s plan is an obvious trap into which the WASPs hurl themselves (bringing the abandoned Terror Fish back into Marineville is risky, bordering on suicidal), and only some poor timing on Titan’s part prevents his victory (he should have detonated the Terror Fish earlier and done away with the Stingray crew without the Austin Powers-like delays).
• The travel-tube car design is consistent with earlier stories.
• Fisher looks nothing like his heavily caricatured TV counterpart (right) - which is probably a good thing.
• Commander Shore is however his usual trigger-happy self in part 4.
• Atlanta is again in the background while apart from translating the note, Marina is only there to be rescued.
• In part 6, the aquaphibian guards also communicate (presumably) in their own language.
• Stingray is shown to have a towing cable at the rear.

Story Nineteen (aka The Merglop Mystery)
Writer: Dennis Hooper (?).
Artist: Michael Strand. 2 pages, colour.

Part 1 - Issue 129, week ending 08 July 2067

The robot tanker ‘Detroit City’ is making its way across the Pacific, on board Captain Martin Edwards and his maintenance engineer. Below them, a saucer-shaped alien vessel watches. Extending its fronds, the alien ship begins to rotate. As the sea becomes rougher, the ‘Detroit City’ sends out a mayday, but is drawn under. Phones picks up the distress call and Stingray races to the area...

Part 2 - Issue 130, week ending 15 July 2067
Stingray rescues the two men, who reveal that their ship was pulled into a giant whirlpool. Back at Marineville, Troy suggests that finding the wreck of the freighter may reveal the reason for its sudden disappearance. Meanwhile in the Merglop city beneath the ocean bed, a second experiment is started; the saucer-shaped craft shoots to the surface. They target an airliner, causing the pilots to lose control. Stingray rushes to help and surfaces, to be confronted by the alien saucer...

Part 3 - Issue 131, week ending 22 July 2067

Troy puts the sub into a dive but Stingray is hit and sinks to the seabed. The airliner is also drawn under the sea where the Merglops plan to break it down for their new ‘wheel’. They are planning to cause devastation by creating tornadoes with their new machine. Learning that Stingray was not destroyed, the Merglop leader Conglyp orders the WASP vessel to be brought to him. Meanwhile, a WASP rescue craft has reached Stingray, but as cables are lowered, the sub vanishes from their screens...

Part 4 - Issue 132, week ending 29 July 2067
Stingray is drawn down to the seabed. Troy comes to his senses in time to fire sting missiles at the anenome-like entrance to the Merglop base. He is able to pull Stingray clear and surfaces where he calls Marineville. Shore immediately sends air cover which whisks Troy and Phones back to Marineville. Later that night, the Merglops’ ‘giant wheel’ surfaces less than two miles from the coast of Simmel island, applying full power and creating a hurricane...

Part 5 - Issue 133, week ending 05 August 2067

Their test completed, the Merglops’ next task is to destroy Oregon. Marineville Tracking Station 12 reports an unidentified vessel moving at Rate 8, so Shore sounds battle stations and launches strike fighters. The ‘giant wheel’ creates a tornado which forces the aircraft to ditch in the sea, then it disappears. Meanwhile the tornado heads for Marineville...

Part 6 - Issue 134, week ending 12 August 2067
As the tornado strikes Marineville, and with an ultimatum from the World Security Council ringing in his ears, Shore accompanies Troy to Stingray’s pen. Troy heads off through the ocean door in an Aquasprite . As the Merglop wheel continues its destructive work, Troy reaches the less turbulent water near the ocean bed and opens fire on the underside of the alien ship. He scores a direct hit but the wrecked vessel plunges down on top of his ship...

Part 7 - Issue 135, week ending 19 August 2067

With all his missiles gone, Troy can only watch as a small escape pod flees the wreckage. Once back at Marineville, Troy and Phones launch Stingray to track the pod back to its origin. They spot it entering an anemone on the sea bed and follow. Beneath the seabed they discover the Merglop city and use sting missiles to destroy it. Back at Marineville, Shore receives congratulations from the World Government on completing a successful mission.

Tomorrow's News Today:
• Issue 129: Mystery Storm Sinks Tanker - World Weather Control Deny Responsibility - Stingray Alerted!
• Issue 132: Stingray In Underwater Battle
• Issue 134: World President Contacts WASP

Reprinted:
Stingray The Comic issues 19 to 22.
Prins Valiant (Holland) issues 23 to 25.

Notes:
• The plot bears similarities to ‘The Big Gun’ featuring the testing of a new weapon, a city beneath the sea bed and Stingray tracking the alien ship back to its base and destroying it. In other words it is more humanoid aliens from beneath the sea wanting to ‘crush terraineans’ with no particular motivation for doing so.
• Oops! - the four typeset text panels in the first part are all numbered in error. The typesetter included whatever numbering identification was in the original copy as well!
• In part 6 Stingray is out of action, but in the next instalment the sub is launched to track the Merglop escape pod.
• The aquasprites are used again in this story, and are shown to be armed.
• The photo of the 'Detroit City' on the cover of issue 129 is actually the 'Ocean Pioneer' from the Thunderbirds episode 'Danger At Ocean Deep'.
• Parts 2 and 3 were printed in the wrong order in the 90s reprint.

Capture A Giant Eel - Alive! (aka The Giant Eel)
Writer: Dennis Hooper (?).
Artist: Michael Strand. 2 pages, colour.

Part 1 - Issue 136, week ending 26 August 2067

At Marineville, Troy meets Admiral Sanderson, one of the greatest men in deep sea exploration. He shows film of his expedition to the Marianos trench the previous year when his bathyscaphe encountered giant Moray eels. Stingray has been given the job of capturing one of the eels for the fish farms. Stingray rendezvous with the W.N. Sea Spy, where unknown to the WASP men, X20 is aboard disguised as the Admiral’s aide, planning Troy’s destruction...

Part 2 - Issue 137, week ending 02 September 2067
The crew are about to turn in for the night when they spot a light on in the lab. They find one of the frozen gas missile rods has been left out of its rack... X20 watches from his hiding place. The next morning, the admiral explains that the missiles must strike specific points on the eel to freeze its nerve centres instantly, otherwise it will convulse in anger. Stingray dives into the Marianas Trench to a depth of thirty four thousand feet where they encounter the enormous eel; Troy opens fire...

Part 3 - Issue 138, week ending 09 September 2067
Suddenly Troy loses control of Stingray and pursued by the eel, the sub crashes onto a ledge. The eel leaves and makes for the surface,and it takes all Admiral Sanderson’s navigational skill to elude the angry monster. It finally tires and disappears. Troy is able to pilot Stingray back to the surface where they discover the missiles had been sabotaged. The admiral finds that the steward Fisher is missing, and in his cabin they discover a discarded face mask, which indicates it was one of Titan’s people. But X20 has reached his own vessel and heads to Titanica with another plan...

Part 4 - Issue 139, week ending 16 September 2067
Stingray makes a second attempt to capture one of the eels. This time they are successful and the stunned eel floats to the surface. The WN men set about constructing a protective cylinder in which to transport the eel. Later that day, Stingray tows the eel canister off, but X20 is waiting. He launches a shoal of explosive mechanical marlin which sever the towing line...

Part 5 - Issue 140, week ending 23 September 2067

Troy turns on the fleet of mechanical fish and destroys them. While Phones finishes the job, Troy heads off in an Aquasprite to pursue the stolen eel. X20’s vessel is slowed down by the weight of the canister, and Troy attacks, severing the alien’s towing cable. Meanwhile on the surface Sea Leopard assists Phones in finishing off the terror fish shoal, and Phones is able to head off to pick up Troy. Later that day, the eel is delivered to the World Experimental Fish Establishment, where it is hoped it may help with world food shortages. Meanwhile in Titanica, X20 feels Titan’s wrath - having lost another shoal of terror fish, he once again swears vengeance on Troy Tempest.

Tomorrow's News Today:
• Issue 139: Giant Eel Quest For Stingray

Reprinted:
Stingray The Comic issues 20 to 22
Prins Valiant (Holland) issues 25 to 26.

Notes:
• It is not clear what use one eel would be to the fish farm without a mate.
• Titan and X20 get involved in stealing the captured eel for no other reason than to stop the WASPs having it. At the conclusion, the characters themselves ask why Titan wanted it. Perhaps he was just feeling left out.
• In part 2, Sanderson is mistakenly named ‘Anderson’.
• X20 disguises himself as a steward named Fisher - a little unimaginative on the part of the writer as it is already the name of a regular character.

Story Twenty One (aka The Stingray Hi-jack Mission)
Writer: Dennis Hooper (?).
Artist: Michael Strand. 2 pages, b/w.

Part 1 - Issue 141, week ending 30 September 2067

Photographer Barry Mann returns home to his flat to find Johnny Day and Ray Pearson holding his brother hostage. He knows the two from their days in the World Navy together. They blackmail Mann into asking a special favour of his old friend Sam Shore. At Marineville the next morning, Mann asks Shore for permission to make a film about Stingray. The Commander is initially reluctant but Troy persuades him it would be good PR for the WASPs. Despite obtaining a contract, Mann finds his ordeal is not over ; he and his brother are forced to take Pearson and Day along posing as their cameramen. Next day, on board Stingray, the two crooks draw their guns on Troy and Phones. Troy tries to surface, but he and Phones are knocked unconscious and Stingray spirals down out of control...

Part 2 - Issue 142, week ending 07 October 2067
The crooks manage to pull Stingray up in the nick of time. Day and Pearson don the WASP men’s uniforms and dump them in the sea. Shore suspects a problem when he is unable to contact Stingray, and then detects the sub is off course in sector 18. Marina spots a newspaper report stating that Seaspear is sailing in this area with a cargo of nitrolum acid. The crooks are indeed heading for Seaspear. They attempt to coerce Captain Holmes to surface, and when he declines they fire a warning shot with sting missiles. Meanwhile Troy and Phones are menaced by circling sharks...

Part 3 - Issue 143, week ending 14 October 2067

Phones tackles one of the sharks, wounding it in the hope of distracting the others from the two men. Shore orders an air search of sector 18, but Stingray has already forced Seaspear to surface. Day forces the crew off the sub at gunpoint and leaves them on Stingray, after deactivating all sting missiles. Meanwhile a WASP rescue plane picks up Troy and Phones. Troy is in a bad way, but Phones fills Shore in on recent events. Then Shore receives a call from the World President; he has just been contacted by the two crooks who have demanded a million dollars or they will destroy the nuclear research base on Ramsay Island...

Part 4 - Issue 144, week ending 21 October 2067
Phones and Marina are flown out to Stingray, but the injured Troy has stowed away with them. Meanwhile the research base is evacuated. Troy and Phones take Captain Holmes of Seaspear with them. Once in range of Seaspear, Holmes contacts the men - there is a canister of solenium in Seaspear’s control cabin. This is a paralysing gas which would freeze them instantly if they opened the cabinet, and the sub could run wild. They find the canister, but the explosion from a sting missile causes them to drop it; the men are knocked out by gas from the leaking canister, and Seaspear heads for Ramsay Island...

Part 5 - Issue 145, week ending 28 October 2067

Troy must get aboard Seaspear but the crooks have taken Stingray’s diving gear. Marina swims over and fixes explosives on the edge of the underside hatch. Meanwhile on Ramsay Island, one man remains - Professor Ramsay. Suddenly Stingray comes under fire from the professor on the island so Shore sends in WASP fighters to intercept...

Part 6 - Issue 146, week ending 04 November 2067
The fighters drop a gas canister on the Professor, knocking him out. Meanwhile Troy attempts to cut his way into Seaspear’s escape tube. He, Phones and Holmes race through the sub and are able to bring it to a halt at last. Day and Pearson are taken on board the sea-doctor’s plane and given a shot of antidote. Intent on escape, the recovered Pearson takes the doctor hostage and pilots the sea-plane straight at Stingray.

Part 7 - Issue 147, week ending 11 November 2067

The plane takes off just in time, pursued by WASP fighters. Troy takes Stingray and dives down. He brings Stingray up and fires missiles as the sub leaves the water, blasting the escaping plane. The men bale out into the sea, and WASP fighters have to destroy the crippled plane as it falls towards Ramsay Island. The next day at Marineville, the crew are reading the newspaper report when Barry Mann arrives with a gift for Troy - a videocamera kit! Shore warns Troy to keep away from filming Stingray - or he’s fired!

Tomorrow's News Today:
• Issue 147: Air-Arm Alert From Stingray

Reprinted:
Stingray Monthly issues 2 to 4
Prins Valiant (Holland) issues 28 and 29.

Notes:
• There are some weak points in the plot. First of all, it is hard to believe there were no security checks made on the ‘film crew’ in the first instalment. They are able to get into a top security base and on board Stingray with concealed guns. Secondly in part 4, Troy fires a missile at Seaspear, when this is the last thing they should have done. Maybe Shore’s trigger-happy attitude is catching.
• The sudden and brief appearance of Professor Ramsay is a bit of blatant padding and could perhaps have been developed better.

Fire Missiles - But Do Not Hit Stingray! (aka The Big Freeze)
Writer: Dennis Hooper (?).
Artists: Colin Andrew (148 - 151), Michael Strand (152 - 153). 2 pages, b/w.

Part 1 - Issue 148, week ending 18 November 2067

The South Atlantic World Fisheries Research Centre off the Falkland Islands is experiencing disturbances and the boundary mesh has been breached again. The patrols discover killer whales and drive them from the fish pen, watched from a distance by one of Titan’s minions. Later in Titan’s palace, scientists demonstrate a new weapon capable of freezing anything instantly. Meanwhile Stingray heads for the fish farm to find out the reason for the attacks. That night as Stingray patrols the boundary fence, Titan’s forces fire a warning missile at the sub...

Part 2 - Issue 149, week ending 25 November 2067
Stingray turns and pursues Titan’s fleet but is drawn into a trap . The freeze ray is turned on Stingray, freezing the water around the sub and immobilising it. They tow Stingray back to Titan’s Antarctic base where the crew are forced to disembark. Troy and Marina are taken away and frozen, and will remain so unless Phones co-operates with Titan’s plan to destroy Marineville...

Part 3 - Issue 150, week ending 02 December 2067

Phones is forced to take Titan to Marineville, accompanied by a shoal of terror fish. Troy and Marina meanwhile are left floating frozen in the sea, marked by a homing device. Phones is forced to call the tower at gunpoint, saying that he is returning with Titan as prisoner. Atlanta realises his use of the term ‘reception committee’ is code for help needed. Sea Searcher is launched to rendezvous with Stingray but Titan will not allow Phones to surface. Phones ejects from Stingray and warns Shore that Titan has Stingray and is planning to attack. The WASP fleet intercept Titan but are frozen by the new ray. Meanwhile Troy and Marina’s frozen bodies are menaced by a giant hand...

Part 4 - Issue 151, week ending 09 December 2067
Troy and Marina are picked up by a World Fisheries Research vessel. Titan’s advance is halted by a hydromic missile attack from Marineville which takes out a large part of his fleet, and he retreats. Meanwhile on the floating laboratory, Troy and Marina have recovered to discover that there is an electro-barrier preventing radio transmission. They head off in a fisheries sub and after a long search they discover Titan’s secret base. Once inside they grab a terror fish and head off to warn Marineville. However when they surface, WASP fighters spot them and move in to attack...

Part 5 - Issue 152, week ending 16 December 2067
Troy fires a missile to intercept the fighters’ attack and dives out of sight. Meanwhile Titan and his fleet head for Marineville, unaware that the WASP fleet are waiting. Simultaneously, one of Titan’s agents gains entry to Marineville and is able to kidnap Atlanta. Following a battle, Titan appears to surrender, but once aboard the WASP flagship he grabs Shore at knifepoint and reveals that he is holding Marina ; he demands the destruction of Marineville in return for Atlanta’s life...

Part 6 - Issue 153, week ending 23 December 2067

At that moment, Troy and Marina are returning to Marineville in a captures terror fish. They hear on the video-link that a passing mechanical fish will rendezvous with Titan’s agent to pick up Atlanta. They destroy the vessel and take its place. X20 unwittingly transfers Atlanta into Troy’s terror fish, and Troy is able to capture Titan’s henchman and free Atlanta. They confront Titan on board the WASP vessel, but he makes a break over the side with X20 and an aquaphibian guard . Troy follows in Stingray but the three fugitives hook onto a fleeing terror fish. Stingray has no missiles left so Troy uses the only weapon left - Titan’s freeze ray. Stingray has to retreat from the other attacking terror fish, leaving Titan and X20 to be thawed out at his polar base.

Tomorrow's News Today:
• Issue 151: Marineville Ablaze - Titan Missiles Destroy Oil Stores

Reprinted:
Stingray The Comic issues 23 and 24
Stingray Monthly issues 1 and 2

Notes:
• The plot is a mess. Titan captures Troy, Phones and Marina once again but delays and they are allowed to escape. Worse still, Titan also gets control of Stingray (thanks to Phones ejecting!) but loses it again. Then he retreats in the face of a WASP attack when he possesses superior weaponry.
• In part 2, Troy is mistakenly drawn instead of Phones in the last two panels.
• In part 5, Titan holds a knife to Shore’s throat which is a little strong and not in keeping with the TV series.
• The fisheries sub in the later instalments resembles Dan Dare’s Anastasia without wings.
• Issue 151 would be the last to feature Stingray on the front cover.

A Traitor in Marineville (aka The Lesson)
Writer: Dennis Hooper (?).
Artist: Michael Strand. 2 pages, b/w.

Part 1 - Issue 154, week ending 30 December 2067
In the Indian Ocean off Port Lincoln, Australia, a WASP sea base is mysteriously destroyed. Later at Marineville, Commander Shore is planning the route for the next day’s shipment of ore and puts Troy on normal Stingray patrol. Atlanta, meanwhile has a flying lesson with Gary Carson. Troy and Phones observe Atlanta’s takeoff from Stingray, but Troy has his suspicions about Carson. He listens in to the sea-plane’s radio transmissions and overhears Carson passing on details of the ore shipment via the coast road. It seems that Atlanta has leaked the secret route.

Shore has a plan... the next day, an empty remote-controlled truck replaces the ore carrier and is destroyed by a lurking submarine off the coast . Troy stows away aboard the sea-plane for Atlanta’s next lesson. He discovers that Carson is using a mind-reading device hidden in her helmet to question Atlanta about the WASP vessel X-9 Leta project. A week later, the new X-9 vessel sails across the mid-Pacific accompanied by Stingray and a fleet of combat subs. The enemy sub closes in, but is intercepted and destroyed by Stingray. Carson is arrested, and Atlanta decides to learn from her experience and stick to sailing - but only if Troy will be her tutor.

Reprinted:
Stingray Monthly issue 1

Notes:
• A single instalment story, probably a filler before the next big story started.
• The on/off relationship between Troy and Atlanta features in this short story.
• It seems unlikely that the attacking sub would not have detected Stingray and the rest of the fleet accompanying the X-9 vessel. Troy strangely does not attempt to take prisoners.
• Carson’s employers are not revealed.