Space Precinct #1

31 Oct 1995; Cover price 1.25p.
36 pages. Full colour.
Manga Publishing Ltd.

Edited by Cefn Ridout.

Painted cover by Kev Walker.

Free Space Precinct sticker album and stickers.

Contents:

.2 A cosmic new album and sticker collection from Panini advertisement for Space Precinct sticker album and stickers.

.3 Gerry Anderson's Space Precinct 2040 Editorial by Cefn Ridout. / Contents / Indicia

.4 Patlabor 2 The Movie in-house videocassette advertisement.

.5 The Last Warrior w: Ian Carney; a: John Erasmus, lettering by Annie Parkhouse.

17 More Mega Manga Action with... in-house advertisement for Manga Mania.

18 The Station House cutaway by Graham Bleathman.

20 Policing the Final Frontier text feature by Peter J. Evans.

23 Parental Guidance w: William Cade; a: Andrew Currie, lettering by Peter Nicholls, colouring by Steve Whitaker.

29 Space Precinct Action Figures and Toys to be Won competition.

30 The Imagineers text feature by Peter J. Evans.

32 Roll Call Lieutenant Patrick Brogan fact file by Lee Brimmicombe Wood.

33 In the Next Issue of Space Precinct

34 Episode Guide Double Duty recap by Peter J. Evans.

35 Breaking the Barriers in-house advertisement for Manga Books.

36 Street Fighter II Animated in-house videocassette advertisement.

Gerry Anderson's work has inspired many great comics, and Manga obviously saw in Space Precinct potential to recreate some previous successes. This issue gets off to a good start with a painting which captures the essence of characters without being too faithful to likenesses - the bold image is one of several in the comic's run which surpasses series visuals, which is a problem. The show wasn't exactly the most aesthetically-pleasing SF to air, and when it compares unfavourably to a spin-off comic there's a problem no amount of promotion can fix.

The comic was living on borrowed time, and determined to live life to the full.

A car crash is the inciting incident in The Last Warrior. Okay, technically it is a 'hopper' (the flying vehicles of the series), and despite some really effective art, the first story here opening with a fender bender is something of a let-down. Unable to shoot it down while they are over a heavily-populated area, Brogan and Haldane take chase. Haldane jumps onto the vehicle and, discovering a dead Creon, has to regain control before crashing into Demeter City Hospital. I take back my disappointment.

Graham Bleathman's cutaway of the Station House is gorgeous. This is a location which has obviously had some thought applied to requirements for a police force operating in space: garage and a maintenance bay, holding pens, administration offices, hermetically sealed office for non-air breathing visitors, canteen... If Space Precinct had shown such workings of the world in as much detail, then we would be talking about the show with as much respect as Babylon 5 receives.

Policing the Final Frontier, a text feature on the series, brings up 1986's Space Police pilot without offering up any visuals to contrast and compare with what eventually ended up on screen. I can honestly say that I have never seen this pilot, not for scarcity but due to never having been sufficiently intrigued, and background details offered here do not encourage me to go look for it.

The opening of Parental Guidance is funny, but once again highlights an inconsistent tone which was to plague the nascent franchise. Silas' parent drop in for a visit while he is at work, arranging for him to show Morin, a young woman who bullied him as a child, the sights. This feels like a story intended for younger readers, which is somewhat at odds with stated intentions that the series was to appeal to a multi-generational audience - explaining episodes focusing on drug smugglers.

Aiming material at a slightly more mature audience could have opened up so many storytelling avenues.

Photographs of tie-in toys for The Imagineers, an article on Vivid Imaginations, aren't appealing. It appears as if someone has hurriedly stood the figures on a table and snapped a couple of shots rather than crafting images which would encourage readers to go out and purchase them. This isn't grumbling about a lack of artistic flair - either the toys are an important link in the overall marketing strategy or they aren't.

The run-down of officially-licensed products is interesting, and seems comprehensive enough to make the article of lasting interest to fans of the show, but most of what is described is left unseen on the page. The more I consider the lack of decent photographs, the more it feels like the comic was in desperate need of a photographer to help supply shots. And you'll note, no doubt, that all of the cast photos peppered throughout are from promotional material which was also issues to other magazines and newspapers.

For fantastic artwork alone, this is still a great read. It is a shame that supplementary material wasn't up to similar high quality.