Space Precinct #6

30 Jan 1996. Cover price £1.25.
36 pages. Full colour.
Manga Publishing Ltd.

Edited by Cefn Ridout.

Cover by Colin MacNeil.

Contents:

 2 Also Available from Manga Publishing in-house advertisement for The X-Files: Firebird and The X-Files #09 (Feb 1996).

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

 4 Fanderson - the Official Gerry Anderson Appreciation Society (half page) advertisement. / Manga Books Mail Order (half page) advertisement for Grantham Book Services.

 5 Cruise Control w: Paul Grist; a: Colin MacNeil, lettering by Elitta Fell, colouring by Nigel Parkinson.

11 Space Precinct Fun Packs to be Won! competition; photographs (uncredited).

12 The Illusionists, part two, Breeding Aliens text feature by Jim Swallow; photographs (uncredited).

14 Captain Courageous Jerome Willis & Christine Glanville interviewed by Ralph Titterton; photographs (uncredited).

r: FAB Magazine (Official Gerry Anderson Appreciation Society) #19 ().

16 Roll Call Sally Brogan / Matthew Brogan (half page) / Elizabeth Brogan (half page) fact files by Lee Brimmicombe Wood; photographs (uncredited).

18 Demeter General Hospital [City of Demeter Department of Interplanetary Health] cutaway by Graham Bleathman.

20 Case Review True Believers recap.

21 True Believers, part two, w: Simon Jowett; a: Graham Manley, lettering by Annie Parkhouse.

33 Crimewatch readers mail.

34 Episode Guide Body and Soul recap by Peter J. Evans; photographs (uncredited).

35 Hot New Game advertisement for Upper Deck's Sumo Dudes

23 Outrageous Characters & Retro-Mecha Action at its Best! in-house advertisement for Giant Robo videocassettes.

Colin MacNeil's cover, featuring Orrin and Romek, is a stylish affair, placing a squad car front and centre in a hint towards a complete story, Cruise Control, in this issue. Ridout's introduction continues to request readers to send in "drawings, paintings, sculptures, potato prints," suggesting that word of cancellation was very late into production, though the lack of a "next issue" plug hints at there being at least some indication as to the title's fate.

The aforementioned Cruise Control is the kind of story which highlights character, without sacrificing plot, or credibility, and is one of the best glimpses into the Space Precinct universe - brief, to the point, and very amusing. Grist manages to pack a lot of information into very few pages, delivering something which is both perfectly suited to the franchise and yet feels fresh.

Demeter City is a diverse place, an interstellar melting pot of races and species from across the galaxy, some of whom are only out for a quick credit and not all of them ready to do it legally. Here, Humans from Earth are side-by-side with Creons from the planet Danae, Tarns from Simter, and a host of others like Xyronites and Saganians, as well as less well-known and often highly dangerous aliens liket the Meki, the Snake and the morphing murderess Aleesha.

Jim Swallow's The Illusionists feature, on alien prosthetics featured in the series, doesn't go into detail on the creation of the suits or animatronics, but offers enough of an insight into the unbelievable turnaround required in order to meet demands - it is barely imaginable that such complex designs are so rapidly manufactured in screen-ready form. Without seeing the workings of the facial appliances, we can only ponder the processes involved.

A further reprint from FAB is a sign that all is not right with the back-up features. It is difficult to pinpoint why the extracts are so unsatisfying when there are clearly very talented, intelligent, and articulate people involved, and the conclusion must be the extreme lack of space allocated to these pieces. Had more room been placed aside, we might have discovered more about the series' workings, and the hurdles which needed to be overcome.

Reading that things are great, and no trouble at all, is boring. The hint of a challenge - as Jerome Willis describes whirring servos during scenes - and suddenly the set comes alive. Knowing that every line of dialogue requires post-production tinkering brings to us a feeling of peeking, however slightly, and however briefly, behind the curtain to see how the trick is performed.

The final three Roll Call installments, featuring Brogan's family, does a fine job of bringing the characters inner lives to light, though the slang used to exemplify the children's dialogue is painful. A problem which crops up remarkably often in titles, and is extremely evident here, is the re-use of identical images on the same page - Sally Brogan's headshot being placed at the top and bottom of the page. It's never a good idea to do this, and the duplication is not sufficiently spaced apart to mitigate any sense of penny-pinching.

A cutaway of Demeter City Hospital highlights one of the most underused elements throughout the franchise. We know that bio-mechanical engineering exists in the series, though how advanced this surgery is - for example, we never see a human receiving artificial limbs capable of replicating full movement. Artificial eyes, oft-used in SF, is never broached, nor is the possibility of inter-species bio-compatibility, raising the disturbing question of where blood supplies for species not otherwise seen is obtained.

While not up to the standards of the opening installment, True Believers continues to throw ideas at the page as if there's no tomorrow. There wasn't a tomorrow for the title, but still... It's interesting to see reactions from Romek and Orrin to the rioters, although not enough context to the background of the One True Path has been peppered throughout the franchise to make their appearance more than Plot Device of the Week #42.

The dramatic conclusion, in which Matt is injured, leaves the issue with a thrilling cliff-hanger which is very promising. It's infuriating that a conclusion to the story wasn't published in the title's run, but at least there is the collections...

With a final surge of exceptional content, Space Precinct ends on a high.

#5

Space Precinct