Future Tense #4

Britain's Chilling New Science Fiction Weekly

26 Nov 1980; Cover price 14p.
32 pages. B&W contents.
Marvel Comics Ltd.

One of Marvel's Big Ones!

Edited by Paul Neary.

Cover p: UNKNOWN.
r: UNKNOWN.

Contents:

 2 Britain's Most Exciting Science Fiction Weekly! (half page) text introduction by Paul Neary. / The Concise History of the Galaxy (half page) UNTITLED [Fresh Brains] w: Tim Quinn; a: Dicky Howett. / Indicia

 3 The Micronauts Divided They Fall, part two, w: Bill Mantlo; p: Pat Broderick, i: Armando Gil, lettering by John Costanza.

r: Micronauts (Marvel Comics) #19 (Jul 1980).

12 Meet the Micronauts, part three, Bug w: UNKNOWN (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN (uncredited).

13 Seeker 3000! The Dying Sun!, part four, w: Doug Moench; a: Tom Sutton, lettering by Denise Wohl.

r: Marvel Premiere (Marvel Comics) #41 (Apr 1978).

18 BMX - The Hottest Thing on Two Wheels! advertisement for Halfords.

18 Star-Lord Windhölme, part four, w: Chris Claremont; p: John Byrne, i: Terry Austin, lettering by Tom Orzechowski.

r: Marvel Preview (Marvel Comics) #11 (Summer 1977).

23 Paladin In Manhattan, They Play for Keeps, part four, w: Don McGregor; a: Tom Sutton, lettering by Gaspar Saladino & Bruce Patterson.

r: Marvel Premiere (Marvel Comics) #43 (Aug 1978).

27 Warlock And Men Shall Call Him... Warlock!, part four, w: Roy Thomas; p: Gil Kane, i: Dan Adkins, lettering by Sam Rosen.

r: Marvel Premiere (Marvel Comics) #01 (Apr 1972).

32 Science Fantasy in Television, Cinema and Graphics in-house advertisement for Starburst.

As we got to press this week, the big news is that we have got Star Trek for you, and its scheduled to begin in issue 7! We will be printing the Marvel authorised comic strip version of the recent film, and then getting into new adventures... untold stories of the crew of the starship Enterprise!

If the current roster of material was stronger then the announcement of a further two issues wait might have been bearable, but with the interminable "adventures" of the Micronauts, Star-Lord and Paladin to look forward to, this is not an announcement that is pleasing to read. But there is some news which has piqued my interest:

Also we might just have a few photographs of our recent Marvel Convention for you!

This is more like it. I'm a sucker for behind-the-scenes material, and any record of the convention has to be better than the strips. There must be a wealth of information on the Marvel Convention awaiting publication...

The brief appearance by Ant Man at the end of the current Micronauts story, leading into a full appearance in the next issue, shows that this is not, however it is marketed, an SF story, but merely another tired, predictable superhero story, with all the scientific curiousity of a cocker spaniel. The fact that it is a superhero story isn't an immediate mark against the series, but, because of it being marketed as SF, the superhero elements are a drawback.

The Seeker 3000 makes the jump intact, triumphantly blazing though an eternity of warped time and space!

For thr first time in man's history, infinity is at hand, the vast cosmos within grasp...

...and it took this to accomplish it: the death of the sun!

In one searing instant of cosmic hell, Earth's reality is... vaporised.

Every planet, every moon and asteroid, every man, woman and child in the solar system dies...

...save these precious few aboard a warp-streaking ark named Seeker-3000. They gather now, in mingled jubilation and grief...

The main problem with the warp sequence in Seeker 3000 is its glorious celebration of something which, elsewhere in the title, is treated as a relatively easy accomplishment, undermining the difficulty of the process, and making the characters look like idiots for not figuring out an easier way of accomplishing what others have done with far less destruction. It isn't even depicted with the strength of an average Star Trek or Star Wars FTL sequence, which further cuts away at the melodrama on show.

Thankfully a brand new story is promised for the next issue.

In Chinese Legend, it is told that Buddha died on a bleak new year's day...

On that dying day, Buddha supposedly summoned all living creatures to his side. Twelve responded, and he rewarded each with a year of homage on the lunar calendar.

The moments of interest in Paladin are largely unconnected with the battle which the titular character is involved in, and when he starts talking any tension evaporates. Paladin is a wooden, two-dimensional walking plot point, with dialogue so corny and hackneyed that I actually laughed out loud when reading his utterances:

You killed Marsha. She was sensitive... alert... vibrant.

You ended all her moods and excitements.

That makes me smile every time I read it. How, given the number of people involved in the creation of the strip, could such awful lines get through the entire creative process to see print? No comic strip of this type should turn the death of a character into prime comedy material.

#03

Future Tense

#05