Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet #1

[Oct 2005]. Cover price £1.85.
28 pages. Full colour contents.
GE Magazines.

Edited by William Potter.

Screenshot cover.

Free Spectrum Shooter.

Contents:

 2 New Games Magazine! in-house advertisement for Skillz #02.

 3 Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet contents. / Indicia

 4 Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet The Mysterons, part one, w: UNKNOWN, based on a script by Phil Ford; a: screenshots from series.

10 Out of this World Mad About Mars feature; illustrated by Andrew Hennessey.

12 Is Your Best Friend... A Mysteron Agent? quiz.

13 Spectrum Personnel Captain Scarlet fact file.

14 Top Secret Spectrum Tech Skybase fact file.

16 Indestructible Puzzles

19 Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet The Mysterons, part two, w: UNKNOWN, based on a script by Phil Ford; a: screenshots from series.

24 Look what's in... Mr Bean magazine! in-house advertisement.

25 Calling Captain Scarlet readers' mail.

26 Win! Win! Win! competitions.

27 Puzzle Answers (half page) / Next Issue (half page).

28 Captain Scarlet Arrives on DVD 17th October 2005 advertisement for Series 1 DVD.

Despite using a stock shot of the magazine's titular character, in a pose which reeks of James Bond, the cover is quite effective. It is, of course, cluttered with eye-catching highlights of the contents, muting the overall effectiveness. The contents page is very grey, which is a shame - the Skybase art bleeds into the background, slightly spoiling the power of the model construction. It really is a thing of beauty, and should have been considered when choosing a colour with which to bed the page on. Outlined lettering, to make the contents pop, works magnificently, and the predominance of red promotes Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlet's identity.

It's a ridiculously long name for a comic though.

The Mysterons, the sole comic strip in this issue - sadly, though not unexpectedly - utilizes stills from the series to retell the origin of Captains Scarlet and Black, with a few irritating design choices marring enjoyability. Text balloons are slightly transparent, sound effects scream across the page for all they are worth, drop-shadows are used over other images when panels are broken... It is a strip which throws every available trick into the creative process, irrespective of the appropriateness. There are positive aspects to the hyperactive design, such as red text for Spectrum text boxes, and green tinting for Mysteron dialogue.

Whatever updating has been undertaken in the episode, and through distillation in strip adaptation, it retains every ounce of energy and immediacy which marked the debut of the characters in 1967. Looked at as a cosmetic touch-up of that pilot, the story's beats are paced out better, with more characterisation for Conrad, and a touch more background.

Mad About Mars is a refreshing non-fiction look at Mars, with superb illustrations by Andrew Hennessey - the sole original art used within the title. This does have the effect of highlighting the paucity of art elsewhere in Captain Scarlet (which I'm referring to the title as from here on). I'm not sold on the semi-grid design used across the second page of the feature, which is mercifully kept only to that page, as it stands out in the worst way.

Since when did quizzes have a mere seven questions? When compared to Battle Picture Weekly or Eagle quizzes, the feature seems needlessly brief, with much of the page taken up by images from the series. Yes, the title is aimed at younger readers, but still... Likewise, the fact file on Captain Scarlet is on the light side, and misses a couple of good possibilities to provide added information.

While described as a poster, the Skybase centrefold is more like a cutaway (sans the cutaway), with box-outs highlighting various aspects of the ship. It is, of course, a gorgeous design, although it could have done with a small key to where everyone normally is in relation to the ship - various offices, the medical bay - minor snippets of context in which to place scenes. I would have settled for a very basic floor plan.

The puzzle pages are fine, though are slightly too spread out and overly large, while the readers' mail contains far too few contributions to make it worth including so early in the run. A text piece on the creation of the series might have been a more useful piece, given the rich history of the characters on screen and in print.

Not the best launch, but one which had ample opportunity from which to expand. It is possible to see traces of the approach used with tie-in annuals during the late 90s in Captain Scarlet's make-up, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, but the lack of real innovation in a debut issue means that the title has to rely greatly on the series recaps to provide entertainment. Not a shade on the Space Precinct title, but a solid, if uninspiring, beginning.