Psycho Gran (Titan) #01 (2014) digital edition
First Appearances:
Davock of Grey Woods in The Victor (D.C. Thomson & Co., Ltd.) #58 (31 Mar 1962).
Roy Fane (Return from Mars) in The Victor (D.C. Thomson & Co., Ltd.) #58 (31 Mar 1962).
Smasher (robot) in The Victor (D.C. Thomson & Co., Ltd.) #58 (31 Mar 1962).
Nina Coltrane (Shadows) in 2000 A.D. (Fleetway Publications) Prog 672 (31 Mar 1990).
Births:
Tony Crawley (1938); Brian Bolland (1951)
Notable Events:
The Eagle Sportsman of the Year trophy was awarded to Peter May, at the Royal Albert Hall, in 1956.
Grimbledown Down cartoon strip began in New Scientist in 1970, and ended on this day in 1994.
The Disney Mirror 8–page giveaway ended in 1994 with the 160th issue.
Gorillaz, the band's eponymously–titled debut album, released in the UK in 2001.
Kick-Ass feature film, based on the comic by Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr., released in 2010.
Bryan Talbot signed copies of his books at Forbidden Planet, 40-41 Southbridge Street, Edinburgh, in 2011. Later in the day he did a presentation at Plan B Books, 5 Osborne St, Glasgow.
Revolutionary War: Omega (Marvel) #01 (Mar 2014) released in the US in 2014.
Nigel Parkinson was featured in The Guardian's 'Work & Careers' section on this day in 2015.
Showing posts with label Nigel Parkinson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Nigel Parkinson. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 26, 2019
Thursday, November 22, 2018
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:
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.
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.
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.
Space Precinct
Monday, November 19, 2018
Space Precinct #5
16 Jan 1996. Cover price £1.25.
36 pages. Full colour.
Manga Publishing Ltd.
Edited by Cefn Ridout.
Cover by Tony Luke.
Contents:
The penultimate issue, featuring a somewhat Tarantino-esque cover courtesy of Tony Luke, has a breath of life injected into the issue which makes it stand out, even among the stellar work published so far. True Believers, the first strip of the issue, opens with a dramatic image of a derelict spaceship , and opens out the world of the characters with an idea which would later form a central part of Babylon 5's spin-off series, Crusade.
Brogan and Haldane stop a hooded figure assaulting a Creon, and discover that it is Professor Sondra Conway, head anthropologist from the expedition. Taken to talk to Captain Podly, she informs the officers that the explosion which destroyed the vessel, and which killed all but one of her friends and colleagues, was no accident. Her actions that night were in order to receive information about a sole shipment of artifacts from the vessel, stolen before it reached Pan-Simter Museum. The young Creon claimed he could lead Sondra to stolen relics, for a price, but had been frightened into reneging on their deal.
There are a lot of elements in play in the first installment which hint at the scope of worlds away from that seen in the series, and it is a shame we don't get to spend more time on the archaeological site. A peace rally is a little too mundane following the initial pages, though gives a good indication of variety within Demeter city, allowing tension to be ratcheted up a few notches.
Bleathman's Space Hopper cutaway calls to mind Red Dwarf's Bug shuttle, a pleasingly aware colour scheme (Thunderbird 2 not far from thought), though is slightly too clean and showroom-fresh to convince as a day-to-day vehicle. It is a problem with much of televisual SF, and attendant spin-offs, so it isn't a critical problem.
Mary Woodvine comes across as someone thrown into the deep end, and left to sink or swim, in Mind Over Matter. Despite the extensive make-up and appliances constraining her ability to perform with nuances, she seems remarkably chilled out about her experiences. Simone Bendix's interview, pulled from FAB, doesn't reveal nearly as much of her personality. It would have been nice for someone to quiz the cast on how they saw their characters progressing, especially as a darker second season had (to whatever degree) been considered.
Timebomb is a quick little story which contains a solidly alien threat, allows Romek and Took to shine in the limelight, and has a twist ending which feels satisfying. It isn't, unfortunately, a startlingly original tale, but it is fun - for a series which veers inconsistently from dark and tormented to light and breezy it makes a nice pause between more dramatic material. Introducing temporal mechanics to the equipment already seen is, perhaps, not the most original notion, but raises plenty of time-travel options for writers to play with.
Delightfully, and bizarrely, The Adventures of Twizzle and Torchy the Battery Boy are featured in Blast from the Past, which looks at the early days of Anderson's career. Unfortunately, due to space limitations, the piece moves on quickly to Four Feather Falls, then Supercar, without spending enough time to really delve deeper into the series than the most basic overview. While these series have had retrospectives elsewhere, it would have been greatly appreciated to receive more than "this thing exists, so... yeah," which is pretty much the approach taken.
36 pages. Full colour.
Manga Publishing Ltd.
Edited by Cefn Ridout.
Cover by Tony Luke.
Contents:
2 Fanderson - the Official Gerry Anderson Appreciation Society (half page) advertisement. / Telephone Collector Phonecards (half page) advertisement for P & J Promotions.
3 Gerry Anderson's Space Precinct 2040 introduction by Cefn Ridout. / Contents / Indicia
4 Double the Pages! Double the Action! in-house advertisement for Mortal Kombat Tournament Edition.
5 True Believers, part one, w: Simon Jowett; a: Graham Manley, lettering by Annie Parkhouse.
17 Roll Call Officer Aurelia Took fact file by Lee Brimmicombe Wood; photographs (uncredited).
18 Space Hopper [Specifications for a VW118-GB] cutaway by Graham Bleathman.
20 Mind Over Matter Mary Woodvine interview by Jim Swallow; photographs (uncredited)
22 Soundbite Simone Bendix interview by Ralph Titterton; photographs (uncredited).
r: FAB Magazine (Official Gerry Anderson Appreciation Society) #19 ().
23 In the Next Issue of Space Precinct
24 Crimewatch readers mail.
25 Limited Edition Space Precinct Phone Cards to be Won! competition; photographs (uncredited).
26 Timebomb w: Cory MacRae; p: Andrew Currie, i: Graham Higgins, lettering by Peter Nichols, colouring by Nigel Parkinson.
32 Blast from the Past, part one, Twizzle to Supercar text feature by Chris Bentley; photographs (uncredited).
34 Episode Guide The Snake recap by Peter J. Evans; photographs (uncredited).
35 It Found it's Voice... Now it Needs a Body - Ghost in the Shell in-house advertisement for cinematic release.
36 From the Hidden Files of the FBI in-house advertisement for The X-Files: Firebird and The X-Files Special Edition.
The penultimate issue, featuring a somewhat Tarantino-esque cover courtesy of Tony Luke, has a breath of life injected into the issue which makes it stand out, even among the stellar work published so far. True Believers, the first strip of the issue, opens with a dramatic image of a derelict spaceship , and opens out the world of the characters with an idea which would later form a central part of Babylon 5's spin-off series, Crusade.
Deep space archaeology.Writing found aboard the ship contains vague similarities to ancient Tarn and Classical Creon scripts, but remain untranslated.
Long range scanners and space suits have replaced ancient maps and shovels, but the same questions occupy the minds of every member of the team:
What is it? Where does it come from? When was it built?...
Brogan and Haldane stop a hooded figure assaulting a Creon, and discover that it is Professor Sondra Conway, head anthropologist from the expedition. Taken to talk to Captain Podly, she informs the officers that the explosion which destroyed the vessel, and which killed all but one of her friends and colleagues, was no accident. Her actions that night were in order to receive information about a sole shipment of artifacts from the vessel, stolen before it reached Pan-Simter Museum. The young Creon claimed he could lead Sondra to stolen relics, for a price, but had been frightened into reneging on their deal.
There are a lot of elements in play in the first installment which hint at the scope of worlds away from that seen in the series, and it is a shame we don't get to spend more time on the archaeological site. A peace rally is a little too mundane following the initial pages, though gives a good indication of variety within Demeter city, allowing tension to be ratcheted up a few notches.
Bleathman's Space Hopper cutaway calls to mind Red Dwarf's Bug shuttle, a pleasingly aware colour scheme (Thunderbird 2 not far from thought), though is slightly too clean and showroom-fresh to convince as a day-to-day vehicle. It is a problem with much of televisual SF, and attendant spin-offs, so it isn't a critical problem.
Mary Woodvine comes across as someone thrown into the deep end, and left to sink or swim, in Mind Over Matter. Despite the extensive make-up and appliances constraining her ability to perform with nuances, she seems remarkably chilled out about her experiences. Simone Bendix's interview, pulled from FAB, doesn't reveal nearly as much of her personality. It would have been nice for someone to quiz the cast on how they saw their characters progressing, especially as a darker second season had (to whatever degree) been considered.
Timebomb is a quick little story which contains a solidly alien threat, allows Romek and Took to shine in the limelight, and has a twist ending which feels satisfying. It isn't, unfortunately, a startlingly original tale, but it is fun - for a series which veers inconsistently from dark and tormented to light and breezy it makes a nice pause between more dramatic material. Introducing temporal mechanics to the equipment already seen is, perhaps, not the most original notion, but raises plenty of time-travel options for writers to play with.
Delightfully, and bizarrely, The Adventures of Twizzle and Torchy the Battery Boy are featured in Blast from the Past, which looks at the early days of Anderson's career. Unfortunately, due to space limitations, the piece moves on quickly to Four Feather Falls, then Supercar, without spending enough time to really delve deeper into the series than the most basic overview. While these series have had retrospectives elsewhere, it would have been greatly appreciated to receive more than "this thing exists, so... yeah," which is pretty much the approach taken.
Space Precinct
#6
Saturday, November 10, 2018
Space Precinct #2
21 Nov 1995. Cover price £1.25.
36 pages. Full colour.
Manga Publishing Ltd.
Edited by Cefn Ridout.
Cover by John Erasmus.
Contents:
A superbly evocative cover, capturing the leads in action - and in a manner which the series never quite achieved - the second issue builds upon the fantastic start to the series. It shouldn't be a surprise that The Last Warrior is building to be a very distinguished story, but the art is truly worthy of being placed alongside the classic sixties' strips. There's a great story as well, with solid characterization, an ear for dialogue, and some brilliant observations.
Graham Bleathman's cutaways are proving to be thoroughly enjoyable, with enough detail in the key to answer niggling concerns.
Its leader, Bagaan, a red-skinned alien, offers the youths the means to travel to the boundless worlds of hyper-reality. After returning home, the son of a prominent city councillor demands to be taken back to Arcadia. Bagaan tells the youth's father that he has become hopelessly addicted to hyper-reality, and offers to de-program him in exchange for the man's support in relaxing gaming legislation in Demeter City.
There was an opportunity to explore the darker edges of Demeter in the comic, with stories which might not have passed network scrutiny, though instead of examining inter-species hostility, the effects of food, drink, and environment on differing physiologies, or political schisms created by differing outlooks on the universe, we get a story which could have been slipped into a late-period episode of The Avengers, or even The Champions.
A look at the first Space Precinct novel, The Deity Father, is an interesting piece of cross-promotion, and is seriously tempting me to go hunt for a copy. It is immediately followed by a competition in which twenty lucky readers had the opportunity to get their hands on a copy gratis. Slick.
As with The X-Files, there are one-page episode guides, of questionable use. Surely fans of the series will have been picking up either SFX or some other magazines covering the series, so replicating the information in the tie-in title is... odd.
Well worth its place in the Anderson canon.
36 pages. Full colour.
Manga Publishing Ltd.
Edited by Cefn Ridout.
Cover by John Erasmus.
Contents:
2 Patlabor 2 The Movie in-house advertisement for videocassette.
3 Gerry Anderson's Space Precinct 2040 introduction by Cefn Ridout. / Contents / Indicia
4 Case Review The Last Warrior recap.
5 The Last Warrior, part two, w: Ian Carney; a: John Erasmus, lettering by Annie Parkhouse.
17 Street Fighter II Animated in-house advertisement for videocassette.
18 Police Cruiser cutaway by Graham Bleathman.
20 The Anderson Tapes, part one, Gerry Anderson interview by Peter J. Evans; photographs (uncredited).
21 The Anderson Tapes The Anderson Series, part one, outline of Gerry Anderson television series'.
23 Breaking the Barriers in-house advertisement for Crying Freeman, The X-Files: Firebird, Dirty Pair: Dangerous Acquaintances, Gerry Anderson's Space Precinct 2040, and Tank Girl: The Odyssey graphic novels.
29 Arcadia w:/a: David Hine, lettering by Elitta Fell, colouring by Nigel Parkinson.
30 Roll Call Police Officer Jack Haldane fact file by Lee Brimmicombe Wood.
31 All Action Spider-Man Caps advertisement for Panini.
32 Book Guide The Deity Father recap by Jim Swallow.
33 Space Precinct Paperback Books to be Won! competition.
34 Episode Guide Protect and Serve recap by Peter J. Evans.
35 In the Next Issue of Space Precinct
36 Double the Pages! Double the Action! in-house advertisement for Mortal Kombat Tournament Edition.
A superbly evocative cover, capturing the leads in action - and in a manner which the series never quite achieved - the second issue builds upon the fantastic start to the series. It shouldn't be a surprise that The Last Warrior is building to be a very distinguished story, but the art is truly worthy of being placed alongside the classic sixties' strips. There's a great story as well, with solid characterization, an ear for dialogue, and some brilliant observations.
Graham Bleathman's cutaways are proving to be thoroughly enjoyable, with enough detail in the key to answer niggling concerns.
August 1995 and there's no end in sight to the heatwave that's gripped Britain this summer. And just when you thought it couldn't get any hotter, the sun pops out over rural Oxfordshire and Gerry Anderson's household starts to slowly broil. Gerry himself was preparing for his role as guest of honour at Worldcon in Glasgow a few days later, but despite the heat and his undeniably hectic schedule, the legend in his own primetime agreed to speak to Space Precinct Magazine about life, the universe and luxury cars.The Anderson Tapes has a few revelations about the way the series made it to screen, and explains how Grove Television got involved. It is amusing to know that he wasn't particularly interested in SF, initially wishing to move away from puppets into "real" film-making, when his shows have outlasted nearly everything broadcast contemporaneously. A (brief) outline of the various programmes lists everything up to 1968's Thunderbird Six, though I would be more interested in the shows (like Space Police) which never quite reached television screens.
To the East of Demeter an imposing structure has bloomed like an exotic desert orchid in the arid wasteland. A wonderland known as ArcadiaThe wacky cult featured in Arcadia is in no way based on the Scientology cult.
Soon after its completion, the sons and daughters of Demeter City's elite are made an offer they can't refuse.
Its leader, Bagaan, a red-skinned alien, offers the youths the means to travel to the boundless worlds of hyper-reality. After returning home, the son of a prominent city councillor demands to be taken back to Arcadia. Bagaan tells the youth's father that he has become hopelessly addicted to hyper-reality, and offers to de-program him in exchange for the man's support in relaxing gaming legislation in Demeter City.
There was an opportunity to explore the darker edges of Demeter in the comic, with stories which might not have passed network scrutiny, though instead of examining inter-species hostility, the effects of food, drink, and environment on differing physiologies, or political schisms created by differing outlooks on the universe, we get a story which could have been slipped into a late-period episode of The Avengers, or even The Champions.
A look at the first Space Precinct novel, The Deity Father, is an interesting piece of cross-promotion, and is seriously tempting me to go hunt for a copy. It is immediately followed by a competition in which twenty lucky readers had the opportunity to get their hands on a copy gratis. Slick.
As with The X-Files, there are one-page episode guides, of questionable use. Surely fans of the series will have been picking up either SFX or some other magazines covering the series, so replicating the information in the tie-in title is... odd.
Well worth its place in the Anderson canon.
Space Precinct
#3
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