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The Space Patrol Strips in The Beezer - part 1 If you are a fan of Space Patrol, most of you would know about TV Comic, or may own either of the Gold Token 'Super Mags'. But how many of you know that the series also appeared in another comic? In March 2002, Richard McHale contacted Space Patrol - The Website and asked if we knew anything about Space Patrol being a strip in The Beezer in the 1960s? I can confirm from our files... that Space Patrol, "Thrilling adventures with Captain Dart and the crew of the Galasphere in the year 2100 in this strip based on the tv series of the same name.", appeared in The Beezer comics numbered 558 (24/9/66) to 583 (18/3/67). The artist was one Terry Patrick. Further details of the Space Patrol strip were requested, and the query was forwarded to the D.C. Thomson Syndication Department, as the best people to deal with it. With equal efficiency, they were able to track down bound and loose issues from their own archive and supply copies of the entire run to enable this rarely seen tie-in to be detailed for the first time. After thirty-five years, information is scant even from within D.C.Thomson itself as none of the editorial team of the time remain but it is known stories were usually written by the in-house staff. Sources within D.C. Thomson conceded in the case of a television tie-in like Space Patrol this may not have been the case but the style of story is markedly different from those associated with Roberta Leigh and the TV Comic versions which are also acknowledged to be her work. This would appear to be confirmed by the fact the strips are Published by arrangement with Wonderama Productions, Ltd rather than Wonderama retaining copyright as with other merchandise. It is also apparent in the fact that apart from Larry Dart, Slim and Husky, the only other character from the series to be featured is Colonel Raeburn (no Professor Haggarty or Marla), who usually gives the Galasphere crew their orders. This deprives the strip of some of the more quirky and humourous aspects of the series. The moral nature of the series is also seemingly not adhered to, with the non-lethal plastafoam guns replaced by 'electro-guns' and more than one story ending in the explosive destruction of a threatening alien race. These quibbles aside, the strip remains entertaining though the brief two-parters that make up half of the run unfortunately tend to suffer from undeveloped storylines and sudden conclusions. Here then, for the first time, is the comprehensive issue-by-issue guide to the Space Patrol comic strips in The Beezer comic. The titles for each installment or story, where given, come from the 'next week' caption of the previous issue: Story One: Writer: Unknown Drawn by Terry Patrick Part One: Issue 558, dated 24/09/1966 Galasphere 347 stood ready for take-off as Captain Larry Dart and his two crew-men strode across the tarmac to get their flight-orders. It was the year 2100, and the towering Galasphere was one of the space ships that patrolled the Universe. Each ship was crewed by one man from each of the three main planets - Earth, Venus and Mars - and Larry's constant companions were Slim the Venusian and Husky the Martian. Fresh from a week's leave, they were about to set off on another danger-filled mission... Colonel Raeburn briefs Dart and his crew to investigate the disappearance of two interplanetary space-trains in the vicinity of the planet Zorb, some three weeks from Earth. Galasphere 347 lifts off on its mission, with the crew in the Freezer Compartment for the duration of the journey. But once in orbit around Zorb, there is a searing flash of light which Dart thinks is a near miss from a missile attack. Landing the Galasphere on the planet, Dart disembarks and in the low gravity leaps over a ravine. Part Two: 'Captured by the Probs' Issue 559, dated 01/10/1966 One of the Probs had already rapped an order into his radio. Swiftly and silently a huge bat-like machine swooped out of the sky and hovered over Dart... Startled by the mencing shadow of the craft, Dart spins round but the edge of the chasm gives way and he falls into the darkness! Suddenly, a rush of air sucks him into a tube from the Prob hovership. Helpless, Husky and Slim can only watch as the craft shoots overhead with their captain aboard. Deploying the hoverjets, the two crewman give chase, only to also be observed by the Prob patrol who open fire with the electro-gun from their armed vehicle. The searing ball of flame narrowly misses the two Space Patrol men... Even as Slim shouted, he jabbed at a button on his control panel. And as a dense cloud of green smoke streamed out from both his and Husky's hoverjets, he pointed down. "Let's see if we can shake them off among the rocks! he shouted, "It's our only hope." Part Three: 'The grim game of hide-and-seek' Issue 560, dated 08/10/1966 Streaming a dense smoke screen, the hover-jets dived out of the sky - and next second the Probs were hurtling blindly through a thick green cloud...  Husky and Slim steer through the eye of a needle-shaped rock, which the Prob vessel ploughs straight into! Free to investigate, Husky and Slim continue their search for their captain. Meanwhile, the Prob hover-ship has taken Larry Dart to their base inside an extinct volcano. There, Dart is interrogated by the Prob Leader via a video screen and told of his fate. The Probs have a new interplanetary missile which is undergoing a final test by shooting down an unmanned space-ship. However, Dart will now be in the craft and as Space Patrol's top pilot the test will be more effect as he tries to evade the missile...Up to the surface the Prob missile pointed skywards. At the touch of a button in the control room, its powerful rockets would thrust it out into space in search of its target - Captain Larry Dart... Part Four: 'The dog-fight in outer space' Issue 561, dated 15/10/1966 Far below, Slim and Husky watch the grim chase seemingly end as the missile blasts the ship but miraculously the winged canopy survives! Still strapped in, Dart struggles to bring the crippled wreck into a jarring splashdown in a nearby river. Husky uses an airborne tele-scanner to track Dart's point of impact and the two crewmen speed to the rescue. But as they near their captain, standing on the floating wreck, a green tentacle rises out of the water behind him... Helpless, Larry Dart backed away from the threatening tentacle. It hovered above him, swaying from side to side - then suddenly it swooped! As the monster lifts Dart into the air, Husky and Slim open fire with their electro-guns. Thrown clear, Dart is pulled from the river by Slim and the space patrol men return to Galasphere 347. Dart reports to Colonel Raeburn, who tells him Space Freighter R7 is passing by. Doing some quick calculations, Dart determines R7 could be a sitting duck. As he speaks, the Prob leader gives the command and a missile rises from Zorb, prompting Dart to decide: "There it goes! We've got to get after it! Prepare for launching!" Part Six: 'Dart to the rescue' Issue 563, dated 29/10/1966 Calling the captain of Freighter R7, Dart asks if they can take evasive action only to be told the twenty year old ship stands no chance. But the Galasphere crew already have an alternative plan and as the Prob missile hurtles past, Slim goes ouside in a space-suit and uses a rocket pack to attach a limpet mine to its hull. Once safely back inside, Dart detonates it - much to the fury of the Prob leader who launches four of his ships to retaliate. However, while Dart has prevented the destruction of Freighter R7, the powerful blast has still damaged the ship... Part Seven: 'The attack on the missile base' Issue 564, dated 05/11/1966  Dart has the two man crew of R7 evacuated to the Galasphere as the Prob fighters home in. A shot from the Galasphere's atomic ray gun blasts the leader, seemingly scaring the others off. But the fighters have turned their attention to freighter R7 and are making off with it, back to planet Zorb. Leaving the freighter outside the mountain base, the fighters fly off. Dart realises that the Zaranium fuel the freighter carries will make it even more powerful and taking a chance, Dart and his crew dash over so a booby trap can be fixed up. They scurry back to cover just as Prob tractors emerge from a vast door to carry the freighter inside. From a safe distance Dart detonates the charge, blowing the Zaranium and the mountain base, and ending the Prob threat.  out of 5Notes: • The first strip is the longest and has a nice exciting storyline. • However, other aspects of continuity in the story vary with Raeburn depicted with a red tie, Slim and Husky's very human appearance, and the use of lethal electro-guns. • The Freezer Compartment has reclining benches for the crew, similar to the series, but with helmets that fit ver their heads. • Planet Zorb is three weeks away from Earth which, in the distances seen in the series, would place it somewhere between Jupiter and Saturn. • The hoverjets also differ in appearance from those in the series, and are clearly influenced by the egg-shaped hoverbikes used by the Treens in Dan Dare. • The design of the target ship flown by Dart pre-empts the look of the Hawkwing seen in Gerry Anderson's Terrahawks in the 1980s, and both Freighter R7 and the alien monster are nicely realised. • Unusually, full space-suits are used by both the Galasphere and Freighter crews. • The Prob fighters, while a straight-forward sleek delta shape, have the innovative ability to curve their wings inwards to grip the freighter and take it to planet Zorb. • Unfortunately there is a continuity lapse between parts six, where four Prob fighters lift off, and the final part, with only three fighters attacking the Galasphere. Story Two: 'The Deadly Weed From Outer Space' Writer: Unknown Drawn by Terry Patrick Part One: Issue 565, dated 12/11/1966 Station 8 of the Interplanetary Meteorite Tracking Unit has its routine broken by the sudden appearance of a strange creeper-like growth wrapping itself around the hull. Sending out an S.O.S., their call for help is responded to by Galasphere 347 which finds Station 8 almost entirely encased in a form of space weed. Dart sends Slim out with a flame gun to burn the plant off but as the Venusian starts, a large bud-like growth swings up and opens to reveal a pulsing, hynoptic eye. On the Galasphere, Dart and Husky are puzzled as Slim stops for a period then continues - but this time burning the hull of Station 8! Dart opens communications to demand that Slim returns immediately...  Slim paid no heed to the frantic order that crackled through his headphones! As if in a trance, he played the powerful flame on to the spaceship's hull. And still more trouble was piling up! Unseen by Dart or Husky, the long tendrils of the deadly weed had floated through space - and now they were wrapping themselves round the Galasphere!Part Two: Issue 566, dated 19/11/1966 Seeing the threat of the weed, Dart switches on the Galasphere's motors and burns the plant from the ship. He and Husky travel out to stop Slim and drag him back. Once away from the plant's influence, Slim regains his senses but the threat of the weed remains and the space patrol men cannot get near again in case they succumb. Dart sends out a camera probe for a closer look but the weed 'swallows' it into a mouth-like bud. Getting an idea, Dart uses paint to cover Slim's helmet and protect him against the hypnosis. Then he guides the Venusian via radio to throw a bomb into the weed's mouth. Once detonated, the head of the weed is destroyed and the remains leave Station 8 clear.  out of 5Notes: • A promising first installment is concluded hurriedly by blowing up the 'head' of the weed. • Station 8 crewman Nobby Barton is making a model plane from the 1960s for his 'youngster'. • Slim wears the same style spacesuit as seen in the previous story but with a more characteristic molung style helmet, as seen in the series. Story Three: Writer: Unknown Drawn by Terry Patrick Part One: 'Fire in outer space' Issue 567, dated 26/11/1966 Part Two: 'The scourge of the space thieves' Issue 568, dated 03/12/1966 Dart questions Captain Bell and his fellow crewman and find the thieves had left not more than ten minutes ago. Using the atom detector, they should be able to track the radioactive fuel. The tele-scanner indicates the cargo is only two to three thousand miles away - and the chase is on to nearby small and uninhabited planet Negus. There, the thieves are preparing to unload the fuel into waiting tankers. From orbit, Dart notes Negus has active volcanoes and hatches a plan with Captain Bell... Swooping low over the surface in the Galasphere, a bomb is dropped into one of the volcanoes close to the thieves, causing an eruption. Forced to abandon the cargo, they flee as Freighter 171 drops in and retrieves it just before the lava reaches it. Mission accomplished, the Galasphere continues its escort duty. out of 5Notes: • A more succinct story that fits the two part format well. • Station Zero Two One has a central spindle that allows the Galasphere to dock directly into it. • The bland-faced alien thieves are never identified. Story Four: Writer: Unknown Drawn by Terry Patrick  Part One: 'The giants of Ledar planet'Issue 569, dated 10/12/1966 Larry Dart and his crew are seeing off Colonel Raeburn, who is flying off to reconoitre planet Ledar as a potential patrol base. Flying low over the surface, Raeburn senses his ship is being followed and glances back to see a terrifying giant pterodactyl snap off one wing with its powerful jaws. Out of control, the ship plummets into the ground! Miraculously, Raeburn survives unscathed and sends out a rescue signal. Galasphere 347, back on patrol, is fortunately close by planet Ledar and responds immediately. However, there is no sign of Raeburn at the wreck so Dart and his crew start to follow his tracks in the soft ground. But as the three space-men came over the rise, Dart suddenly stopped and pointed at the ground. "Hold it!" he said hoarsely. "Look!" Slim and Husky gasped as they folowed Dart's gaze. For alongside the Colonel's footprints were another set - and each giant print was ten foot long... ! Part Two: 'Face to face with the footprint maker' Issue 570, dated 17/12/1966 Not far away, Colonel Raeburn was dozing fitfullyagainst a rock. Suddenly, the comforting warmth of the sun vanished as a huge shadow spread across the rock face. He opened his eyes... And with that, Captain Dart closed the door on the cavemen. A blast from the spaceship's siren sent them scurrying away, and Dart quickly switched on the take-off motors. The mighty rockets burst into life, and Galasphere 347 hurtled away - out of the Stone Age into the darkness of space...  out of 5Notes: • An interesting break from the television format to see Colonel Raeburn go on a mission himself, though the 'prehistoric planet' idea is something of a science fiction cliche. • Raeburn's small ship is referred to in the opening paragraph as 'dart-shaped', which while an accepted variation on 'rocket-shaped' could almost be seen as an in-joke... • Planet Ledar is ninety three hours from Earth.  In Part Two, the crew of Galasphere 347 investigate the mystery of the shrinking spaceman, and encounter the Robots of Nimbus! Space Patrol - The Website wishes to acknowledge, with grateful thanks, all the help received from D.C.Thomson & Co. Ltd in the preparation of this feature, and to comics expert Steve Holland for additional information. |
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