The boys' comic Hornet isn't really my cup of tea. Searching through numerous issues for advertisements has left me with the impression that World War II never ended. But that might be an unfair view as there was time only for the most cursory of glances through the picture strips.
But one stood out amongst the others. No Return From Zorun is a science fiction story about a man sent to an anarchistic prison planet after being framed for murder. A crashed spacecraft is his chance of escape and revenge.
Apart from the story itself, the artwork is very interesting because the illustrator has clearly been, erm, "inspired" by TV21 comic strips. Take a look at the rear view of the crashed ship. From this angle there is more than a touch of Fireball XL5.
Actually it only looks like Fireball from certain angles. A fuller view shows the overall design is quite different apart from its rear.
Here's another vehicle from the story. This one is called a "Skimmer". But, excuse me, isn't that an Angel Interceptor?
And what about the pilot of Law Corps Patrol Ship Dove-Nine? Surely that's Troy Tempest, albeit sitting on the "wrong" side.
And finally, here is Colonel White with a beard. Is Lieutenant Cass (in the background) wearing a Spectrum Captain's uniform?
All of which leads to this question. Is the Law Corps ship below based on anything? Given the amount of borrowing in the (actually good and worth a read) strip, I'm tempted to think this design might have been copied too. Can anyone identify it?
4 comments:
Interesting. What date are the copies of Hornet- are they contemporary with TV21?
I think that was...uh...inspired by the Convair Sea Dart water-ski-launched jet fighter (I kid you not!) Look at this:
http://www.fiddlersgreen.net/models/aircraft/Convair-SeaDart.html
Grif
Great post Toadster. Just what the blog is about. Love it!
Yes, I see what you mean, Grif. Thank you.
(nods) they are contemporary with TV21, Andy. The Zorun story begins in late October 1968 and ends in February 1969.
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