DANGER: MYSTERONS AT WORK

 Following on from my fellow blogger, Woodsy finding a photo of a TV TORNADO Anti-Mysteron badge on-line a while back, I thought I'd reacquaint myself with the early  Captain Scarlet and The Mysterons promotions in SOLO and TV TORNADO comics. 

SOLO comic appeared in February, 1967. It was a curious mix of assorted Disney characters with a couple of American TV series thrown in for good measure. Its feature strip was a  colour centre spread featuring  The Scarecrow based on the 1963 Disney production.  SOLO presumably took it's title from UNCLE agent, Napoleon Solo as SOLO did carry a black & white Man from UNCLE strip following its departure from Lady Penelope comic, which replaced it with The Girl from UNCLE.

I seem to remember picking up the odd issue at the time, but I must confess SOLO isn't really a favourite of mine, being a bit too much of a mixed bag for me; too much Disney, and no popular stand out strip . I'm not sure who SOLO's target audience was, or how well it sold.  It had  a short run; 31 issues, and had a fairly conspicuous make over just over halfway through its run. 

I should say I don't  own any SOLO issues and don't have access to a full run of SOLO scans (my thanks to all the scanners, though) to examine, so I don't claim to know every detail, so apologies if I miss something significant.

One of the first hints at changes to come is in issue 16, with an article written by SOLO editor, Alan L. Fennell dealing with an aircraft that had apparently crashed in the Atlantic Ocean, and yet, somehow landed safely sometime later at Heathrow airport, completely unscathed! 

SOLO's Investigative reporter, John Marsh is assigned to  investigate, a mysterious force is suspected! 

I do wonder if some readers concluded this was a real life mystery. There's no mention of Mysterons (not that many readers would have heard of them at that point, anyway). While it's hardly obvious  promotional material for the new Gerry & Sylvia Anderson's series, it was intriguing!

Issue 19, dated June 24, 1967 saw the comic get a complete re-vamp, with a Project SWORD comic strip joining the line up, along with  new features based on the as yet unscreened Captain Scarlet and The Mysterons TV series.  From then on each edition of SOLO was an 'Anti-Mysteron Edition'! Spectrum News reported on the mysterious Mysteron threat, and  The Mark of The Mysterons followed reporter, John Marsh (his likeness based on another of the editorial staff) on his hunt for Mysteronised agents in a new double page comic strip.

Sadly, the colour centre spread was dropped, presumably down to cost cutting. I'd hazard a guess that the Mark of The Mysterons might have filled that colour slot. 

Some photos I took at one of the Fanderson conventions of a couple of original Mark of The Mysterons artboards.

Mark of The Mysterons isn't a bad strip,  which is more or less a take on the 'Invasion of the Body Snatchers' theme, and reminiscent of The Invaders TV series. The artwork by Don Harley and later, Tom Kerr is pretty good.  The problem is there's very little connection with the premise of the upcoming TV series. In the strip  the Mysterons order their (Mysteronised) agents by thought (bubble), Mysteron agents can be photographed , however the image comes out as a negative, unlike the TV series where its discovered  Mysteron agents are revealed by using X - Rays! 

The glaring error is these promotional meanderings take place in contemporary times, a hundred years before Captain Black ticks off the Mysterons on Mars, so why the Mysterons are trying to take over the bodies of Earthmen  years before they're attacked remains a mystery.

Anti-Mysteron Organisation or A.M.O., but did readers know about Spectrum?

A front page photo on SOLO, showing an unused scene from the feature film , 'Thunderbirds are Go!'

Some nice front page artwork, Eric Eden perhaps?

SOLO carried plenty of  Mysteron related articles, including the assassination of someone who looks remarkably similar to one of the production staff, Dennis Hooper!

Issue 31, dated September 16, 1967 was the final issue of SOLO, with a front cover showing photos of Victims of The Mysterons', in actuality what appears to be photos of the editorial staff .  Inside was an uninspired advert for the new Captain Scarlet annual, and news that next week SOLO joins TV Tornado. I get the distinct  impression that SOLO was hastily cancelled. Even the Project SWORD comic strip serial was cut short with just a single page rushed text story resolution.  

That same week TV Tornado issue 36 featured a photo cover of a Mysteron city, proclaiming that The Mysterons are here!

Inside was a brand new Mysteron strip, drawn by Don Harley.  It starts at the point when the  Mysteron city is attacked by Zero X, and generally told from The Mysterons' point of view. At the end of the first instalment we get to see the ancient form of the Mysterons; a floating geometrical  shape with eyes, not unlike a modern football!  

The general story premise is because  they've declared war on Earth, the Mysterons, then decide to 'conquer the Universe'! A bit ambitious, I'll grant you, but that's The Mysterons for you!

However, I can't help being reminded of the ambitions of another bunch of alien cyborgs; the Daleks! Even the 'ancient shape' of the Mysterons look a bit like 'a Mechanoid'!

The story uses several elements from the TV series; The Mysteron complex on Mars; the strip uses the same TV  titles typeface for the title header;  Zero X makes more than one appearance ; the retrometabolism ray is used; Mysterons can only be killed by an Electrode Gun; and unsurpringly, they Mysteronise the occasional  body!

An advert also appeared telling readers that next week's edition would contain a free Anti-Mysteron badge. 

I do wonder, as England had won the World Cup the year before, if the editors intended the Mysteron to look a bit like a football!

TV Tornado issue 37,dated September 23, 1967, the first incorporating the name SOLO on the masthead.

That same week TV21, after a few teasers the previous weeks, began their own full on promotion of Captain Scarlet  in issue 140, dated September 23, 2067 starting with a front cover telling readers , Spectrum is Green! The following week, issue 141, dated September 30, 2067, TV21 started it's  own Captain Scarlet strip, more or less coinciding with the series' initial airing on the ATV television region on September 29, 1967.

The Mysteron strip continued in TV Tornado until issue 58, dated February 17, 1968. I'd like to think the strip worked well  for Scarlet fans intrigued by the mystery of The Mysterons!