There's also an article on the art and new vehicle designs here; https://gerryanderson.com/blogs/blog/james-gray-reveals-the-secrets-of-illustrating-project-sword
As interesting as this is and I hope it does well, I'm afraid it looks nothing like Project SWORD to me. The author even says the toy designs that were released all needed a makeover. Can't agree with that at all. The originals are classic - Probe Force, Re-Entry Task Force, Scramble Bug etc, and the awesome Zero-X are far better than this. It's OK to update stuff but these are totally different vehicles and ships and IMHO they all look like they are drawn straight from the Beano or Dandy rather than a Gerry Anderson production. This 'modern update' is not for me but as I said above I sincerely wish them the best of luck.
I agree totally Yorkie. The author cites the annual as being the sole source of inspiration and does suggest the vehicles had a strong impact on the story. However, the slapdash comic artwork style of the vehicles is totally out of sync with the hard edged nature of the original. The same fate befell the New Captain Scarlet animation - why ditch such superlative, clearly futuristic designs for something that looked like a first generation Playstation game? Although SWORD was based on a toyline, the rugged, powerful looking vehicles were perfectly suited to the pseudo-realistic storyline. Im sure the Fanderson fanboys will eat the new story up, just because its new Anderson material, but personally, I will be giving it a wide berth. Bill
Just had a look at the above link that you posted Yorkie and the panel with the moon buggy completely cemented my aversion to McNamaras art - he says he is very quick at producing art for the series and it shows! Who wants to see a Volkswagen Beetle on the moon? And that rocket with the curling fins ? Its not even practical, never mind authentic! Sloppy and derivative, its fine for nine year olds I suppose. Bill
I guess the enterprise isn't really for boomers brought up with the original toys, strips and Annual stall, but rather and understandably a whole new generation of Anderson fans. My young Grandson couldn't get into the original Thunderbirds puppet series when I showed him but loved the modern animated Thunderbirds Are Go. Personally I wish the new SWORD well as it gains a new younger audience.
Without wanting to stimulate the depositing of precipitation on anyone's celebratory street carnival, I have to say I agree with Bill and SFZ here -- and it's because I love the 1968 PROJECT S.W.O.R.D. ANNUAL so much.
I think it's remarkable.
I can't remember if I requested it, or it was simply bought for me by my parents or grandparents after they'd encountered it in the shops, but it was handed to me one Christmas, and I read and re-read it many times.
I recall how much it shocked and upset me at the time: the bleakness of the concept of the devastated earth (a vision of the future dramatically opposed to the Utopias that underpinned the worlds of FIREBALL XL5, STINGRAY and THUNDERBIRDS); the portrayal of dissension within the populace and the resistance to authority in the form of "The Casuals" -- instead of non-military people just saluting and falling in line with the assumptions and instructions of the "heroes" -- and the fact so many of the well-intentioned protagonists met tragic deaths in the stories -- an element that was part of CAPTAIN SCARLET AND THE MYSTERONS, of course.
Most remarkable of all, perhaps, was learning many years later that the whole "project" was devised purely to sell a range of pre-existing toys (which were not only beyond my family's resources, but, to be truthful, were not something I had any interest in acquiring). Because of the talent, commitment and perfectionism of the CENTURY 21 PUBLISHING team, however -- Keith Shackleton, Alan Fennell and Angus P. Allan -- it became far more than that.
(Just as an aside, when I encountered the 1997 Japanese Anime "Cowboy Bebop" -- in which earth has been devastated by an accident resulting from the construction of a series of orbital "jump gates" to enable swift transit times between colonies on the various moons and planets in the solar system -- I was struck by its similarity to the PROJECT S.W.O.R.D concept. In "Bebop", the earth has become virtually uninhabitable -- the surface of humanity's home world is now constantly bombarded by meteorites, the climate has become unstable, and the geography is in a constant state of flux.)
One significant element of the PROJECT S.W.O.R.D. annual is the multi-ethnic nature of the characters -- which is, if I remember rightly, a reflection of the multi-ethnic nature of the Century 21 Publishing staff, who posed for the "dossier" photographs. (I no longer have my annual, sadly -- but I seem to recall that there weren't any women in the tales?).
Looking at the sample pages of Anderson Entertainment's reboot, all the characters appear to be white...
Surely a retrograde step?
With regard to "updating" the hardware, I can appreciate the need to present a more contemporary roster of resources for S.W.O.R.D., but given the fact that the vehicles we saw in 1968 reflected existing and genuine proposed designs, I would expect to see, in 2026, something that suited the supposedly grounded narrative, and was a development of current thinking with regard to the design of all-terrain exploratory vehicles and space craft.
What I can see in the sample pages, however, appear to be less credible than the vehicles featured in the 1968 Annual. The space craft on the splash page echoes the design of the 'Kosmoskrator' from the (superb) 1960 East German/Polish film, 'The Silent Star' (an edited and dubbed version of which was released in the U.S. as 'First Spaceship on Venus') -- which was an extrapolation of genuine rocket concepts of the time but has since been rendered preposterous by reality -- and the command/service module evokes images of Doctor Zarkov's rocketship from the 1980 'Flash Gordon' film.
So...
Those are my thoughts.
I'm sure Anderson Entertainment's writer and artist are knocking themselves out to create something worthwhile -- and it may well find an appreciate audience -- but, unfortunately, I don't see anything in the preview materials that suggests it is something I want to explore.
There's also an article on the art and new vehicle designs here; https://gerryanderson.com/blogs/blog/james-gray-reveals-the-secrets-of-illustrating-project-sword
ReplyDeleteAs interesting as this is and I hope it does well, I'm afraid it looks nothing like Project SWORD to me. The author even says the toy designs that were released all needed a makeover. Can't agree with that at all. The originals are classic - Probe Force, Re-Entry Task Force, Scramble Bug etc, and the awesome Zero-X are far better than this. It's OK to update stuff but these are totally different vehicles and ships and IMHO they all look like they are drawn straight from the Beano or Dandy rather than a Gerry Anderson production. This 'modern update' is not for me but as I said above I sincerely wish them the best of luck.
I agree totally Yorkie. The author cites the annual as being the sole source of inspiration and does suggest the vehicles had a strong impact on the story. However, the slapdash comic artwork style of the vehicles is totally out of sync with the hard edged nature of the original. The same fate befell the New Captain Scarlet animation - why ditch such superlative, clearly futuristic designs for something that looked like a first generation Playstation game? Although SWORD was based on a toyline, the rugged, powerful looking vehicles were perfectly suited to the pseudo-realistic storyline. Im sure the Fanderson fanboys will eat the new story up, just because its new Anderson material, but personally, I will be giving it a wide berth. Bill
DeleteJust had a look at the above link that you posted Yorkie and the panel with the moon buggy completely cemented my aversion to McNamaras art - he says he is very quick at producing art for the series and it shows! Who wants to see a Volkswagen Beetle on the moon? And that rocket with the curling fins ? Its not even practical, never mind authentic! Sloppy and derivative, its fine for nine year olds I suppose. Bill
DeleteI guess the enterprise isn't really for boomers brought up with the original toys, strips and Annual stall, but rather and understandably a whole new generation of Anderson fans. My young Grandson couldn't get into the original Thunderbirds puppet series when I showed him but loved the modern animated Thunderbirds Are Go. Personally I wish the new SWORD well as it gains a new younger audience.
ReplyDeleteNew isn't always better, Woodsy!
DeleteYes, but after old always comes new and us boomers are .... Old!
DeleteYeh, this artless revisionist junk is worthy only to be boycotted, not championed. SFZ
ReplyDeleteOh, that's harsh SF!
DeleteWithout wanting to stimulate the depositing of precipitation on anyone's celebratory street carnival, I have to say I agree with Bill and SFZ here -- and it's because I love the 1968 PROJECT S.W.O.R.D. ANNUAL so much.
DeleteI think it's remarkable.
I can't remember if I requested it, or it was simply bought for me by my parents or grandparents after they'd encountered it in the shops, but it was handed to me one Christmas, and I read and re-read it many times.
I recall how much it shocked and upset me at the time: the bleakness of the concept of the devastated earth (a vision of the future dramatically opposed to the Utopias that underpinned the worlds of FIREBALL XL5, STINGRAY and THUNDERBIRDS); the portrayal of dissension within the populace and the resistance to authority in the form of "The Casuals" -- instead of non-military people just saluting and falling in line with the assumptions and instructions of the "heroes" -- and the fact so many of the well-intentioned protagonists met tragic deaths in the stories -- an element that was part of CAPTAIN SCARLET AND THE MYSTERONS, of course.
Most remarkable of all, perhaps, was learning many years later that the whole "project" was devised purely to sell a range of pre-existing toys (which were not only beyond my family's resources, but, to be truthful, were not something I had any interest in acquiring). Because of the talent, commitment and perfectionism of the CENTURY 21 PUBLISHING team, however -- Keith Shackleton, Alan Fennell and Angus P. Allan -- it became far more than that.
(Just as an aside, when I encountered the 1997 Japanese Anime "Cowboy Bebop" -- in which earth has been devastated by an accident resulting from the construction of a series of orbital "jump gates" to enable swift transit times between colonies on the various moons and planets in the solar system -- I was struck by its similarity to the PROJECT S.W.O.R.D concept. In "Bebop", the earth has become virtually uninhabitable -- the surface of humanity's home world is now constantly bombarded by meteorites, the climate has become unstable, and the geography is in a constant state of flux.)
One significant element of the PROJECT S.W.O.R.D. annual is the multi-ethnic nature of the characters -- which is, if I remember rightly, a reflection of the multi-ethnic nature of the Century 21 Publishing staff, who posed for the "dossier" photographs. (I no longer have my annual, sadly -- but I seem to recall that there weren't any women in the tales?).
Looking at the sample pages of Anderson Entertainment's reboot, all the characters appear to be white...
Surely a retrograde step?
With regard to "updating" the hardware, I can appreciate the need to present a more contemporary roster of resources for S.W.O.R.D., but given the fact that the vehicles we saw in 1968 reflected existing and genuine proposed designs, I would expect to see, in 2026, something that suited the supposedly grounded narrative, and was a development of current thinking with regard to the design of all-terrain exploratory vehicles and space craft.
What I can see in the sample pages, however, appear to be less credible than the vehicles featured in the 1968 Annual. The space craft on the splash page echoes the design of the 'Kosmoskrator' from the (superb) 1960 East German/Polish film, 'The Silent Star' (an edited and dubbed version of which was released in the U.S. as 'First Spaceship on Venus') -- which was an extrapolation of genuine rocket concepts of the time but has since been rendered preposterous by reality -- and the command/service module evokes images of Doctor Zarkov's rocketship from the 1980 'Flash Gordon' film.
So...
Those are my thoughts.
I'm sure Anderson Entertainment's writer and artist are knocking themselves out to create something worthwhile -- and it may well find an appreciate audience -- but, unfortunately, I don't see anything in the preview materials that suggests it is something I want to explore.
And I don't think it's to do with being old...
Dal C.