PROJECT SWORD IN SOLO COMICS JULY 1967, EPISODE 2 NARRATED

 

Narrator: Woodsy!

SOLO ISSUE 19: THE BIRTH OF PROJECT SWORD, JUNE 24th 1967

 

This post was first posted in 2010:

Earlier this month I asked if any readers were prepared to share their SOLO #19 (cover above but PS isn't mentioned!) PROJECT SWORD comic strip, the VERY FIRST, with fellow bloggers. I have previously posted the toy ID charts courtesy of the Philosophic Toad but not the actual story. 

I'm pleased to say that blog reader John Croot has come to the rescue and sent in scans of the very beginning of PROJECT SWORD, it's origin in 3 short b/w pages, dated June 24th 1967. What a great year and summer that was, the same year that the Beatles released their Sgt. Peppers album! Big Thanks again to John for sharing. Enjoy!

There are many things that I find fascinating about this initial SWORD story. The Earth Base is in Australia ( is it explained why later on?) and we see Moon Base in a very similar picture to the one in the Official Manual - they were obviously planning the toy from the off but what happened to it? The Booster Rocket is called the ATOMIC BOOSTER (not to be confused with Atomic Rooster!) and it's front jet the DEEP SPACE PROBE sent off on a mission to Pluto. In fact the whole tone is Star Trekkish, to boldly go... and no mention of the mining element brought in later stories. 

I talked about the military might of the PROBE FORCE craft earlier this month and lo and behold, they are the 'protectors' of the fleet from the start, something which I never really grasped when I had them as a kid as toys. And Re-Entry Crafts 1 and 3 are personal spaceships - Company cars! - of the SWORD commanders, Sabre and Rapier (Swords, get it! Is there a Foil and Cutlass?)

I love how page 2 gives us some scale - the Nuclear Ferry and Booster are HUGE and the Probes are tiny! And just what is the 'scabbard'? Finally and discussed previously on the blog, the ID chart is hugely interesting - the Booster Rocket toy's fuel tanks look white ( the C21 toy's are blue) and the Re-entry craft look like mock-ups and not actual toys (had they not manufactured them yet?). 

Only the Probe Force Flights look like the real deal although the black stripe on the PF3 is a bit odd. There is no mention of these vehicles being available as toys in this story. Is there anywhere else in issue #19 or does that happen in a later issue? I wonder when in 1967 the very first toys were in the shops - an area to boldly go into I think. Well I've enjoyed reading this first SWORD story immensely. Thanks again John! Well, I have to ask, has anyone got the next 'exciting episode'?

For further in-depth reading about this issue and all the SWORD comic strips in SOLO and TV21 then go to the definitive website, the Gerry Anderson Complete Comics History by Shaqui Le Vesconte and Kim Stevens [Note; 2024 - now sadly defunct but readable in part on the Wayback Machine].

PROJECT SWORD STRIP 1 1967 - 53 YEARS AGO TODAY!

I narrate this first SOLO SWORD strip from June 24th 1967 so turn the volume up if you can stand it! ha ha.

discovery three: solo booster rocket

Saw this for the first time this month.

Its a photograph of the Project SWORD Booster Rocket used as part of an ID competition in SOLO comic from 19th August 1967.

Its even the answer SOLO were looking for. Its the odd one out!

The pictures was recycled from a previous showing in SOLO as part of the Project SWORD Identification Guide.

I wonder who won the 40 JR21 Thunderbird 4 toys? You?

PROJECT SWORD VEHICLES: FIRST APPEARANCES IN SOLO COMICS 1967 PART 1

This is the first of a series of 1st appearances of Project SWORD craft in Solo comics during summer and autumn of 1967.

These vehicles 1st appeared in issues 19 and 20.

RTF stands for Re-entry Task Force; NF stands for Nuclear Ferry: DSP stands for Deep Space Probe.

SOLO COMICS PROJECT SWORD FLEET IDENTIFICATION GUIDE PART 1

Both from Solo comics 1967.

BIRTHDAY 5 PARTY FINALE: PROJECT SWORD IN SOLO COMICS 1967: EPISODE 2 NARRATED

 

To take us out of our Fifth Birthday week I thought I'd have another crack at narrating Gerry Anderson's Project SWORD, where it all started, in SOLO comics 1967. Here's the second instalment for your light entertainment.

 

 

Thanks for joining Bill, Scoop and me for our Birthday bash this week. It means a lot to us. See you in Year 6 for tons more of the good stuff!

 

 

Keep on SWORDin!

PROJECT SWORD FIRST SOLO COMIC STRIP STORY FROM 1967 NARRATED BY WOODSY

 

A little video experiment on my part, here's me narrating the first Project SWORD comic strip from SOLO comic from July 1967. I've uploaded it on You Tube first as it was the easiest way to then get it in the blog!

 

A bit of a laugh really! See what you think!

SOLO SWORD

I’ve been re-reading the Project SWORD strip in the short lived ‘Solo’ comic.  A  simple linear tale  having no connection with the deeper TV21 version. It started in issue 19 before being hastily wrapped up in text form in  issue 31.

I know we’ve talked about it on the blog from time to time but for those who haven’t read  it the story starts with Project SWORD phase one being initiated. This is a mission to launch an atomic Booster Rocket across the solar system with it’s detachable  deep space probe being piloted by a robot called Sibor.

An explosion in the Booster Rocket’s fuel pods means the probe is prematurely launched. Upon it’s return the probe is mysteriously crystallised.

 Sword astronaut Rapier who has programmed the robot enters the probe and loses consciousness.

 The probe explodes but Rapier and the robot, Sibor miraculously survive  having been bombarded with  ‘Ultra Zela Radiation’.

This has the effect of creating a mind link between the man and the machine. An intriguing idea and a convenient plot device.

With phase one complete, Project chief Sabre briefs  astronauts on phase two, a mission to Mars.

A Booster Rocket and a fleet of Nuclear Ferries begin a journey to the Red Planet.

On the way something in the Asteroid Belt begins to drag the ships off course. Rapier and Sibor launch the Booster Rocket’s probe to investigate.

Landing on the Asteroid  they discover an alien installation and are attacked by a  mechanical creature.

Malevolent aliens watching this from light years away, are using this installation as a forward base in preparation for invasion. Now it's discovered the aliens decide to  destroy it, however Rapier and Sibor manage to escape by the skin of their teeth and warn the fleet.

The fleet continue on to Mars unaware that another group of different aliens on Mars are also watching SWORD’s progress.

Now cautious of opposition, Rapier and Sibor land on the Martian surface and send out a Prospector on a reconnaissance mission.  Rapier soon follows in a Scramble Bug. The’ Martians‘,  who have had dealings with the alien invaders ,whom they refer to as ’Vargans, assume the SWORD ships are their enemies returning.  They attack Rapier  by sabotaging and blowing up the Prospector as his Scramble Bug approaches.

They set a trap by surrounding Rapier’s wrecked Scramble Bug with an invisible force screen. When a squadron of Task Force ships fly close to the wreckage they hit the screen and explode.

Meanwhile, Rapier and Sibor are captured by the ‘Martians’ who, in spite of the SWORD astronaut insisting they are wrong in thinking he is a Vargan , plan to destroy the rest of the SWORD fleet.

The Fleet are making their own plans, now aware of an alien presence. After testing the force screen and finding it’s gone, they prepare to land surface vehicles , search for Rapier and Sibor and do battle with the ‘ Martians’.

Then a twist in the tale. Vargan space craft swoop down in a surprise attack, firing on  the SWORD surface vehicles.

The ’ Martians’ realise Rapier had been telling the truth. Recognizing the Vargen ships they agree to join forces with SWORD, and the two new found allies eventually rid the solar system of the Vargans.