THE PRISONER COMIC STRIP BY JACK KIRBY

Yesterday I mentioned that the editor of TV Century 21, Alan Fennell had decided against a comic strip version of The Prisoner, and I speculated how it might have been.

During the mid seventies, Marvel Comics toyed with the idea of producing a Prisoner comic strip, with Stan Lee eventually giving the job to artist, Jack Kirby.

Unfortunately, Stan Lee decided to cancel the project prior to publication. However Jack did  produce a first instalment based on the first episode, 'Arrival', and although some of the artwork was not inked and had incomplete dialogue, temporarily pencilled in, it does give a flavour of what would have been the first Prisoner comic strip.

Further reading can be found at:

 http://www.twomorrows.com/kirby/articles/11prisoner.html

http://www.forcesofgeek.com/2014/03/read-jack-kirbys-prisoner.html

SCOUT'S HONOUR

OUR SEVENTH SWORDTASTIC BIRTHDAY APPROACHES!

Well, the blog's 7th birthday is fast approaching folks.

We' ll have some fabulous articles from readers on Project SWORD, SpaceX, space toys, models and gum cards.

As well as these we'll have some great goodies on offer as prizes and exclusives - a taste of which are stuck above - which I personally think are rather cool!

All will be revealed on the 15th!

So join us for the Bloggiversary number Seven on the 15th September and all week after that if you can.

It'll be SWORDtastic.

In the meantime watch counting to seven with the one and only Sesame Street gang. The ending is hilarious!

LOFT PROFITS: HE MAN AND THE MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE: BUT ARE THEY SPACE TOYS?

One of the biggest toy lines of the Eighties, He-Man and MOTU as it's known to collectors, was a joy to find at boot sales. Usually it would be brace of fine loose figures and very occasionally a boxed toy like the Slime Pit or the Fright Zone. If you found the Eternia Playset you could retire! I'm still working.

MOTU toys were often nuzzling up against Ghostbusters and Thundercats stuff and, aside from the ubiquitous Star Wars merch, the three of them formed the holy trinity* of 80's action figure lines and would appear downstream at the same time at boot sales a few years later. Anyone else collect MOTU readers?

* Ninja Turtles and GI Joe could also be seen as Eighties biggies but for me it was the three lines I mention. Which were the big 80's toys for you readers?

THE PRISONER & CENTURY 21

It seems that apart from it's own in house productions, Century 21 also handled the merchandising rights for, amongst other things The Prisoner, and at some point several story ideas landed on the desk of Alan Fennell, editor of TV Century 21.

I can imagine a Prisoner comic strip story, during that time might have helped the reader answer a few questions regarding the more obscure aspects of the series.

I'm speculating, rightly or wrongly, that the TV 21 scripts might have concentrated more on the fantastical side of The Prisoner, rather than the allegorical aspects.

Science fiction themes did feature quite heavily in the series. Apart from'Rover', the mysterious autonomous  guardian of The Village,, there was cloning, mind transfer, and rockets!

However it was not to be in any event. Mr Fennell felt that The Prisoner wouldn't have sat well with the comic's content and so the scripts were rejected.

It does lead me to wonder what did Century 21 licence regarding The Prisoner. I've heard stories that Patrick McGoohan was averse to any merchandise or comics related to his series, and was reluctant to get involved in that side of things.

The only thing I can think of that Century 21 did relating to The Prisoner was a painted front cover on TV Tornado drawn by Mick Anglo.

In fact, the only piece of official merchandise I can think of that was released at the time of The Prisoner's first showing was the Dinky Mini Moke, painted to look like the Village Taxi.

'etre vous voir'

SPECTRUM IS WHAT?

Behold!

Captain Skerlet!

Knockoff extraordinaire from the collection of Terry Harle.

ALAN SHUBROOK'S NEW CENTURY 21 FX UPDATE BOOK

Hi Paul

I thought that you might be interested to know that I have a new book being  published this week called, CENTURY 21 FX UPDATE. It's packed with 80 pages of brand new articles and features, together with  dozens of unseen photographs and first time exclusive interviews. It also  features my recent revisit of the former Century 21 Film Studios, and  tell the story of who did what and where 50 years ago. If you are interested in purchasing a copy, it can be bought through my special web site at : http://www.century21fxupdate.com Best wishes, Alan Shubrook Century 21 Special Effects Model Maker

ZERO EXODUS