As Moonbase
Central moves towards its eighth anniversary I feel the urge to immerse myself
in all things SWORD…..
The year is 3031, and the Earth is a
dying world after being stuck by a giant meteor. Surviving land masses resemble
the surface of the Moon. Prior to the catastrophe the world’s natural resources
were already running out, and Project S.W.O.R.D had been created by the World
Council to probe space searching for minerals and colonise the planets. Now it
would be tasked to be mankind’s saviour, evacuating those deemed to be best
able to create habitable environments on alien worlds, and creating
rehabilitation camps for the thousands left behind known as The Rejects.
But then there are those survivors
who see Project S.W.O.R.D as just another interfering face of authority
organising their lives. Even though the Earth is shattered they see a clean
slate, and a new start. Some of these survivors also see Project S.W.O.R.D as
the enemy and carry out acts of terrorism against them. These are The Casuals.
And finally, using its vast array of
specialist vehicles normally used to probe deep into other planets, S.W.O.R.D
is now tasked to investigate the colossal damage caused by the meteor, and
attempt to save the dying Earth.
As many Gerry
Anderson toy collectors and readers of TV21 will know, this bleak dystopian
future for mankind was one of the more complex concepts dreamed up to help sell
a range of space toys marketed by Century 21 Toys.
A space
exploration themed comic strip back story for Project S.W.O.R.D started in 1967 with issue 19 of the short lived’
Solo’ comic. This story ended abruptly with the cancellation of Solo in issue 31
with a rushed text ending. However it was the grittier dying world scenario
that I preferred. I didn’t really
concern myself that it was set over a thousand years in the future, and that technology
would have advanced to a point when everyday things today would be totally
unrecognisable in that far future.
I didn’t worry about the fact that a NASA
experimental Dyna-Soar or a Space Glider from the late fifties and early
sixties was part of the range, or even a then contemporary Apollo Saturn V
imminently about to help put men on the Moon was also part of the fleet. Most of the designs were futuristic, and I was
quite happy to read about the adventures of S.W.O.R.D Commander Bill Janson and
his team as they struggled to maintain order on the dying Earth using a vast
range of space-age vehicles in the 1968 Project S.W.O.R.D Annual, which was
much more like the Century 21 publications that I was already familiar with, that
and the text stories in TV 21 which started in April 2068 with the opening story,
The Earth Will Die, in issue 168.
I don’t know
whether the text stories in TV21, which lasted until issue 217 with a story
entitled, ‘The End of the Beginning’,
would have increased the toys sales. Personally, I would have preferred a comic
strip, similar to the ones in the annual, but at least we got something.
Then there
was the range of toys, many of which I never had at the time, but certainly enough
to fuel my space-age childhood imagination, plus I got a free badge and a Space World Organisation for Research and Development manual.
Next time I’ll
focus on the S.W.O.R.D Re-Entry Task Force fleet.
