I caught the Outer Limits episode on Friday night, The Human Factor, which I've never seen before.
What struck me was the sub-plot, the discovery of an alien in the icy wastes, is essentially the plot of the Thing.
The characters in the Human Factor even describe the alien as the thing most of the time!
Is there a connection?
Oddly enough, on another channel The Thing was showing on TV just after the Outer Limits! Its a shape shifting, body melting coincidence!
I wonder if this OK Toys DB flying saucer is a variation of the JR21 New Flying Saucer? What do you think? JR21 link in the labels below the post.
https://www.worthpoint.com/worthopedia/vintage-space-ship-db-battery-526427967
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.
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.
SOLO carried plenty of Mysteron related articles, including the assassination of someone who looks remarkably similar to one of the production staff, Dennis Hooper!
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.
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!
My latest batch of small vehicles for touching up.
The Horsebox is a donation from Moonbase Junior. The other 4, 3 Matchbox and a Corgi Police car, are from the British Heart Foundation shop, where they bag up cars into fours and sell them for £2 a bag. Result!
