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Comic strip question, can anyone help me ID an old strip

Started by Jade Falcon, 19 January, 2012, 03:10:36 AM

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Jade Falcon

Hello, I've been trying to remember the name of a comic strip for some time but haven't had any luck.  At first I thought it had been in Tornado years back because I read that and when it merged with 2000AD I continued with that.  The only other comic I remember reading at that time was the new Eagle and I'm sure it didn't appear in there.

The basic premise from what I can remember is an alien ship lands on Earth, near a house.  The family which consists of the father, mother and maybe two children are either kidnapped or check out the ship.  They are detained (I think) and the ship lifts off.  The aliens which they are later introduced to die, perhaps of contamination with earth germs.  The only other remaining crew member is a robot.

Somehow by this time the ship is lost and the strip follows the adventures of the family trying to get back to Earth.  If I remember right, the artwork was full colour and I think it was on much the same quality of paper as the relaunched Eagle at the start rather than newsprint.

The most frustrating thing was that I remember missing the very last issue...

I'm sorry I can't be more specific, but it was about 30 years ago, but hopefully someone can help me.  It would be late 70's to early 80's.
When the truth offends, we lie and lie until we can no longer remember it is even there, but it is still there. Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later, that debt is paid. That is how an RBMK reactor core explodes. Lies. - Valery Legasov

Emperor

It made me think of the Space Family Robinson, which was the inspiration for Lost in Space, and there were original British stories based on the American series published in Lady Penelope comic in the sixties, drawn by our own John Burns. Unfortunately, the set-up is different:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Space_Family_Robinson

There was even a Lost in Space comic in the Eighties:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_in_Space_%28comics%29

TV Tropes is no help:

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/AlienAbduction
if I went 'round saying I was an Emperor just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away!

Fractal Friction | Tumblr | Google+

Emperor

Google gives me this:

QuoteA special favourite of mine is the 'Nutty Notions' feature reminding us of some of the far-out concepts that have appeared in British weeklies, this time: ordinary family The Wheelers whose holiday gets spoilt when they are kidnapped by aliens and become 'Castaways on Planet Doom' or football farago The Lost Team from Eterna, who return from 20 years' forced training in the South American jungles to save the day. 

www.paulgravett.com/index.php/articles/article/pg_tips_special/

Which gives me this:

QuoteThe Wheeler family, Dad John, Mum, Jim and Janet (Mum's first name is never revealed) and their dog Patch, set off on holiday on a four-seater tricycle, complete with trailer, that Dad has built. That night they camp at Stonehenge, but the following morning emerge from their tent to discover that they're not in Kansas, sorry, Wiltshire, anymore. They are surrounded by an alien landscape of craters and steep-sided mountains. In the sky the 'moon' looks uncannily like the Earth and they conclude that they must be on another planet. They encounter the local inhabitants – Mekon-like beings with large heads and eyes who float on spheres – who explain it is they who have "beamed" them there. They need help as their planet is dying.

http://home.btconnect.com/thetopper/castawaysonplanetdoom.php

Which is closer, but not what you describe.
if I went 'round saying I was an Emperor just because some moistened bint had lobbed a scimitar at me, they'd put me away!

Fractal Friction | Tumblr | Google+

maryanddavid

Sounds like Journey to the Stars from Speed, with brilliant full colour art from Ron Turner. Ill take a pic and post it in a while.

David

maryanddavid


O Lucky Stevie!

Blimey, that looks GORG!

Stevie's long wished that Ron Turner had adapted Asimov's The Caves of Steel & The Naked Sun in graphic form
"We'll send all these nasty words to Aunt Jane. Don't you think that would be fun?"

Mudcrab

Heh, I remember that vividly, seeing the page. I'm sure I remember the Bronson-esque Dad being a bit of a hero. Speed was great. That, Topps on 2 Wheels and the mad bloke that tried to kill himself doing reader-defined stunts every week. Deathwish or something similar, so as not to be, you know, Death Wish?

Also remember it merging with Tiger, which didn't sit well really. My older bro got the football comics, I was all war and scifi  :D
NEGOTIATION'S OVER!

ICONIC_TM

#7
The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire, Classic, (Speed and Power)  ;)

Jade Falcon

Quote from: maryanddavid on 19 January, 2012, 09:50:00 AM
Huuray for Snapbucket!



That's it exactly, I vaguely remembered a polished metal spaceship, thanks, that has been bothering me for a while.  When was Speed around?  Would it have been around the same time as Tornado.  I do remember, again vaguely, that the Aliens were very unusual and not your standard Star Trek 'wrinkled forehead' humanoids.

MARVELMAGPIE, I have the reissued Trigan Empire works by Don Lawrence, though its a shame the Oliver Frey, Gerry Corke and other artists weren't covered in that reissue, but the publisher only covered the Don Lawrence estates.  Those books are very expensive now coming in at about £60 each on Amazon.

For anyone with a long memory, there was also The Terminal Man that ran in Crash and Zzap 64 magazine with beautiful artwork by Oliver Frey

http://www.zzap64.co.uk/terminalman.html
When the truth offends, we lie and lie until we can no longer remember it is even there, but it is still there. Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later, that debt is paid. That is how an RBMK reactor core explodes. Lies. - Valery Legasov

starscape

I know you've found your strip but it reminded me of a different Space Family Robinson from Cheeky Weekly
http://cheekyweekly.blogspot.com/2010/08/features-space-family-robinson_16.html

judgerufian

Yep, the Classic Journey to the Stars, the artwork was always really good in colour and the Turner spaceships were awesome, also remember the older sister was, to my 8 year old self, quite the fox....

Jade Falcon

Is it by any chance available as a book or reproduced online (legally like Terminal Man)
When the truth offends, we lie and lie until we can no longer remember it is even there, but it is still there. Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later, that debt is paid. That is how an RBMK reactor core explodes. Lies. - Valery Legasov

maryanddavid

Not that I know of, not yet anyway, great artwork, but it would probably have limited appeal.

Jade Falcon

For anyone interested the entire 21 part run is on a comic book blog.

Now the site owner says its fair use and legal, but I'm not sure of the legalities really, so I hesitate to post the link unless it's specifically allowed.
When the truth offends, we lie and lie until we can no longer remember it is even there, but it is still there. Every lie we tell incurs a debt to the truth. Sooner or later, that debt is paid. That is how an RBMK reactor core explodes. Lies. - Valery Legasov