Captain's Library & Theatre: SUPERCAR "Dangerous Rescue" Conclusion

When Last We Left The Marvel of the Age (as the theme song describes it)...

Art by George Wilson

Investigating a volcano about to erupt, Dr Beeker lands near it's base to set up recording devices while Mike Mercury flies Supercar around to the other side to plant more sensors.

But the volcano begins erupting ahead of it's predicted time, and Beeker is trapped!

Mike pilots Supercar back to rescue Beeker, but a volcanic rock, propelled by the eruption, cracks the vehicle's canopy, compromising the ship's ability to protect the crew from poisonous fumes spewing from the volcano.

Mike lands and detaches the canopy to effect repairs while Professor Popkiss uses a remote control system at their headquarters to send Supercar back to Dr Beeker.

However, without the canopy, more rocks hit the vehicle's interior, damaging the controls.

Popkiss manages to guide Supercar back to Mike Mercury, who has finished patching the canopy, and re-attaches it to the ship to make another attempt to retrive the stranded Beeker...

The cover story from Gold Key's Supercar #3 (1963) was written by Paul S Newman and illustrated by Ray Osrin.

Since we mentioned the theme song earlier, here it is...

Catchy, eh?
Be back next week for another Gerry Anderson series in comic form!

Captain's Library: SUPERCAR "Dangerous Rescue" Part 1

The first of Gerry Anderson's TV series to receive a comic adaptation in the US...

...was also the first of his shows to appear on American TV screens!

Indeed, we will...TOMORROW!

This lead story from Gold Key's Supercar #3 (1963) was written by Paul S Newman and illustrated by Ray Osrin.

BTW, you'll note that Osrin's rendition of the characters is closer to the actual puppets than the later Fireball XL5 comic, which made them normally-proportioned humans.

Maybe that's the reason the American Fireball XL5 comic lasted only one issue!

Captain's Library: ROCKY JONES: SPACE RANGER "Forbidden Frequency"

With so much modulated energy (wi-fi, digital tv, am-fm, etc) floating in the ether...

...I'm truly surprised something like this hasn't come to pass by 2012!

Or...has it?

The concept of subliminal programming goes back to the 1860s.

Usually, it involves audio or visual stimulation beyond human perception, but in this case, it's an energy frequency that interferes with the human mind's function.

Queen Cleolanthe was the ongoing villainess on the Rocky Jones series.

Played with fun "bad girl" panache by Patsy Parsons, Cleolanthe both fought against Rocky and was uncontrollably-drawn to him.

From Flash Gordon and Princess Aura to Rocky Jones and Cleolanthe to James T Kirk and (insert Girl of the Week here), scantly-clad space babes just can't resist square-jawed Earthmen on tv and in movies!

(Not that I'm complaining...)

This story from Charlton's Space Adventures #16 (1955) was illustrated by Ted Galindo and Ray Osrin.
The writer is unknown.

Almost all of the Rocky Jones tv episode-compilation movies are available on inexpensive DVDs and two of them Crash of the Moons and Manhunt in Space were roasted on Mystery Science Theater 3000.

Rocky Jones will return in the near future...