Captain's Library & Theatre: SPACE: 1999 "This Insect Earth" Conclusion & "Return to the Beginning"

When Last We Left Our Space-Going Refugees...

Art byArnaldo Putzu

...the synopsis below covers everything you need to know up to this point!

The next story arc takes them to Mars, still over a thousand years in the future!
This tale from the British Look-In magazine was written by Angus P Allen and illustrated by John M Burns (who had worked on Lady Penelope, and other Gerry Anderson-based strips, but is best known for his art on Judge Dredd and Dan Dare).

Yesterday, we mentioned another version of the "Moon returns to Earth in another time period" plot, so here it is...
"Return to the Beginning" as presented by Power Records!

It's the second and last Power Records story (besides "Breakaway") adapted into comic form.

(The other Space: 1999 audio stories weren't illustrated.)
Art by Rich Buckler, Russ Heath, Mike Netzer, Alan Weiss, and Dick Giordano (and possibly other Continuity Associates/Crusty Bunker personnel).

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The Complete Series

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Captain's Library: SPACE: 1999 "Breakaway" (Power Records) Conclusion

We have already seen...

Art by Rich Bucker and Dick Giordano

Problems plague the upcoming Meta Probe mission and newly-appointed commander of MoonBase Alpha, John Koenig, discovers the "official" story to be a pack of lies with the "virus" ravaging the personnel actually being magnetic radiation from the nuclear waste pits on the far side of the Moon.

And there's another, unexpected, problem besides the deterioration of human brains and bodies...

The writer who adapted the screenplay is unknown, but the art is by Rich Buckler, Dick Giordano, Frank McLaughlin, and Neal Adams' Continuity Studios team.

There were two lp albums from Power Records of Space: 1999 stories.

The first one featured three adaptations of Year One stories: "Breakaway", "Death's Other Dominion" and "Mission of the Darians".

Only "Breakaway" was adapted into separate comic book form with a 45 rpm record.

The second lp album, despite having Year Two cover photos (including Maya and Tony Verdeschi), consisted of two Year One adaptations; "Dragon's Domain" and  "End of Eternity" and two original tales; "Return to the Beginning" (adapted into comics form with a 45 rpm lp record) and "It Played So Softly on the Ear" which were both based on the Year One format.

Oddly, though rocketry pioneer Wernher Von Braun gave the show a commendation, noted science fact/science fiction author Isaac Asimov railed against the series' scientific inaccuracies in a couple of newspaper and magazine articles, HERE and HERE.

"Breakaway" is probably the single most-adapted tv show episode or movie in history!

In English alone, there's no less than three different comic book versions (all of which we've presented), plus a novelization, a short story that appeared in the first British Space:1999 Annual, as well as the story being adapted into EC Tubb's epic EarthFall novel which, after the incidents of "Breakaway", did an "alternate-universe" story covering decades, and finally returning a second generations of Alphans to Earth!

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Captain's Library: SPACE: 1999 "Breakaway" (Power Records) Part 1

We previously presented the audio version of the pilot episode...

...but, since we've received several requests for the tale in standard page format, here it is!

Tomorrow: The Explosive Conclusion!

The writer who adapted the screenplay is unknown, but the art is by Rich Buckler, Dick Giordano, Frank McLaughlin, and Neal Adams' Continuity Studios crew.

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The Complete Series

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Captain's Theatre: SPACE: 1999 "Breakaway" (Power Records)

Space: 1999 debuted in 1975 with a major licensing push, including audio adventures, novelizations along with original novels, and comic books/b/w magazines.
Power Records, the premier children's audio line of the era did two lp record albums and two comic book/45 record adventures, including the pilot episode "Breakaway".
Charlton Comics published two different series, one as a standard comic book, the other a b/w magazine, both of which adapted the pilot episode with far different results.
With three different print adaptations (not including the prose novelization from Pocket Books), "Breakway" was the single most adapted sci-fi movie or tv show in history, until Battlestar Galactica came along in 1979.
Over the next three Mondays, we're going to present all three adaptations of "Breakaway".
First up, the Power Records version, complete with soundtrack!
(After all, it was meant as a read-along adventure!)


The writer who adapted the screenplay is unknown, but the art is by Rich Buckler, Dick Giordano, Frank McLaughlin, and Neal Adams' Continuity Studios crew.

Next Monday, the b/w magazine version.

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Space: 1999
The Complete Series

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