Space 1999, the Science Fiction TV show began airing September 4, 1975 and shortly after a new magazine and comic by Charlton appeared in stores. The magazine ran concurrently for eight issues from November 1975 to October 1976. Both publications ended during the second season before the show finished. Charlton’s license ended suddenly as Gray Morrow had painted the cover for issue 9 of the magazine. I’m not sure why this happened.
The magazine had plenty of competition on the newstands with Warren and Marvel both running a black & white line of comics along with also-rans like Skywald. Space 1999 needed to stand out among the Frazetta and Earl Norem covers. To do this, Charlton hired super-pro Gray Morrow to paint all the magazine covers. Interior art was also done by Morrow along with Vicente Alcazar and other Spanish artists. Only Pat Boyette appeared from the Space 1999 comic’s bullpen. John Byrne and Joe Staton did not appear. After one story in issue five, Boyette returned to draw the final issue of the comic.
Issue One
The first magazine featured four comic stories and a number of fact articles. The comics included “The Last Moonrise”, “Cornucopia” and “Endgame” were written by Nick Cuti. “Seeds of Doubt” by Joe Gill. Gary Morrow provided the art for all four comics.
“The Last Moonrise” is a recap of how Moonbase Alpha was torn from Earth’s gravity.
“Seeds of Doubt” has the Alphans discover a vegetation heavy planet they call Green. The plants attack them and they have to escape using herbicide spray. The plant monsters have a way of replacing people with pod versions and everybody gets paranoid back at the base until all the plant versions are destroyed. (There is a hilarious frame in which Helena says “There’s a pigeon, Alan.” but the bird is clearly a crow. Good thing she’s not in charge of zoology…)
“Cornucopia” has the Alphans rescue a fugitive from another spacecraft. the pilot is Alcoba, who shows the Earthmen an amazing invention. When the aliens who were chasing him, show up on the moon, Alcoba knows he must leave. He only wishes he had had enough time to sell the Alphans a cornucopia.
“Endgame” has the crew land on the planet Aries to find it shelters the ruins of a dead civilization. A compound that is guarded by robots contains the beautiful Zhara, who the Alphans take back to the base. The crew are suspicious of the alien, who turns out to be an android designed to end all war by killing the leaders. She targets Koenig, who must disarm her using logic. (A trick Captain Kirk used ten years earlier.)
Issue Two
“The Possessed” written by Joe Gill and illustrated by Gray Morrow. “E Pluribus Unum” and “The Mind of the Snark” were written by Nick Cuti with art by Vincente Alacazar.
“The Possessed” has the Alphans finding a derelict ship. After visiting the wreck, Alan Carter behaves strangely. He has become possessed by something from the ship. In the end only destroying the derelict ship can free his mind. The bodies of the pilots of the wreck had died but their spirits remained to haunt the ship.
“E Pluribus Unum” has John, Victor and Helena land on a planet with dinosaurs. Helena takes an egg before the mother pterodactyl attacks. Someone else shoots the beast, leading the trio to discover the inhabitants of the planet. They are taken to a fabulous city where everyone hides their faces inside helmets. At first, the Alphans are sentenced to death for indecent exposure but are saved. Then they meet the rebels that fight this controlling culture. In the end the visitors repair the damaged relationship between the two factions, children and parents. The idea of the villains being disobedient children will surface again in the movie, Star Trek: Insurrection (1998).
“The Mind of the Snark” is the perfect vehicle for Vicente Alcazar. Nick Cuti, who will write some Sword & Sorcery stories, uses the themes of S&S for this tale. A space station, once of Earth, called the Snark is controlled by its computer, that killed the entire crew. The machine can induce amazing dreams. John goes into a dream challenge to prove humanity is not all evil. He rides into a Fantasy castle and fights a demon and a wizard. At the last second he stops, for the villain is actually Victor Bergman. Koenig proves his mettle and the Snark changes course, presenting collision.
Issue Three
“The Old Gods Are Eternal” written by Mike Pellowski and art by Vincente Alacazar. “Spores” by Mike Pellowski with art by Adolfo Buylla. “Dawn of Extinction” written by Nick Cuti with art by Ed Davis and Gray Morrow.
“The Old Gods Are Eternal” has the earthlings discover a planet with Mayans on it. They worship aliens who landed their hundreds of years ago but died out. When a young woman is to be sacrificed, Helena intervenes and gets sent to be sacrificed to Kukulan as well. This proves to be a giant lizard that John and Alan kill with their stun guns. Kukulan was the last of the aliens.
“Spores” has a comet on a collision course with the moon. Eagles fly out and blow it up. Only it proves to be hollow and filled with spores. The moon becomes covered. The spores begin eating people, splitting in half and reproducing after each meal. Victor figures out an atomic weapon to destroy them. They all have a good laugh at the end about suffering from Athlete’s Foot.
“Dawn of Extinction” is an anti-hunting story. The Alphas come to the world of Remo where a group of conservationists clash with politically powerful killers. Jord and the animal lovers free the specimens in the zoo when an explosion causes a fire. There is an exciting scene where a large ape-like creature called a Pumit gets loose. In the end the hunters are thrown down but Jord feels it is too late to save his world.
Issue Four
“A Lonely Emperor” written by Joe Gill with art by Carlos Pino. “Class Determination: Alien Insecta” by Mike Pellowski and drawn by Ed Davis. “Another Name For Hell” was written by Nick Cuti and drawn by Vincente Alcazar.
“A Lonely Emperor” has the Moonbase crew land on Rudea IV, a planetoid inhabited by a race of alien telepaths. The atmosphere doesn’t contain ozone, so radiation makes the planetoid undesirable for the nomads. Edwards, who has become quite unpleasant with the black doctor, Mastambi, uses hypnosis to take over the telepaths. He makes himself emperor over them and the Alphans flee, leaving him behind. They know he suffered from Space Madness, and others will fall to it too.
“Class Determination: Alien Insecta” begins with giant wasps attacking the moon. Alan and his pilots meet them in battle and drive them away. Koenig, Bergman and Russell follow the bees to their planet. There they see a giant mantis, then find an Earth-like city, deserted and empty. Helena falls down a hole and faces off against a giant spider. Koenig kills it with a spear before they are all taken by giant ants. The ants communicate with Helena, explaining about the race who built the city. They had been warlike and killed themselves off in a nuclear war. Here ends the sermon.
“Another Name For Hell” has John, Helena and Victor find a cosmic doorway on a desert planet. Inside are a race of aliens. They trick the Alphans into getting through the doorway, where they reveal themselves as warlocks and witches. They had been placed in Dimension Zero as a prison. Now free they attack the Moonbase crew. (Poor Lonnie. The short life of cannon fodder.) The trio are attacked by a giant doglike monster, but this proves to be an illusion. The aliens plan to take the Eagle and then the moon. Victor tricks them into going back through the gateway into Dimension Zero. John seals them up with no remorse, knowing they are truly corrupt.
Issue Five
“The Strange Ones” written by Joe Gill and drawn by Pat Boyette. “An Alien Charm” written by Joe Gill and drawn by Dick Ayres. “Undisturbed” by Nick Cuti and Gray Morrow.
“The Strange Ones” has the Alphans finding two planets. The first one is devoid of life, though once the inhabited by civilized people. The second planet has living people on it, though a savage race of primitives. The Alphans find circular landing pads that the cavemen could not have built. These prove to be elevators that take them to a technologically advanced underground city. The dwellers are the Dolbi, one-eyed aliens. At first they are friendly but the Alphans quickly realize they have evil plans for them. The Earthlings shoot their way out, but leave the cavemen a present of their laser guns. The cavemen once lived on the other planet before the Dolbi enslaved them.
“An Alien Charm” has the Moon crew find a woman in a lone space flyer. Her name is Nuna. She fits in slowly all the while hiding a secret. She turns into a monster with antennae and kills people. She is a polymorph. Nuna sets her sights on Koenig and so must remove Helena. Nuna turns herself into Helena then goes to John. The real Helena shows up in time with a laser in time to vaporize her. Essentially a re-write of “Endgame”.
“Undisturbed” has the crew discover an underground complex under a mountain on the Moon. Protected by a force field it has a breathable atmosphere. The weird plants and mushrooms turn out to be fake. Like the giant bugs and sea serpents. The guardians protect a city outfitted with stores and museums. There they find tubes with human-like aliens in suspended animation. Victor surmises that the aliens are wanderers like themselves, searching for a new home. Having found the Earth, the robots failed to wake them because the Moon doesn’t have an atmosphere. Two crewmen are taken by robots and placed in suspended animation. John gets the rest out quick while the whole place blows up. The mountain has become a crater.
Issue Six
“Just Like Home” by Joe Gill and Adolfo Buylla. “Snowball” by Nick Cuti and Vincente Alacazar. “The Paradise Progression” by Mike Pellowski and Gray Morrow.
“Just Like Home” has the Alphans discover planet Ten, a place dedicated to looking exactly like Earth. They even have a White House. President Tamblin tries to pressure Koenig into bringing his people to the new planet. Victor and Helena look at the powerful telescope the aliens use for examining earth. They also learn they are being duplicated and their duplicates will take their place on the Moonbase. John zaps one of the alien. It turns into a weird slug-like thing. The aliens overcome the crew except for co-pilot Michelle. She destroys her double and takes its place. She plays a game on deceit that wins the crew their freedom.
“Snowball” takes place on a snow planet. The Alphans are threatened by giant tusked monsters, Grangaus, before finding a space car with aliens inside. Koltan, Retoa and Mersac are from a tropical planet. A sudden storm kills Mersac. The group walks through the snow to get to the Eagle. Koenig gets suspicious of Kolton when he tries to guide him away from the city of the snow people, human-looking savages. The Alphans learn that aliens are slavers. Rygar and his warriors, riding an army of Grangaus, prepared to meet the aliens. The aliens try to escape but crash. The snow people are free.
Art by Gray Morrow
“The Paradise Progression” has the Alpha crew land on a paradise planet, where they meet Adan and Eva. Everything is perfect but crew members start getting murdered. John and Helena stay on the planet one night and see their hosts turn into hairy monsters. Adan and Eva are werewolves! The Alphans blast them with lasers, stunning them. They change back to human (in a slow fade just like in the movies). Victor explains that they are embryonic humans and still part animal. The Alphans leave their paradise to them and go.
Issue Seven
“The Perpetual Metamorphosis” written by Mike Pellowsi and drawn by Carlos Pino. “Cosmic Headache” by Nick Cuti and art by Carl Potts and Douglas Beekman. “The Infinity Mechanism” by Mike Pellowski and Vicente Alcazar.
“The Perpetual Metamorphosis” has an alien satellite retrieved. Inside is a cocoon that opens to reveal a cute little tribble-like thing. The creature goes into another cocoon to come out as a one-eyed rat. The thing is dangerous because it eats metal. Before it can be destroyed, it cocoons up again and becomes a deer-like animal. That animal cocoons and becomes a tiger. The crew lure it back into its satellite and send it back into space.
“Cosmic Headache” has the Alphans going to a planet where the Lanford Expedition disappeared. They equip themselves with fake head stubs so they can blend in. The people they meet do not have stubs. The people living outside the city are farmers and spurn the insiders of the city. They make friends with Wenko, who offers to go with them into the city as a guide. They enter through a water tunnel. The Alphans see the oppressive world of the city. They blow their cover and have to run. They flee to the slums where they have to fight to protect themselves. The hoods flee when Orcus appears. Orcus turns out to be a hideous one-eyed monster but also intelligent. He is an alien doctor. He takes the Moon crew to Dr. Lanford. She wants to rescue her crew but stay on with Orcus. John leads an assault on a tower where the mind control beams are located. The Alphans fight their way through robots to win their way out of the city.
“The Infinity Mechanism” has another ship land on Alpha. Its sole passenger is an android named Infinity. The android seems harmless but it has a secret. Music sends him into distress. Later he murderers a female crew member for her energy. The Alphans try to destroy it with lasers but they don’t work. Victor finds the answer with a flute. Playing the instrument, the sound causes Infinity’s head to explode.
Issue Eight
“The Metamorph” is by Mike Pellowski. The artwork is by Gray Morrow. “The Primary Life Form” was written by Mike Pellowski with art by Vicente Alcazar.
“The Metamorph” is a reprint of sorts. It uses the same script as the color comic but is redrawn by Gray Morrow. It tells the story of the first episode of Season Two.
“The Primary Life Form” has the god-like Nucleon appear on the Moonbase. He turns Tony and another crewman to stone but reverses the process. Nucleon admits he has been scanning the Moonbase in search of a mate. He wants Helena to go with him. Nucelon tries to woe Helena at first, turning her room into a garden. Then he tries extortion, threatening to make all the other Alphans simply stop existing. Maya takes on Nucleon by turning into a hawk. Nucleon matches her: hawk, lion, polar bear. Exhausting his powers, Nucleon’s atoms drift apart and he is gone. John thanks Maya, reminding her she is an Alphan.
The Space 1999 contract with Charlton Comics ended abruptly at the end of 1976. Gray Morrow had painted a ninth cover but no more issues followed. These would not be the last Space 1999 comics but the original run was over. Unlike most Science Fiction comics, the original comic did not last even as long as the show.
