Captain Scarlet strip guide - part three

Story Twenty Four
Writer: Unknown.
Artist: Jim Watson. Colour cover, 3 pages b/w.

Part 1 - Issue 207, dated 04 January 1969 (Spectrum Is Blue)
Killer Chemical!
"We will destroy Britain's ships by turning boys against her!"
A giant air transporter is being loaded with a cargo of a lethal chemical at British Chemicals top security plant. But while in flight, the radio dies, and a fire means the pilot is forced to eject the cargo pod. It lands not far from Newton College, and the chemical leaks into the school river. While Spectrum ponders the new Mysteron threat, the masters and pupils of the college undergo a terrifying change as they eat fish from the polluted river. Filled with hate, they march on the nearest town and wreck it. Scarlet is sent to investigate and finds the cargo pod, and a man called Burton from British Chemicals. Scarlet realises the boys' condition means they are not Mysterons, but then he and Burton are captured by them, and tied to a tree with the intent of killing them...

Part 2 - Issue 208, dated 11 January 1969 (Spectrum Is Green)
Five Seconds To Murder! Berserk Schoolboys Attack Scarlet!
As the boys close in to kill, they suddenly collapse and recover as the effects of the chemical wear off. Scarlet tells Burton to get the river decontaminated while he continues to investigate the Mysteron threat. With twelve ships having been destroyed, Scarlet realises the threat may not be 'boys' but buoys. Scarlet and Blue smuggle themseves into the plant inside two buoys, and find Captain Black there posing as a workman. Planting a bomb inside the buoy, Black is exposed by Scarlet but the other workers want to lynch the Mysteron for killing hundreds of their mates at sea. Scarlet is forced to call in the Angels to cause a diversion but in the confusion, Black escapes.



Notes:
• The idea of the 'possessed' children, even if not by the Mysterons, is a chilling one.


Story Twenty Five
Writer: Unknown.
Artist: Jim Watson. Colour cover, 3 pages b/w.

Part 1 - Issue 209, dated 18 January 1969 (Spectrum Is Red)
Showdown 2069! Scarlet In Western Gun-Battle
"Scarlet is dead, and now we will destroy the World President!"
Scarlet is relaxing off duty at the Kennedy National Park Annual Rodeo, but Captain Black uses explosives to stampede five hundred buffalo, destroying the stadium and killing many. The Mysterons reconstruct the Quincey brothers, four show cowboys, to abduct Scarlet and kill him. Taken on horseback miles from the staduium, Scarlet is to be excuted but jibes brother Billy to a showdown, only to lose. Abandoned and badly wounded, Scarlet throws himself across his horse's back in the hope it will carry him to help. The Mysterons make their threat, and without Scarlet, Colonel White determines he will escort the World President with Captain Blue and Doctor Fawn...

Part 2 - Issue 210, dated 25 January 1969 (Spectrum Is Black)
World President In Mysteron Drama! White And President Heading For Disaster Area
Leaving New York by monotrain, the World President asks Colonel White if he is sure about the Mysteron threat. With Scarlet missing, Spectrum's chances of countering it are depleted, and White is certain the Mysterons are behind the disappearance. At that moment, Scarlet lies in a box canyon some miles from the monorail track, close to death. The Mysteronised Quincey brothers set to work, using explosives to on the monorail supports to blow up part of the track. All they have to do now is wait for the President's train to crash. Scarlet is found by a prospector, who revives Scarlet with some water. While badly injured, Scarlet staggers to his feet and commandeers the prospector's jeep.

But he is too late, and the monotrain crashs off the damaged track. Safety ejector seats parachute the President and Colonel White clear, but the Quinceys find the President first. Scarlet drives up, and sees they are about to lynch the President. A single shot from Scarlet's gun severs the rope, and the Scarlet makes shot work of the Quinceys as well. Captain Blue arrives by helicopter in time to find Scarlet slumped of the jeep's wheel. Colonel White congratulates Scarlet, and gets the response to return the jeep to its owner - much to the prospector's bemusement.

Hue Goes There?:
• Doctor Fawn is with Colonel White on the monotrain on page 2 of part 2, but we do not see him eject to safety.

Notes:
• Frank Bellamy draws the colour cover for issue 210, but his superb design for the monotrain is wildly at odds with the one Jim Watson draws, which is closer to those seen in the Thunderbirds television series. This would be his last cover for Captain Scarlet.

• In both parts it seems quite heavily implied that Scarlet needs Doctor Fawn or medical assistance to aid his recovery. This seems slightly at odds with the series and other strips, suggesting a writer unfamiliar with the format.


Story Twenty Six
Writer: Unknown.
Artists: John Cooper: Colour cover (211 only)
Jim Watson: 3 pages b/w.

Part 1 - Issue 211, dated 01 February 1969 (Spectrum Is Blue)
Explosion On New Ship! Mysteron Activity Suspected!
"We are in control of the liner 'Monarch'. With it, we shall destroy the city of Alexandria!"
The nuclear-powered luxury liner Monarch has been struck by disaster on its maiden voyage! Reports are coming in from our correspondents on the ship that an explosion has ripped through the engine room. As many V.I.P.s are travelling on the Monarch it is feared that the Mysterons are responsible...
As the captain and first officer race down to the engine room to assess the damage, the Mysterons reconstruct the dead crew and most of the engine. To the captain, it seems as if only a minor incident has taken place, leaving the Mysteronised engineer Tolly in charge of clearing up - only to have him and his staff take over at gunpoint. The plan is to set the ship's reactor to go critical as it reahces port. The Mysterons make their threat, and on Cloudbase it is determined the Monarch will reach its target in six hours. Colonel White rules out an Angel strike, as many important passengers are on board. But the President of the Arabian federation is less thoughtful, and threatens to blow the ship out of the water before it reaches Alexandria. The Angels are launched to protect the ship while Scarlet flies out in an SPJ to try and board it. The Angels succeed in stopping the attack with smokescreens, which also provides cover for Scarlet to jump aboard - but the Mysterons are waiting for him...

Part 2 - Issue 212, dated 08 February 1969 (Spectrum Is Red)

Tolly plans to pace Scarlet in the reactor to kill him, but Scarlet jumps back overboard. In an attempt to kill him, Tolly opens the fuel outlets and sets fire to it - Scarlet will burn if he tries to surface. But he has already managed to claim aboard through the empty outlet tube, and made his way to the engine room. Disposing of the only Mysteron agent, Scarlet assesses the situation and starts rewiring the circuitry. At Alexandria, Blue informs the authorities he will destroy the Monarch with a nuclear bomb at sea if Scarlet seems to have failed. Scarlet is found by Tolly, who plans to kill Scarlet with his own electrode pistol, after resetting the master switch. But Scarlet's rewiring has electrified it, and Tolly is killed. With the electrode pistol, Scarlet makes short work of the other Mysterons, and Alexandria is saved.

Tomorrow's News Today:
• Issue 212: Scarlet Dropped To Blazing Ship! Spectrum Check Mysteron Suspect!

Notes:
• Issue 211 would be the last issue to feature Captain Scarlet as a colour strip on the cover, and it would be only three b/w pages until issue 232.
• Issue 212 featured a photographic cover in place of artwork.


Story Twenty Seven
Writer: Unknown.
Artist: Jim Watson. 3 pages b/w.

Part 1 - Issue 213, dated 15 February 1969 (Spectrum Is Black)
7am, and Bruce Robinson is on his way to Britain's Broadcasting Centre in London...
Deep in thought that there is no real news to report anyway, newsreader Robinson encounters a man peering over the edge of a bridge he is crossing. The stranger claims to have lost his hat in the water but as Robinson looks over the edge, he is pushed off by... Captain Black! Robinson's body lands on a barge that is passing underneath, but by the time the crew come to investigate the noise, he has been resurrected in the service of the Mysterons. Twenty minutes later, the Mysteron Robinson is in the television studio reading the news, which Captain Scarlet happens to be watching from Cloudbase. 'Early this morning Earth was invaded by Mysterons. Thousands of them...' In the studio, panic reigns, and the transmission is cut as Scarlet realises the announcer was a Mysteron, and fear hits homes across Britain. People roam the streets in a wave of panic, as the voice of the Mysterons itself is heard, 'We will destroy the world's ships!', and other false news broadcasts are made. Scarlet returns to Cloudbase from investigating an American news broadcast claiming the Mysterons intend to kill the World President to find Colonel White exhausted. Every man in Spectrum is out investigating new threats, but Scarlet replies the Mysterons are not carrying them out. Spectrum is becoming weak and ineffective because this is what the Mysterons are really doing - the world is being destroyed by fear! Spectrum must ignore the threats, and Colonel White puts out a worldwide broadcast telling the people what is happening. But unknown to Spectrum, Captain Black has destroyed a troop carrier returning from Mars, and the Mysteronised force is marching on Cairo in Egypt. The Mysterons threaten to destroy the city, but Spectrum believe it is another empty claim...

Part 2 - Issue 214, dated 22 February 1969 (Spectrum Is Blue)
"Once more hear the voice of the Mysterons, Earthmen... we shall destroy the city of Cairo!"

Not wanting to fall for the same trick, Spectrum ignores the Mysteron threat - only to find Cairo is being marched on by hundreds of Mysteronised troops. It seems Spectrum has made a grave error of judgment, and could be discredited in the eyes of the world. As Colonel White requests a news clamp-down to hush up the mistake, Scarlet flies out to Cairo to organise the Spectrum defences. But a freelance news team are already flying over the area, and reports the incident to the world. Blue thinks the only way to counter this is to televise Scarlet's defence of Cairo. it is a wild risk, and even Scarlet does not like it, but it may be the only way to restore the world's faith in Spectrum. Reconnoitring around Cairo, Scarlet spots Captain Black and shoots him. Borrowing his coloured tunic and burying the body, Scarlet poses as Black and - with Captain Blue filming from a Spectrum helicopter - leads the Mysteron forces into a trap.
But Black has recovered, and pushes Scarlet into the building where the troops are imprisoned before it is sealed. The building is blown up, and the Mysteron threat to Cairo is finished. Spectrum's reputation is safe, with only the loss of one life in the eyes of the world - Captain Scarlet.

Hue Goes There?:
• With the strip in black and white, it becomes increasing difficult to tell which Spectrum officer is which unless named now. An unnamed officer at the Spectrum office in Cairo goes unidentified, as do several more on Cloudbase.

Tomorrow's News Today:
• Issue 213: Wanted! World Enemy No.1 - Have You Seen This Man?
• Issue 214: Wake Up Spectrum! An Open Letter To Spectrum From TV21

Notes:
• At the end of the story, Colonel White ponders if Scarlet has survived the explosion, to which Doctor Fawn replies 'I fear not, Colonel White... but it's possible... just possible!'
• Issue 214 featured a photographic 'news' cover.


Story Twenty Eight
Writer: Unknown.
Artist: Jim Watson. 3 pages b/w.

Part 1 - Issue 215, dated 01 March 1969 (Spectrum Is White)
Kahra - capital city of Mars. In the spaceport control room, an unidentified craft is monitored as approaching. As defence measures swing into place, the spherical craft lands and dome-headed aliens from planet Framus emerge. They have learned Earth's languages, and are on their way to the planet to observe the great city units being built. The Frams are also aware of the Mysteron conflict, and would like to see their complex. Official permission is refused but en route to Earth, the Frams take their ship over the forbidden area and come under attack. The Fram ship continues on its way - but have they too been claimed by the Mysterons? The Frams land in San Francisco and are shown the massive city unit - which contains houses, shops, parks, entertainment - under the watchful eye of Spectrum. But when Scarlet arrives, he senses Mysterons. The others are convinced Scarlet must be wrong, as they were refused permission to visit the Mysteron complex, but as Captain Cream and City Controller Treacher leave with the Frams in a Spectrum helicopter, the city unit is destroyed in a massive explosion...

Part 2 - Issue 216, dated 08 March 1969 (Spectrum Is Red)
"We the Mysterons will destroy another city unit. You are helpless, Earthmen..."

This incident seems to confirm Scarlet's suspicion about the Frams being Mysterons. Blue warns that they cannot be accused without proof, as it could start a universal war. Scarlet tells Blue to continue with the tour, while he returns to Cloudbase. The Frams ask Blue what happened, and he responds they are unsure at the moment. Treacher is also suspicious the Frams are Mysterons, but Blue ponders who told him this. Commander Roach on Mars reports the Frams were directed to the Mysteron city before coming to Earth, and so it is decided the aliens must submit to the detector when the Mysterons make a second threat. The Frams are flown from Texas and scanned - and found to be clear. Scarlet now realises the nausea could have been caused by city controller Treacher, and they return to Texas to find him leaving after having planted a bomb.
Scarlet evacuates the building, leaving himself and Treacher inside with minutes before it explodes. Scarlet tries to sway treacher by asking if he is prepared to die, and he cracks, revealing the bomb's location. With seconds to spare, Scarlet finds and defuses it. Back on Cloudbase, Spectrum and the Frams make their mutual apologies for any misunderstandings.

Hue Goes There?:
• Spectrum officer Captain Cream seems to be appointed liaison to the visiting Frams.

Tomorrow's News Today:
• Issue 216: City Unit Disaster! Is This The Work Of The Mysterons?

Notes:
• This is the only strip to feature an actual Mysteron detector, though it is a much larger version akin to a television camera.
• Issue 216 featured a photographic 'news' cover.


Story Twenty Nine
Writer: Unknown.
Artist: Jim Watson. 3 pages b/w.
Issue 217, dated 15 March 1969 (Spectrum Is Green)
"We will destroy the solar system's leaders!"
Captain Scarlet has been assigned to protect the planet's leaders, and is to fly the Strato Streak craft to collect the delegates from each world. The Mysterons make their threat, confirming what Spectrum had feared, and Scarlet travels by helijet to a World Air Force base in Texas. There, the Strato Streak is being repaired with an 'anti-Mysteron' coating. In the hangar, Scarlet feels a little hot, and the WAF liaison with him asks if he is reacting to a Mysteron. This is the case, as Captain Black is in disguise nearby, but Scarlet dismisses the incident. Two weeks later, the Strato Streak takes off and Scarlet begins his tour of the solar system. Returning to Earth, Scarlet picks up the World President to take him to Unity City, and waits in orbit for landing clearance... and a Mysteron spaceship force led by Captain Black makes an attack. The Strato Streak weaves and banks, and its electrode weapons return fire. But Scarlet is outnumbered, and the Strato Streak breaks up as Scarlet ejects. Black is pleased - Scarlet may have survived but the World President is dead. Or is he? Scarlet is picked up by a spaceship, and he asks if the plan worked. Colonel White tells him the delegates have had their meeting and are already returning to their planets. The Strato Streak served its purpose - as a divetring the Mysterons from the conference itself.

Notes:
• At the beginning of the story, Scarlet is playing with a toy Strato Streak, which would actually be a free gift in the next issue.
• it is not clear what an 'anti-Mysteron' coating for the Strato Streak does, nor is it ever mentioned again.
• X-rays are referred to for detecting Mysterons - only the second time in the strip.
• The planet Venus, unusually and inaccurately, is shown to have rings.

• Perhaps as a homage to the title sequence of Captain Scarlet, Black is seen communicating with the Mysterons from a graveyard..
• This is the last issue to have a colour code.
• While not connected to the strip inside, the front cover shows the TVR17 from the episode 'White As Snow', supposedly as TV21's own 'Reporter 17' satellite.


Story Thirty
Writer: Unknown.
Artist: Jim Watson. 3 pages b/w.

Part 1 - Issue 218, dated 22 March 1969
"Earth's space traffic will be paralysed!"
High in the hills of the Sinai Desert, an international communications sentre controls two-thirds of Earth's space traffic. Beneath it, in the valley town of Brunstohn, a team of young archaeologists return from a dig uncovering a temple. That night, Captain Black lays charges in the hills, and a series of explosions brings down a rockfall wihich wipes out Brunstohn, and six of the victims are resurrected by the Mysterons - the last of which is Adrian Metcalfe. As Cloudbase hears of the tragedy, the Mysterons make their threat, and Scarlet is sure the Sinai Communications Station could be the target as it is close by. Scarlet takes Captain Grey with him, and they pick up an SPV from Cairo for the last part of the journey. Using jet packs, they search the hills and find a hut, Peering inside, they see Captain Black briefing his Mysteron agents, but as Scarlet looks he realises he cannot go ahead wiith the mission. For one of them is Adrian Metcalfe, his cousin...

Part 2 - Issue 219, dated 29 March 1969

Grey argues with Scarlet the grim reality - his cousin is already dead, and what they see is just a Mysteron. Coming to his senses, Scarlet leads grey into the hut, and they hold Black and the others at electrode gun-point. The map they have shows the communication station, but Scarlet is caught unprepared when Adrian Metcalf jumps him. The two Spectrum officers are overpowered, and left tied up as Black leads the mission to the station. Within a short while, the station men are slaughtered and reconstructed as Mysterons, and chaos starts to reign in the space traffic. Meanwhile, Captain Blue has found Scarlet and Grey and freed them. Black plans to destroy the station with a bomb, and also plants an explosive above the hut to kill Scarlet and Grey. But returning to bid Scarlet farewell, the two Mysterons are captured and left tied up themselves. Colonel White leads a force to tke back the station, but Metcalfe - attempting to get free - steps on the detonator, and the hut is smashed by a rockfall. As White signals success, Scarlet looks at the rubble that covers his cousin's body. But no doubt Black has escaped... again.

Tomorrow's News Today:
• Issue 218: Landslide! Scarlet Monitors Disaster Area For Mysteron Activity
• Issue 219: Cloudbase Communique - Spectrum in Space Link Drama!

Reprinted:
TV2000 - issues 39 to 40/1969 as De Mysterons Nemen Wraak! (The Mysterons Take Revenge)

Notes:
• Issue 218 saw what was possibly the last specially staged photo for TV21, showing Scarlet wearing a jetpack hovering above an SPV and a rocky landscape (above).
• The cover of issue 219 shows a photo of what is supposed to be the Sinai Communication Station (left), but this is really the hidden Eastern Alliance base from the Joe 90 episode 'Attack of the Tiger'.
• Issue 218 saw a revamped masthead for the comic, which echoed the design of the animated Century 21 logo of the TV series.
• Whilst semi-newspaper style fronts had appeared on and off since issue 212, from this issue onwards the news covers would be regular until the merger with Joe 90: Top Secret in September.
• Photos from the recently produced Joe 90 (issues 220, 221, 224 & 235) and The Secret Service (issue 232) would occasionally appear too, as well as quite anachronicistic football stories (issues 225, 227 & 229).


Story Thirty One
Writer: 'Tony Crane'.
Artist: Jim Watson. 3 pages b/w.

Part 1 - Issue 220, dated 05 April 1969
Approaching a secret hidden complex under derelict buildings in the Sahara, Scarlet spots a lone traveller on horseback. At the complex, Professor Cartier demonstrates a new computer system which can control any electronically operated device with unlimited range - the most powerful weapon the world has ever known. Scarlet is glad Cartier is on their side, and as he leaves asks the professor to send help for the lone lost traveller outside. But this is Captain Black, and he uses poison gas to kill Cartier and the scientists, to resurrect them as Mysterons. As Scarlet reports to Colonel White back on Cloudbase, the motors fire, and the station sets a collision course for London...



Part 2 - Issue 221, dated 12 April 1969
Scarlet comes to the conclusion Cartier is responsible, and outlines a plan to save Cloudbase. As the Angels have independent power, and Cartier's computer can only control one target at a time, they are launched to pull Cloudbase out of its dive long enough for Scarlet and Blue to get an SPJ out. On their way to the Sahara, Scarlet recalls the man in the desert.
"We will leave Cloudbase alone... but only while we deal with you!"
Under Cartier's control, and at 2,000 miles per hour, the SPJ crashes into the sea. Control returned to Cloudbase, the Angels think Scarlet has won but Black is preparing to use controlled missiles to destroy them all. Scarlet has survived the crash to pull Blue to the surface and, recovering on the beach, they see a gold prospector and his jeep. No time to explain, the Captains steal the vehicle and discover explosives in the back. But Black has already launched three missiles on Cloudbase, and locked out their anti-missile defences. As Colonel White keeps trying, Scarlet and Blue arrive at the establishment and destroy the computer. As Black escapes, Cloudbase's controls are freed, and the missiles destroyed.

Tomorrow's News Today:
• Issue 221: Crash Dive! Spectrum Flash - Eye-Witness Account!

Reprinted:
TV2000 - issues 43 to 44/1969

Notes:
• The F5 strike plane Cartier uses for his demonstration is supposedly based on the VG104 from the Joe 90 episode 'Attack of the Tiger', and a photo of it appears on the cover of issue 221.
• The strip manages a bit of humour in the final frame - as Scarlet drives Blue away (presumably to return the jeep) he says, 'I've lost control... someone's taking over...', getting the reply 'Look, don't mess about... I'm not feeling too well as it is!'


Story Thirty Two
Writer: Unknown.
Artist: Jim Watson. 3 pages b/w.

Part 1 - Issue 222, dated 19 April 1969
"This is the voice of the Mysterons... we will destroy the elite!"
The World Government has ordered 15 new cars, one of which is for the World President himself, from the Elite Car Factory in Kent. David Fenton, a senior computer programmer with the company, falls into the production line when a window gives way. But by the time help reaches him, Fenton has been resurrected by the Mysterons. A week later on Cloudbase, Scarlet and Blue are reading about the new Elite car in a magazine when the Mysterons make their threat. At the hastily convened Spectrum conference, Blue is certain they mean the car, which puzzles Colonel White. But unknown to them, the British Prime Minister has just taken delivery of an Elite, and goes for a drive to the coast. The car goes out of his control, and he is killed as it plummets off the road. Two other high ranking world officials also dies in Elite car accidents, and Scarlet is sent to investigate the factory. Escorted by Director Carson, Scarlet finds the company have also taken the threat seriously and placed armed guards as security. Even so, Scarlet says the risk is still too great as the World President himself is due pick up an Elite tomorrow, but Carson demands Spectrum get out...

Part 2 - Issue 223, dated 26 April 1969
Scarlet's warning is ignored, but as he walks back through the factory he feels dizzy. Evading the guards, he doubles back, and finds Fenton putting the President's car through tests. Then he is spotted, and a shot sends him reeling to conveyor belt below - the metal press which will cut him to ribbons. He is pulled off the belt by workers, but then passes out. Director Carson is not pleased, and a guard ordered to take him away. Scarlet attempts to convince the guard that Fenton is a Mysteron by the way they work, and nearly does so, but the guard still has to follow orders. Scarlet knocks him out... and then runs into Captain Blue, who calls up Spectrum to clean up. Scarlet stays with the car, which is transported by helicopter to the President in Unity City. But when Carson presents it, Scarlet is already at the wheel, and drives off. The steering fails, and Scarlet proves his point as the car veers of the road in what would otherwise have been a fatal crash. And some weeks later, Carson presents Scarlet with a new car as an apology.



Tomorrow's News Today:
• Issue 223: Captain Scarlet Arrested

Reprinted:
TV2000 - issues 48/1969

Notes:
• It is somewhat amusing in hindsight that Captains Scarlet and Blue find ten thousand pounds an expensive amount for the luxury Elite cars - we're not even half way between '1969' and '2069' and ten thousand pounds would be considered pretty reasonable!
• It would seem even in 2069, the British Prime Minister is still resident at 10 Downing Street.


Story Thirty Three
Writer: 'George Simons'
Artist: Jim Watson. 3 pages b/w.

Part 1 - Issue 224, dated 03 May 1969

Captains Scarlet and Blue are enjoying seventy-two hours leave by visiting Blue's eccentric Uncle Matthew on Redbill Island in the Pacific. Passing a brand new oil tanker on the way, they land on the island, where Matthew is writing a book on the birds. The sound of an explosion brings them running back to their hoverboat, where Cloudbase is trying to contact them. The tanker has exploded, and Scarlet and Blue set out to investigate. A dying oil-covered survivor gasps the saboteur had a uniform like theirs, and the to officers watch in horror as a vast oil slick spreads. The seabirds are already dying, and the entire west coast of America is threatened. A desperate attempt to stop the slick by setting fire to it with air strikes seems moderately successful... except for a small slick which washes up on Redbill Island one night, killing many of the birds. Unaware of this, Matthew awakes... and finds the redbills have turned hostile...

Part 2 - Issue 225, dated 10 May 1969
"You underestimate us, Earthmen... beware of the birds!"
The Mysterons make their threat, and Blue thinks it may have something to do with Redbill Island. But there is no response from his uncle, so Scarlet and Blue return by helicopter to investigate. They find the oil, and hundreds of dead birds. But some have died by other means, and Scarlet thinks the ones killed by the oil have been Mysteronised, and they have attacked other birds. A report comes in of three men - vital statesmen and scientists - being killed by a flock of redbills. Blue believes his uncle to be dead now, but they find him alive in his shack having barricaded himself in. Scarlet feels nauseous - the Mysteron redbills are returning to the island - and they barricade themselves in. A WAF jet is homing in, and disperses poison gas over the area. The birds are killed, and the three men recover later. Uncle Matthew now has write an extra chapter to his book... the end of the redbills.



Reprinted:
TV2000 - issues 49/1969 as Het Testament van Trainer (The Will of the Coach?)

Notes:
• This story may have been part-inspired by the Torrey Canyon disaster - a tanker which ran aground in the English Channel in 1967, spilling over 100,000 tons of crude oil into the sea and was the biggest oil pollution incident ever recorded up to that time.
• The other inspiration, of birds turned into killers, might be Alfred Hitchcock's 1963 film The Birds.
• Despite being off duty for seventy-two hours and calling each other by their real names, Scarlet and Blue still wear their uniforms.
• Oops - in part 2 it looks like Scarlet says 'Get my uncle... ' when it is in fact Blue's relation.
• It is never made clear why the poison gas does not kill Scarlet, Blue and Matthew - only knocking them out.


Story Thirty Four
Writer(s): 'James Large' and 'George Simons'.
Artist: Jim Watson. 3 pages b/w.

Part 1 - Issue 226, dated 17 May 1969

Captains Scarlet and Blue admire a brand new world conference centre in Paris, completed quickly for the biggest peace conference of all time. Representatives from every race in the galaxy - except the Mysterons - will sign a new treaty. But on a small island off the coast of France, Captain Black is giving arms to the arrogant governor in order to invade the nearby island of Portos. The World Army are handling security for the conference, but Spectrum are being represented by Colonel White with Captains Scarlet and Blue. That night, Captain Black and the governor lead a force of five hundred soldiers to Portos, and kill everyone on the island - to be resurrected by the Mysterons. Even a sole reporter, attempting to escape in a dighy, does not leave a bullet from Black. The next day, as the alien delegates arrive at the conference centre, Colonel White hears of the trouble, even though no casualities are reported. Black dismisses the soldiers, and shoots the governor when he objects. He has served his purpose, and provided Black with hundreds of Mysterons who journey to Paris as holiday makers - and all armed to destroy the conference centre...

Part 2 - Issue 227, dated 24 May 1969
"We will destroy this conference.. our revenge will be complete!"

At dawn, the Mysteron inhabitants of Portos board a ferry, and their cases are filled with weapons. Black tells them they will reach Paris by midday, where he will await them. Using a faster boat, Black sets out, and is warned an Earthman has survived to warn the authorities. This is reporter Gerry Masters, who Black only wounded, and as the President opens the peace conference, Scarlet is called to Security Control. The wounded Masters has been found and brought to the centre, and warns Scarlet of the Mysteron plan. Scarlet contacts Colonel White, who has been held up in traffic - in reality the convoy of coaches carrying the Mysteronised tourists!
White arrives just ahead of the coaches, and Scarlet only has a short time to save the delegates. The Mysterons arrive, led by Black, and their sheer numbers force Captain Blue and the security forces to fall back. But inside... Black finds the main hall deserted. Scarlet has evacuated the delegates to the underground security shelter, leaving the World Army to round up the Mysterons.

Notes:
• The end of part 1 suggests the peace conference is 'officially opened by President Roberts'.
• Part 2 describes the Portos Mysterons as 'helpless robots'. A mistake? Or an unwitting reference back to the original format for the series where the Mysterons recreations were robotic duplicates?


Story Thirty Five
Writer: 'Clifford Holt'.
Artist: John Cooper. 3 pages b/w.

Part 1 - Issue 228, dated 31 May 1969
"This is the voice of the Mysterons... we will destroy the new Channel Bridge!"
As a Monday evening dusk settles, a sports car speeds over a lone bridge lying near the English east coast...
The driver, Sam Wright, is happy and carefree, on his way to meet his girlfriend - but suddemly the bridge starts shake and vibrate violently. Sam fights for control and gets off the bridge, where a black uniformed figure is standing. The officer, Captain Black, says he will inform the authorities of the 'freak wind current', and Wright drives off. But the authorities Black informs are the Mysterons, and he removes a deadly ultra-sonic oscillator from the bridge's superstructure. On Cloudbase, Captain Scarlet is briefed on a new mission , the opening of the Channel Bridge - a fantastic twenty-five mile structure spanning England and France and containing two tiers of roadway and a monorail. Every dignitary in Europe will be at the opening of the bridge, but when the Mysterons threaten to it, the delegate council refuses to bow down. Scarlet and Blue are despatched to search the bridge for clues to how the Mysterons will strike, unaware Captain Black is watching them...

Part 2 - Issue 229, dated 07 June 1969

The Angels overfly the bridge, giving Scarlet the all-clear to proceed. Unaware Captain Black is on the Channel Bridge, Captains Blue & Scarlet take a Moto-Detector, a specialised land-cruiser for bomb detection and disposal, across. As it moves slowly along the length, Black attaches the oscillator to its underside and, at a certain point, activates it remotely. The vibrations cause the Moto-Detector to go out of control and the bridge also starts to shake. Knocking Blue out and ejecting him to safety, Scarlet plunges the Moto-Cruiser over the side into the Channel. The Bridge and the dignitaries are saved, leaving a recovering Scarlet suffering from a cold.

Tomorrow's News Today:
• Issue 228: Security Clamp-Down! Channel Bridge Opening Postponed

Notes:
• In Shades of Opinion for issue 229, Anne Bates of Nuneaton sent in her own design for a Spectrum Girl's Uniform.


Story Thirty Six
Writer: Unknown.
Artist: Jim Watson. 3 pages b/w.

Part 1 - Issue 230, dated 14 June 1969
"We, the Mysterons, will destroy the World President's personal aide!"
The most evil man on Earth... agent for the Mysterons. An instrument of terror to avenge his masters on Earth's act of folly. Devoted to destroy Spectrum, the organisation of which he was once a member... his name is Captain Black!
The Mysterons grow impatient and, having underestimated Spectrum, originate a plan to beat Captain Scarlet, and once more strike fear into humanity. Two weeks later, Colonel Philip Lawrence, who is on the World President's staff, is on a hunting holiday in the Rocky Mountains. Lawrence does not notice the car below, and a single shot from Black's rifle ends his life - to become a Mysteron agent. The Mysterons make their threat, but the World President has six aides, and Scarlet is sent to protect General Crawford. The general is bemused, and semi-retired he believes himself a worthless target with only one duty that week - to collect medals for tomorrow's investiture. Scarlet drives him to the silversmith but notices they have a tail. Trying to lose him, Scarlet drives into a perfectly timed crash. Crawford is killed, but Scarlet grabs his electrode rifle and commandeers a motorcycle to pursue the Mysteron agent. Three shots from the assassin hit Scarlet's chest before he is able to hit the car and destroy it. In Cloudbase's hospital, a recovering Scarlet asks the World President if he will cancel the investiture, but to do so would be submitting to the Mysteron terror. Crawford's replacement is... Colonel Lawrence, and the next phase of the Mysteron plan slides into place...

Part 2 - Issue 231, dated 21 June 1969
"We the Mysterons, will destroy the decorations!"
Lawrence goes to the silverstore to pick up the medals, which Black has replaced. The Mysterons make a new threat, and Colonel White is lost to choose from all the thousands of festival events. He makes a guess that ones in Paris and Sydney, where world leaders are in attendance, are the most likely. Captain Blue is the best officer to cover Paris, but he is already on his way to Unity City to receive the Medal of Honour for Bravery. Scarlet realises 'decoration' can also mean 'medal', and that the investiture is the target. Six of the world's bravest men will be in attendance, and it will be a blow to world morale if they were killed. With Doctor Fawn's protests that he is not yet fit enough ringing in his ears, Scarlet takes an Angel Interceptor to Unity City. Black has been waiting for Scarlet to make a move, and attempts to intercept him - but without success. At Unity City, Scarlet bursts into the investiture and takes the tray of medals outside where it explodes. Lawrence is arrested as a Mysteron agent, and Scarlet is taken back to Cloudbase to recover - again.



Tomorrow's News Today:
• Issue 230: Hero Award For Captain Blue - Spectrum Captain Risks Life To Save President

Notes:
• The design of the aircraft Black flies in part 2 seems based on the V17 from the episode 'Flight To Atlantica'.
• The photo of the 'Bratvian Republic's passenger jet is actually the burnt-out remains of the European Skyways plane hit by a Remote Control Elevator Car from the Thunderbirds episode 'Trapped In The Sky'.


Story Thirty Seven
Writer: Unknown.
Artist: Jim Watson. 3 pages b/w.

Part 1 - Issue 232, dated 28 June 1969
"We will destroy the bird and its nest!"

As Spectrum tries to understand the cryptic new threat, fifty thousand feet above the Pacific, a World Air Force bomber is being tested. From its control centre, the order is given to eject, and the nose cone detatches and homes in on Beacon ZX4. But the pulse accelerator sending the homing signal over-activates, and the cone accelerates to hit ZX4 with destructive force. Within seconds, the Mysterons have reconstructed ZX4 and its staff, and the short black-out with Pacific Control is put down to atmospherics. Colonel Sikorsky arrives at Cloudbase to request the services of Captain Scarlet as a guinea-pig in final tests of the escape system, to which Colonel White agrees. But at ZX4, Captain Black has arrived and orders his agents to hide all signs of the destruction, and await the arrival of Captain Scarlet...

Part 2 - Issue 233, dated 05 July 1969
Maintenance Sergeant Jim Vickers arrives at the beacon to check the decelerator but when he opens the control he is electrocuted and recreated in the service of the Mysterons. At Sikorsky's experimental station, Scarlet hears that if the escape system is ready by Thursday, the World and every world V.I.P. will watch a test from his yacht. That leaves only two days, and for the next thirty-six hours, Scarlet is put under the greatest physical and mental tests. The test plane is readied, but as Scarlet prepares to board it, he feels a momentary dizziness - a sign of Mysteron presense. Could it be the Professor Margraves? But when the professor suggests the test should be postphoned, Vickers puts him out of action. Realising there is a Mysteron, and the codename for the project is 'pigeon', Scarlet still goes ahead. Sealed in the nose cone, he lifts off, to find the homing decelerator is jammed - he will crash into the World President's yacht. Fighting gravity, Scarlet fires the parachute control manually, and the nose cone splashes down harmlessly, as the Angels destroy the Mysteronised Beacon ZX4 and its staff.

Tomorrow's News Today:
• Issue 232: New Hope For Ultra-Somic Pilots - Spectrum approached for Guinea Pig
• Issue 233: The Guinea-Pig! Scarlet Risks Life In Secret Experiment

Notes:
• The picture of Captain Scarlet on the cover of issue 233 is from 'Attack On Cloudbase', and had previously been used on the cover of issue 152.


Story Thirty Eight
Writer: Unknown.
Artist: Jim Watson. 2 pages b/w.

Part 1 - Issue 234, dated 12 July 1969
Colonel White leaves with Captain Scarlet in a Spectrum Hoverjet for the secret mountain laboratory of Dr John Claw. The scientist has developed a machine called the Retrom which can duplicate the Mysteron ability to recreate destroyed objects. But instead of using it against the Mysterons directly, Claw believes he has discovered an invisible force of Light Refraction Ultra Cosmic Kantons - 'LUCK' for short - and can use this to jam the Mysterons own energies once and for all...

Part 2 - Issue 235, dated 19 July 1969
Claw needs twenty-four hours, and wants to know if Scarlet can keep the Mysterons occupied for that time. Scarlet thinks simplicity is the best option, and offers to surrender to the Mysterons, telling them he is going over to their side. Six hours later, a solo flight by Scarlet lifts off from Glenn Field space port in the OGT 7. Cutting radio communications with Earth, Scarlet brings his ship down on the Martian surface a few miles south of the Mysteron city, and sets out on foot. But the landscape comes alive with rock snakes, and a battle breaks out between them and Scarlet...

Part 3 - Issue 236, dated 26 July 1969
Scarlet battles in vain against the monsters, a ball of power damaging his air tanks. Rescue from a strange alien vessel comes at the last minute, as Captain Black arrives. At Glenn Field, the rocket with the eight satellites lifts off for Mars. At the Mysteron Complex, Scarlet is brought before the master computer, which tells him the power of instructibility will be removed from him - he is to become exactly like Captain Black...

Part 4 - Issue 237, dated 02 August 1969
Scarlet decides the price is too high, and rather than become an unthinking zombie like Black he decides to go out fighting. Scarlet starts to smash the computers, but Black attempts to grab him - and a heavy punch slams into his face. Scarlet grabs a gun and fires at the master computer, but within minutes it reconstructs. Realising a fight is useless, Scarlet makes off across the surface - only to be stopped by a paralysing field of energy. A recovered Black brings him back, and as the first satellite is placed in orbit around Mars to collect the LUCK rays, Scarlet is placed in a machine to make him a servant of the Mysterons...

Part 5 - Issue 238, dated 09 August 1969
The main computer orders full power, but to Black's surprise the machine stops. Thirty seconds later, the Mysteron computers also stop, and Captain Black crumples lifeless to the floor. Alone in the silent city, Scarlet realises the satellites are in position and transmitting the LUCK rays. After a long silence, the Mysterons finally address him:
"You have won, Scarlet... our equipment is useless while the cosmic rays are beamed on us... leave in triumph, accursed Earth man but remember... our vengeance is not yet complete. We will find a way to overcome your satellites. Then we will be avenged!"
Earth has finally won, and the Mysterons allow Scarlet to leave with the corpse of Captain Black. Returning to Cloudbase in Black's craft, Captain Scarlet joins Colonel White to watch as the Mysterons are seen to leave Mars - and the solar system.

Next Week - Captain Scarlet and Spectrum face a new threat from space!

Tomorrow's News Today:
• Issue 234: Rumour! Mysteron Secret Discovered?
• Issue 235: Scarlet Is Go? Sudden Blast Off From Glenn Field

Notes:
• The final epic story sees the Mysterons defeated and departing from Mars, no longer able to wage a war of nerves on Earth.
• In nice touches of final continuity, the rocket which carried the LUCK satellites has a similar design to the rocket in the third Captain Scarlet strip We Will Destroy Earth's Communications. Also, Black's saucer space-ship appears to be the same one he was seen to use in issue 190.
• A photo of a Spectrum helicopter over the Himalayan mountains, from the episode 'Shadow Of Fear', is used on the cover of issue 234.
• A photo of the Orbital Glide Transport from the Joe 90 episode 'Test Flight' is used on the cover of issue 235, and artist Jim Watson was provided with photo reference to include a nice depiction of it as Scarlet's spaceship for his voyage to Mars.
• Jim Watson's take on the Martian rock snakes is different, to say the least.


Story Thirty Nine
Writer: Unknown.
Artist: John Cooper. 2 pages b/w.

Part 1 - Issue 239, dated 16 August 1969
High over Europe a routine spaceliner from the Sirius star system is on its programmed flight path for landing at London's spaceport...
But, as the liner drops towards London, it bounces back into the air. The captain tells the terrified passengers it is merely severe air turbulence but he and his crew are at a loss. An attempt at a manual landing has the same result. London has been sealed off somehow, and the World Government instructs Spectrum to investigate. Captain Scarlet flies over London, and determines a huge, invisible domed force-field is the cause, powered by a trio of energy generators. A modified scoutship with a nose-mounted shield is Scarlet's idea, and flies back towards London...

Part 2 - Issue 240, dated 23 August 1969
Scarlet's idea pays off, and the nose-mounted mirror shield deflects the energy from one of the force-field generators back at it, damaging the device and allowing him through. Landing at London Spaceport, he finds the guards think the cause of lack of traffic is a cosmic storm. But inside security control headquarters, Scarlet finds the commander is being controlled by a group of men. Their leader tries to use hypno-light waves to control Scarlet but his superhuman powers of resistance save him.

One of the younger men, Reklon, is told to restrain Scarlet, and the Spectrum officer finds he is too strong to fight. The men are refugees from Arcturon, outside the galaxy, and on the run from a revolutionary war they lost. But an Arcturon battle-fleet has located them, and threatens to destroy London if they do not surrender...

Part 3 - Issue 241, dated 30 August 1969
As a show of strength, two of the Arcturon ships fire 'timer' rockets to explode above London. As Scarlet has damaged one of the force-field generators, an attack will destroy London. Scarlet reasons with the Arcturon rebels to release the spaceport personnel from control, and Reklon and another humanoid robot could seal the hole by double-charging the other generators. To buy them time in which to do this, Scarlet takes their ship up into space, and is captured by Sergo's Arcturon ships. Realising he has been tricked, Sergo orders his men to shoot Scarlet...

Part 4 - Issue 242, dated 06 September 1969

Sergo decides that the rebels must die - and London with them - and orders the attack. But the indestructible Scarlet is not dead, and he revives to tackle one of the armed guards and take his weapon. Bursting into the control room, Scarlet holds Sergo at gunpoint, and orders everyone clear of the steering control. He sets the ship on a crash course with Earth, and kill everyone aboard unless Sergo calls off the attack. But even though a panic-striken Sergo agrees, the spearhead ships of the fleet have already fired the first missiles. The Arcturon rebels can only watch as the missiles explode into the force-field, threatening to overload the already stretched generators. World Securtity Forces are on their way, but they may already be too late. Sergo gives the command, and the ships break off as the World Security Jets arrive. The generators explode but London is safe. The rebels are taken to the Arcturon battle fleet, but are offered a peace treaty owing to the intervention of Captain Scarlet.

Tomorrow's News Today:
• Issue 242: Scarlet sacrifices himself to save London!

Notes:
• The unidentified writer seems almost wholly unfamiliar with Captain Scarlet, introducing unfamiliar hardware and ill at ease with how Spectrum operates.

Curiously, the possibly of the Mysterons being defeated had been mooted before (see Part Two) and rejected. But someone obviously recalled the suggestion, and this is exactly what happened. However, ignoring what was a reasonably satisfactory end to the War of Nerves on which to finish, one last story was commissioned, possibly to fill out the page count while a merger with Joe 90: Top Secret - also now under the helm of Martspress - was finalised.

Whether it was planned to continue Captain Scarlet as a new ongoing strip without the Mysterons is not known, but as a pilot for such a possibility it fails dismally. The idea is potentially interesting enough - Earth caught in the struggle between two alien factions in the aftermath of a war - but the execution of the script is weak, even if it is enlivened by John Cooper's artwork.



And so it was that Spectrum's finest drew to a weary end. There was no fanfare or heroes' welcome, just a blank under the final frames to indicate there was nothing more to come in the following weeks. It was now September, and the annuals prepared much earlier in the year were appearing in the shops, giving readers a final taste of the heyday of TV Century 21 with the combined Thunderbirds & Captain Scarlet edition. As the lyrics of the end titles stated, 'They smash him. But they know he'll return...'. And indeed, during the following year, there were plans to resurrect the character.

The Gerry Anderson Complete Comic History would like to thank:
Angus Allan
Howard Elson
Ronald Kroon
Dennis Nicholson
Graeme Walker
and Steve Wright
- for their help with this feature.

Version 1.2 - 08.05.06


Any comments or notes about any of the strips, please contact technodelic@blueyonder.co.uk.

All text © The Gerry Anderson Complete Comic History, and its respective writers, and may not be reproduced without permission.
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