Star Fleet in Look-In : Part 4

Original Publication Date: 29 Jan 1983

Look-In Volume 13 - Issue 5

If you picked up your usual copy of Look-In the week of January 29th 1983, you’d be greeted warmly by a photo of Bucks Fizz– one of the rare English pop groups to have won the Eurovision song contest with the soundtrack to this week’s comic reading.

Nice to see our favourite show was still worthy of a mention on the cover! Did anyone actually pin up a poster of Bucks Fizz on the wall? 20p doesn’t go as far as it used to…

I aspire to have the confidence of a termoid who can waltz onto the bridge of an alien vessel, look around for a minute, and then declare that any damage will be easy to repair. HOW DO YOU KNOW? YOU UNDERSTAND THIS EARTH TECHNOLOGY?

Someone who is having no trouble making their mind up is the lead termoid who is sure that the human pilot is dead. Like, 100% sure. I know last week had a better cliffhanger than usual, but was there anyone who really thought that the situation as we left it might be the end for Shiro?

Mike Noble had an incredible knack for coming up with compelling and exciting panels.

SHA-THAMMM!¹ I know Hercules pre-dates the stardom of Mr. T by a couple of years, but his line about this “April Fool” definitely feels more B.A. Baracus than Constantine Gregory.

A quick online search reveals that Sambathe was a pagan prophetess mentioned in the Book of Revelation. I doubt that’s what this guy (or Angus Allan) is referring to here, my best guess is that it’s supposed to be an exclamation in the Imperial language.²

Is the only good bug, a dead bug?

Rumbled before he was ready, Shiro is forced to think like a Starship Trooper.

Oh well. Taking no prisoners so far.

“We’re in with a chance” is a very British sounding phrase that I just can’t quite hear in Jay Benedict’s very American voice.

Nothing could possibly go wrong here!

Lamia gives voice to what some of you were no doubt thinking– what about Shiro’s ship? Funny enough, when the strip was re-lettered and coloured for the DVD booklet in 2008, the decision was made to correct Lamia’s dialogue. Here, she says Brainder but in the remaster she says Braincom, more in keeping with the TV series. Personally, I like the original version which gives a peek behind the curtain. We think of the identities of TV shows and comics as fixed, but they are quite malleable– especially when translation is involved.

For some reason, no one thought about this potential problem and a “mini-pod” with a robot has to be sent to recover the Dai-X fighter. Dr. Benn isn’t quite himself, but Shiro must have anticipated this?

Anxious for some action, unlike the very nervous PPA of the TV show, PPA is eager to fly Braincom. That would be a sight to see! But Lee shuts it down.

I assume this was meant to be comic relief but I find it neither comic nor relieving.

For his efforts to keep PPA out of harm’s way, John Lee gets called names. At least he stands up for himself.

Hold everything! Was it just revealed that X Bomber has some sort of teleportation device? I was looking forward to seeing either the mini-pod or the robot, but this little contradiction in terms probably means that I won’t get to see either one.

I think we can assume that Shiro was not leaving the asteroid until someone took care of his personal craft. Think about it– if you had your dream car would you leave it parked up somewhere unattended without a plan for it’s retrieval?

But when he does take off, he finds himself in– GASP! COULD IT BE? Real jeopardy?!?

Yes, friends, the baddies are more menacing than they first appeared! This is an old storytelling technique where you set up one set of characters to rig a trap, only to reveal that the other set of characters KNEW they were going to rig that trap all along and set their own trap to trap the trappers! The only thing that could make that better is if they were listening to trap music instead of Bucks Fizz.

This doesn’t really make sense to me as I can’t think of any way Orion could have known that Shiro’s objective was to steal a fighter unless he had a spy or bugging device aboard X Bomber, but I once again have no complaints. These comics are fun and I’m having a whale of a time going through them. So much the better when there’s real danger and suspense! I leave you with what may be the earliest recorded English fan letter which was also published in this edition of Look-In. Thanks to sfxb.co.uk for keeping it online!

Don’t miss next week’s installment!

1. Prior to her marriage to Gerry Anderson, Sylvia Anderson was known as Sylvia Thamm, though I think she pronounced it differently from this onomatopoeia.

2. Worth pointing out that it is never suggested that the characters speak any language other than that of the viewer in the various iterations of the TV series.