Countdown: UFO (1971) Part Two - The Picture Strip: Part Four

The New Boss:
Part 1:  Issue 12: 8th May 1971.
A UFO reaches Earth and manages to strike General Henderson's car as he is returning from vacation in America, causing a crash and injuring him.  Henderson's replacement at an International Astrophysical Commission meeting is General Calper, who accompanies Straker in a ShadAir jet.  Calper is unsympathetic towards SHADO but in flight is sighted homing in on them.

Part 2:  Issue 13: 15th May 1971.
Straker calls on Skydiver for assistance and Sky 1 homes in but not before the UFO is able to fire on the ShadAir Jet.  Calper is slightly injured but the jet crew still make it to New York for the conference.  A recovered Calper addresses the delegates and tells them he believes SHADO is no longer competent in defending Earth and calls for investigation of Straker and the organisation.

Part 3:  Issue 14: 22nd May 1971.
The Commission agrees that a detailed investigation will help assist budget reviews and Straker is ordered to co-operated fully.  The Commander takes Callper back to SHADO Headquatres and gives him a full tour including a captured Alien space suit, but the General is undeterred in his opinions even when overcome with a dizzy spell.  Stating it is better the public know, Calper intends to broadcast to the nation and pulls a gun on Straker.  With little choice, Straker overcomes him, but in a Military organisation this is a court martial offence!  

Part 4:  Issue 15: 29th May 1971.
Straker escapes in a racing car that is being used for one of the studio films and Calper calls on both SHADO and Civil Police to catch him.  Out in the country, Straker is able to lose the Police and doubles back to Paul Foster's apartment to get help, but Foster is waiting in a SHADO Mobile.

Part 5:  Issue 16: 05th June 1971.

Foster disobeys orders from Calper to open fire and confronts Straker, who tells him of the General's plans.  Realising something is wrong, Foster joins Straker, who believes Calper may have come under an Alien influence.  Meanwhile, Alec Freeman has been replaced by Calper's aide, Crawford.  Freeman is also suspoicious and contacts Straker & Foster in their  mobile.  They arrange to meet in the ruins of a house destroyed by a UFO months earlier but en-route they encounter another Mobile driven by Crawford!

Part 6:  Issue 17: 12th June 1971.

The battle is short, with Foster forcing Crawford off the road and driving through a Police cordon.  At the ruin rendezvous with Alec Freeman, they discover Calper had hypnosis during recent dental treatment and think this may have made him open to outside influence.  Recalling Calper's dizzy spell when seeing the Alien suit, Straker hatches a plan and Freeman returns to SHADO.  Later, Calper is en-route to the television studio to make his broadcast when a Mobile blocks their way.  As his guards pull their weapons, an Alien approaches.

Part 7:  Issue 18: 19th June 1971.

The Alien commands Calper to stop the guards and the General barks an order.  Watching from the Mobile, Foster & Freeman realise Straker - dressed in the Alien spacesuit - was correct.  But a UFO is homing in and eliminates Calper before being destroyed by Sky 1.  Returning to SHADO Headquaters, Straker believes the Aliens knew the plan had failed and destroyed Calper to prevent how they controlled him being discovered.  Back at the Astrophysical Commission,  Straker's budget increase is granted.

Countdown: UFO (1971) Part Two - The Picture Strip: Part Three

Too Old At 32:

Part I: Issue 7: 03 April 1971.

Captain Frank Harris is going through Interceptor Simulation tests but at 32 he is the most experienced and oldest of the pilots and only just passes. Alec Freeman thinks Straker maybe on the verge of dismissing him but the Commander simply wants him watched. Returning to Moonbase, a real UFO is sighted and the Interceptors launched, but Harris is concerned he may slip up - ending his career.

Part 2: Issue 8: 10 April 1971.

Interceptors 1 & 2 fire but the mechanism of Harris' craft jams, for which he is sure he will be blamed. Trying again, Harris manages to cripple the UFO but it still carries out its mission - to cripple SID. Contact with Moonbase is lost briefly until emergency links are established. Meanwhile, Harris has spotted a second UFO landing on the moon and followed it down in the hope of making amends, but in the shadows an Alien spots him and opens fire!.....

Part 3: Issue 9: 17 April 1971.

While repair crews tend to SID, Straker & Foster have taken a ferry to Moonbase to investigate and find Harris is missing, presumed dead. Foster leads a search in two Moon Mobiles to the area where a dazed Harris recovers consciousness. Seeing the abandoned UFO, Harris lifts off again but has to make a forced landing when the fuel runs out. Alone & injured, he struggles over the Lunar landscape to try and warn Moonbase. Elsewhere, on the surface, the Alien has placed homing beacons that will signal the position of Moonbase for an attack.....

Part 4: Issue 10: 24 April 1971.

Harris collapses but is found by Foster who returns him to Moonbase. The Pilot struggles to warn them of the Alien and taking no chances, Straker launches the Interceptors which destroy the departing UFO. But too late, an Alien missile is already in flight and strikes at Moonbase. With SID still out of action the Base is now a sitting duck!.....

Part 5: Issue 11: 01 May 1971.

Straker launches the Interceptors using manual radar in the hope of preventing further missiles getting through, but they fight a losing battle. At the last moment, SID is repaired and able to trace the Alien location devices, allowing Foster to destroy them. The last missiles veer off course and the danger is over. Recovering, Harris is told he will be returning to Earth. His reflexes may be slower but he kept his head. SHADO would be better served with his experience at HQ, where he will be promoted to Colonel.....

Countdown: UFO (1971) Part Two - The Picture Strip: Part Two

Part 1: Issue 2 - 27th February 1971

SHADO Control Clerk Warren Spencer has leaked information about the organisation to a Reporter called Mason for the Clarion Newspaper. While Alec Freeman runs a security check, Straker tries to persuade the paper not to pursue the story. A UFO manages to evade interception by Moonbase to be shot down by Sky 1 over the sea. Fisherman Robin Johns, out in his one man launch in the mist, sees the crash and tying it to the reported story in The Clarion, is startled to see a red space suited body floating nearby!

Part 2: Issue 3 - 6th March 1971

Johns brings the Alien aboard and believes Mason will pay a fortune for the information. Sky 1 sees the launch in the mist and orders Johns to report to the harbour for questioning. En route though, Johns detours past past Robbicombe Cave and leaves the unconscious Alien there. Back at the harbour, Johns is questioned by Paul Foster and states he only saw the distant crash but once alone the Fisherman contacts Mason. Together, the two men return to the cave - but the Alien has gone!

Part 3: Issue 4 - 13th March 1971

Mason and Johns search but to little avail. Meanwhile, Skydiver has found the UFO on the sea-bed and a salvage vessel finds it to be empty. But the UFO starts to glow and the vessel barely manages to dump it back in to the sea before the crafty self-destructs. Mason has tracked Spencer home and blackmails the operative into getting him into SHADO HQ through automatic checkpoints. However, unknown to both, the Alien has followed them both and also got into the base.

Part 4: Issue 5 - 20th March 1971

Disguised as a SHADO operative, Mason explores the base. Meanwhile, Alec Freeman suspects Johns knew more than he was telling and questions him further. The Fisherman cracks and explains about the Alien and Mason's contact within SHADO. Freeman returns to HQ and warns Straker that Spencer is the traitor. However, Spencer has reasoned that Mason can keep blackmailing him and goes to confront him. What he finds instead is an armed Alien!

Part 5: Issue 6 - 27th March 1971

The Alien Kills Spencer and Straker and Foster find his body and the tell-tale burns of a ray weapon. The Commander issues an alert and all personnel respond to an assembly point for checking, except Mason who does bot recognise the call sign. Cornered by Straker, Mason responds he has a duty to the public. The Alien is nearby and sights Straker with his weapon, Mason sees it and impulsively leaps forward in warning. Mason is shot and the Alien killed. Later, both Johns and a recovering Mason are administered the amnesia drug which means Straker can not even thank him for saving his life.

Countdown: UFO (1971) Part Two - The Picture Strip: Part One

Issue 1: Week ending 20th February 1971

The year is 1980. It has been established that hostile visitors from deep space are reaching the Earth in machines code-named, UFOs. A UFO manages to evade interception by moonbase and lands on Earth. However, waiting SHADO Mobiles are confused when the UFO only touches down for a matter of seconds before taking off again. But the following morning two Scientists are reported as not turning up for work in the same area. Colonel Alec Freeman investigates, only to be ambushed by an Alien in the runs of Marsham Abbey. Colonel Paul Foster, still in the same area in a Mobile, searches for Freeman when he doesn't report in and is also wounded by the Alien. Realising that the disappearances are all connected, Straker lays an ambush for the UFO which will have to arrive to collect the abducted men. Unknown to the Commander, a Moonferry has sighted the UFO and intercepted it, causing a delay in its arrival. On Earth, the helmetless Alien is weakening, which gives Freeman a chance to escape, just as the UFO arrives. With no chance of capturing it, Skydiver is alerted and Sky 1 is able to destroy it. With a dead Alien and a destroyed UFO, the only positive aspect is that Freeman and the two Scientists were not taken.

Countdown: UFO (1971) Part One

It is curious to think, in hindsight, that the first mention of UFO in a comic was as far back as the Summer of 1969 when filming was just getting under way. The prize for a competition run in issues 17 & 18 of Joe 90 Top Secret included a visit to the MGM Studios at Borehamwood and some lucky youngster would have been given a glimpse of what would not be seen on television for well over a year.

By now, Century 21 no longer had an independent publishing concern but was still in the thick of film-making with their first ever live action series. Interest in Science Fiction was still high and the regeneration of Doctor Who into Jon Pertwee in a more realistic earthbound setting had given the series a new lease of life. Its TV Comic incarnation had remained in a juvenile rut despite some better scripts by Alan Fennell and it subsequently disappeared at the end of 1970 with issue 999. Likewise UFO was a far more adult series and, with that much in common the seeds of a new comic were sown at the beginning of 1971.

The publishers were the same, Polystyle, and they had acquired the rights to UFO some months earlier and published an annual in the Autumn of 1970. Some aspects of the publication betray the long period involved in appearing in print, as reference is made to Skydiver Captain Peter (in one caption 'Jon') Karlin, who would become Peter Carlin, Space Tracker Paula Harris, who disappeared early on in production to be renamed Gay Ellis. Paul Foster is also referred to as being a Major, actually, his rank in the Air Force before being promoted to Colonel upon joining SHADO. It can be inferred that the annual became the 'Bible' for the writers involved with the strip, as some of these errors were occasionally carried over.

The Editor of Countdown was Dennis Hooper, previously the Art Editor for TV21. By accounts, Polystyle had also negotiated the rights to use the other Gerry Anderson series for a new comic and Hooper was approached to produce a dummy. Unfortunately, unlike TV21, the Anderson content could only represent a proportion of each issue so other strips and features would have to be found. Hooper persuaded the then Editor of TV Comic, Dick Millington, that Doctor Who would be better served in the new comic too. Whilst the new colour Doctor Who strip, drawn by Harry Lindfield, would take some liberties with the format to stand up in its own right (cost dictated the rights to use UNIT would not be used) It was fair reflection of the more serious tone of the television series. The recent Apollo missions to the moon garnered a high interest in the space race and a lot of related features appeared in early issues. As TV21 had always implied a superficial reality regarding the Anderson 'universe' features on the actual making of the series were non-existent, an exception being the Thunderbirds are go special released to publicise the 1966 film. So the occasion feature appeared here too, notably in issue 5 with behind the scenes shots of the Thunderbirds film & series.

The first issue was dated 20th February 1971 and bears the hallmarks of having been revamped from the pilot dummy with typeset captions and speech for all bar two of the strips and differences to the layout. UFO was well presented with a double page introductory feature called, 'The Secrets of SHADO' and a 5 page strip. Along with Doctor Who, Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet also joined the line-up and another feature explained that other Gerry Anderson stories such as Stingray, Lady Penelope and Fireball XL5 would appear in future editions. Filling out the strips would be Countdown, a wholly new space opera that used the designs from the feature film, 2001: A Space Odyssey ( a TV21 merchandising tie-in that seemed to hark back to Project Sword) drawn in full colour by John M. Burns and which would run for well over a year.