G-Force!
When I was 11 years old in 1978, Battle of the Planets – an English-language version of the Japanese anime series Gatchaman – debuted on Channel 5 in New York, one of the top local stations in the U.S.
As soon as I saw it, I was hooked: Five teenagers called G-Force battled the evil Zoltar for the fate of, you know, everything. They did it wearing bird costumes and flying in a spaceship called the Phoenix, which not only carried individual vehicles for our heroes but could burst into flames to get out of particularly dangerous situations. Oh, and there were bellbottoms and shag haircuts too.
I would never miss an episode and became almost as engaged with the characters as in any comic I read. Little did I realize that in 1979, there actually were Battle of the Planets comics stateside by Gold Key/Whitman — illustrated by Win Mortimer.
Anyway, the Battle of the Planets comic is one of many highlighted in Back Issue #129 – the TV Toon Tie-Ins issue, out July 28. (Issue #128 focused on live-action TV adaptations and publisher TwoMorrows has a history of TV comics on the horizon, by the by.)
Given my love – and probably yours – for Battle of the Planets, I’ve chosen an issue-by-issue guide to the Gold Key/Whitman series as our regular EXCLUSIVE EXCERPT.
The guide is only part of a much larger history of the show – which itself is only a small part of the issue. Check out the table of contents for what else is on tap:
The mag will be in stores and at magazine sellers Wednesday, but you can also order it directly from TwoMorrows. (Click here.)
Groovy, eh? Now here’s your guide to GOLD KEY’s BATTLE OF THE PLANETS COMICS:
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By STEPHAN FRIEDT
(Gatchaman international distriubutor) Sandy Frank had the merchandising rights as well, and as the series began to air he made sure there was merchandise available… including a TV tie-in comic book through Western Publishing.
A concise look at the issues produced by Western Publishing under the Gold Key and Whitman logos includes these 10 issues:
Battle of the Planets #1 (June 1979) was issued first as a Gold Key comic, but was also printed as a Whitman comic for inclusion in a rack-pack bag of the first three issues. The cover art appears to be taken from the animation artwork. The interior art is by longtime comic-book artist Win Mortimer. The story is by Gary Poole, who scripted many comics for Western, including the adaptation of King Kong. The stories appear to be new stories loosely based on the characters and plot threads of the cartoon and include “Operation Decoy,” where Zoltar kidnaps 7-Zark-7, and “Undersea Threat,” where G-Force battle a giant robot turtle built by Zoltar.
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Battle of the Planets #2 (Aug. 1979) was issued as a Gold Key and was also printed as a Whitman comic for inclusion in a rack-pack. This time the cover and interior art are by Win Mortimer. Stories are again by Gary Poole. In “Ice Creature,” Zoltar attacks Earth’s polar security base with a giant snowman robot, and in “The Flaming Menace,” a giant torch creature attacks a village in India.
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Battle of the Planets #3 (Oct. 1979) was issued as a Gold Key and was also printed as a Whitman comic for inclusion in a rack-pack. The cover and interior art are by Win Mortimer, with stories by Gary Poole. In “Solar Blockade,” Zoltar builds a giant lens to block the sun from Earth, and in “The Lake Monster!,” while on vacation, G-Force encounters a giant lake monster (another Zoltar robot).
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Battle of the Planets #4 (Dec. 1979) was issued as a Gold Key and was also printed as a Whitman comic. The cover and interior art are by Win Mortimer and the stories are by Gary Poole. In “The Creeping Forest,” the island of Malu is in the clutches of Zoltar, his thugs, and a variety of robots; and in “The Earthquake Menace,” an earthquake hits California and Zoltar threatens to cause an even bigger quake.
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Battle of the Planets #5 (Feb. 1980) was the last issue printed as a Gold Key and was also printed as a Whitman comic. The cover and interior art are by Win Mortimer and the stories are by Gary Poole. “The Hidden Enemy” is Part One of a two-part story. While on holiday, Zoltar foils Tiny’s chance in the Mr. Galaxy contest, captures Princess, and buries G-Force in a mine. “The Vulture Menace” is Part Two of a two-part story. G-Force escapes and battles a giant robot vulture.
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Battle of the Planets #6 (Apr. 1980) was published only as a Whitman. The cover and interior art are by Win Mortimer and the stories are by Gary Poole. In “Ghost Ship Part One,” G-Force investigates mysterious happenings in the Bermuda Triangle and are captured by Zoltar and his robot whale, and in “Ghost Ship Part Two,” G-Force escapes and takes control of Zoltar’s robot whale.
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Battle of the Planets #7 (Oct. 1980) was published as a Whitman. The cover and interior art are by Win Mortimer (as Winslow Mortimer) and the stories are by Gary Poole. “Enemy Within” is Part One of a two-part story where Zoltar sends an agent to infiltrate the G-Force headquarters. “Invasion of the Ant Creatures” is Part Two, where Zoltar’s plans to infiltrate G-Force fall apart, so he sends an army of mechanical ants to invade.
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Battle of the Planets #8 (Nov. 1980) was published as a Whitman. The cover and interior art by Win Mortimer and the stories this time are by Bob Langhans, a regular writer of Western’s Disney comics. In “Surprise Surrender,” Zoltar surrenders, or at least a booby-trapped robot version does, and in “The Tidal Wave,” while investigating a problem at Tiki Atoll, Zoltar attacks the G-Force.
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Battle of the Planets #9 (Dec. 1980) was published as a Whitman. The cover and interior art are by Win Mortimer and this time the story is by Ms. Charlie (Char) Seeger, who wrote primarily for DC during her short run as a comic-book writer. “G-Force Divided” features Zoltar attempting to divide and conquer G-Force with the use of look-alike robots.
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Battle of the Planets #10 (Feb. 1981) was the last issue and published as a Whitman. The cover and interior art are by Win Mortimer (as Winslow Mortimer) and the story was again by Ms. Charlie Seeger. In “Pioneer Planet,” G-Force tries to find a new home for a race whose planet has been destroyed by Zoltar.
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Back Issue #129 will be in stores and at magazine sellers Wednesday, but you can also order it directly from TwoMorrows. (Click here.)
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MORE
— A Genre Unexplored: AMERICAN TV COMICS Get Their Due. Click here.
— Great TV COMIC BOOKS That Should Have Been. Click here.
