I'm not entirely certain what this
UFO book
is exactly; the site where I discovered it had it listed as a French (though it looks - as a couple folks have pointed out - Italian) "Photo-novel, presumably an adaptation of the episode, "A Question Of Priorities." But any piece of
UFO artwork that has Straker punching out an alien astronaut on the moon -
without a space suit! - is just too friggin' cool not to post here at
Space: 1970.
Man, Straker is a badass.
ADDENDUM: According to
Space: 1970 reader
Roberto Baldassari, 18 photo-novelizations from
UFO were released in Italy In 1974. Seven of them were also released in France. This appears to be one of the Italian editions. My question is: how much of a badass is Straker on the
other covers?
Straker is the man. Even in some of the episodes with weaker writing he could also improve it just be showing up and getting everything done. Never saw this show until like two years ago, but I now watch the epsiodes fairly often.
ReplyDeleteAn armed alien astronaut too! BTW I love the image of the Colonial Vipers above "About this blog".
ReplyDeleteI've always liked Straker. This was a commander who knew how to command, not like those softies like Picard or Janeway. The only other guy who came close was Sisko, who you know could and would knock your block off if you interfered with his mission. Even Kirk (the one, the original - not that Pine impersonator) wasn't as ruthless as Straker. Sure, he'd shoot you if he had to, but he'd feel bad about it. Straker really wouldn't care.
ReplyDeleteBut still, Straker isn't as badass as James Bond in the next entry below. Just look at that poster. Not only is Bond in space without a helmet, he seems to be achieving orbit without the aid of a spacecraft. Move over, Superman, here comes 007!
I recall enjoying a lot of sci-fi TV series as a kid in the late 60s and well into the 70s, and some of them were pretty cool, but for some reason UFO had the coolest vibe of any of them. All the right elements sleekly blended with, if memory serves, a dash of hard-boiled cynicism for good measure. Loved it.
ReplyDeleteThere were even more issues! - The French had 8 issues of 'Les Film De UFO' released in 1974, earlier the same year, the Italians released 18 issues of 'I Film Di UFO' some of the later covers were unlike UFO with one (# 16) looking more like 'Barbarella'
ReplyDeleteAfter a few months break the Italians re-released them (in 14 issues) as 'Gli Albi Per Tutti' these were twice as thick with the content of the second half (of the comic) alternating from issue to issue between Tarzan or westerns, later on (in 2003) 6 issues were released (reusing the 'I Film Di UFO' title) as a fanzine (?)