Lost in Space (comics)

Last updated
Lost in Space
Publication information
Publisher Innovation Comics
ScheduleMonthly
Genre Science-fiction
Publication date 1991
Main character(s)John Robinson, Maureen Robinson, Don West, Judy Robinson, Penny Robinson, Dr. Zachary Smith, The Robot
Creative team
Created by Irwin Allen
Written by Billy Mumy
Kevin Burns
Artist(s) Michael Dutkiewicz

Lost in Space was a comic book published by Innovation Comics, based upon the television series Lost in Space . It utilized the settings and characters from the series, but was set years after the end of the series, and featured older characters coming to terms with being cut off from Earth for so many years. [1]

Contents

History

In the 1980s, Bill Mumy (who played Will Robinson on the series) had tried, and failed, to convince Irwin Allen to allow production of a Lost in Space film for theatres or TV. In 1991, a fledgling publisher called Innovation Comics began to produce an ambitious, high-quality Lost in Space comic, which was authorized and licensed. It was scripted by Mumy himself, and his intention was to reflect the more serious tone of the first season episodes, but this was somewhat undercut by artwork that sexualized the characters of Judy and Penny Robinson, prompting some exasperated notes from Mumy in the editorial pages.

The comic also established a romantic triangle between Judy, Penny (now depicted as someone in her late teens), and Don that was not present in the original series.

One storyline in this comic book retcons the "serious episodes" - which some critics claim ended about a third of the way through the first season - as excerpts from Prof. Robinson's log, while the more humorous episodes were taken from Penny's diary. Also suggested is the idea that Dr. Smith is working with some of the aliens encountered in the early episodes, rather than with any terrestrial source, as evidenced by his efforts to make radio contact with some third party after the Jupiter II has left Earth.

Lost in Space was Innovation's best selling property, outselling all their other comics combined. The comic only managed to run for 18 issues, 2 annuals and 1 of 2 issues of a miniseries however, but not because of poor sales. Innovation's ambitious projects couldn't keep ahead of their bottom line, and the company went out of business.

While this left a major story arc unresolved, a trade paperback entitled "Voyage to the Bottom of the Soul" was later published, completing the story.

Other Lost In Space comics

In 1998 Dark Horse Comics published a tie-in comic based on that year's Lost in Space film which ran for three issues. [2]

A new comic based on the reboot of Lost in Space , sub-titled Countdown to Danger was published in four parts during 2019. The new comic is written by Richard Dinnick and Brian Buccellato with art by Zid. [3]

A comic book named Space Family Robinson was published by Gold Key Comics and written by Gaylord DuBois. [4] The Robinsons were: scientist father Craig, scientist mother June, early teens Tim (son) and Tammy (daughter), along with pets Clancy (dog) and Yakker (parrot). They lived in "Space Station One", a spacious moving craft with hydroponic gardens, observatory, and 2 small shuttle crafts ("Spacemobiles"). In the second issue, a cosmic storm deposited them far from Earth and they have adventures while they try to work their way home. That comic book is not a spinoff of the TV series but was in print prior to the conception of the show.

Space Family Robinson was published by Whitman and distributed by Western Publishing and sold for 60 cents each. They featured captions on their front covers such as #58's:

"An Emergency Landing on a War-Torn Planet Brings the Robinsons their strangest experience in Space!"

They were also sold in plastic packages of three comic books for $1.39 ($1.80 value) with other titles in the package such as Buck Rogers #14 and Doctor Solar #30.

In 1966 the weekly UK publication Lady Penelope , the comic for girls who love television, printed Space Family Robinson stories. These used the same characters and technology as the Gold Key titles but were original scripts, not reprints. Authorship is not known for certain, although there is good reason to think that some may have been written by then sub-editor on Lady Penelope, Brian Woodford. The artist was John Burns.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Mumy</span> American actor

Charles William Mumy Jr. is an American actor, writer, and musician and a figure in the science-fiction community/comic book fandom. He came to prominence in the 1960s as a child actor, whose work included television appearances on Bewitched, I Dream of Jeannie, The Twilight Zone, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, and a role in the film Dear Brigitte, followed by a three-season role as Will Robinson in the 1960s CBS sci-fi series Lost in Space.

<i>Robotech</i> Science fiction media franchise

Robotech is an American science fiction franchise that began with an 85-episode anime television series produced by Harmony Gold USA in association with Tatsunoko Production and first released in the United States in 1985.

<i>Lost in Space</i> 1965–1968 American science fiction television series

Lost in Space is an American science fiction television series, created and produced by Irwin Allen, which originally aired between 1965 and 1968 on CBS. The series was inspired by the 1812 novel The Swiss Family Robinson. The series follows the adventures of the Robinsons, a pioneering family of space colonists who struggle to survive in the depths of space. The show ran for 83 episodes over three seasons. The first season comprised 29 episodes that ran 1 hour apiece, filmed in black and white. In seasons 2 and 3, the episodes were 55 minutes long and shot in color.

<i>Super Friends</i> American animated television series about a team of superheroes, which ran from 1973 to 1986

Super Friends is an American animated television series about a team of superheroes which ran from 1973 to 1985 on ABC as part of its Saturday-morning cartoon lineup. It was produced by Hanna-Barbera and was based on the Justice League of America and associated comic book characters published by DC Comics.

<i>Starman</i> (DC Comics) Fictional comics superhero

Starman is a name used by several different DC Comics superheroes, most prominently Ted Knight and his sons David and Jack.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wonder Twins</span> DC Comics characters

The Wonder Twins are a fictional extraterrestrial twin brother and sister superhero duo who first appeared in Hanna-Barbera's American animated television series The All-New Super Friends Hour. The pair can activate their superpowers by touching their rings and saying the phrase "Wonder Twin powers, activate!" Jayna can transform into any animal, and Zan can become water in any state. The pair also have a pet monkey, Gleek, who assists in their crime-fighting activities.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gold Key Comics</span> American comic book publisher

Gold Key Comics was originally an imprint of American company Western Publishing, created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated this way from 1962 to 1984. Currently, Gold Key Comics is owned by Gold Key Entertainment LLC, which consists of business partners and comic book enthusiasts Lance Linderman, Adam Brooks, Mike Dynes, and Arnold Guerrero.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angela Cartwright</span> American actress

Angela Margaret Cartwright is a British actress primarily known for her roles in movies and television. On television, she played Linda Williams, the stepdaughter of Danny Williams in the long-running TV series The Danny Thomas Show, and Penny Robinson in the 1960s television series Lost in Space. Cartwright's most famous movie role was the part of Brigitta von Trapp in the film The Sound of Music (1965). Her older sister is actress Veronica Cartwright.

<i>Defenders of the Earth</i> 1986 animated television series

Defenders of the Earth is an American animated television series produced in 1986, featuring characters from three comic strips distributed by King Features Syndicate—Flash Gordon, The Phantom, Mandrake the Magician, and Mandrake's assistant Lothar—opposing Ming the Merciless in the year 2015. Supporting characters include their children Rick Gordon, L.J., Kshin, and Jedda Walker.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Supreme (character)</span> Fictional superhero created by Rob Liefeld

Supreme is a fictional superhero created by Rob Liefeld and published by Image Comics, followed by Maximum Press (1996–98), Awesome Entertainment (1999–2000), and Arcade Comics (2006). Although Supreme was originally a violent, egotistical Superman archetype, he was retooled by Alan Moore as a tribute to Mort Weisinger's Silver Age Superman.

There have been three main publishers of the comic book series bearing the name Transformers based on the toy lines of the same name. The first series was produced by Marvel Comics from 1984 to 1991, which ran for 80 issues and produced four spin-off miniseries. This was followed by a second volume titled Transformers: Generation 2, which ran for 12 issues starting in 1993. The second major series was produced by Dreamwave Productions from 2002 to 2004 with multiple limited series as well, and within multiple story continuities, until the company became bankrupt in 2005. The third and fourth series have been published by IDW Publishing with the third series starting with an issue #0 in October 2005 and a regular series starting in January 2006 to November 2018. The fourth series started in March 2019 with issue #1 and is currently still being produced. There are also several limited series being produced by IDW as well. In addition to these three main publishers, there have also been several other smaller publishers with varying degrees of success.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comet Man</span> Fictional comic book character

Comet Man is a fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Comet Man #1, dated February 1987.

Battlestar Galactica has been adapted to the comic book format since its inception, with no six publishers to date taking on the project of relating the story of the Colonial Fleet and their adversaries, the Cylons, at different points.

<i>Transformers: Generation 2</i> TV series or program

The Transformers: Generation 2 was a Transformers toy line that ran from 1992–1995, in conjunction with a corresponding comic book series and edited reruns of the original cartoon beginning in 1993. The prior Transformer television series, comic books and toys became known as 'Generation 1' or G1 retroactively, and are now officially referred to as such by toymaker Hasbro. Generation 2 was discontinued as the first Beast Wars: Transformers toys began hitting the shelves.

<i>Robotech</i> (comics)

Robotech comics first officially appeared in print in 1985, though Comico published the first issue of its license from Harmony Gold USA under the Macross name.

TV Century 21, later renamed TV21, TV21 and Tornado, TV21 and Joe 90, and TV21 again, was a weekly British children's comic published by City Magazines during the latter half of the 1960s. Originally produced in partnership with Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's Century 21 Productions, it promoted the company's many science-fiction television series. The comic was published in the style of a newspaper of the future, with the front page usually dedicated to fictional news stories set in the worlds of Fireball XL5, Stingray, Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons and other stories. The front covers were also in colour, with photographs from one or more of the Anderson series or occasionally of the stars of the back-page feature.

<i>Space Family Robinson</i>

Space Family Robinson was an original science-fiction comic-book series published by Gold Key Comics. It predates the Lost in Space television series. Both are loosely based on the 1812 novel by Johann David Wyss and similarly named movies, The Swiss Family Robinson.

<i>Lady Penelope</i> (comic)

Lady Penelope was a British weekly comic book magazine for girls which ran from 1966 to 1969. Produced by Century 21 Publications and published by City Magazines, it was a sister publication to TV Century 21. Lady Penelope was edited by Gillian Allan, wife of comic strip writer Angus Allan.

<i>Robotech II: The Sentinels</i> 1988 American film

Robotech II: The Sentinels was an attempt by Harmony Gold USA to continue the original 1985 Robotech television series. Only three episodes were ultimately animated before the project was canceled in 1986, and a feature-length film was released from footage taken from the completed episodes. The aborted 65-episode Sentinels series would have followed the ongoing adventures of Rick Hunter and Lisa Hayes and the rest of the Robotech Expeditionary Force (REF) during the events of The Robotech Masters and The New Generation series.

<i>Lost in Space</i> (2018 TV series) American science fiction television series

Lost in Space is an American science fiction streaming television series following the adventures of a family of space colonists whose ship veers off course. The series is a reboot of the 1965 series of the same name, inspired by the 1812 novel The Swiss Family Robinson and the 1962 Gold Key comic book Space Family Robinson, created by Del Connell and artist Dan Spiegle.

References

  1. Maçek III, J.C. (2013-06-26). "The Lost in Space Family Robinson Part II". PopMatters .
  2. "Lost in Space (1998 Dark Horse) comic books".
  3. "'Lost in Space' Comic Book Coming to Comic-Con". The Hollywood Reporter . 16 July 2018.
  4. Maçek III, J.C. (2013-06-04). "The Lost In Space Family Robinson". PopMatters .