1980: BATTLE OF THE PLANETS in HOLLAND - PART TWO

Last week I ran scans from two Dutch BATTLE OF THE PLANETS comic strip albums featuring the Spanish strips I'd not seen before (they didn't reach the US or UK markets, which is a shame).  Today, we go Dutch again with two copies of their translations of the US comics published by Western.

Each Dutch issue reprinted two US issues, translated of course.  As many of the US issues featured two stories, this meant Dutch kids had four self-contained stories per issue. 

Issue one featured reprints from the first two US issues: Operation Decoy becomes De Ruimtekrab whilst Undersea Threat translates as De Ruimteschildpad.

The Ice Creature from Western’s second issue becomes De Ruimtesneeuwman whilst The Flaming Menace translates to De Ruimtevulkaan.

I don’t have the second Dutch issue but I see no reason to suspect that it doesn’t contain translations of the 3^rd and 4^th US issues.

The third Dutch issue reprints the material first seen in the 5^th and 6^th Western issues: The Hidden Enemy is now De Ruimtevijand and The Vulture Menace becomes De Ruimtegier.  The full-length story from Western’s 6^th issue, Ghost Ship parts 1 and 2, becomes Het Ruimteoog deel 1 and deel 2.

Unlike issue 1, the third edition doesn’t appear to feature a next-issue plug which suggests that maybe only three issues saw print.  There were ten US issues.

Some of the strips would be familiar to British BOTP fans too: the same US material appeared in the UK annual and the 1983 and 1984 specials.

1980: BATTLE OF THE PLANETS in HOLLAND - PART ONE

Whilst we're on the subject of BATTLE OF THE PLANETS (or, in this case, DE STRIJD DER PLANETEN) comic strip versions, here's a Dutch one that isn't derived from US or UK reprints.

It's amazing what you can find in the basement of London book stores, I think I paid 50p for this oddity.  It's Dutch (I *think!*) and features a BOTP strip I'd not seen anywhere else.  A bit of digging online reveals these were originally produced for the Spanish market (four albums and 17 comics, featuring different material to the albums, were published there).  I'm 99% certain it never appeared in English, at least not in the UK or the US.  Which is a bit of a shame as it looks really nice.  Of course, I have no idea what it says.

There must have been at least three of these A4 full-colour albums, the titles of the other two are (I assume) on the back cover although I have no idea what they are.  Any ideas?

The publisher, Junior Press, also issued (at least) three US-sized colour compilations of Western's BOTP comics, running two US issues per album.  By some quirk of fate (and from a completely different transaction) I also have a couple of these and I'll run them here in the near future.

Interior page

Back cover

1982: BATTLE OF THE PLANETS in TV COMIC

When the history of British comics is periodically recorded, this is one long-running title (launched in November 1951.  By way of comparison: ITV didn't start until 1955) that tends to get short-shift.  If it's mentioned at all, it tends to drop off the radar in 1979, as soon as it dumped its long-running DOCTOR WHO strip (leaving the way clear for Marvel UK to snap-up the license).  TV COMIC actually soldiered on (for an incredible 1,697 issues) until June 1984.  It's unlikely anyone mourned its passing.  I only very slowly became aware of the fact that I wasn't seeing it on the shelves anymore as I hunted the latest issues from IPC and Marvel UK.

Finding copies post-1980 today is nigh on impossible.  Presumably because so few were selling at the time and, also presumably, not to the sorts of kids that would savour them for future collectors.

Which is a bit of a shame as it appears to have staged a belated attempt to claw back readers from the likes of LOOK-IN (its closest direct rival) by running several (always uncredited) action/ adventure strips alongside the more humorous fare of Popeye, Tom and Jerry and British Telecom's mascot Buzby.

As this August 1982 (number 1600!) shows, they were doing a competent adaptation of BATTLE OF THE PLANETS, a strip that seems to have been entirely overlooked whenever G-Force's comic strip incarnations are discussed.  It's hard to judge from one instalment (and the cover in unintentionally, I assume, hilarious) but it seems to be just as good as Western's admitedly-not-very-good US version (reprinted in the UK in the BOTP Special and annual).

Publisher Polystyle was also savvy enough to sign deals to adapt TALES OF THE GOLD MONKEY, THE A-TEAM (before the strip shuffled across to LOOK-IN) and - ahem - MISTER MERLIN.

They attempted a comeback in January 1985 with a much more blatant Look-In clone, BEEB, built (as the name suggests) around the BBC's roster of programmes and stars (GRANGE HILL, THE TRIPODS) in strips and articles.  It wasn't a success and vanished suddenly after only twenty weeks.  

1983: BATTLE OF THE PLANETS TV COMIC HOLIDAY SPECIAL

Back to 1983 and Zoltar's fiendish and overly-complicated plans to conquer Earth. The about-to-expire weekly TV COMIC was running a weekly BATTLE OF THE PLANETS strip and published this one-shot spin-off, using US reprints.

BOTP aired on BBC ONE for several years at the turn of the decade.  It was, of course, a reworking of Japan's seventies series GATCHAMAN.

The Holiday Special cover is original, not quite on-model, and uncredited.

ENEMY WITHIN originally appeared in Whitman's US BATTLE OF THE PLANETS 7.

ISSUE 7

June 1980

GHOST SHIP originally appeared in Whitman's US BATTLE OF THE PLANETS 6.

ISSUE 6

June 1980