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88-659: They were voiced by Donald Gray in the original series and Mike Hayley in the remake. In the 2000 animated test film Captain Scarlet and the Return of the Mysterons , they were voiced by Gary Martin . As shown in the first episode of the Captain Scarlet television series, hostilities between Earth and the Mysterons commence following a Zero-X expedition to Mars , led by Captain Black of

176-625: A group mind . The computer complex on Mars is the legacy of the original, corporeal Mysteron race – described as being of extragalactic origin and "masters in the art of computer technology" – who colonised the planet in the 2nd millennium BC and abandoned it at the start of the 20th century AD. Eamonn McCusker of The Digital Fix describes the Mysterons – along with their primary agent, Captain Black – as "the perfect villains", arguing that their menacing voices and green "eyes" helped to make Captain Scarlet "more memorable than any of Anderson's other shows". Sarah Kurchak of The A.V. Club believes that

264-505: A "war of nerves" against the people of Earth following Black's devastating assault on the Mysteron city. The Mysterons possess the ability to reconstruct exact replicas of objects or persons. It is due to this remarkable ability that they are able to re-create their city following Black's attack. They also employ this power from time to time during the "Mysteronisation" process, which imbues the reconstruction (dubbed "replicant" by Spectrum) with

352-570: A South African actor, well known for his starring role in the British TV series Mark Saber , for providing the voices of Colonel White , Captain Black and the Mysterons in Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons , and for being the reason that Donald Marshall Gray changed his name to Charles Gray when he became an actor. Perhaps not coincidentally, in some spin-off media Colonel White's real name

440-491: A TV advertisement for wool that featured the Woolmark logo being projected over the body of a woman. During filming, the ring effect was produced by panning a transparency across the set using a slide projector . The Mysteron likenesses created are impervious to X-Rays - showing up on X-Rays as though they were conventional photographs - and can only be destroyed by massive amounts of electricity. The re-creation process requires

528-790: A World Government – based in the fictional Unity City, Bermuda , and incorporating a President and a Senate – whose authority encompassed most of the planet. Besides Spectrum, the World Navy, the World Aquanaut Security Patrol (WASP) and the World Space Patrol, all of which were seen in the Anderson series, the future Earth also boasted a World Army, World Air Force, and Universal Secret Service (USS). Elements of these would feature in multiple strips, including ones based on other series; elements of Fireball XL5 appeared several times in

616-716: A car. The overall female winner was Scottish actress Gwenllian Gill , who later followed Tidbury to Britain and became engaged to him; however, their engagement was broken off during the Second World War . All the winners appeared in the 1933 film Search for Beauty , whose distribution was complicated by a ruling that it violated the Hays Code . Paramount kept Tidbury's contact during 1934, but in 1935, when his passport expired, Tidbury left; he did not wish to become an American citizen . By late 1935, he had re-appeared in Britain under

704-582: A dental nurse from Pretoria , as one of the winners. Colin Tapley , who would later appear opposite Gray in the TV series Mark Saber , was the New Zealand male winner. In total, there were 30 finalists worldwide, who were screen-tested over six weeks at the end of 1933. Of the 30, bit player contracts were awarded to 10, and Tidbury was selected as the overall male winner with a bonus of US$ 1,000, with which he bought

792-421: A full agent, they use the reconstruction process which leaves them in total control of the victim's body. The Mysteronisation process alters the replicants at the sub-atomic level and subtly alters their genetic code. It is this alteration of DNA that leaves them vulnerable to detection, and as such all Spectrum personnel are subject to regular DNA checking. Commentators have offered a range of explanations as to

880-472: A genuine cause for complaint." The aftermath of the September 11 attacks and subsequent War on Terror have also prompted comparisons. In 2003, Tom Weaver of Starlog magazine noted that the Mysterons employ "what in these troubled times would be called sleeper agents and homicide bombers ", "hi-jack" airliners and attempt to wage biological and nuclear warfare. He concluded that "the similarities between

968-489: A humour strip set in the "Anderson universe" about the inventions of a Professor Wright from the Central Headquarters Atomic Research Liaison for Industrial Experimentation (C.H.A.R.L.I.E.), debuted in issue #107 (4 February 1967). It lasted until issue #131 (22 July 1967), when it – and Catch or Kill – were replaced by Front Page . That feature, drawn by John M. Burns , was a meta-strip set in

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1056-432: A month's notice. A small nucleus of staff from the disbanded division were taken on by Leonard Matthews and Alf Wallace – the ex-managing editors of Fleetway Juvenile Comics ; and Eagle and Odhams ' Power Comics line, respectively – who were now operating an independent studio off Fleet Street under the name of Martspress . With the coming relaunch, Martspress became the comic's packager. The new merged comic

1144-532: A new one in 1968 and another one in 1969. TV Century 21 was launched to capitalise on the popularity of the Gerry Anderson -produced Supermarionation TV series Stingray , which followed the underwater adventures of Troy Tempest and the World Aquanaut Security Patrol (WASP). Stingray strips were joined by Supercar , Fireball XL5 , and Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward (from Thunderbirds ). (The Supercar and Fireball XL5 TV programs had ended prior to

1232-506: A power they can exercise only after the original object has been destroyed or the original person killed. Dedicating themselves to a "slow, but nonetheless effective" retaliation for the unprovoked attack on their Martian complex, the Mysterons seize telepathic control of Black and return him to Earth, making him instrumental in avenging the Mysterons by acting as their agent and destroying other people and objects, so that they may be re-created under Mysteron control. In an attempt to assassinate

1320-578: A satellite that they plan to obliterate using its self-destruct mechanism, rather than leaving it to plunge into the Sun where the Spectrum agents would die a slower, more painful death. Anderson originally intended the Mysterons to be more conventional Martians, later choosing to make them effectively invisible so that the series would not feel dated. The Captain Scarlet strip in the TV Century 21 comic book depicted

1408-528: Is stated to be Charles Grey. Gray was born on an ostrich farm in Cape Province, South Africa. In 1933, film company Paramount Pictures wanted to re-juvenate and diversify its contract players, and launched a competition known as the "Search for Beauty"; heats took place in nations across the English-speaking world. Eldred Tidbury entered in his native South Africa and was selected with Lucille du Toit,

1496-479: Is the colour of nature that can heal that rift." The Mysterons have also been interpreted as part of a supposed religious allegory in the series. Grant and other commentators have compared Cloudbase (Spectrum's airborne headquarters) to Heaven , Colonel White (the head of Spectrum) to God , and the resurrected Captain Scarlet (White's top agent) to the Son of God ; Captain Black, a Spectrum officer-turned-Mysteron agent,

1584-461: Is the stuff of archetypal Cold War paranoia narratives on the model of Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956)." He adds that Captain Scarlet reflects progressive attitudes to real-world events in that it is humans who start the conflict by attacking the Mysteron city; this "opens the issue of blame and invites reflection on the guilt of one's own side." Discussing humanity's first contact with

1672-472: Is viewed as either an analogue of the Devil or a Judas figure in league with the "satanic" Mysterons of the planet Mars (which Grant likened to Hades ). Anderson denied that any of this symbolism was intentional. Bill Osgerby argues that the Mysterons' tactic of replacing humans with alien doppelgangers promotes "themes of anxiety and mistrust" and an "atmosphere of unease and ambiguity", which he believes reflect

1760-739: The Captain Scarlet adventures. Various textual commentaries established backstories for the characters that also connected the various series; for example, some of the Spectrum officers seen in Captain Scarlet were revealed to be former World Space Patrol agents. This did not necessarily contradict any of the TV series themselves as all were assumed to be set in the mid-21st century at least up until Captain Scarlet ; Anderson's final two Supermarionation series, Joe 90 (1968–69) and The Secret Service (1969) had more contemporary settings. ( The Secret Service never appeared in TV21 .) A recurring plot element

1848-569: The hi-jacking of El Al Flight 426 , an event that "made political terrorism big news." They regard the series' theme of terrorism as "incredibly perceptive" on Anderson's part, calling it "staggering ... that at the same time as airplane hi-jacks became a distressingly regular occurrence in the Middle East, and IRA bombings in London, Gerry Anderson was explaining the effects of terrorism to kids, even down to having an aggressor who, it could be argued, has

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1936-463: The "crisis and collapse of social and political certainties" during the 1960s. Cull, who interprets the original Captain Scarlet as a media product of the Cold War , regards the Mysterons' campaign against Earth as a kind of "Cold War scenario". In an allusion to other science fiction of the time, he states that the Mysterons' reconstructive ability "creates an ever-present danger of an enemy within, which

2024-407: The "defining moment" of the original Captain Scarlet . The authors of The Rough Guide to Cult TV argue that for younger children, the aliens' slow, deep voice "seemed to embody evil." Several commentators argue that the fact that the Mysterons remain unseen, preferring instead to operate through their replicated intermediaries, makes them all the more frightening. Digital Spy 's Morgan Jeffery calls

2112-413: The "green rings", and are to some extent individualised – there is a dissenting faction in the "Mysteron consciousness" (as a member of the faction puts it) that believes that, given time, humans will outgrow their destructive impulses and become more like the Mysterons themselves. Unfortunately for the series' protagonists, this group has virtually no influence, and their only agent dispatched to Earth

2200-639: The 1969 relaunch. The publication dropped the "Century" from its title in January 1968, after 155 issues, becoming known as TV21 . With that same issue, the Special Agent 21 strip changed its name to Mr. Magnet , and the Get Smart , Front Page , and Sgt. Bilko strips were all canceled. In September 1968, after 192 issues, TV21 merged with its sister publication TV Tornado to form TV21 and Tornado . The TV Tornado strips Tarzan and The Saint moved with

2288-510: The Anderson productions, and for its first two years published strip adventures based on the extraterrestrial Doctor Who villains the Daleks , the early scripts for which had the approval of Dalek creator Terry Nation . Many of the stories were written by David Whitaker , who alternated with Nation in writing Daleks stories for the Doctor Who TV series; however, as Polystyle's TV Comic had

2376-546: The Back Streets , by Martin Asbury ; and I've Got a Sports-Mad Dad ; as well as Roy Davis' humour strip The Kid King . Star Trek , originally by Harry Lindfield, was one of only strips to last all 105 issues of the relaunched publication, eventually being illustrated by Jim Baikie , Mike Noble , and Carlos Pino and Vicente Alcazar , often working together as "Carvic". Joe 90 and Thunderbirds gradually disappeared from

2464-535: The Earth security organisation Spectrum. The purpose of the mission had been to locate the source of radio signals that Spectrum had detected emanating from the planet. The Zero-X astronauts discover an alien city complex on the Martian surface. After mistaking a deployed surveillance device for a weapon, Black fears an attack and, in violation of his orders, launches an assault on the complex that destroys it completely. However,

2552-400: The Mysterons are not "out-and-out villains" is one of the elements that makes Captain Scarlet more "mature" than Thunderbirds . The Mysterons' tactics have been characterised as a form of terrorism by Gerry Anderson and others, including commentator Andrew Billen . Jim Sangster and Paul Condon consider it "oddly prophetic" that Captain Scarlet ' s original UK run ended not long before

2640-459: The Mysterons are unwilling to cause agony or resort to torture. In one episode Captain Black releases one of the Angels from a radioactive chamber before she could suffer radiation poisoning (albeit after he trapped her there), although this was a ruse to draw away the Spectrum agents who were tracking him with geiger counters. A novelisation also depicts the Mysterons trapping Captains Scarlet and Blue on

2728-548: The Mysterons as "commanding" and "hypnotic", also specifying that it would be created "by the [voice] artist inhaling helium and the subsequent recording being played back at a lower speed, together with a repetitive echo treatment". The aliens are represented visually by twin rings of green light that they cast onto the scenes of murder and destruction from which their facsimiles emerge. The pilot script described these rings as "two fiery green circles" suggestive of eyes. Gerry Anderson said that he came up with this device after seeing

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2816-491: The Mysterons as an example of the "monstrous and evil" type of Martian commonly seen in film, TV and literature, and rank them second only to the invaders of the H. G. Wells novel The War of the Worlds (1897) for malevolence. Simon J. Gerard of Starburst magazine regards the secondary title sequence – in which the Mysterons, represented only by their "strange green light beams", announce their latest threat to Spectrum – as

2904-410: The Mysterons as both energy beings and a computer collective. On 16 September 1967, a new comic strip called "The Mysterons" appeared simultaneously in the comic books Solo , and its sister publication TV Tornado . The initial story provides an adaptation of the destruction of the Mysteron city on Mars by Captain Black, as shown in the first episode of the Captain Scarlet television series. Following

2992-499: The Mysterons in the original series' first episode, Geoff Willmetts of Sfcrowsnest notes the Mysterons' technological advantages and humanity's status as a relatively "immature sentient species", stating that this leads to a lack of trust that provokes conflict. He comments: "This is a dilemma of any first contact scenario. One side is always likely to be superior to the other and that will always build some elements of mistrust as to what motivates them and their actions." For Jeffery, that

3080-423: The Mysterons marked a departure from the villains of earlier Anderson productions due to their apparent omnipresence and omnipotence . She describes them as "truly, realistically terrifying [...] an unknowable foreign entity capable of the deepest undercover work that could strike at any time," adding that Spectrum's occasional defeats at their hands made them "all the more alarming". Wilkins and Bushwick categorise

3168-535: The Mysterons' invisibility "a masterstroke, and another reason why Captain Scarlet holds up well to the scrutiny of an adult eye. The Hood from Thunderbirds , Stingray ' s Aquaphibians - these are characters unlikely to disturb the dreams of any but the very young. The Mysterons, though? The images conjured up in the minds of older children with over-active imaginations would have been far more terrifying than anything Anderson and his team could have hoped to construct." Kyle Anderson of Nerdist.com considers

3256-402: The Mysterons' methods are not terrorism "as we know it" but "of an invisible force from another world". On parallels between the series and modern events, he argued that "any film that has any kind of war or conflict is always timely, because we as human beings are forever killing each other". Donald Gray Donald Gray (born Eldred Owermann Tidbury , 3 March 1914 – 7 April 1978) was

3344-514: The Mysterons' schemes "pretty ingenious". Other commentators have criticised their methods. Tom Spilsbury questions the wisdom of making the duplicate of Captain Scarlet indestructible given that his death and resurrection in the first episode cause him to break free of Mysteron control. Jeffery queries why the aliens need to create duplicates at all, given that they are apparently able to manipulate Black through mind control . In addition, both Spilsbury and others consider it tactically unsound for

3432-404: The Mysterons' terrorist tactics and our current real-life conflict are so striking, they become impossible to ignore." Commenting on the updated Mysterons of the 2005 remake, David Garland suggested that the aliens' persistent focus on terrorising Earth remotely, as opposed to invading it, "holds particular contemporary resonance". Anderson rejected comparisons to 21st-century terrorism, stating that

3520-473: The Mysterons, when broadcasting threats to Earth, to inform Spectrum of their exact targets. Writing for Starburst , Andrew Pixley and Julie Rogers suggest that the aliens' transmitted threats make them sound "like some evil alien Ted Rogers ". Andrew Blair of Den of Geek writes that "there's something both rubbish and endearing about the Mysterons' attempts to harass humanity into submission with their decidedly piecemeal approach." Actor Cy Grant , who voiced

3608-508: The TV series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons . He died of a coronary in South Africa in 1978. TV Century 21 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

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3696-505: The Universal Secret Service. The character had first appeared, in text form, in issue #1, as the fictional editor of TV Century 21 ; readers were "drafted" as his agents and asked to address reports (i.e. letters) to Contact 21. Special Agent 21 was written by Tod Sullivan and illustrated by Rab Hamilton. Three strips left the publication with issue #51 (8 January 1966) – Lady Penelope , Supercar , and Burke's Law – replaced

3784-547: The Wise ; and the humour strip Micky's Moonbugs , drawn by Graham Allen. (S.N.O.R.K.E.L. stood for Section Nine, Ocean Research and Knowledge Establishment for Learning; Danny Merlin was a fantasy strip about junk shop owner Danny Merlin, keeper of the "Keys of Wisdom.") None of these strips lasted very long. A sign of the title's failing prospects began with issue #55 (10 October 1970), when reprints began to replace original strips (reprints being much cheaper to produce). First to join

3872-465: The World President, the Mysterons kill and re-create Spectrum's foremost agent, Captain Scarlet , as a replicated doppelganger. The plot fails, however, when Scarlet's reconstruction falls to its apparent death from the top of a tower, later returning to life with the indestructible qualities intact but his original human consciousness restored. (The mechanism by which this occurs is never explained in

3960-610: The XL fleet, Fireflash, and the first Martian probe. (The strip was not related to a later unsuccessful TV pilot by Gerry Anderson.) The strip didn't last long, being canceled after issue #89 (1 October 1966). Following The Investigator was Catch or Kill , another strip taking place in the year 2066. Originally by Angus Allan and John M. Burns , Gerry Embleton later took over the art chores. With issue #105 (21 January 1967), Zero-X , by Angus Allan and Mike Noble , joined TV Century 21 , replacing The Daleks . Wright C.H.A.R.L.I.E. ,

4048-423: The city is almost immediately rebuilt before their eyes as a blue beam of light passes over its ruins. Speaking in a deep, echoing voice, the aliens identify themselves as the Mysterons and state that they have discovered the secret of "reversing matter" (a power later referred to as "retrometabolism"). They have the ability to heal any physical injury, and re-create the exact likeness of any object or person –

4136-596: The comic, whose name reverted to TV21 after 36 issues (the 278th overall). In fact, by issue #38 (13 June 1970), both strips were gone, and with them the last vestiges of the Gerry Anderson Supermarionation properties. TV21 no longer had the Anderson license. With their demise, TV21 underwent a series of strip turnovers. In short succession, four new strips joined the lineup: the adventures strips The Heat-Master , S.N.O.R.K.E.L. , and Danny Merlin Son of

4224-431: 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

4312-617: The era, featuring a mix of adventure, humour, Western , and sporting strips, some of which were reprints from other publications. Marvel Comics reprints became a feature in the magazine's final year of publication. The first issue of TV Century 21 was published on 23 January 1965. The comic dropped the "Century" from its title in January 1968, after 155 issues, and became known as TV21 . In September 1968, after 192 issues, TV21 merged with its sister publication TV Tornado to form TV21 and Tornado . On 18 January 1969, Gerry Anderson's most recent Supermarionation production, Joe 90 ,

4400-480: The exact nature of the Mysterons. According to Nicholas J. Cull , they are a species of "invisible" alien, while Alasdair Wilkins and Sophie Bushwick of the website io9 describe them as "an unfathomable race of probably non-corporeal entities". The tie-in publication The Complete Book of Captain Scarlet by Chris Bentley refutes the notion that the Mysterons of the original series are a type of energy being , instead referring to them as " sentient computers " forming

4488-493: The following issue with Thunderbirds , Get Smart , and The Munsters . Bruno Marraffa, who had been drawing Supercar , took on Get Smart , while Paul Trevillion , who had been drawing Burke's Law , was now the lead artist for The Munsters strip. A new strip joined the lineup with issue #73 (11 June 1966). The Investigator , by Alan Fennell and Don Harley, was about Bob Devlin and Marc Carter, fictional troubleshooters for Universal Engineering Incorporated, builders of

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4576-517: The hero of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons , made his first appearance in TV Century 21 in issue #141, 30 September 1967, timed to coincide with the airing of the first episode of the TV show. (The back story of the Mysterons , Captain Scarlet's Martian enemies, was being revealed in TV Tornado , another City Magazines publication.) Captain Scarlet was featured on most covers of the title until

4664-627: The introduction of five strips reprinted from American Marvel Comics titles. Although the publication had given up the Gerry Anderson license, IPC did have the Marvel license, which had last been used to publish reprints of Marvel's superhero strips in the Odhams ' line of Power Comics (including Smash! ) in 1966–1969. Beginning with the issue of 28 November 1970 (#61), some Marvel stories began being reprinted in TV21 . The Marvel reprints – which featured

4752-409: The latter publication from issues 36 to 58. In the second instalment, when a Mysteron party lands on the planet Andorme, the atmosphere restores the hitherto disembodied creatures to visibility in "… the ancient Mysteron shape". In this form they are depicted as spherical, polyhedral beings, with three of the faces having "eye slits", one of which can emit a destructive energy beam. The final episode of

4840-686: The launch of TV Century 21 , but were still being broadcast sporadically on ATV in the United Kingdom. They also had previously been adapted into comics a few years earlier in Polystyle Publications ' TV Comic .) Other than Lady Penelope herself, the Thunderbirds themselves were not featured until issue #52, the same issue the Lady Penelope strip left TV Century 21 to star in her own comic . TV Century 21 extended its licensing beyond

4928-635: The lineup were the American King Features Syndicate strips The Phantom and The Lone Ranger and Tonto . Another, original, Western strip , Butch Conner Sheriff of Dodge City , came along an issue later, shortly followed by The Blue Angels , reprints of the Buck Danny strip from the Franco-Belgian Spirou magazine. All of these strips lasted fewer than ten issues before being canceled and replaced. Late November 1970 saw

5016-495: The lineup, including the mostly forgettable adventure strips Menace of the Black Museum , The Tuffs of Terror Island , and Wheels Moran ; and the humour strips Clancy Clot: Magician's Mate and Cap'n Stardust . Of all those, only The Tuffs of Terror Island survived the merger with Valiant and Smash! Two former employees of Century 21 Publishing , Dennis Hooper and Roger Perry, had worked on TV21 and Lady Penelope in

5104-630: The merger to the new TV21 and Tornado . This meant the cancelation of the Supermarionation strips Stingray and Zero-X ; Fireball XL5 , meanwhile, had ended back in issue #174 (18 May 1968). The final new strip to join the publication's lineup – taking over from the canceled Tarzan – was the adaptation of the TV series Department S , drawn by Carlos Pino , which debuted in issue #212 (8 February 1969). ( Tarzan would return shortly thereafter in TV21 and Joe 90 .) TV21 and Tornado published its final issue, #242, on 6 September 1969. With

5192-469: The name Don Tidbury, and by the following year was calling himself Donald Gray. He became an engineering salesman selling a boiler preparation, acted in repertory theatre , and appeared in several films for Paramount's UK subsidiary, British & Dominions Film Corporation . In 1936, he encountered director Albert Parker and was given the leading role in Strange Experiment after James Mason quit

5280-466: The name of a comic.") The final issue of TV21 and Tornado before the merger was #242, published 6 September 1969. Meanwhile, at the beginning of 1969, Century 21 Productions had become financially over-stretched. Within a few months, the company had disbanded their three warehouse-sized studios on the Slough Trading Estate . In June 1969 the entire staff of Century 21 Publications were given

5368-534: The new TV21 and Joe 90 , the publication dispensed with the hundred-years-in-the-future cover date format as well as the focus on the Anderson-universe, becoming more of a typical British adventure comic (the first four issues, in fact, featured association football imagery). According to Stringer, "the content and tone of the merged comic was more like Joe 90 than TV21 ." The Thunderbirds and Joe 90 strips were printed in black-and-white in deference to

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5456-573: The new colour features Star Trek and Land of the Giants . The Saint strip, now titled Meet the Saint , continued from the first volume of TV21 , illustrated by Vicente Alcazar ; the Tarzan strip returned as well, drawn by Don Lawrence . The relaunched publication for the first time featured strips not related to either Anderson properties or television adaptations, such as the sporting strips Forward From

5544-507: The original Lieutenant Green and praised Captain Scarlet for its positive multiculturalism, believed that the series employed a form of black-and-white dualism of which the Mysterons were an aspect: "The 'darkness' of the Mysterons is most easily seen as the psychological rift — the struggle of 'good' and 'evil' — of the Western world as personified by Colonel White and his team. Dark and light are but aspects of each other. Incidentally, green

5632-510: The period 1965–1968. They pitched Polystyle Publications the idea behind a new comic utilizing the Anderson license. Soon enough, Polystyle's Countdown , debuted in February 1971, initially reprinted many of the Supermarionation strips which had originally run in TV21 , including Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons , Fireball XL5 , Joe 90 , Lady Penelope , Stingray , Thunderbirds , and Zero-X . ( Countdown launched while TV21

5720-399: The power of "retro-metabolisation" – the replicant is able to heal completely from almost any injury, including fatal ones. Replicants may occasionally break from Mysteron control when confronted by human loved ones or are reminded of their human past. Sadly this is only temporary and the Mysterons will forcibly and painfully reassert control over the replicant. The only known survivor of

5808-492: The primary rights to adapt the Doctor Who television series itself, the character of The Doctor could not appear in the TV Century 21 comic. TV Century 21 's early issues featured adaptations of two other popular TV series as well: My Favourite Martian , with art by Bill Titcombe; and Burke's Law , with art by Paul Trevillion . Issue #21 of TV Century 21 saw the debut strip of Special Agent 21 , i.e. Brent Cleever of

5896-414: The process is Scarlet, who retains his retro-metabolism and remains virtually indestructible, an ability which is a great asset in his work. Mysterons are also able to control the minds of their human victims, whether the subject has been replicated or not. Mysterons make use of hypnosis for short-term control, as demonstrated by the replicant of Commander Lewis on Doctor Gold (" The Homecoming "). To create

5984-722: The production. In 1938, he was chosen for a supporting role in Alexander Korda 's film The Four Feathers , and appeared in other films before returning to repertory theatre in Aberdeen , Scotland in 1939 and 1940. Initially turned down for military service owing to a duodenal ulcer , Gray later managed to enlist in the Gordon Highlanders , who had their barracks in Aberdeen, and succeeded in becoming what he called an "ordinary Jock " (having claimed some Scottish ancestry). In 1941, he

6072-464: The publication, including Frank Bellamy (who drew two-page-spread adventures for Thunderbirds ), John M. Burns , John Cooper , Jon Davis , Eric Eden , Ron and Gerry Embleton , Rab Hamilton , Don Harley , Richard E. Jennings , Mike Noble , Paul Trevillion , Ron Turner , James Watson and Keith Watson , and the duo of Vicente Alcazar and Carlos Pino under the pseudonym "Cervic". Initial weekly sales were in excess of 600,000. The comic

6160-514: The re-creation of their city, it then goes on to depict the previously peaceful Mysterons deciding that they must protect themselves from further aggression by conquering the universe. To that end some of the Mysterons depart in a flying saucer, headed for the Andromeda Galaxy , to commence their plan. Solo merged with the TV Tornado comic the following week, with the Mysteron strip running in

6248-476: The re-imagined series, New Captain Scarlet , reveals a great deal about the Mysterons as they exist in the version of the new series. They live in a city on Mars that is normally hidden from view. The city appears on the surface of Mars for the first time in 2068, during the ill-fated mission commanded by Captain Black ( Instrument of Destruction, Part 1 ). They are categorically stated to be energy beings , with one being shown to be capable of transforming into

6336-405: The series canon ). The Mysterons themselves are never seen on screen. They broadcast their threats by radio, often disguising their intentions with word play – such as stating that they will "kill time" when they intend to kill a major Spanish official whose surname is Tiempo (Spanish for "time") in the episode " Operation Time ". The original script for the first episode described the voice of

6424-453: The stars of the back-page feature. The brainchild of writer-editor Alan Fennell (who also wrote episodes of the various Anderson TV shows) and presenter Keith Shackleton , TV Century 21 was produced by the staff at the Andersons' Century 21 Publications , while printing and distribution was handled by City Magazines . Many of the leading British comic artists of the time contributed to

6512-464: The strips in TV Century 21 were set in the same shared future history . Even strips without a related TV series tied into it; for example, Special Agent 21 was set in the relative "past" and depicted the formation of the World Space Patrol seen in Fireball XL5 . The primary setting was the 2060s, with each newspaper-style issue covering the "top stories" of the decade. Earth was depicting as having

6600-400: The subject to be clinically dead before the copy is created; in one episode, (" Treble Cross "), World Air Force test pilot Major Gravener, who the Mysterons had attacked and copied, was later resuscitated in hospital, allowing Spectrum to set a trap for the Mysterons by sending the real Gravener out in place of his duplicate. Despite their general ruthlessness, certain storylines have shown that

6688-586: The success of TV Century 21 , City Magazines began publishing a number of related annuals and specials, two of them featuring Stingray . The first Thunderbirds annual was published in 1966, with a new one appearing each year until 1972. City Magazines also published the first TV Century 21 Annual in 1966, eventually putting out five such annuals (with the last one appearing in 1970). A second Stingray Annual appeared in 1966, and two more TV Century 21 seasonal specials in 1966 and 1967. The first Captain Scarlet annual debuted in 1967; City Magazines published

6776-618: The superhero strips Spider-Man and the Silver Surfer , the Western strips Ghost Rider and the Ringo Kid , and the 1950s humour strip Homer the Happy Ghost – lasted through TV21 's final issue. At this point, other than Star Trek , the publication called TV21 had no more strips based on television properties. In the comic's last few months, as other strips dropped away, new ones joined

6864-428: The title changed publisher-name from City Magazines to IPC Magazines. TV21 ceased publication in late September 1971 (issue #105), following its merger with IPC Magazines ' Valiant and Smash! to become Valiant and TV21 . Altogether, the title published 347 issues from 23 January 1965 to 25 September 1971 (242 issues before the merger with Joe 90 and an additional 105 issues thereafter). In late 1965, with

6952-489: The year 2067 about fictional TV Century 21 investigative reporter Pete Tracker, who learns about the secretive organization Spectrum; the strip was used to promote the upcoming Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons TV series (and the accompanying comic strip). The first new TV series adaptation to appear in a while, Sgt. Bilko , debuted in issue #139 (16 Sep 1967). The character of the "indestructible" Captain Scarlet ,

7040-510: Was adapted for the Dutch market as TV2000 . Early copies of TV Century 21 are difficult to find, and attract high prices compared to nearly all other print material associated with Gerry Anderson's work. In contrast with Polystyle Publications ' TV Comic , which was a traditional strip comic, TV Century 21 was conceived as a newspaper for children with a front-page containing " Stop press "-style news items and photographs. The majority of

7128-402: Was adapted into a City Magazines spinoff comic, titled Joe 90 Top Secret . The new comic did not endure, however, lasting only 34 issues before it was merged with TV21 and Tornado (According to British cartoonist and comics historian Lew Stringer , "... Joe 90 was selling better than TV21 but lost out to the older title, presumably because the publisher felt that TV21 had more longevity as

7216-628: Was commissioned into the King's Own Scottish Borderers , becoming battalion education officer at Llanberis in North Wales . Gray left the Army briefly to appear with Dame Vera Lynn in the film We'll Meet Again (1943). In 1944, he was injured by a German anti-tank shell in Caen , France , and his left arm was amputated. After the war, Gray toured South Africa with his own repertory company, appeared in other films, and

7304-657: Was contracted by the BBC 's radio repertory company. He left to appear in Saturday Island (1952) and then returned to the BBC, this time as a continuity announcer . Gray then starred as the one-armed detective Mark Saber in the British TV series of the same name , which ran for 156 episodes from 1955 to 1961. It was originally titled Mark Saber , or The Vise in the United States, but

7392-429: Was later known as Saber of London and Detective's Diary . In 1957, The Vise was renamed, redeveloped, and transferred from ABC to NBC under the new title Saber of London . Following Mark Saber , Gray appeared in episodes of Dixon of Dock Green and Emmerdale Farm . In his later years, his voice, based on that of fellow South African actor Basil Rathbone , brought him work in voice-overs, advertisements and

7480-424: Was quickly de-corporalised and remanded into Mysteron custody by the majority group's primary agent, Black. The Mysterons were first discovered by Spectrum captains Scarlet and Black during an investigation into the source of strange signals emanating from Mars. They appear as a pair of green rings; however, it is not known whether this is the result of technology. The Mysterons claim to be peaceful beings, but wage

7568-496: Was renamed TV21 and Joe 90 , with the issue numbering reset to 1 (with a "New Series No." printed on the front cover). Reflecting City Magazines' relationship with IPC Magazines , the first issue of TV21 and Joe 90 featured an advertisement for the IPC title Smash! (which IPC had taken over from Odhams Press on 1 January 1969). The publication's name reverted to TV21 after 36 issues (the 278th overall). With issue #93 (3 July 1971),

7656-541: Was still in publication, but when it no longer held the Anderson license.) With the end of TV21 in October 1971, IPC discontinued using Marvel reprints. Marvel set up its own Marvel UK imprint, releasing The Mighty World of Marvel #1 in September 1972. However, because IPC had the means to publish and distribute Annuals, the first Marvel Annual , published in Autumn 1972, which featured early stories of Spider-Man , Conan ,

7744-581: Was the fictional Eastern European nation of Bereznik, a country not part of and hostile to the World Government. It appeared most frequently in the Thunderbirds and Lady Penelope strips, usually as an antagonist . After losing the Gerry Anderson license in mid-1970, TV21 became a television comic virtually in name only, with the Star Trek strip being the lone feature still related to TV. The publication became more typical of other British comics of

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