JAMES SWALLOW

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STINGRAY: BATTLE LINES launches!

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Following from the release of Volume 1: Tales from the Depths in October, from today Anderson Entertainment has Stingray Comic Anthology Volume 2: Battle Lines up for pre-orders – including my story “Triple Cross”, with artwork by Connor Flanagan (New Captain Scarlet, Space Precinct)!

As with the first volume, this collection reprints classic Stingray comics from the TV Century 21 and Countdown series and more, alongside five brand-new stories as part of Deadly Uprising, a celebration of Stingray‘s 60th anniversary – in the original TV show, the crew of the titular atomic submarine (Captain Troy Tempest and sonar operator “Phones” Sheridan) guard the oceans as part of W.A.S.P. – the World Aquanaut Security Patrol – defending the surface world from a rogue’s gallery of undersea troublemakers led by the nefarious King Titan.

Stingray Comic Anthology Volume 2: Battle Lines concludes the Deadly Uprising saga, combining additional classic comic strip adventures with five more brand-new stories where desperate measures lead to alliances both made and broken. As Titan’s forces launch a decisive assault on Marineville turning the terraneans’ might against them, it’s up to Stingray and newfound allies to defend their home.

Connor’s dynamic art blasts “Triple Cross” into action across the page, as my story in this collection continues the narrative I set up in “The Undefeated”, as seen in Volume 1, which in turn draws from an episode of the Stingray TV show (“The Big Gun”), setting up the climactic events of the forthcoming dramatic finale.

For more details about Stingray: Deadly Uprising, visit the official Anderson website at this link – and to order your copy of Battle Lines click here!

STINGRAY – THE UNDEFEATED author’s notes

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Last month Stingray Comic Anthology Volume 1: Tales from the Depths rose to the surface – the first volume of an exhaustive new collection from Anderson Entertainment that complies all the original TV21 comic strips for Stingray, the classic 1960s undersea adventure series. Released as part of a year-long celebration of Stingray’s 60th anniversary, Tales from the Depths also includes a bunch of all-new stories tying into Stingray: Deadly Uprising – a multimedia crossover event that features new novels, non-fiction books and mini-episodes.

My contribution is “The Undefeated”, a six-page story scripted by me, with art from the incomparable Matt Brooker (aka D’Israeli), who has worked on such big comics names as Tank Girl, Judge Dredd and Batman.

As with my previous comics projects, I’m posting an “author commentary” piece here to highlight and annotate some of the concepts that appear in this story.

Spoiler Warning! These notes give away story points from “The Undefeated” and other stories in the Stingray: Deadly Uprising series event!

“The Undefeated” is a direct sequel to the events of the Stingray TV episode “The Big Gun”, in which the Solarstar people deploy their Missile Ejector craft and super-destructive missiles against the surface world.

Matt Brooker does a great job with the art, expanding the world of the Solarstars (which was pretty much just a garden and a fancy lawn chair on television) into a society on the brink of destruction!

In “The Big Gun”, the Mighty Leader, his lackey Korda and ill-fated submarine pilot Maritimus are the only Solarstars seen; I added the new character of Abura, a female Solarstar who serves as the Leader’s ‘Battle Commander’; her facial scar and medals suggest she’s a veteran of the conflict between her people and their old enemies, the Titanicans. There’s a tradition of Stingray characters having names related to the seas or nearby locations – so Abura’s name (spell it backwards!) comes from an island country in the Caribbean.

This strip introduces King Titan’s “Super Terror Fish”, a larger version of the “Mechanical Fish” craft used by the Titanicans on the TV show: Matt followed my request to the tee, as the script asks for something that looks like a standard Terror Fish sub “only bigger and meaner!”

King Titan is joined on his mission by Illium, an Atlantean seen in the TV episode “The Invaders”.

The flashback panel (see above) showing the war between the Solarstar and the Titanicans gave me the opportunity to shore up the motives for the attacks on the surface world in “The Big Gun”, which are never really explained in the TV story.

The Mighty Leader recalls the closing events of “The Big Gun”, when Captain Troy Tempest and sonar operator ‘Phones’ Sheridan, the crew of the titular atomic submarine, destroy his agent Maritimus and attack Starfish City in retaliation – but as things are seen from his point of view, the Stingray crew are cast as over-the-top villains!

Finally, the events set in motion here play out in my next story “Triple-Cross”, appearing in Stingray Comic Anthology Volume 2: Battle Lines.

For more details about Stingray: Deadly Uprising, visit the official Anderson website at this link – and to order your copy of Stingray Comic Anthology Volume 1: Tales from the Depths, click here!

UFO – SHADOW PLAY author’s notes

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My new UFO tie-in novella Shadow Play released in September, and the audiobook edition will be available later in the year for those who prefer a “talking book” format – so today I’m posting a second ‘author’s commentary’ for the month with insights into the background of the storyline – but first here’s a couple of comments from reviewers…

“Shadow Play cleverly takes us deep into the mind of Ed Straker, and wow – what a ride it is… These aren’t just action-packed space adventures (although they absolutely deliver on that front, too) – they’re deep dives into what makes these characters tick.” – Jack Knoll, Security Hazard

“A strong effort in adding to the UFO story… Fans of the series will not be disappointed and enjoy this a great deal.” – Mark Yon, SFF World

UFO ran for a single season in 1970, following the beleaguered members of a top secret defence force fighting a desperate battle against a race of extraterrestrials intent on using humanity as spare parts for their own failing bodies, all while trying to keep the deadly secret from the rest of mankind. To learn more about the show, click here.

The last line of defence in a clandestine war, SHADO is all that stands between humanity and a force of alien invaders – and leading that fight is the uncompromising Ed Straker, commanding Earth’s defenders around the clock. But what happens when the man at the top is pushed too far? After an experiment goes wrong, Straker awakens from a coma with missing memories and strange hallucinations that threaten his grip on reality – but is it the result of alien interference, or has the commander’s iron will finally cracked? Facing danger from within and without, Straker must find the truth. Even if it kills him.

Spoiler Warning! These notes give away story points from UFO – Shadow Play and other episodes of the UFO TV series.

The novella’s title is a play (!) on words, obliquely referencing UFO’s secret organization SHADO.

Among the inspirations for this story are the 1960s TV series The Prisoner and the fiction of Philip K. Dick (notably “The Zap Gun”, “Imposter” and “The Father-Thing”).

Doctor Jackson submits Ed Straker to “a standard V-K series” of questions; ‘V-K’ is a nod to the Voight-Kampff machine from Blade Runner, which is used to determine if a person is a human or a replicant.

Straker sees a Cyranian Airlines jet taking off as he approaches Heathrow Airport; that airline appears in “Splashdown”, an episode of Joe 90, another Gerry Anderson production.

Passing through the backlot of the Harlington-Straker film studio, several props that regularly appear in UFO’s backgrounds (such as the giant white hand!) are mentioned.

In conversation with Paul Foster, Alec Freeman mentions EUROSEC, the European-based space agency from the Anderson-produced live-action movie Doppelganger (aka Journey to the Far Side of the Sun); he also mentions nuclear-powered spacecraft being designed by the World Space Commission, an oblique reference to the Eagle Transporters of UFO’s sister-show Space: 1999.

UFO episodes referenced in the novella include “Exposed” (Foster’s recruitment into SHADO), “Confetti Check A-O.K.” (Straker’s family life, and his long friendship with Freeman), “A Question of Priorities” (the death of Straker’s son), “Reflections in the Water” (an alien plot to duplicate SHADO HQ), along with events from “Mindbender”, “The Man Who Came Back”, “Timelash” and “The Cat with Ten Lives”.

As well as the episodes of the original series and the UFO comics, Chris Bentley’s The Complete Book of Gerry Anderson’s UFO and Chris Thompson’s and Andrew Clements’ SHADO Technical Operations Manual were invaluable resources for the writing of Shadow Play.

UFO – Shadow Play is available to pre-order in audiobook format from Big Finish Productions as a digital download here; and as Limited Edition Hardcover from Anderson Productions at this link.

SPACE: 1999 – THE ARMAGEDDON ENGINE author’s notes

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My Space: 1999 novella released last month – fittingly on the day the Moon was blown out of orbit, September 13th! – and today I’m posting another ‘author’s commentary’ with some insights into the background of the storyline – but first here’s some comments from reviewers…

“This is vintage Space: 1999 in every sense of the word. It’s clever and dark and has a massive central idea and an even bigger heart.” – Alaistair Stewart, Sci-Fi Bulletin

“Swallow does a fantastic job building the tension… The ticking clock feels real, and the stakes couldn’t be higher, aided by the suitably fast pace.” – Jack Knoll, Security Hazard

“Capture(s) that feel that the series had… Anyone wanting to read further the adventures of Moonbase Alpha will enjoy this one.” – Mark Yon, SFF World

Space: 1999 ran for two seasons in the early 1970s, and the series centred on the adventures of the 311 crewmembers of Moonbase Alpha, who find themselves on an odyssey through the void when the Moon is blasted into space after a nuclear accident on the far side – and along the way they encounter alien races, horrible monsters and strange cosmic phenomena. To learn more about the show, click here.

Adrift in deep space, Commander John Koenig and the people of Moonbase Alpha face an uncertain fate, when a planet-killing alien weapon at the heart of a sinister cloud diverts their lost Moon on to a fatal trajectory. As each moment brings the Moon closer to total obliteration, Koenig leads a desperate mission into the unknown to save all life on Alpha. Does hope lie among a rag-tag colony of refugees hiding in the shadow of devastation? Or can the Alphans find a path into the heart of the war machine and end its destructive rampage? With time running out, the answer will mean the difference between survival… or annihilation.

Spoiler Warning! These notes give away story points from The Armageddon Engine and other episodes of the Space: 1999 TV series.

In terms of chronology, The Armageddon Engine takes place late in the first season of Space: 1999.

The Eagle pilots of the series were all male during the TV series, so I decided to break that up by introducing the new character of German female astronaut Elke Lange in the novella’s opening chapter. Other new Alphans appearing in the story are Indian astrogeologist Pari Mishra and Greek astrophysicist Markos Galani.

Helena Russell refers to the Black Sun phenomena from the episode of the same name.

Alan Carter recalls flying Griffons and Falcons, predecessors of the venerable Eagle Transporter.

The strange Zython never appeared in the TV series, but it did show up in Mattel’s line of Space: 1999 action figures as a “mysterious space alien” whose “head glows in the dark”(!), so I thought it would be fun to place this unseen being in this story. Read more here.

In addition, among the survivors in the alien Refuge there are beings from races the Alphans have encountered in previous TV episodes, including Kaldorians (from “Earthbound”), Bethans (from “The Last Enemy”) and Sidons (from “Voyager’s Return”).

The scenes set aboard the alien scientist Vhor’s spacecraft take place in zero gravity – something that would have been too expensive and complicated to create on a 1970s TV series budget.

Koenig’s line “You unleashed a doomsday machine” is a deliberate nod to another story about a world-eating construct from the Star Trek TV series.

As well as drawing from the original series and the novelizations of the show by writers like Brian Ball, E.C. Tubb and John Rankine, I used Tim Heald’s The Making of Space: 1999, Robert E. Wood’s Destination: Moonbase Alpha, Chris Bentley’s Space: 1999 – The Vault and the Moonbase Alpha Technical Operations Manual by Chris Thompson and Andrew Clements as reference materials throughout.

Space: 1999 – The Armageddon Engine is available in audiobook format from Big Finish Productions as a digital download here; and as Limited Edition Hardcover from Anderson Productions at this link.

SHADOW PLAY & THE ARMAGEDDON ENGINE out now!

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We all remember where we were, 25 years ago today in 1999, when the Moon was blasted out of orbit after a freak nuclear accident, less than two decades after a secret agency had been fighting a clandestine war against bodysnatching aliens… Or at least you would if you were a fan of Gerry Anderson’s sci-fi dramas Space: 1999 and UFO.

Fittingly, as it is “Breakaway Day” this weekend, this Saturday I’ll be at Heathrow at the London 1999 Convention (no better place!) for the official launch of my new tie-in novellas UFO – Shadow Play and Space: 1999 – The Armageddon Engine. Based on these two classic television shows, the novellas are all-new, officially-sanctioned stories, releasing today in signed, limited-edition hardcovers – and my thanks to everyone who pre-ordered their copies!

For those of you unfamiliar with the shows – UFO ran for a single season in the early 1970s, following the challenges faced by the members of SHADO, a covert agency charged with defending the Earth of 1980 against an insidious alien invasion; Space: 1999 ran for two seasons a few years later, centred on the adventures of the crew of Moonbase Alpha, who find themselves on an odyssey through the void when the Moon is blasted into space. For more about the shows, check out these primer videos for UFO and Space: 1999.

UFO – SHADOW PLAY

The last line of defence in a clandestine war, SHADO is all that stands between humanity and a force of alien invaders – and leading that fight is the uncompromising Ed Straker, commanding Earth’s defenders around the clock.

But what happens when the man at the top is pushed too far?

After an experiment goes wrong, Straker awakens from a coma with missing memories and strange hallucinations that threaten his grip on reality – but is it the result of alien interference, or has the commander’s iron will finally cracked?

Facing danger from within and without, Straker must find the truth.

Even if it kills him.

SPACE: 1999 – THE ARMAGEDDON ENGINE

Adrift in deep space, Commander John Koenig and the people of Moonbase Alpha face an uncertain fate, when a planet-killing alien weapon at the heart of a sinister cloud diverts their lost Moon on to a fatal trajectory.

As each moment brings the Moon closer to total obliteration, Koenig leads a desperate mission into the unknown to save all life on Alpha.

Does hope lie among a rag-tag colony of refugees hiding in the shadow of devastation?

Or can the Alphans find a path into the heart of the war machine and end its destructive rampage?

With time running out, the answer will mean the difference between survival… or annihilation.

Working on this project has been a lot of fun for me, with Jamie Anderson and his team giving me great freedom to create new and engaging fiction for these iconic shows I love – I’m excited to bring Shadow Play and The Armageddon Engine to long-time devotees and new fans alike!

Hardcover editions of the books are available for order; click here for UFO – Shadow Play and here for Space: 1999 – The Armageddon Engine or grab the two-book bundle; and if audiobooks are your preference, you can find those here and here.

STINGRAY: TALES FROM THE DEPTHS is here!

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Stand by for action! Tales from the Depths, the first volume of an amazing new Stingray comics collection is available now for pre-order from Anderson Entertainment – featuring “The Undefeated”, a story by me with art from Matt Brooker/D’Israeli (Tank Girl, Judge Dredd, Batman).

Celebrating this 1960’s tele-fantasy TV show, Stingray‘s 60th anniversary this year ushers in a multi-media crossover project called Stingray: Deadly Uprising, encompassing a live audio drama performance, novellas and comic anthologies… In the show, the crew of the titular atomic submarine (Captain Troy Tempest and sonar operator “Phones” Sheridan) guard the oceans as part of W.A.S.P. – the World Aquanaut Security Patrol – defending the surface world from a rogue’s gallery of undersea troublemakers led by the nefarious King Titan.

Stingray Comic Anthology Volume 1: Tales from the Depths combines TV Century 21 classics with five brand-new stories, introducing different undersea races and escalating tensions. From jailbreaks to new alliances, each tale pushes Stingray’s crew closer to Titan’s trap, culminating in a cliffhanger that sets the stage for an all-out conflict.

The classic comic strips, illustrated by legendary artists such as Ron Embleton, Michael Strand and Jon Davies, will plunge you back into the pulse-pounding aquatic adventures of Captain Troy Tempest, Lieutenant Phones and the mysterious Marina. Experience thrilling confrontations with monstrous sea creatures, alien-induced climate chaos and deadly underwater espionage as these iconic characters battle for survival beneath the waves.

In addition to the TV Century 21 strips, this volume’s new stories – written by top talents James Swallow, Ian Edginton, Chris Thompson, Jack Knoll and Ben Wolf Page – have been brought vividly to life by renowned artists Brian Williamson, Keith Burns, Matt Brooker, John McCrea and Lee Sullivan. The tales stand alone as exhilarating underwater adventures, each featuring a different undersea race – some familiar from the television series others entirely new, and also link together to form a larger narrative culminating in a dramatic cliffhanger where Stingray unwittingly plays into Titan’s sinister plans, forging a powerful alliance of oceanic adversaries.

I have fond memories of catching Stingray on TV when I was a kid, so it was great to hark back to that era of fun and adventure when I was invited to write this comic – and Matt’s amazing artwork has brilliantly captured the tone of the tale and the pop-art sci-fi world of its setting. Fans of the show will see my story picks up plot threads from the episode “The Big Gun” and sets up a pay-off that will appear in Stingray Comic Anthology Volume 2, due for publication in November…

For more details about Stingray: Deadly Uprising, visit the official Anderson website at this link – and to order your copy of Tales from the Depths, click here!