This story is actually untitled. I've chosen to apply the title
"Kidnap" to identify it in the chronology.
On the
former
Technodelic website, their feature on the history of the UFO
comic strips in Countdown magazine speculated that
Countdown editor Dennis Hooper may have been the author of this
story.
The image in panel 1 is a photo of a spinner UFO from the TV
series rather than pencil art.
Page 1, panel 9 of the story is actually a photo from the TV
series of Commander Straker rather than pencil art.
On page 2, a Professor Robinson of the Central Space
University is reported missing.
Central Space University appears to be a fictional
institution.
Page 2, panel 7
of the story is actually a photo from the TV series of
Colonel Freeman rather than pencil art. The photo appears to
be a scene of Freeman at Moonbase, not at SHADO headquarters
as the story seems to present him.
On page 2, panel 9 of the story, Freeman says to himself, Too dark to
be certain, but I'm sure these tracks are fresh... But
"certain" and "sure" mean essentially the same thing!
Freeman encounters an alien and before he falls unconscious
from a knockout blow, his gunshot damages the alien's
helmet, allowing the green fluid within to spill out. In
"Identified" SHADO learned of
the liquid-filled spacesuits used by the aliens.
The footprints Foster has found lead into the ruins of Mersham Abbey. I have not been able to find evidence of a
real world set of ruins known as Mersham Abbey, but the
reference may be related to the village of Mersham, Kent
County, England (about 60 miles from London).
Page 3, panel 6 of the story appears to be a photo of the
helmetless alien seen in
"A Question of Priorities".
Foster remarks to Straker that the earthbound alien can't
survive too long without his protective liquid. But SHADO
does not really know this to be the case; in
"Identified", it was instead
speculated that the fluid allows the aliens to breathe and
also survive the G-forces of high speed space travel, not
necessarily that the fluid would be required to survive on
Earth. In fact, later episodes depict the aliens moving
around on Earth without helmets for an extended period.
This story introduces a cylindrical UFO never seen in the TV
series, able to hold up to five passengers.
Page 4, panel 3 of the story is a photo of a lunar module
from the series
(referred to here as a ferryship).
As the cylindrical UFO enters Earth space, a lunar module
happens to be on its way to the moon and fires missiles at
the approaching alien craft. This is the only instance of
the lunar modules depicted as having weapons in the UFO
series.
Page 5, panel 4 of the story is a photo of Sky 1 rather than
pencil art.
The final panel of the story is a photo of Commander Straker
rather than pencil art.
UNANSWERED QUESTIONS
Why did the aliens want the two Earth scientists Robinson
and Sinstad?
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