192 “Moon Base Awful”

There are some comics that I rush out, but there are some comics that are a true labor of love. This is definitely the latter.

When I was a kindergartener, there was a TV show I’d watch religiously: Space 1999. I loved that show. I loved the theme song, I loved the outfits, the Eagles, the costumes, the amazing sets. A classmate had a plastic model, which I got myself on my 5tyh birthday although I lacked the skills to put it together.

Now, as an adult, the only toy I have in my possession is a diecast Eagle. That was an incredible design for a utility spaceship. And when the DVDs came out, I snapped them up and watched them again. The plots were a little thin, but the design was still incredible. I always wanted to sneak it into my comics, and I had mentioned in a previous commentary (for #2, I think) that I really wanted to a Space 1999 strip somehow.

The idea for a parody using Chie Sakamachi made that possible. So I sat down and began work at a strip that would let me go full throttle and make a strip for Space 1999 fans that no one else would get.

The fonts I used were the same fonts used in the title sequences of the TV series, including the fap fap fap sound effect. The Eagle was actually a 3D model I downloaded on the internet, but it looked so unnnatural against my line work that I traced it so that it would match. The outfits, the gun, the CommLock are all valid. The sleeve colours are also accurate, with purple being security and white being medical. The aliens with the spots — that was actually a thing in the series, because more creative makeup cost money. “Seed of Destruction” actually refers to the title of a second season epsiode.

In the end, this is a strip that I went to town on and was extremely pleased with the result. However, few people understood it because the show was so old.