Comic Review: Lost in Space: The Lost Adventures

The talented people at American Gothic Press are in possession of two unproduced Lost in Space television scripts, and the first story “The Curious Galactics,” has rightfully found its place on the shelves of your favorite local comic book stores.

On the first page, AGP publisher Philip Kim (Famous Monsters) provides an intriguing history behind the lost scripts before the story begins. The television show was produced by Irwin Allen who had commissioned two episodes from the show’s regular writer Carey Wilber (Rawhide, Bonanza, Wonder Woman, Hawaii Five-0, The Time Tunnel) just before the series was canceled. So, as it ended up, episodes 84 and 85 were never made. Then AGP came along, acquired the rights to the lost episodes, and now we have a fabulous opportunity for some spectacular new comics.

Issue one of Lost in Space: The Lost Adventures is the first of three installments of “The Curious Galactics” storyline. Reminiscent of a Twilight Zone or Outer Limits episode, the story presents a twist on the age-old presumption that human beings are the only intelligent lifeform in the universe. But instead of the naivety falling on the shoulders of humanity, readers soon learn that a pair of aliens are looking at our favorite lost family under their own metaphoric microscope. By the third issue, we finally learn that the aliens are scientist from someplace called Eldebaran. Ironically, this is also the name of an elongated font, much like the two characters in the story, narrow (minded?) at the top with a strong (powerful, controlling?) base. Whether this was originally done on purpose or merely a coincidence (not sure when this font was “created”), it certainly makes for some interesting trivia.

Some of the show’s characters, mother Maureen and her two daughters, Judy and Penny, only appear in one casual aside as well as the anticlimactic closing scene. The majority of the story focuses on young Will, his father John, and the always bruiting Major West as they are off on a mission in the Chariot (one of my childhood favorite SF vehicles) to position a number of radar devices. It is peculiar that the aliens do not acknowledge the existence of the female characters, even after the men discuss their absence, since the point of the alien examination seems to center on the social interactions of the human beings. Since the aliens observe the emotional interactions of the humans, one would think that it might have have been advantageous for them to include both sexes in this study. But hey, they’re aliens. Right?

The artistic skills of Kostas Pantoulas and the vibrant colors from Patrick McEvoy (who also provided the artwork for the covers of issues #2 and #3) bring the imagery to life while remaining loyal to the likenesses of the original cast who played the characters so well. Of course, none of this would have come together without the adaption of the screenplay to the comic medium by editor Holly Interlandi. Yes, like most comics, there are many others who contributed to this endeavor, and the final results show that this comic is a complete, tight package brought together by a talented and dedicated team.

I first learned of this new comic series on Father’s Day when my wife presented me with a copy of issue #2. After the nerdy child in me giggled breathlessly, the husband and father in me submitted to my wife’s love and thanked her – then I ran out and painstakingly found issue #1…and later waited even more anxiously for issue #3.

Fandom will be pleasantly surprised by the publication of Lost in Space: The Lost Adventures from American Gothic Press and the nostalgic return in comic form with the fresh story “The Curious Galactics.” Rejoice, for the next issue is scheduled to arrive in August with what looks to be a fresh Robinson family take on the Lewis Carroll classic Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, forebodingly titled Malice in Wonderland.