Stripping Down... Blake's 7 (ii)

Crossed Wires

Issue: VIII

Summary:
While giving Scorpio a major overhaul, Tarrant is knocked unconscious by an explosive short circuit. As Soolin and Orac tend to Tarrant, Vila discovers that the smoke from the explosion has turned the silo entrance into a chimney and drawn the attention of two Federation ships. Avon, Vila and Dayna take off in Scorpio to destroy the ships before they discover the base on Xenon as Tarrant recovers enough to reveals the explosion was caused by a fault in the weaponry systems. Soolin manages to warn Avon before he opens fire and destroys Scorpio. Without weapons, Avon tries a different tactic - he flies Scorpio at top speed between the Federation ships, the displacement creating a vacuum that causes them to collide and explode. After narrowly escaping crashing into Xenon, Avon and the others return to base.

Continuity:
The mix of outfits indicate this is another mid-season story, though with the Federation closing in on Xenon it could be at the very end. Vila seems unusually concerned with Tarrant's welfare (or perhaps he's just eager to find out if the arrogant twit is going to die any time soon). Orac is once again plugged into the medical computer which can somehow automatically save a patient's life but no one thinks of asking the computer (or Slave) to find out what the fault in Scorpio was.

There is a master lever in each section of Scorpio that can shut that sector down. There are also fire extinguishers available and the flight consoles can transmit images from the medical bay to allow communication. The plasma regenerator is an important part of the design (but not vital, since the ship can cope quite well once it's exploded in Tarrant's face) and a fault in the plasma arming like a crossed wire can lead to thermo-plasma reaction - or blowing everything to atoms. The plasma bolt launchers have three back-up circuits - alpha, bravo and delta. There is a sliding door in the upwards shaft to Xenon Base.

The Federation are searching Xenon (or at least that part of the universe) for a rebel base, and their ships can scan thermal images on the surface and fire percussion laser charges.

Quotes:

Dayna: You save your precious machinery - I'll save Tarrant!

Vila: Your plan's worked, Avon! We're attacking from space and they haven't spotted us yet!
Avon: ...I'm aware of that, Vila.

Soolin: No, Avon, no! Don't touch the firing button! FOR PITY'S SAKE!!

Avon: Let me make this clear: I want no more crossed wires on Scorpio ever again. In the future I shall do all the maintenance - do I make myself plain? I never want to fight from an unarmed ship again!

Comment:
Another lightweight story to cheer the audience in the wake of the end of Season 4, it takes the idea of repairing Scorpio to the logical extreme of making the ENTIRE PLOT revolve around the crummy wiring of the planet hopper. Xenon is once again shown to be far less remote and safe than it was in the TV series, ironic as the likenesses in the artwork have never been better and a real effort is made to give all the human regulars something to do in the story.

The final part of Blake's 7 initial "kid's comic" phase.

Treachery

Issue: IX

Writer: Ken Armstrong

Art: Steve Dillion

Summary:
Servalan learns from the survivor of a space battle that Scorpio is heading for the planet Fangal Minor and directs her fleet there. On Fangal Minor, a conference is held between the leader of the main resistance groups. Avon reveals that the most important member of the new alliance, Valkac, is cooperating with the Federation - and is proved correct when Servalan's forces arrive. Avon and the others flee to Scorpio and escape the holocaust, and then destroy the three Federation cruisers. Servalan flees, but has totally destroyed the chances of an anti-Federation alliance.

Continuity:
The outfits suggest a mid-season setting, but Tarrant has a new patterned uniform not seen before. Dayna is thoroughly pissed off at not getting a chance to attack Servalan - the first time the comics have acknowledged they have any connection at all. Tarrant is similarly annoyed when Avon insists he stay behind as the conference is for leaders only, he is also disconcerted at the surface of Fangal Minor. Avon for his part is only invited to join the alliance for his "invaluable" prior experience fighting the Federation.

Servalan is masterminding the conference as a trap for Avon and Scorpio (Avon and Dayna automatically assume she is behind the attack, even though there's no obvious evidence she's involved). She orders one of her own men, who is injured, to be pumped full of Astrolam - a morphine-like drug that provides temporary lucidity but increases the risks of death. She seems to think that being spaced is preferable to dying of injuries or simply being shot/gassed/given a lethal overdose.

The anti-Federation alliance consists of former enemies who have united their forces: Protax (a blond man with a military uniform and haircut), Minlag of the Manconians (a floppy-haired smirker), Gosfal from Untar Major (a pessimistic fat bastard) and Valkac. Valkac is a tall, well-built humanoid (Prey indicates Valkac is an alien) with a mowhawk, armor that leaves his arms and legs bare, and carries a gun strapped to his thigh and a long sword sheathed at his waist. Valkac's people possess a mighty battle fleet and were apparently prepared to resist the Federation on their own, but decided to side with Servalan and help break the alliance. Valkac has a reputation for tardiness and is also capable of superhuman chutzpah.

Fangal Minor has two moons that provide a strange and permanent illumination of the surface, day and night.

Quotes:

Servalan: Your wounds are such that you would die a slow and agonising death. That I could not permit. Never let it be said I am not merciful.
Navigator: Wh...where are you sending me?
Servalan: To a swift and speedy death, my friend. [She hurls the navigator out the airlock] It's the least I can do for you.

Tarrant: There's no sign of the Federation.
Avon: That means nothing and you know it.

Valkac: You've meddled once too often, rebel!
Avon: And not for the last time, traitor!

Protax: Avon... the alliance! You can't desert us now!
Avon: With no leaders there can be no alliance. It's back to the law of the jungle - everyone for himself. Farewell!

Vila: What about this alliance against the Federation that was all the rage before we came?
Avon: Servalan has destroyed all hopes of an alliance against her and her kind... at least for a while. We're on our own once more.

Comment:
The revamped Blake's 7 Magazine introduces a new artist, Steve Dillion - better known for his Abslom Daak: Dalek Killer strip in Doctor Who Monthly - to do a more gritty, pessimistic and black comic strip where gruesome deaths mingle with space battles and Servalan is genuinely frightening for once. That said, the plot is basically a remake of Warlord with another strange-haired ally siding with Servalan for his own interests that ends with near total defeat for our heroes.

A new direction but an old plot, Treachery is the first and only Blake's 7 comic strip to merit a sequel...

Prey

Issue: X

Story & Art: Jerry Paris

Summary:
A salvage vessel arrives on Fangal Minor to reclaim the wrecks of the Federation Cruisers there, but the crew are quickly murdered by Valkac, who survived the battle. Stealing their ship, he travels to the planet Telkos, intent on hunting down Avon. He finally catches up with Avon and Vila in the backstreets of Telkos, but before he can kill them, a Federation patrol arrives and by the time Valkac has slaughtered them, both Avon and Vila have escaped.

Continuity:
Vila, continually afraid he might shoot his foot off by accident, chooses not to carry a clip-gun (Avon is surprised at this information - has he only just noticed?). Avon doesn't trust Vila to help the others repair meteor damage to Scorpio. He has been to Telkos on numerous occasions and is a good friend of the morbidly-obese Pellorim Vac Vanner, who has a personal guard and several concubines (all of which are not human, having white eyes). Surprisingly, Pellorim does not any point try to betray Avon or even ask for money in exchange for the parts required.

Telkos is a Federation-dominated planet with a space traffic control and at least sixty-three landing bays. What we see of the planet is a city of middle-eastern stone streets filled with beggars, thugs and prostitutes - the males seeming more 'alien' than the females, who have hair and tattoos. Pellorim describes "the streets of Telkos" as being dangerous during the day and lethal at night, presumably why there are patrols of Federation troopers (the type seen in Volcano) trying to keep order. They recognize Avon and Vila on sight, knowing there is a warrant for the pair's arrest, dead or alive.

Valkac survived the holocaust on Fangal Minor by crawling into a cave and then hijacking the first ship that arrived afterwards. He doesn't consider himself "human", and prefers to fight at close quarters with a sword powerful enough to cut through a Scorpio clip-gun, though he has a side-arm that can fire explosive blasts. It is not explained how he was able to track Avon down to Telkos, let alone know which side street they'd walk through so he could disguise himself as a beggar. He intends to hunt Avon across the galaxy... but we never see or hear of him again. Avon is not particularly interested in his miraculous survival, either.

The salvage vessel Scavenger (ID: 02D25) has a crew of two blue-collar workers wearing baseball caps. They are armed, but have a moral duty to assist humanoids who they believe might be injured or stranded (though they are prepared to kill in self-defense). They have a hand-held tracker for humanoid life and believe that a dwarf star cannon could destroy a Federation cruiser.

A Chekani worm is spineless, unsurprisingly.

Quotes:

Avon: Stop complaining, Vila. You wanted to get off Scorpio for a while, and I need some backup.
Vila: I was thinking more along the lines of wine, women and song. Not getting my throat cut in some lice-ridden back alley...

Vila: Can we hurry please, Avon? The sooner we get back, the safer I'll feel!
Avon: Did anyone ever tell you, Vila, that you are as spineless as Chekani worm?
Vila: I tell myself every morning. It keeps me out of trouble.

Vila: [landing at the feet of a Federation patrol] This can't be happening to me...

Valkac: Federation scum! You destroy my battle cruiser, you try to kill me... and now you try to cheat me of my vengeance!

Valkac: There's nowhere for you to hide, Avon... you haven't got away with it... I'll hunt you across the galaxy if I have to... and when I find you... YOU'RE A DEAD MAN!

Comment:
A waste of five pages, with a story that can only have been either a) a last-minute filler or b) an aborted attempt at a story arc. Perhaps they wanted to replace Servalan with Valkac for a bit of variety, to make their own comic strip continuity but if so, they failed, making him a one-note psychopath who seems to just appear to cause a chase scene. There are some nice moments, the first page attempting a Blake's 7 version of Alien, or the stuff with Vila loitering outside Pellorim's house, but the whole is very much less than the sum of its parts. This is the only strip where the only regular elements are Avon and Vila, which should have been all that was needed to make it a classic, but instead it goes nowhere. And just what was the "Aston and Vila have their backs to the wall" business? Some kind of appeal to the football fan demographic?

Without doubt the weakest of the Blake's 7 comics.

CranPax Core

Issue: XI

Summary:
The Federation conquest of Savgard is underway, and the natives contact Avon and ask for his aide in protecting the CranPax Core - a giant crystal containing all the knowledge of the universe, which is what the Federation are after. Arriving on Savgard, Scorpio encounters a base under Federation control and destroy it, not realizing many of their allies were held prisoner there, including the father of the resistance leader, Incanta. Avon is nevertheless able to download all the CranPax Core information into Orac and then destroys the original crystal. Incanta sacrifices herself to buy Scorpio a chance to escape when the Federation attacks.

Continuity:
Though outfits suggest early Season 4, but the crew's relationship with Avon is so strained it's clearly be after Orbit. Vila suggests Avon is after more gold, so it's clearly after Gold. Avon is becoming more and more secretive, discussing things with Orac rather than the others and noting that he doesn't consider any of the others reliable. Vila treats Avon (and Orac) with surprising contempt, and Dayna and Tarrant side with the thief. Soolin is, for some reason, not aboard Scorpio and never mentioned.

Avon has been on Savgard a while ago, and had a relationship with Incanta who considers him trustworthy and knows of Orac's capabilities (presumably this visit was sometime in Season 2 with Blake - protecting the CranPax Core would certainly be one of his priorities). The CranPax Core is a natural silicon block the people of Savgard have been updating with all the information of the universe, which is their "life's work" (probably more than that, since they've named the planet after their task of "Safe Guard"ing the Core). Honor is a huge part of the Savgard culture, including mandatory noble sacrifice.

Savgard is a desert planet of valleys. The Federation have only recently discovered the CranPax Core and made two attempts to capture it, but the natives beat them off (albeit with heavy losses). The Commander claims to have been prepared to talk to the natives - presumably when they realized they couldn't take it by force, they were willing to try diplomacy, but when Scorpio destroys the garrison they decide the people are "maniacs" and wipe them all out. They have a "new, powerful" fleet of battle cruisers to come to the planet and have constructed a missile range to defend the garrison, though the missiles can only function at a certain altitude and crash if going beneath it.

Quotes:

Vila: I don't know why you let Tarrant fly Scorpio at all. Might as well hand over control to Orac, since the scabby electronic rat seems to know everything!
Avon: I sometimes wonder myself, Vila. At least I know I can rely on Orac... unlike some I could mention.

Avon: We are here by invitation of those who have chosen to stand against the Federation and defend what is rightfully theirs. It's a noble cause and one we should support.
Vila: Cut the claptrap, Avon! What's in it for us, eh?!
Avon: So eloquently put, Vila... but quite right.

Avon: Knowledge is something of which you have very little, Vila.
Vila: [stares at Avon] ...I think I'm insulted.

Vila: [to Avon] YOU! ARE! CRAZY!!

Vila: A transfer of all that knowledge into Orac?! He'll be more insufferable than ever after this...

Incanta: Farewell, Kerr Avon. I will never know if it was me you came to rescue... or the knowledge of the CranPax Core. But I have my suspicions.

Avon: [of Incanta] They've chosen their destiny, Tarrant. Leave them to die as they wish.

Comment:
Avon's past relationship with Incanta, the silly names, the very IDEA of the CranPax Core, all are so utterly dumb they boggle the mind - but are totally balanced out by the incredibly dark plot. There's no friendliness amongst the Scorpio crew, who genuinely seem sick of each other, and Avon drives the heroine to suicide by his casual use of violence (worse, he had absolutely no choice in the matter). It's the antimatter opposite of Sacrifice, with even Avon's noble intentions brought into question. Having caused much more grief and destruction than the Federation, the ending is so bleak with the implication that even possessing all the knowledge of the universe won't defeat the empire...

Amazingly, comic strip that manages to be nastier and more cynical than the parent TV show!

Rendezvous

Issue: XII

Writer: Ken Armstrong

Art: Steve Dillion

Summary:
Servalan rehearses ambushing Scorpio with a full battle fleet, which proves successful. The real however is damaged from a dogfight, with the power surge effectively driving Slave crazy. Switching the computer off, Tarrant pilots the ship on manual - which means it is not as smooth or efficient as Servalan expects when she tries to ambush it with the rehearsed attack. The distraction allows Avon to reactivate Slave and demand the computer stop the ship... whereupon Slave sends Scorpio hurtling to safety at top speed.

Continuity:
This story appears to be in the latter half of Season 4, but Vila as ever wears his "first half" jacket with the bullseyes. Tarrant gets really bad helmet hair.

Scorpio has a Manloc transfer system that is normally covered by protective plates. There is a kitchen area just off the flight deck which is controlled by Slave. The dispenser cooks coded meals (Soolin tries to get an Alpha Meal and two cold Vantis drinks for Tarrant). Slave's inspection hatch is just above its "head", it controls all the stabilizer systems. There is a strange type of space suit aboard that is not the usual type used in the show or the comics (and seems to be used because it allows precision movement with the hands).

Servalan's ship is now the command ship for a fleet of at least sixteen attack craft. The Federation can create a mock-up of Scorpio that flies, shoots (and explodes) like the real thing. It does not, however, have the Stardrive, which is a rather blatant flaw in trying to predict the genuine article's actions.

Quotes:

Vila: Well, you've done it again. It was your bright idea to explore the Sulan system and look what's happened!
Avon: There was no way of knowing the Sulans had signed a pact with the Federation. Just think yourself lucky I got you out of there with only slight damage.
Vila: "Lucky"? You call being chased by interceptors, having to fight for our lives and then getting shot up "lucky"?
Avon: You're still alive, aren't you?
Vila: Great. All this and heaven too.

Tarrant: It's "flying by the seat of the pants" time!

Vila: The whole ship's cracking up - I'm even getting interference on my scanner! Look at that, you'd think there was a Federation main taskforce out there.
Avon: Show me.
Vila: ...it IS interference, isn't it?
Avon: Wrong again, Vila.

Avon: Ever since his circuits were damaged, Slave has been doing the reverse of what was ordered. He's getting more like you every day, Vila.

Comment:
Steve Dillion makes the most of his last story, using the artwork to focus on all the regulars (though Dayna gets some rather short shrift) and the shock beginning where Scorpio is destroyed by plasma bolts is brilliantly done. All the characters are in fine form, and the dialogue is spot on. This is definitely one of the best strips they did, especially coming after the pointless Prey.

Another 'Scorpio breaks down in the middle of a space battle' story is saved by artwork and characterization.

Alliance

Issue: XIII

Summary:
Avon allies the Scorpio with an independent warlord called Cowan and together they attack a Federation convoy transporting an atomic star cannon. The raid is a success but Scorpio is badly damaged in the battle, and Cowan decides to use the cannon to destroy his now-useless ally. Avon, Dayna and Soolin teleport across to Cowan's ship as the warlord prepares to fire. Avon kills Cowan, but the cannon is fired, destroying a nearby planet and transforming it into a black hole. Tarrant and Vila manage to repair Scorpio and destroy the Federation reinforcements and then, against the odds, teleport Avon and the others back to safety before Cowan's ship - and the atomic star cannon - is swallowed by the new black hole.

Continuity:
The crew are depicted in the outfits they wear for the finale episode and Avon's attempts to secure an alliance all suggest towards the end of Season 4, but as Avon and Vila seem to be on good terms it's presumably before Orbit. It was Avon's idea to steal the atomic star cannon, and the main reason he agreed to Cowan's suggestion of an alliance (the agreement all takes place on a distant planet before the story begins), and doesn't let Cowan know that Scorpio is capable of teleport. Cowan, for his part, is convinced Avon only wants to defeat the Federation so he can become supreme ruler of the galaxy (an idea Blake's 7 Magazine explores in more depth in its text stories, in particular The Golden Book).

It seems that Scorpio's reputation is ridiculously impressive, with Cowan amazed at its power and weapons and taken aback when it yet again breaks down. Full thrust from Scorpio uses millions of power units and generates a heat trail behind the ship that can incinerate a pursuit ship caught in its wake. The teleport can lock onto single targets with more accuracy over longer distances than with multiples, which works by "narrowing the tractor beam". If someone teleported holds onto another person, they can be teleported safely as well (though maybe only they're already wearing suitable bracelets).

The Federation use a "Pan-Gal Transport" ship to move the atomic star cannon.

Quotes:

Cowan: You mean the all-powerful Scorpio can no longer fly? Are you serious, Avon?
Avon: It's purely a temporary thing.

Cowan: I'm not beaten yet, Avon! I still have the cannon and you won't take that from me!
Avon: Wrong again, Cowan. I'll take it after I take your life. [shoots him] No one cheats Avon.

Vila: That's one you owe me, Avon. It was my brain that found a way to save you and turn disaster into success!
Avon: Success? How can it be success when the only worthwhile thing, the atomic star cannon, is a mangled mess in the middle of a black hole? Next time, you'll have to do better, Vila!

Comment:
Seemingly another attempt to redo Warlord, this time with lots more space battles, ridiculous super weapons and malfunctioning teleports, it's more than slightly reminiscent of The Flying Bomb with the sudden creation of black holes. Dayna and Soolin get more than the usual slice of the action, but this is a generic comic strip by any standards - notably only for its rather creepy impressionist artwork.

A predictable double-cross that shows strong signs of padding.

Stranded

Issue: XIV

Writer: Ken Armstrong

Art: Mick Austin

Summary:
Scorpio comes across a derelict space wheel. Boarding the wheel, the crew begin to explore when a hooded man attacks them. Soolin shoots at him, but he and his daughter seal the crew inside one room and then attempt to flee the wheel in Scorpio. Slave, however, refuses to obey their commands, giving Vila enough time to free them and recapture Scorpio. Federation ships approach, intending to destroy the wheel as a navigational hazard, but Avon fires on the ships and destroys them. Understanding the family were desperate and mistook the rebels for the Federation, he decides to drop the father and daughter on the nearest planet.

Continuity:
Again, the crew are all depicted as they are in Blake - even Orac is strapped down in Scorpio. It's notable that Avon states they are heading for an "open planet" at the end of the story, so possibly this is a missing adventure that occurs en route to Gauda Prime and at one point Avon even suggests making the wheel their "new home". They strip the wheel of spare components as back ups for Scorpio. The Federation demolition ship instantly recognizes Scorpio as a terrorist ship and assumes they are using the wheel as their base.

The wheel was a space station that was partially-destroyed in the Atomic Wars, the first acknowledgement of the original backstory of Blake's 7. (Oddly, Orac describes the wheel as "Federation" even though the organization was only created AFTER the atomic wars). The wheel is now classified as "space debris 709", even though its gravity motors are still functional and the wheel is still turning. The hatch opens at a laser trigger key. The atmosphere aboard is breathable though the nitrogen content is high. The motors' decay creates a strong smell as they burn out.

Mansha and her father were forced by the Federation to take up residence on the space wheel in the knowledge it would one day break down and be destroyed (either they were forced into hiding or simply exiled there). They nevertheless have access to stun weapons like pistols and gas grenades. Mansha's father used to pilot a Wanderer-class planet hopper.

Quotes:

Vila: There's an electronic circuit activated to keep us prisoner here, it'll take ages to break out!
Avon: It better not, Vila, or we'll be stranded here.
Vila: ...in that case, I'll have us out of here in minutes.

Mansha's Father: Computer, can you hear me?
Slave: I beg leave to say that I can.

Mansha's Father: Time is running out!
Avon: [enters] You never said a truer word, friend. [aims gun] Start explaining or you die!
Mansha's: [shocked] The Federation people?
Avon: We are not of the Federation!
Mansha's Father: B...but your costume...

Avon: You came within an inch of losing your lives but this time you will be permitted to live.

Comment:
Mick Austin from Doctor Who Monthly takes over the artwork for the next two issues, with his charicatured style where every scene seems lost in fog and although it gives this strip a nice ghost-story ambience, he clearly doesn't have the space he wants and tries to shake up the page structure as best he can. Nevertheless, points for an unusual happy ending and giving the whole cast, even the computers, a slice of the action.

An atmospheric change of pace that uses its page length intelligently.

Next: Overboard, Debris, Hunted, Hunger, Target Practice and The Omen!