29 февраля 1996

==========================================
*********************************
* PART 11  - SPECTRUM HISTORY 5 *
*         - Lunar Jetman        *
*********************************

Taking  a  break this month from our usual
look  at the various Sinclair machines and
instead  look  at  one  the  Speccy's most
fondly  remembered characters. The "Loony"
Jetman  was  a  cartoon  strip  originally
based  on  the  game  of  the  same  name,
although  it soon developed into something
in  it's  own right. The cartoon strip ran
in Crash Magazine from Issue 6 (July 1984)
right  up until it's demise in mid 1992, a
massive  run  spanning  over  8  years and
totalling   nearly   100  cartoon  strips!
Reproduced  here  is an interview with the
cartoonist  responsible  for  bringing the
Loony  to  life,  originally  published in
Crash No.37 - February 1987.

Until  issue 6, Crash had been carrying on
nicely, dedicating itself to reviewing the
latest  in  computer  games. Light-hearted
perhaps,  humourous  hopefully, but fairly
earnest   nonetheless.   Then  along  came
Jetman,  and  nothing  at Crash towers has
been the same since.
It  all  started  quietly.  No fanfare, no
blurb, no introduction - he just appeared,
suddenly and silently. The original excuse
for  the  strip  was  a  game called Lunar
Jetman  (lost  in  the  midsts of time but
recently  released  on  a US Gold/Ultimate
compilation).  Reviewed  in the very first
issue  of  Crash, it got the highest every
"value  for  money"  rating  - a "perfect"
100%. Obviously flushed with this success,
Tim   Stamper   (the   reclusive  head  of
Ultimate) decided he wanted to promote the
game with a comic strip. Tim had seen John
Richardson's  work  in other magazines and
commissioned  the  strip  from  John,  who
explains his involvement with the computer
games  world:  "Tim  sent me a copy of the
game  on  tape.  I  tried loading it on my
Sirius  computer,  but  it  didn't seem to
work  so  I've  never actually seen it. In
fact,  the  only  computer  game I've ever
played  since  then  is  Star  Trek  on my
Sirius  That was so awful I've never tried
to play one since. I must admit I've never
met  Tim.  The nearest I ever got was when
the  strip  was rather late and his father
came and picked it up."
Since  then, Jetman has taken on a life of
his  own.  The game has faded from memory,
and  even  Ultimate isn't the name it once
was.  But  Jetman  lives  on.  In fact, if
Jetman misses an issue, there are howls of
anguish.  It  makes the rest of us toiling
minions   at   Crash  Towers  feel  really
insignificant sometimes....
So  who  is  the  warped  mind behind this
intergalactic  goon? A sign on the door of
a  Middlesborough studio proudly announces
Richardson  freelance. Inside I found John
busy  toiling  away on a strip for "Custom
Car".   Obviously   aimed  at  a  slightly
different   audience,   this  follows  the
adventures of a superhero called Super C C
and his topless assistant (no, she doesn't
stop  at  the  waist).  Well - what do you
expect  from these car freaks - they can't
even  have  a  motor show without spraying
the place with scantily clad young ladies!
Amongst  John's  other  commissions  are a
strip  featuring  Tina  Tailpipe for Super
Bike  and Pwlong for a CB magazine. Pwlong
is,  so  John assures me, the Greek God of
CB   (well,   the  Greeks  were  a  pretty
advanced civilization.) Apparently, Pwlong
was  born  deaf, and only the advent of CB
has given him the ability to hear.
By  way  of a complete change of style and
emphasis, John also produces a Famous Five
strip   for   a   Enid   Blyton   fanzine.
"Fortunately,  I  only  have  to  draw the
pictures  for  this - they supply the plot
line.   It's   published  in  Denmark  and
appears  in  lot's of different languages.
It's  really  weird  to  see  your  speech
bubbles  filled  with some totally unheard
of language. I suppose there must be a lot
of  Enid  Blyton  fans out there somewhere
that  just  can't get enough of the Famous
Five," John explains.

CONTINUED NEXT ISSUE.

==========================================