By Chris Thompson and Connor Flanagan

Anderson Entertainment, out now

The war between Earth and the Mysterons continues into a third year – but a key weapon may be removed from the fight…

There’s so much to love about New Captain Scarlet – not least the way that it’s continued to gain fans despite the terrible way in which it was treated on its first broadcast (I can still remember Gerry Anderson spitting bricks about it when I interviewed him two or three years later). It took much of what worked so well with the original 1967 series and transported it into a world without the restrictions of puppets, without losing its horribly pessimistic overtone and the fundamental corollaries of the Mysterons’ operation – i.e. someone had to die (usually quite horribly) in order for the Mysterons to gain an agent. In many ways, the cohesion that Phil Ford brought to the show in his scripts made it the better written of the two.

Whereas the original show has had some love on audio from Big Finish, more Scarlet tales from this incarnation are scarce, and it’s good to see that Anderson Entertainment are looking to fill the gap. Operation Sabre is what was planned as a three-issue comicbook – printed in one graphic novel, with some details on Spectrum craft and the covers in-between each one, as well as recreations of some of the original series’ paintings – penned by Chris Thompson with art by Connor Flanagan. The story is a good extrapolation from how things were left at the end of the TV series, and you can see the Mysterons going for what’s suggested – as well as the geopolitics on Earth lending itself to this sort of mess. I’m not quite sure what it says about the chain of command that Spectrum’s chief is willing to basically be so insubordinate at one point, but the core message about who and what Scarlet is comes through clearly (and the similarities to Jack Harkness are magnified by a section that feels like it could have come from Miracle Day).

When the art was first released, I have to admit it felt a bit too much like Flanagan had leant into the idea of Scarlet being the living dead – there’s a skeletal feel to all the characters, not just Captain Scarlet – but you become accustomed to it, and his rendition of the action sequences is the highlight of the book. There’s also a back up strip, written by Andrew Clements, featuring the Angels that’s effectively one long action sequence.

Verdict: I’d definitely be up for reading more from this team – with perhaps someone inking Flanagan’s art – but if you’re a New Captain Scarlet fan, this is well worth your time.

7/10

Paul Simpson

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