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Lost In Space : Voyage To The Bottom Of The Soul
360 page graphic novel written by Bill Mumy, TV's "Will Robinson" himself! With lush, full color artwork by acclaimed Australian illustrator, Michal Dutkiewicz, and a fully painted cover by legendary comic artist, John Severin, with a foreword by "Stan the Man" Stan Lee. A must-have collectible for any Lost In Space fan! The Jupiter 2 and its crew finally reaches its original destination, Alpha Centauri... and the Robinson family will never be the same again! Join Prof. John Robinson, Dr. Maureen Robinson, their children Judy, Penny and Will Robinson, pilot Major Don West and reluctant stowaway, Dr. Zachary Smith (and Robot B-9) as they alight, at last, on the elusive, long sought Proxima 4 in the Alpha Centauri star system. Theirs is a mission of peace and scientific exploration... Aoelus 14 Umbra, however, have other plans...! Turns out getting there was ALL the fun...!
- GenresMedia Tie In
360 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2005
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 13, 2016
WARNING! WARNING!
THIS NOT ONLY A REVIEW OF THE TPB "VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SOUL" BUT THE ENTIRE RUN OF "LOST IN SPACE" COMIC BOOKS BY INNOVATION COMICS
7.. 6.. 5.. 4.. 3.. 2.. 1.. LOST IN SPACE!!!
I love the campy era of Lost in Space and I am not ashamed for that. Usually you find the fans of this TV Sci-Fi series saying: "Oh, I am fan but definitely the first season was the best!". Well, that's their problem of not really loving Lost in Space for what was, a truly great campy sci-fi series from the 60s. I don't even have the first season on DVD, never interested, my treasures are the colorful, funny and entertaining Seasons 2 & 3, yes with even Tybo, the carrot-man included!
NEVER FEAR, SMITH IS HERE!
I was six years old and before of meeting serious sci-fi series such as Space: 1999 and Star Trek, hey! even before of the as well campy Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, my first contact with sci-fi was Lost in Space.
It's odd how Irwin Allen (the TV series' god of the 60s) didn't understand his own creation since he was against the continuing use of Dr. Smith, the Robot wasn't included on the pilot neither and he was adamant to make the series as a "serious product". Luckily, one of the producers was Groucho Marx (all-time comedy god) and he just needed to check the TV Guide to realize that their competition wasn't Star Trek, it was Batman and its campy style was beating to the then serious Lost in Space. The campy factor got in and the rest was history! Even when Batman lost its rating and it was cancelled, Lost in Space was remaining strong on audience. Its sad cancellation was due the huge debt of Fox Studios for producing the film Cleopatra, and even then, it was offered to Irwin Allen to keep making the TV series but with the half of the budget and he refused since he was well aware that his fans know how the props were constantly used on each episode and facing having to work with half of the money, he prefered to stop doing it. Bravo, Irwin! Campy is one thing and mediocrity is totally another thing!
DANGER, WILL ROBINSON! DANGER!
This line of comic books by the now defunct "Innovation Comics" had the support of Billy Mumy (original Will Robinson) supervising the plots and even writing on some issues. The actor Miguel Ferrer even wrote the first annual creating a new villain for the series. The art was exceptionally good most of the times (with some exceptions). The storyline jumped to two years where the TV series was left, continuing the journey of the Robinson family trying to find Alpha Centaury.
I didn't like that they tried to get "serious" again the series. Campy, people! If you don't appreciate campy then you never understood and respect Lost in Space. I think that the only way to make a "serious" Lost in Space was making a whole reboot like in the mediocre film, that it wasn't that bad, only they lost faith in their own project and instead developing a trilogy, they just pushed in too much ideas in the same script ruining something kinda good that they had there.
Dr. Smith is too evil again which it suits him but people, he is the best "spin-off" of Long John Silver ever created! A man who did a lot of really bad things in the past but the friendship of a truly good kid can make him soft and to doubt to remain evil. Also, instead of being a traitor working with some foreign country, now he is working for a bunch of aliens, which I thought that something beyond campy... sure, aliens with technology superior to humans needed the help of someone like Smith instead of doing it for themselves.
They kept the Robot as some big tool instead of the wonderful and caring character of the TV series. Nobody was talking to the poor Robot if not for giving him some orders. Without the Robot, future characters like "Data" never would born.
OH, THE PAIN! THE PAIN!
It was interesting how they were dealing with some mature concepts like the sexual puberty of Penny and Will, and also the struggling of Judy to fit in a family of scientists and if she really was in love with Don or just realizing that he was the only "game in town".
With those approaches to "seriousness", I found odd how nobody ever wonder how the "Jupiter Mission" was intended to colonize Alpha Centaury. They didn't have a medical doctor (Dr. Smith was an unintentional stowaway), the whole crew was a family with the exception of the pilot. So, what they were gonna do if they got ill? And how they will colonize without having unrelated crewmembers?
They never did it, but it could be cool to find another "Jupiter Mission" ship, you know, like some "Jupiter 3" and dealing with some disfunctional and dangerous enemy family. It worked on Star Trek: Voyager with the USS Equinox and it worked too on Battlestar Galactica with the Battlestar Pegasus.
At the end, the Lost in Space comic books from "Innovation" were a brave project that it was their best-seller and the only reason that the title got cancelled was due that the publishing company wasn't able to fulfill the expected dates of their multiple ongoing titles.
Again, Lost in Space proved to be a solid product that it was cancelled in two different formats due bad management of the companies in charge of producing it and not due poor rating or lack of interest by its loyal fans.
THIS NOT ONLY A REVIEW OF THE TPB "VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SOUL" BUT THE ENTIRE RUN OF "LOST IN SPACE" COMIC BOOKS BY INNOVATION COMICS
7.. 6.. 5.. 4.. 3.. 2.. 1.. LOST IN SPACE!!!
I love the campy era of Lost in Space and I am not ashamed for that. Usually you find the fans of this TV Sci-Fi series saying: "Oh, I am fan but definitely the first season was the best!". Well, that's their problem of not really loving Lost in Space for what was, a truly great campy sci-fi series from the 60s. I don't even have the first season on DVD, never interested, my treasures are the colorful, funny and entertaining Seasons 2 & 3, yes with even Tybo, the carrot-man included!
NEVER FEAR, SMITH IS HERE!
I was six years old and before of meeting serious sci-fi series such as Space: 1999 and Star Trek, hey! even before of the as well campy Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, my first contact with sci-fi was Lost in Space.
It's odd how Irwin Allen (the TV series' god of the 60s) didn't understand his own creation since he was against the continuing use of Dr. Smith, the Robot wasn't included on the pilot neither and he was adamant to make the series as a "serious product". Luckily, one of the producers was Groucho Marx (all-time comedy god) and he just needed to check the TV Guide to realize that their competition wasn't Star Trek, it was Batman and its campy style was beating to the then serious Lost in Space. The campy factor got in and the rest was history! Even when Batman lost its rating and it was cancelled, Lost in Space was remaining strong on audience. Its sad cancellation was due the huge debt of Fox Studios for producing the film Cleopatra, and even then, it was offered to Irwin Allen to keep making the TV series but with the half of the budget and he refused since he was well aware that his fans know how the props were constantly used on each episode and facing having to work with half of the money, he prefered to stop doing it. Bravo, Irwin! Campy is one thing and mediocrity is totally another thing!
DANGER, WILL ROBINSON! DANGER!
This line of comic books by the now defunct "Innovation Comics" had the support of Billy Mumy (original Will Robinson) supervising the plots and even writing on some issues. The actor Miguel Ferrer even wrote the first annual creating a new villain for the series. The art was exceptionally good most of the times (with some exceptions). The storyline jumped to two years where the TV series was left, continuing the journey of the Robinson family trying to find Alpha Centaury.
I didn't like that they tried to get "serious" again the series. Campy, people! If you don't appreciate campy then you never understood and respect Lost in Space. I think that the only way to make a "serious" Lost in Space was making a whole reboot like in the mediocre film, that it wasn't that bad, only they lost faith in their own project and instead developing a trilogy, they just pushed in too much ideas in the same script ruining something kinda good that they had there.
Dr. Smith is too evil again which it suits him but people, he is the best "spin-off" of Long John Silver ever created! A man who did a lot of really bad things in the past but the friendship of a truly good kid can make him soft and to doubt to remain evil. Also, instead of being a traitor working with some foreign country, now he is working for a bunch of aliens, which I thought that something beyond campy... sure, aliens with technology superior to humans needed the help of someone like Smith instead of doing it for themselves.
They kept the Robot as some big tool instead of the wonderful and caring character of the TV series. Nobody was talking to the poor Robot if not for giving him some orders. Without the Robot, future characters like "Data" never would born.
OH, THE PAIN! THE PAIN!
It was interesting how they were dealing with some mature concepts like the sexual puberty of Penny and Will, and also the struggling of Judy to fit in a family of scientists and if she really was in love with Don or just realizing that he was the only "game in town".
With those approaches to "seriousness", I found odd how nobody ever wonder how the "Jupiter Mission" was intended to colonize Alpha Centaury. They didn't have a medical doctor (Dr. Smith was an unintentional stowaway), the whole crew was a family with the exception of the pilot. So, what they were gonna do if they got ill? And how they will colonize without having unrelated crewmembers?
They never did it, but it could be cool to find another "Jupiter Mission" ship, you know, like some "Jupiter 3" and dealing with some disfunctional and dangerous enemy family. It worked on Star Trek: Voyager with the USS Equinox and it worked too on Battlestar Galactica with the Battlestar Pegasus.
At the end, the Lost in Space comic books from "Innovation" were a brave project that it was their best-seller and the only reason that the title got cancelled was due that the publishing company wasn't able to fulfill the expected dates of their multiple ongoing titles.
Again, Lost in Space proved to be a solid product that it was cancelled in two different formats due bad management of the companies in charge of producing it and not due poor rating or lack of interest by its loyal fans.
November 8, 2018
Lost In Space the comic is a Voyage of Reimagination
Waaaaay back in the 1960’s, their was a science fiction television series that made a huge cultural impact.
Well, at the time.
But another 1960s sci-fi tv series really massively overtook it, so that’s why more people worldwide know of Star Trek then what I am babbling about here.
Namely, Lost In Space.
And more precisely, the 1991 Lost In Space comic series.
Lost In Space started life on television in 1965 and was created by noted schlocky producer Irwin Allen, and ended in 1968. It followed the adventures of the Space Family Robinson, Professor Robinson, wife Maureen, teen daughter Judy, preteen daughter Penny, and nine year old son Will, who after an act of sabotage by stowaway villain Doctor Smith, wander the cosmos trying to find Alpha Centauri, with pilot Don and the Robot along as well. They begin as high adventure in black and white and cliffhanger endings, but change to more comical tales with colour. And they made “Warning! Warning!” and “Danger, Will Robinson!” get catchphrases for generations of Geeks.
After the series ended, some comics followed, and an animated special, neither at all great. Then came the 1990s and Bill Mumy, who was the little boy who played Will, and who enjoyed a long career before and after the show. Now all grown up for quite some time, and having written quite abit, Mumy was hired as Alpha Control when independent publisher Innovation acquired the rights.
The story for this Lost In Space starts a few years after the show closed. Everyone is older, and the danger faced is straight up from season one with steroids. Violent plants are smashing into the Jupiter 2, their spaceship, and everything is dire. Our intrepid crew manage to survive long enough to get back into space, because survival is what they do best.
With that, the stage is set. Chaos and calamity happen all the time, as they struggle to live and a way to Alpha Centauri. And one big advantage to this series is that Mumy and the other writers can really dwelve into the characters heavily.
Which is probably the absolute greatest strength of this Lost In Space series is making them real, all the crew of the Jupiter 2, with life stories and thoughts and motivations that ring true. Even the villainess Doctor Smith gets a soul.
One of the biggest evolutions occurs with the younger teen daughter Penny. Now about 17, Penny dresses very scantily and sexily, and occasionally flirts with Don, her sister Judy’s boyfriend. Some found this arc pushed it abit, which I understand, but I still like the overall concept. They best showcased this, and Penny’s mental status, in issue 5. Which also helps explain away the tonal differences of the original series. Penny by the way, was the first human I ever had a crush on.
The first year of this series is solid, then Mumy started a 12 part epic for year two, which turned everything up to 12 and beyond. Innovation bottomed out partway through, and it took many years for Mumy to finish it at another publisher. Released as Lost In Space: Voyage To The Bottom Of The Soul in a trade paperback in 2005, the tale of the Robinson’s and Company continues, gets smashed into a zillion bits of shrapnel, then gets reimagined yet again.
Many of the components from this series were incorporated into the 1998 movie, which also took the concept seriously, and helped lead to the current Netflix series. But these comics under the guidance of Bill Mumy is what started the voyage to these incarnations.
In alot of ways, this also leads to a song Bill Mumy created in 1997 called The Ballad Of Will Robinson. It tells the tale of an adult Will Robinson trying to overcome and the sad hopelessness of all that has happened.
Because in so many ways the idea of Lost In Space is scary and dangerous and troubling.
But here they show humans striving to survive the horror.
And succeeding.
Waaaaay back in the 1960’s, their was a science fiction television series that made a huge cultural impact.
Well, at the time.
But another 1960s sci-fi tv series really massively overtook it, so that’s why more people worldwide know of Star Trek then what I am babbling about here.
Namely, Lost In Space.
And more precisely, the 1991 Lost In Space comic series.
Lost In Space started life on television in 1965 and was created by noted schlocky producer Irwin Allen, and ended in 1968. It followed the adventures of the Space Family Robinson, Professor Robinson, wife Maureen, teen daughter Judy, preteen daughter Penny, and nine year old son Will, who after an act of sabotage by stowaway villain Doctor Smith, wander the cosmos trying to find Alpha Centauri, with pilot Don and the Robot along as well. They begin as high adventure in black and white and cliffhanger endings, but change to more comical tales with colour. And they made “Warning! Warning!” and “Danger, Will Robinson!” get catchphrases for generations of Geeks.
After the series ended, some comics followed, and an animated special, neither at all great. Then came the 1990s and Bill Mumy, who was the little boy who played Will, and who enjoyed a long career before and after the show. Now all grown up for quite some time, and having written quite abit, Mumy was hired as Alpha Control when independent publisher Innovation acquired the rights.
The story for this Lost In Space starts a few years after the show closed. Everyone is older, and the danger faced is straight up from season one with steroids. Violent plants are smashing into the Jupiter 2, their spaceship, and everything is dire. Our intrepid crew manage to survive long enough to get back into space, because survival is what they do best.
With that, the stage is set. Chaos and calamity happen all the time, as they struggle to live and a way to Alpha Centauri. And one big advantage to this series is that Mumy and the other writers can really dwelve into the characters heavily.
Which is probably the absolute greatest strength of this Lost In Space series is making them real, all the crew of the Jupiter 2, with life stories and thoughts and motivations that ring true. Even the villainess Doctor Smith gets a soul.
One of the biggest evolutions occurs with the younger teen daughter Penny. Now about 17, Penny dresses very scantily and sexily, and occasionally flirts with Don, her sister Judy’s boyfriend. Some found this arc pushed it abit, which I understand, but I still like the overall concept. They best showcased this, and Penny’s mental status, in issue 5. Which also helps explain away the tonal differences of the original series. Penny by the way, was the first human I ever had a crush on.
The first year of this series is solid, then Mumy started a 12 part epic for year two, which turned everything up to 12 and beyond. Innovation bottomed out partway through, and it took many years for Mumy to finish it at another publisher. Released as Lost In Space: Voyage To The Bottom Of The Soul in a trade paperback in 2005, the tale of the Robinson’s and Company continues, gets smashed into a zillion bits of shrapnel, then gets reimagined yet again.
Many of the components from this series were incorporated into the 1998 movie, which also took the concept seriously, and helped lead to the current Netflix series. But these comics under the guidance of Bill Mumy is what started the voyage to these incarnations.
In alot of ways, this also leads to a song Bill Mumy created in 1997 called The Ballad Of Will Robinson. It tells the tale of an adult Will Robinson trying to overcome and the sad hopelessness of all that has happened.
Because in so many ways the idea of Lost In Space is scary and dangerous and troubling.
But here they show humans striving to survive the horror.
And succeeding.
February 11, 2023
Weird and inconsistent art with some creepy soft porn stuff. Why is teenage Penny constantly in her underwear?
May 22, 2017
While I enjoyed this collection, I can't say it was a great read. There were sections that were not well paced and some of the directions the characters were taken seemed a bit weird, even for a sequel to a series as weird as Lost in Space. Still, it was written by the actor who portrayed Will Robinson and that certainly adds some validity to the interpretations. In the end though, I'd have to say this is really something for die-hard fans of the series and not for the casual reader.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews