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Paul Riches's Reviews > Lost In Space : Voyage To The Bottom Of The Soul
Lost In Space : Voyage To The Bottom Of The Soul
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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.
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Reading Progress
Finished Reading
November 8, 2018
– Shelved
