"WILL THE PEOPLE TAKING THE TRAIN FROM PLATFORM 6 PLEASE PUT IT BACK..."

Children (and maybe even adults) have a curious ability to believe conflicting notions at the same time.  Case in point: When I was 5 or 6, I knew FIREBALL XL5 was a puppet programme (I could see the strings) and didn't feature 'real' actors in the starring roles (apart from the voices, of course).  However, when I saw the headline on front cover of the very first TV CENTURY 21 asking whether STEVE ZODIAC was dead - and VENUS confirming it inside - it seems to me, recalling the event nearly 50 years later, I 'believed' it in some way.

Was it being seemingly presented as 'fact' in a 'newspaper' format the reason it confused my 'fantasy detector'?  You know, present something as if it's true and it will seem like the truth - no matter how fantastic the premise?  For whatever reason, I wondered whether there would be no more Fireball on the telly because Steve Zodiac was dead.  (Not realizing, barring repeats, the programme was already history because STINGRAY was the then-current GERRY ANDERSON baby - with THUNDERBIRDS waiting in the wings.)

Having been sent to Sunday School as a youngster, I was familiar with the concept of the universe supposedly being the handiwork of a Supreme Being.  I was also aware of the organic evolutionary idea as it was mentioned in LOOK & LEARN and various other sources.  Had you then asked me how things had come into existence, depending on which track my brain-train was running along on any given day, I could've just as easily replied with either one explanation or the other - and not seen the dichotomy.

I remember, as an 8 or 9 year old, sitting in class one day and suddenly realizing these two schools of thought represented a divergence of opinion on the subject and couldn't both be true.  Why did it take so long for both carriages to pull up to the platform at the same time, thus revealing them as rivals as opposed to station-mates?  Who knows - maybe I was just a thicko.

However, I don't really think so (and MENSA agrees with me).  It just seems to be a fact the human brain can entertain all sorts of weird and wonderful ideas, some of which are mutually exclusive - and not always be aware of the fact until, somewhere, in a chamber of the mind, a light suddenly flickers on and casts its illumination into the shadows.

Anyone have any similar experiences or observations they'd care to relate?  The comments section awaits your interesting input!     

BATMAN Versus STEVE ZODIAC - PART FIVE...

Images copyright relevant owner

Here we are at last - with the wrap-up to TV CENTURY 21's very first FIREBALL XL5 adventure, as illustrated by GRAHAM COTON for one last time before MIKE NOBLE took up the reins in the very next issue (#6).  Some of Graham's art does seem a little rushed in places, but this is no doubt due to juggling various deadlines on different assignments, rather than a lack of talent on his part.  However, mighty Mike Noble was born to illustrate the Fireball strip, and his dramatic drawings surely enriched many a childhood back in the dynamic days of the swingin' '60s.

But groovy Graham Coton paved the way for him in the first five fabulous issues of the Universe's greatest comic of the future.  (And remember - the first issue is due out in only 52 years.)  So let's hear it for Graham - his rightful place in TV21's history is assured.