Wednesday, 4 March 2015

DO YOU BELIEVE IN LEGENDS?


Copyright REBELLION

From the SMASH! Annual for 1970, comes The LEGEND TESTERS!  DANNY CHARTERS and ROLLO STONES embark on yet another mission to test whether a legend from the past is true or not.  It's a fascinating concept and I'm surprised that the strip wasn't continued for many years afterwards as it seems a rich vein to mine for action and adventure.  I think IPC/FLEETWAY slipped up in not having Danny and Rollo in the revamped Smash!, or reviving them for VALIANT, or STARLORD, or even 2000 A.D.  They would've been a perfect fit for either of the latter two, being, as they were, sci-fi comics.

In the U.S., at around the same time that the duo first appeared in  ODHAMS' weekly Smash! comic (1966), was a TV programme called The TIME TUNNEL, although I'm unsure as to exactly when it was first shown on British television.  It's interesting to speculate whether the Smash! strip was 'inspired' by the IRWIN ALLEN TV series, or was simply a twist on the BBC's DOCTOR WHO.
  
Will The Legend Testers ever live again in new adventures?  Only time will tell, but for the moment, enjoy this look back at one of their exciting expeditions from over 45 years ago.




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4 comments:

  1. Anonymous17 March 2015 at 07:46

    Great to see another Legend Testers story once again.. The early stories from Smash were brilliant eg The Flask Of Eterno. Whatever made Odhams drop the series still baffles me
    Lionel

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  2. Kid17 March 2015 at 13:02

    Me too. I doubt the makers of The Time Tunnel had heard of The Legend Testers, so it's unlikely that there was any legal pressure brought to bear. 'Tis a mystery.

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  3. TC21 March 2015 at 04:09

    The Time Tunnel premiered on ABC (American Broadcasting Company) in September 1966. I don't know if that was before or after the first Legend Testers strip was published, but I doubt that either series influenced the other. Of course, both were preceded by Doctor Who. And by Mr. Peabody's Improbable History, for that matter. :)

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  4. Kid21 March 2015 at 05:33

    Smash! came out in February of 1966, if I remember rightly, so it looks like there was no connection to The Time Tunnel. I've got the complete DVD set, but have still to watch it all.

    ReplyDelete

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