The Giants of Kaptar (comic story)

The Giants of Kaptar
Main character(s):	Steve Zodiac
Featuring:	Matic, Venus
Main enemy:	Four Kaptarian noblemen
Main setting:	Kaptar, 2067
Key crew
Publisher:	City Magazines
Editor:	Alan Fennell
Release details
Printed in:	TV21 101-104
Release date:	24 December 1966 - 14 January 1967
Format:	4 parts - 7 pages
Fireball XL5 crossover stories
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The Giants of Kaptar was a Fireball XL5 comic printed in TV Century 21 across the conclusion of 1966 and the commencement of 1967.

The final part of the story was said to be relayed via the Hyper-Space News Agency, the same organisation which TV21 had created as a framing device for The Daleks comic strip in 1965, thus making this a crossover with the Doctor Who universe. The publication of the final part of The Giants of Kaptar coincided with the end of The Road to Conflict, the last instalment of The Daleks, suggesting that the Hyper-Space News Agency temporarily took to reporting on the activities of the Fireball XL5 crew after their monitoring of the Daleks had finished.

Summary

to be added

Plot

Part 1

Fireball XL5 is on patrol through the Nerean Constellation when the crew discovers that there is a fault in the Rocket Ignition System. When they investigate, they discover that it will be very difficult to fix, and that they need to land somewhere to do so. Using the power of Fireball Junior, they decide to crew the spacecraft down onto the planet Kaptar.

Meanwhile, on the planet below, four unpleasant Kaptarian noblemen decide to go for a picnic. One punishes his slave for walking too slowly, then they all ride to the Groves of Lineon. Once they have started picnicking, Fireball XL5 begins to descend into the atmosphere of the planet. The Kaptarians are annoyed by insects, and begin to swat them. Just then, Fireball XL5 lands on one of the Kaptarians' hands, and the Kaptarians are revealed to be giant in relation to the crew of Fireball. The Kaptarians assume that Fireball is an insect, and go to investigate.

Part 2

TBA

Part 3

TBA

Part 4

TBA

Characters

• Steve Zodiac
• Matthew Matic
• Venus
• Mornax
• Urnax
• Fly

Worldbuilding

• Fireball XL5 has been mapping a planetary system in the "little-known regions" of the Nerean Constellation.
• Venus uses the spectro-scanner to determine that Kaptar's gravity has a greater pull than Earth.
• One of the Kaptarians insults Mornax by calling him a clod.
• The Kaptarians pause to eat at the groves of Lineon.
• Steve dubs his attempts to distract the Kaptarians the "craziest" game of hide-and-seek he has ever played in his life.
• Mat fires low-yield missiles from Fireball to release a Kaptarian's grasp on Steve.
• Steve initially mistakes the shrub he jumps into for a tree due to his reduced size.
• Fireball undergoes "extensive test procedures" upon its return to Space City.

Story notes

• Like most of TV Century 21's The Daleks comic stories from the same era, this comic serial was not given a title in the pages of TV Century 21 during its original printing; the title instead comes from later reference sources.
• The final part of this story was only one page in length, contrasting the two pages afforded to each of the other three instalments.

Continuity

• The short story Information Service revealed that the Daleks stopped appearing in TV Century 21 due to the breakdown of the hyper-space communications scanner which the magazine believed had likely been taken over by the Daleks themselves.