Metal Eating Monsters, Hijackers and Meteors!

cover art by George Wilson

 Space Family Robinson #15 (January 1966) was the first issue to carry the "Lost in Space" sub-title, tying it in with the then-current TV series while still retaining its own original cast of characters.

The series was usually written by Gaylord Du Bois, one of a number of excellent and extraordinarily prolific writers who worked for Gold Key. But this particular issue is tentativly credited to Del Connell, the original creator of the series. The art is by Dan Spiegle.

It begins with the older Robinsons--married couple Craig and June--using spectrographic scans in an attempt to find our sun and get back home. But the pets are getting bored and restless, so the parents allow their children, Tim and Tam, to take the pets down to a nearby planet for some exercise.

It does seem a bit irresponsible for parents to allow their kids to fly down unsupervised to an unexplored planet. To be fair, though, Tim and Tam are veteran explorers by this point. And no one could have predicted that they would run into a giant monster that is both made of metal and eats metal.

The beast chews on the spacemobile long enough to jam the main hatch open. Before Tim can make repairs, some local natives show up. As was usual with much non-prose science fiction of that decade, language issues are ignored for the sake of moving the story along. The natives simply speak English.

The kids soon learn that the planet's population is doomed. Food sources are dwindling and the Metal Eaters are magnifying the problem by... well, eating metal. This is putting a crimp in the plans of the natives to build a working spaceship.

The people here are mostly friendly, but one group decides to take matters into their own hands. They take Tam hostage, forcing Tim to call his dad for help. Their plan is to eventually hijack the Robinson's space station so they can escape the doomed planet.

Up in the space station, Craig and June had identified the sun, but lose track of it again when a meteor storm hits.

This incident highlights a weakness in the script. There are three plot threads in the story--the spectrographic search for the sun, the hijacking attempt, and the metal eating monsters. Those last two are tentatively linked, but not very strongly. None of the plot threads are ever solidly connected or interwoven, either in terms of plot or theme. Stuff is just happening haphazardly. It's as if Del Connell had several story ideas that did not by themselves fill an entire issue, so he simply mashed them together willy-nilly.

But even with this weakness in the story structure, the issue is a fun one. Dan Spiegle's fun and imaginative art saves the day. His design for both the metal monsters and the planet's natives are original and visually cool, giving the story an appear that lifts it above its weak script.

Anyway, Craig comes to the planet and soon uses a little judo to take care of the hijackers. End of that problem.

But the Metal Eaters have begun rampaging through the native city. I love the panel just below. This is exactly what I mean when I say the Spiegle's art saves a story. Who wouldn't shell out twelve cents for that panel alone?

Craig uses water vapor to take out the monsters, and gives both metal and plans for a space ship to the natives, giving them the means to eventually find a better home. The poor Robinsons have lost track of their home star again, so they're still lost in space. So their own adventure continues.

Next week, we'll re-visit with Daredevil for his rematch against Stilt-Man.