The Dutch weren't the only ones making slipshod licensed comics based on Sandy Frank's reimagination of Tatsunoko's 1972 animated series GATCHAMAN. Gold Key's BATTLE OF THE PLANETS comics burst upon the drugstore magazine racks like a super-ninja bird-themed attack team.



Well, to be honest, these comics were roundly ignored by everyone, because they were Gold Key Comics. Nobody likes Gold Key Comics. Their BOTP comics were merely one more license, ineptly drawn and scripted, destined 25 years later for lonely vigils in small town antique markets because for some reason people think these comics are worth money. Which they aren't.



Our heroes are on model for the most part. Keyop's gibberish-speak now includes the phrase "zmftkpt", which is probably now somebody's Livejournal password.



Zoltar's looking pretty ripped here. Actually it looks like he's wearing Batman's costume with a bigger cape and mask.



The Phoenix now contains a fleet of jet planes and is wildly off model. Also apparently without communication all its weapons are useless, according to the dialog.



Ha ha, Zoltar. Ha ha indeed.



That impulsive Jason! Always asking questions! As I recall from the TV show, his impulsiveness was expressed in ways more along the lines of, say, killing people.



Wow, a giant snow monster. Issue two, and already the script is resorting to lame weather-themed monsters. You get the feeling the writers' heart just isn't in this particular licensed comic book. Maybe they'd be happier working on MOBY DUCK.



Two pages later we get... a fire monster. That was completely unexpected, Gold Key Comics. You have surprised us all again.

Seriously, I see these comics being sold for outrageous prices at little-old-lady antique shops and comic book shows, and these comics are SO NOT WORTH IT. I wouldn't pay more than a dollar each for these, and that's in MINT, signed by Sandy Frank, with a dollar bill paper-clipped to page 16.

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