Capt. Black Mars Expedition Lost! (short story)

Capt. Black Mars Expedition Lost! was a short story printed in TV Century 21 that contained elements from the Doctor Who universe. Framed as the front page of an in-universe periodical, the titular article teased the upcoming premiere broadcast of Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, while a smaller piece tied-in to the Front Page crossover comics The Premonitions and SPECTRUM.

Summary
Glenn Field reports the loss of their expedition to Mars headed by Captain Black, which had aimed to investigate the strange radio signals from the Rock Snake Hills over the past year. TV Century 21 speculates that "whatever caused the signals" had "accounted for" the expedition. TV21 further notes that Glenn Field has not explained the organisation which Black belongs to, observing the markings on his hat to be identical to both the aircraft seen attacking a target plane over Cornwall and the newly-appeared air station spotted over Nice. The publication goes on to question why the organisation is so secret and what threat to the world could be so deadly the public cannot be informed. They remark that the "something big" afoot has World Government backing and that they want to know what it is, urging Unity City to "speak loud" and assuring them "the World is listening".

Meanwhile, reports flood in to TV21 about the "strange floating aircraft carrier" which suddenly appeared over Nice the previous night. European newspaper reporters immediately charter aircraft to get a closer look, but World Air Force fighters quickly arrive on the scene to deter any "inquistive eyes" from investigating further. A French newspaper man who was able to get a little closer than everyone else tells TV21's Pete Tracker that a strange symbol was present on the control tower section, the same one seen on Captain Black's hat. Tracker comments all that remains is for someone to tell the world what it stands for and why it is a secret.

Characters

 * Captain Black
 * Pete Tracker
 * Lens Sharpe
 * French newspaper man

Worldbuilding

 * Captain Black's expedition set off for Mars in June 2067.
 * The only information about Black's organisation given to the public has been "dug out" by newspapers.
 * Concurrent with the appearance of the mystery "space station" over Nice, security clamps down in Unity City.
 * Lens sketches an artist's impression of the space station as described by sightseers.

Story notes

 * This story continues TV Century 21's promotion for the upcoming television production Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, which had began months earlier in issue 125 with a cover story detailing the launch of Captain Black's expedition. Although a rather low-key approach compared to fellow City Magazines publications Lady Penelope and Solo, which had fully-fledged comic spin-offs to herald the release of the new series, a dedicated Captain Scarlet strip would begin in TV21 less than a week following the premiere of its first episode.
 * This story heavily references the events of SPECTRUM, the first part of which was not published for another two weeks after the release of this issue of TV21. Advance allusions such as this were common but were usually confined to just a one-week window.

Continuity

 * Pete Tracker and Lens Sharpe were ordered to Nice to investigate the air station spotted overhead at the end of COMIC: The Premonitions and depicted doing just that throughout COMIC: SPECTRUM.
 * The mystery organisation is said to have enough power to order the World Air Force into the air as a defensive screen. Indeed, they curtailed Pete and Lens' pursuit of an Angel aircraft in COMIC: SPECTRUM.
 * Following the news of the expedition's loss in this story, Captain Black and Zero X made an unexpected return to Glenn Field in COMIC: SPECTRUM.
 * The symbol on Black's hat and the mysterious aircraft carrier would be later revealed as the emblem of SPECTRUM in PROSE: SPECTRUM is Green.