Wilbur Zero

Commander Wilbur Zero was, as Chief Controller at Space City, a high-ranking member of the World Space Patrol.

Early 2065
In January 2065, when Lieutenant Ninety informed him of an automatic space mayday coming from Area 4 of Sector 25, Zero told him that he should alert Fireball XL5 and get Steve Zodiac to investigate. After Zodiac had been pronounced dead by Venus following an attack by Batmen, (COMIC: The Batmen) news of this quickly reached Space City from XL5 but was not elaborated upon further. Questioned by a TV 21 reporter about Steve's condition, Zero stated "I am completely confident in Dr. Venus's ability to deal with the situation". (COMIC: Genesis of Evil) Venus and Professor Matic later realised that Venus had misdiagnosed Steve and they were eventually able to revive him. Steve immediately contacted Commander Zero after waking up, with Zero wanting to know what all the commotion surrounding Steve's death was about. Steve claimed he couldn't explain at that moment and instead requested information on the space freighter on which the Batmen escaped. Zero responded by telling Steve the freighter had moved to the edge of Sector 25, which was nearly in hyperspace. (COMIC: The Batmen) Soon afterwards, as stated on the front page of TV Century 21 on 30 January, Fireball landed on an unknown asteroid in hyperspace. Commander Zero led a press conference during which he told reporters that Fireball had made the discovery whilst hunting a "mysterious" space freighter. (PROSE: Stingray Attacked!) However, Zero stormed out of this conference with an abrupt "No comment" when the topic of Venus's capture was broached, (COMIC: Genesis of Evil) which had occurred as the Fireball crew were surveying the asteroid in search of Batmen. Steve and Mat were also captured by the Batmen not long after, leading to Steve surrendering Fireball to the leader of the Batmen in order to save Venus's life. (COMIC: The Batmen) When news of this decision reached Space City and the front page of TV21 on 13 February, Zero was stated to be "far too busy" to speak to reporters. (PROSE: Fireball Surrenders!) Zero was pictured on the front page of TV21 on 27 March next to an article by their science correspondent about the Cobra Mk.1 ground to space missile which had recently been installed at Space City. (PROSE: Earth in Peril!)

As relayed on TV21's front page on 24 April, in reference to Mat's orders to destroy the W.S.W.193 with all aboard if Steve failed to release the dangerous Omega-Minus device bolted to its underneath before the ship re-entered Earth's atmosphere, Zero stated "It is either the 1,000 passengers in the space liner, or the rest of the world." (PROSE: Zodiac's Rescue Bid!)

The Space War and the Ant War
Commander Zero was at his post in Space City when the Tenth Space Fleet engaged an Astran space fleet in battle (COMIC: Space Border Battle) on 1 May 2065. (PROSE: Battle in Space) Foreseeing that things might get complicated, he ordered the Fireball XL5 to return to base before things got too heated. He and the crew of the Fireball listened together to Astro-Controller Clarke's later radio report of how the battle had developed, with Zodiac declaring that the Space War had begun. (COMIC: Space Border Battle) Zero's order to Clarke was subsequently reported upon by a special correspondent for TV 21. (PROSE: Atlanta Kidnapped!)

In the morning of 5 June 2065, (PROSE: Stingray Searches) Zero accompanied Steve Zodiac to the corner of Kruschev Avenue and Churchill Street in Unity City based on a tip-off by Penelope Creighton-Ward. The two took custody of the 610th Kaplan of Astra's murderer, Count Lugosti. However, before they could take him to a safe place of holding, their hovercar was rammed by another, driven by agents of the same power who had hired Lugosti to kill the Kaplan. Zodiac and Zero were knocked out and the enemy recovered Lugosti, whom they promptly murdered, as he had become a liability. (COMIC: Zodiac Makes An Arrest) He joined Zodiac in making a report to the President of Earth, and then headed with him to the casino to investigate Lugosti's hideout, which had been found by an army detail. (COMIC: Army In House To House Search)

After the Ant War
In October 2065, when an explosion occurred in the atomic booster motors of Fireball XL5, (PROSE: Fireball Explosion!) Commander Zero explained why space rescue ships would not be sent to rescue XL5. He reportedly stated "If Professor Matic can't mend a fuse, he's got no right to be a spaceman!". (COMIC: The Menace of the Monstrons) After Steve Zodiac went missing despite contact with his ship not being lost, Zero elaborated on the ship's marooning to the press and went on to say that the three XL5 crew members initially split up to investigate the asteroid they were on and that Matic and Doctor Venus had already radioed in their reports with no news yet received from Steve. (PROSE: FAB1 Back in Action!)

In 2066, Zero ordered Zodiac and XL5 to investigate a missing ten man construction crew on Syntex with Captain West when he was contacted by West's ship. He later ordered XL5 to return to Space City when the meteor-like spacecrafts of an unidentified invader were unaffected by the plutomic missiles he had sent. At a top security conference with World President Nikita Bandranaik, he relayed Matic's advice to concentrate all the firepower on one creature to learn how to defeat the others but denounced the strategy as too dangerous, a sentiment with which Bandranaik agreed. (COMIC: The Syntex Mystery) According to official sources, however, Zero (and Matic) pleaded with the President to allow the bombardment of the creature to continue. (PROSE: Destroy Space City) The President ultimately decided to drop cobalt bombs on Space City Island with Zero still there with a contingent of military units when the threat was neutralised, just seconds before the bombers flew overhead. (COMIC: The Syntex Mystery) This last desperate bid from Zero before the World Air Force arrived was also reported upon. (PROSE: Search and Destroy)

In June 2066, Zero told Steve to head for Space Station Velnar as XL5 was carrying the unconscious crew of Freighter 203 in the aftermath of a Black Ship attack, so that they would be able to receive the necessary medical attention. When it was revealed that Venus had been abducted by Damacles in order to exchange her life for XL5, Zero rejected Steve's pleas to agree to the deal. Zero reported these developments to the World President who concurred that it was a "tough decision" but the "right" one but changed his mind when his printing telex informed him of the abduction of a conference of Earth's top scientists, forcefully telling Zero and the others at Space City to hand over XL5 and "find a way of busting" the organisation. (COMIC: The Black Ship) Soon after, with a secrecy blanket over Black Ship operations, it was reported that Zero was briefing the XL5 crew for a determined effort to locate the "enemy" ships. (PROSE: World Navy Sub Turns Pirate) When Fireball seemingly disappeared and senators and reporters across the world demanded an explanation, Zero's only comment was that the ship was investigating the Black Ship outrages and would remain on secret patrol indefinitely. (COMIC: The Terrorkon Harvest) Zero and Matic were forced to simply wait after Steve and XL5 were captured although they were relayed news of VA 17's destruction by Space Station Remus. Zero ordered that XL5 be intercepted with missiles after it was sighted attempting to evade detection. Zero, Matic, Steve, and Venus later convened in Space City where they discussed that there was not enough evidence to try to true instigators of the Black Ship crisis, Bereznik. (COMIC: The Black Ship)

During the heat crisis of 2066, Zero directed Virgil Tracy to the platomic missile stored in Space City and assisted him in loading it onto Thunderbird 2. Zero explained that it was the most powerful bomb in the world; it was to fired at the Sun to prevent a new satellite made of waste matter from endangering Earth and the entire Solar System. (COMIC: Solar Danger)

Behind the scenes
Commander Zero originates from the television series Fireball XL5.