Solar Danger (comic story)

Solar Danger was a Thunderbirds comic story printed in TV Century 21 in 1966. It featured the Doctor Who universe character of World President Nikita Bandranaik and notably marked the first instance of the secret organisation International Rescue teaming up with the World Government.

Flight to the Sun
The world enjoys a record heatwave, but after the first month, it becomes a serious concern as rivers run dry, ice caps melt, and earthquakes strike major cities. International Rescue is overwhelmed, and Jeff Tracy and Brains seek out the source of the problem with a solar telescope on the space station. They see super-hot meteorites impacting the Moon, and Brains determines that the Sun is spewing debris into space. The World President accepts Tracy's help, and Brains and Alan set off in Thunderbird 3 towards the Sun, where Brain's theory is verified: the Sun is preparing to create a new planet, as it did in the formation of the Solar System, but this might destroy life on Earth.

Despite a failing booster, Thunderbird 3 successfully escapes the Sun's gravity and returns to Earth, where Commander Zero loads Thunderbird 2 with a planetomic missile at Space City. Back at Tracy Island, Brains adds new isotope circuits to Thunderbird 3 so they will have the speed to escape the detonation. Thunderbird 3 takes off with the missile, but en route, Brains realises they might be too late to stop the new planet. They agree to use their isotope power early to reach the Sun in time. Alan fires the missile and destroys the new planet, but with the isotopes exhausted, Thunderbird 3 is caught in the blast and hurled into space.

TB3 Ditched on Venus
John in Thunderbird 5 detects a faint radio signal showing that Thunderbird 3 is out of control and heading toward Venus. After two days of unconsciousness, Alan and Brains wake up in time to try and steer their plummeting ship into a sulphur lake, where they are attacked by a massive creature. Sinking, they release their used isotopes, and the monster dies instantly from the radiation. The sulphur is starting to penetrate Thunderbird 3, and the duo put on anti-chemical suits before tracing and repairing the hull damage. Avoiding further monsters, they travel to the surface of Venus. As radio waves don't travel in Venus' dense atmosphere, Brains works to assemble a bonfire from branches, but he is attacked by a man-eating plant. Alan shoots it and frees him, and they light the fire as night falls.

On Earth, Thunderbird 1 takes off for Venus, with Thunderbirds 2 and 4 following close behind to help winch 3 from the lake. Scott arrives first and sees the fire, but a monster from the lake lunges into the air and wraps Thunderbird 1 in its tentacles. Firing all engines, Scott breaks free and fires missiles at the monster, then joins Alan and Brains.

Virgil and Gordon arrive, but Thunderbird 2 received a glancing blow from a meteorite shower which damaged the winch, causing risk of blowback. Thunderbird 4 plunges into the lake, avoiding a swarm of baby monsters by discharging atomic waste, and attaches the winch to 3. Blowback happens, but Virgil activates the radiation shields, and Thunderbird 3 is pulled from the lake. After completing repairs, Brains and the Tracy brothers return to Earth.

Characters

 * Brains
 * Alan Tracy
 * Nikita Bandranaik
 * Jeff Tracy
 * Scott Tracy
 * Virgil Tracy
 * Gordon Tracy
 * John Tracy
 * Tin Tin Kyrano
 * Commander Zero
 * Clifford

Worldbuilding

 * London, Paris and New York City are hit by simultaneous earthquakes.
 * The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco has collapsed because the girders were twisted by the heat.
 * Meteorites do not generate heat and only glow when they enter an atmosphere.
 * Despite the Sun being millions of years old, according to Brains very little is known about it.
 * International Rescue links up with the World President's private videophone.
 * Thunderbird 2 collects a planetomic missile, the most powerful bomb in the world, from Space City.
 * Alan and Brains crash in a sulphur lake on Venus after being pulled in by the gravity.
 * Brains ejects radioactive isotopes into the lake to kill a monster.
 * The gas clouds on Venus prevent radio waves from reaching Earth.
 * Alan and Brains build a bonfire to act as a beacon.
 * Virgil and Gordon are hit by a meteor shower in Thunderbird 2.

Story notes

 * This marked the first comic story in the main Thunderbirds series to crossover with the Doctor Who universe, though not the first in the franchise. That distinction went to a Lady Penelope story which featured a location first seen in a Dalek story.
 * By featuring a cameo from Commander Zero, this story was also a crossover with Fireball XL5.
 * While Solar Danger is consistently reprinted as a single 16-part story, Classic Thunderbirds Calendar 2004 divided it into two parts: Flight to the Sun, covering issues 83 through 89, and TB3 Ditched on Venus, covering issues 90 through 98.
 * The Venusian monsters are unnamed in this story, but in the Venus-set Catch or Kill story The Monster of the Lake in the 1967 TV Century 21 Annual, they were named "Maggorex".

Continuity

 * International Rescue operates in such secrecy that even World President Nikita Bandranaik knows little of them. (PROSE: "We Want Thunderbirds!")