Description

Walt Disney’s The Black Hole                    Comics Lot 
Featuring the Movie Adaptation of the 1979 Hit Science Fiction Movie & the Continuing Adventures from within the The Black Hole.  Awesome!!
Writers: Mary Carey {#1,2} & Michael Teitelbaum {#3,4}
Artists: Dan Spiegle {#1,2,4} & Al McWilliams {#3}
Covers #1,2,3 by: Movie Photos
Painted Cover #4 by: Chuck Liese 

The Black Hole is a 1979 American science fiction film directed by Gary Nelson and produced by Walt Disney Productions. The film stars Maximilian Schell, Robert Forster, Joseph Bottoms, Yvette Mimieux, Anthony Perkins and Ernest Borgnine, while the voices of the main robot characters are provided by Roddy McDowall and Slim Pickens (both uncredited). The music for the film was composed by John Barry. With a production budget of $20 million, plus another $6 million for advertising, it was at the time the most expensive picture ever produced by Disney. The film premiered on December 18, 1979, in London in the United Kingdom and on December 21, 1979, in the United States. It was the first film from Walt Disney Productions to receive a PG rating. The film grossed $35 million at the US box office.

For five years the crew of the PALOMINO has ranged through deep space, searching for evidence of alien life–with no result. Then, their mission almost at an end, they discover a giant collapsar–the largest black hole ever encountered–and, drifting perilously near it, is the long-lost legendary starship CYGNUS…Incredibly, the ship is not a lifeless hulk. Its commander–the genius who designed the CYGNUS and planned its epic voyage–still survives, served by a horde of mechanical slaves. But Commander Hans Reinhardt has no desire to be rescued. His plan – to enter the Black Hole… and he plans to take the PALOMINO’S crew along on his doomed adventure.

Story/Spoilers:
In issue #1, “The Black Hole – Part 1”, The search for life on other worlds plunges the U.S.S. Palomino towards the furthest edge of outer space.

In 2130, the spacecraft USS Palomino has nearly completed its mission exploring deep space. The crew consists of Captain Dan Holland, First Officer Lieutenant Charlie Pizer, journalist Harry Booth, ESP-sensitive scientist Dr. Kate McCrae, the expedition’s civilian leader Dr. Alex Durant and the diminutive robot V.I.N.CENT. (“Vital Information Necessary Centralized”).

As it is returning to Earth, the Palomino discovers a black hole with the apparently abandoned and long-lost USS Cygnus nearby, the same ship that McCrae’s father was aboard when it vanished 20 years ago. The Palomino decides to investigate and finds that there is a mysterious null gravity field surrounding the Cygnus that allows it to defy the massive gravitational pull of the black hole. The Palomino briefly strays outside the field and is damaged by the intense gravity, forcing it to emergency dock with the Cygnus, which no longer appears abandoned.

The cautious Palomino crew soon encounter Dr. Hans Reinhardt (one of Earth’s most brilliant scientists, according to Durant). Reinhardt explains he has been alone on the Cygnus since it encountered a meteor field and was disabled. He ordered the human crew to return to Earth without him, but Kate’s father chose to remain aboard and has since died. To replace the crew, Reinhardt built faceless, black-robed drones, sentry robots and his sinister bodyguard robot, Maximilian. Reinhardt says he intends to fly the Cygnus through the black hole because 20 years of study has shown that it is possible.

Next in issue #2, “The Black Hole – Part 2”, The conclusion of the movie; into the awesome void where space and time collide.

The Palomino crew start to become suspicious of Reinhardt. They see a drone limping, while Holland witnesses an android funeral and discovers personal items in the Cygnus crew quarters. V.I.N.CENT. meets a battered earlier model of his type named BO.B. (“Bio-sanitation Battalion”). BO.B explains the drones are actually what is left of the human crew, who mutinied when Reinhardt refused to return to Earth after the Cygnus was damaged. McCrae’s father was killed leading the mutiny, and the crew was lobotomized and “reprogrammed” to serve Reinhardt. V.I.N.CENT. uses telepathy to tell Kate. After she informs Durant what really happened, he removes a drone’s faceplate, revealing the zombie-like face of a crew member. Durant tries to flee with Kate but is killed by Maximilian.

Reinhardt orders his robots to lobotomize Kate, but just as the process begins, she is rescued by Holland, V.I.N.CENT. and BO.B. Harry Booth tries to escape alone in the Palomino but is shot down and fatally crashes into the Cygnus. A subsequent meteor storm and the explosion of the ship’s overstressed main power plant causes the anti-gravity generator to fail. Without its null-gravity bubble, the Cygnus quickly starts to break apart under the black hole’s huge gravitational forces.

Reinhardt and the Palomino survivors separately plan their escape in the probe ship used to study the black hole. Reinhardt orders Maximilian to prepare the ship for launch, but then a large viewscreen falls on Reinhardt, pinning him to the deck. his cries for help are not acknowledged by the lobotomized crew nor Maximilian, who ignores his master and pursues the Palomino crew as they attempt to escape.

The crew nears the probe ship before being confronted again by Maximilian. He fatally damages BO.B. before battling with V.I.N.CENT. as McCrae, Holland and Pizer continue to the probe. V.I.N.CENT. defeats his opponent by drilling into Maximilian’s armor, disabling his system and sending him hurtling into the black hole. Holland, Pizer, McCrae and V.I.N.CENT. launch the probe, which they soon realize has a pre-programmed flight path, taking them directly into the black hole.

Next in issue #3, “Beyond The Black Hole”, Featuring the sequel of the movie The Black Hole. In the Black Hole, Dan Holland, Charlie Pizer, Dr. Kate McCrae, and V.I.N.CENT sight the Cygnus, Dr. Reinhardt’s massive space cruiser.

On the other side of The Black Hole, Dan Holland, Charlie Pizer, Dr. Kate McCrae, and V.I.N.CENT have entered a completely new universe. In the new universe, the laws of the old universe do not apply. The probe ship passes through a heatless Sun and then they encounter a mirror image of themselves in a different Palomino spaceship. They attempt to follow the mirror Palomino spaceship as it passes through a giant wall in space but are not able to pass through. Dr. Kate McCrae receives a transmission from her… dead father.

An alien space craft appears and transports Dan Holland, Charlie Pizer, Dr. Kate McCrae, and V.I.N.CENT into it. They are greeted by the robots from the spaceship Cygnus who state that they have violated their territorial space and are being accused as Virlight sympathizers. They are taken to a mirror image of the Cygnus.

Onboard the mirror image of spaceship Cygnus they encounter Dr. Hans Reinhardt and his robot, Maximilian, but he does not recognize them. After a misunderstanding, they are locked up. While incarcerated, they meet the mirror image of BO.B. Meanwhile, Dr. Hans Reinhardt orders that Dr. Kate McCrae be brought to him and the others be executed. While Dr. Hans Reinhardt interrogates Dr. Kate McCrae, they others escape with the help of BO.B. Dr. Hans Reinhardt sends Maximilian to recapture them.

Dan Holland, Charlie Pizer, and V.I.N.CENT make their way to the control tower. Along the way they are confronted by Maximilian, but V.I.N.CENT makes short work of him. At the control tower, they overcome Dr. Hans Reinhardt and tie him up. Dan Holland, Charlie Pizer, Dr. Kate McCrae, V.I.N.CENT, along with BO.B. escape the Cygnus onboard the mirror Palomino spaceship.

Finally in issue #4, “The Virlights”, The crew of the U.S.S. Palomino goes to another earth in another universe.

As Dan Holland, Charlie Pizer, Dr. Kate McCrae, and V.I.N.CENT along with BO.B. escape Dr. Hans Reinhardt and the Cygnus, BO.B. informs the crew about the new Universe that there are in. BO.B. also gives a brief history of himself on a planet named Tyr. BO.B. also explains how Dr. Hans Reinhardt and his robot forces came and subjugated the planet Tyr. Soon after, Dr. Hans Reinhardt began his conquest of the rest on the new Universe. BO.B. then tells of the Virlights who opposed Dr. Hans Reinhardt’s conquest. Dr. Kate McCrae inquires BO.B. about her father, but he does not know.

Dan Holland, Charlie Pizer, Dr. Kate McCrae, and V.I.N.CENT along with BO.B. seek out the Virlights for help and land on a planet they hope is the Virlights home planet named Tau. The planet is like a tropical rain forest filled with prehistoric beasts. One of the larger prehistoric beasts attacks them and they barely escape in their spaceship. They learn that the planet was not the Virlights home planet named Tau and land on another nearby planet.

Dan Holland, Charlie Pizer, Dr. Kate McCrae, and V.I.N.CENT along with BO.B find and land on the Virlights home planet named Tau. They make their way through a forest on the way to a Virlights city when they find a young Virlights child. Soon after they are discovered by Virlights forces who think that they are kidnappers and are paralyzed by ray guns. Dr. Kate McCrae telepathically call out to V.I.N.CENT to rescue them which he does. They eventually convince the Virlights that they are not kidnappers or enemies. So, the Virlights become hospitable. After learning from the Virlights that they are trapped in the new Universe with no hope of getting back they ponder their fate with a “join us next time in issue #5” which was never published.

Comics lot contains: Walt Disney’s The Black Hole (1980) Issues #1-4.  Whitman / Western Publishing Company, Inc.

Comics are bagged & boarded and will be carefully / securely packaged then shipped via USPS Priority Mail to ensure that it arrives to you perfectly and quickly.  

All First Printings
Publisher: Whitman / Western Publishing Company, Inc.
Publication Date: 1980
Format per comic: FC, 32 pages, Comic, 10.25″ x 6.65″
UPC: 03350090306

Collectible Entertainment note: Comics #1,2,3,4 are in Good to Very Good condition. (spine stress, creases, reading wear)  Overall… Nice Reading Set!  Please See Scans!!  A must have for any serious Walt Disney’s The Black Hole collector and/or enthusiast.  A fun & entertaining read.  Highly Recommended.

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