The early 1980s was a wild time to be a comic book reader, in that the establishment of the Direct Sales marketplace as a viable alternative to mainstream Newsstand distribution for comic books opened up the floodgates, with all sort of publishers with big dreams of finding success pouring through. On any given visit to a local comic shop, you never knew what new books you might find, what new companies might spring up. One of those short-lived companies was Spectrum Comics, whose inaugural publication was SPECTRUM COMICS PREVIEWS #1, pictured here. Rather than a comic book, it was a larger black-and-white magazine, though the company’s later releases would all revert to standard comic book proportions and be released in full color. This was something of a trial balloon, though by the time it saw print the people behind Spectrum Comics had already decided to move ahead with their efforts.
The main feature in this initial issue was the opening installment of (THEY WERE CHOSEN TO BE) THE SURVIVORS, a wild mĆ©lange of science fiction, super heroes and softcore titillation. The main creators behind the series were the husband and wife team of Steve and Darla Woron. Steve wrote and penciled the book while Darla painted the cover. A young Karl Kesel provided the inks and lettering and created the SURVIVORS logo, while Bob Lewis also pitched in on some of the inking. But for all of this, it was really a one-man show; this was Steve Woron’s concept. The Worons had been fantasy illustrators primarily up to this point, so this step into narrative fiction represented an expansion of what they had already been doing.
The story opens in the year 4010 aboard the starship U.S.S. Mirage. We witness the revival of Gail Thurston from cryogenic deep freeze–all of the members of the crew went into statis to survive the long journey, and now the robotic Four is in the process of waking them up. Gail’s been provided with a super hero costume to don before making her way to the briefing room, which seems a bit odd. Arriving, Gail finds that five other crew members are already ambulatory. But they tell her that her husband Karl, the leader of the mission, is unaccounted for. he doesn’t appear to be on board the ship. But before this news can be digested, a sixth crew member enters the room, carrying the dead body of a seventh. It’s a moment of some emotion, blunted a bit in that neither character is as yet named or properly introduced.
At this point, a pre-recorded message from the President of the United States plays, filling in the backstory of the series for us. Years before, mankind was on the verge of self-annihilation, so to ensure that the species would survive, the nine specialists gathered on board the Mirage were dispatched to seek out another Earthlike planet which they could colonize. In other words, they’ve been chosen to be the Survivors of the human race. In order to give them an edge in their survival, while they slept their genetic codes were rewritten, granting each member of the party superhuman abilities that will surface over time. They all get swanky super hero code names as well, and costumes. Gail, for example, is Starlight.
In the midst of this briefing, Roy Merrill, the ship’s designer who has been gifted with atomic kinesis and whose wife Merrill was the dead body carried into he briefing room goes berserk, attacking first the playback screen and then his fellow Survivors. As nobody else has yet displayed any of their promised super-powers, none of the others can prevent Roy from burning his way through the bulkhead and taking off. In the aftermath, with he husband missing, Gail assumes command of the mission and lays out two immediate objectives: locate Karl, and survey the Earthlike planet that they’ve landed on. with that, the crew ventures out onto the surface, finding themselves in the middle of a vast desert. The team buries Merrill, then begins to plan their next move. But behind them, the Mirage begins to start up and take off, commandeered by Roy. But it turns out that the non-powered Zack Brewer, Hunter, is also still on board, and he makes his way to the bridge to attempt to take back the ship.
But even with all of his skill, Hunter isn’t adept enough to beat Roy’s super-powers and he finds himself disarmed. Planetside, the remaining Survivors are faced with an incoming thunderstorm of massive scale that threatens them with a downpour that might freeze them in the night’s subzero temperatures. Roy’s transformation and Merrill’s death had driven him around the bend, and he intends to plow the Mirage directly into the planet’s moon. But before this collision can occur, the ship is caught in a tractor beam projected by a much larger vessel that suddenly appears. The captain of this craft is Dreadlord, whose name tells you everything that you need to know about him: he’s a cloaked and masked armored figure. Roy is stunned as the tractor beam causes the Mirage to lurch, and Hunter takes the opportunity to put a bullet into his head.
Hunter is dragged in front of Dreadlord, who seems to know more about the Survivors than he ought to. He demands to know the whereabouts of the rest of the crew, which Hunter refuses to give up. Dreadlord has him pummeled by a Chudd, a faceless android, and launches stalker ships to scour the planet for the other Survivors. But he may be too late as, on the surface, the rest of the team is already being buffeted by freezing rains, and have no way of getting to shelter or warmth. To Be Continued!
The series continued through four color issues of (THEY WERE CHOSEN TO BE) THE SURVIVORS under the Spectrum Comics banner, came back for another two issues of THE SURVIVORS published later by Prelude Graphics, and even later a single issue released by Burnside Comics. So the strip truly was a survivor, at least for a while–though it never worked its way to any manner of satisfying conclusion.
Additionally, Spectrum Comics released two issues of THE GUARDIAN, an urban crime fighter, and a single issue of CODENAME STRIKEFORCE, an X-Men-style super team series. But for all of the firm’s best efforts, they weren’t able to establish a presence in the marketplace and they faded from view after about a year.
The Tom Brevoort Experience 