Триган Империясы: Елеқтон планетасының ғылыми-қияли сағасы

Science fiction comic series set on an Earth like alien planet

The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire, later shortened to The Trigan Empire, was a science fiction comic series written mainly by Mike Butterworth with artwork (initially watercolours, later gouache) by Don Lawrence, among others. It told the story of an alien culture in which futuristic technology, such as antigravity vehicles and energy ray weapons, was blended with architecture, dress, and customs reminiscent of ancient civilizations, the most obvious being those of Ancient Greece and Rome. The stories revolved around a strong and heroic leader who defended his empire from constant threats from both outside and within. The comic featured unique artwork by Don Lawrence in a painterly photo realistic style.

The series initially ran from 1965 to 1982, dealing with the long past events of an empire on the distant planet of Elekton. Heavily influenced by mythological tales, a number of the societies seemed to be based on ancient cultures that had existed in history. Chief among these was the Trigan Empire, apparently modelled on Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire. This similarity even extended to Trigan City, the capital being built on five hills, in a similar fashion to the seven hills of Rome. The Trigans' clothing was similar to that of the Romans, with many of the populace dressed in toga like garments, or in the case of the soldiery, in Greek or Roman style armour. A similar likeness could be drawn with Hericon, the chief rival in power to the Trigans, whose appearance seemed to mirror that of elements of the Byzantine Empire, and the Persian Empire. According to Butterworth: "The original Impetus was from that veritable genius Leonard Matthews, then my senior group editor when I was editing Sun and Comet. He threw the first introductory script at me and told me to take it from there. He had no idea where to further it but he knew where to look for a guy who did." The first strip told of a spaceship crashing into a swamp on Earth, the crew frozen to death, with many written volumes inside in an unknown language. After many years, the spaceship is turned into the central attraction of an amusement park. Eventually, at a very advanced age, a scientist—Peter Richard Haddon—who has studied the books from the spaceship as a young man manages to translate the volumes, and begins to relate the tales. The Trigans began as a nomadic tribe called the Vorgs, with no technology, initially under the leadership of three brothers, Trigo, Brag and Klud. Trigo persuades his more conservative brothers that in the face of changing events, namely the ambitions of the Lokan Empire, they must settle. The fledgling Trigan nation is established via a merger of the nomadic Vorgs and the technically advanced people of Tharv (who arrived as refugees to the Plains of Vorg after they were defeated by the Lokans) under the leadership of Trigo, with the trappings of a Romanesque civilization with swords, lances and Roman style clothing, but with high tech ray guns, aircraft and a high tech navy. In a later story, the Trigans create a rocketship in months to fly to one of Elekton's moons. Several of the other civilizations show a similar blend of low and high tech.

The strip debuted in the first issue of the British magazine Ranger in September 1965 and then in the British Look and Learn magazine from issue #232 (June 1966) when the two titles merged after the 40th issue of Ranger. Both titles were weekly educational magazines designed for children; although mainly filled with educational features on life, history, science and technology, both contained a small comic strip section in each issue. Unusually for a British comic, the strip was printed in colour. The series ran in Look and Learn until the title ceased publication with issue #1049, in April 1982, comprising a run of 854 issues in total, divided between the two magazines. In addition to the weekly strips, a very small number of Trigan Empire stories were published in Ranger annuals and a Vulcan summer special. In 1975 1976, the series thus far was reprinted in its original sequential order, in Vulcan, a weekly glossy format comic, which reprinted the strips in full colour, albeit edited and resized, alongside colour reprints of other British comics serials of the 1960s. There were a number of reprints in hardback format. In 1978, Hamlyn Publishing in the United Kingdom printed a hardback collection of early Trigan Empire stories titled simply The Trigan Empire; this was reprinted in the United States by Chartwell Publishing. Other than Lawrence's signature being visible on the title page art, neither he nor Butterworth are credited in this edition. A later collection, also in hardback, was printed by Hawk Publishing in 1989 as Tales from the Trigan Empire. Both the Hamlyn and the Hawk books presented edited versions of the stories; most notably, in the Hawk book there are sometimes entire pages that have been left out. Several stories were repeated in both collections, but The Trigan Empire collection has the earliest, showing the establishment of the Empire. In 2004 2008, the stories drawn by Don Lawrence were reprinted by the Don Lawrence Collection in luxury hardback limited editions. These editions contain the complete stories, without any of the omissions that were a feature of the earlier reprints, particularly the Hawk Publishing book. They were not reprinted from Look and Learn; in many cases they were printed from the original artwork, and used revised fonts to make the text easier to read. The rights to The Trigan Empire were bought by Rebellion Developments in 2018. Initial plans were to publish the sequence drawn by Lawrence in four volumes; a first volume appeared in March 2020, a second in December 2020, and a third in July 2021. The second and third volumes included stories from the 1960s and early 1970s not illustrated by Lawrence, raising the question whether serials drawn by other artists during the later years of the strip would be included in subsequent volumes. The fourth volume, released in 2022, similarly included serials from the mid 1970s drawn by artists other than Lawrence. A fifth volume, published in November 2023, completes in order of original publication Lawrence's own sequence, while also including six of the ten stories illustrated by Oliver Frey.

Trigo Trigo is the founder of the Empire. With his two brothers Brag and Klud, he was the leader of a tribe of Vorgs. At this time the Lokan Empire was instituting a military buildup with an intent to take over the entire planet. Trigo had a vision of a nation where the Vorg tribesmen could give up their nomadic existence and band together in civilization. He knew that the Lokans were intent on conquest and felt that if the Vorgs were not united they would become extinct. When his initial plans to build a city on the plains of Vorg fail, there is a fateful meeting with refugees from the nation of Tharv which has been attacked by Loka. Among these refugees is the architect Peric who agrees to help Trigo with his plans as long as his people are allowed to stay there. Although Brag was willing to give up his claims of leadership to his people to allow Trigo to become sole ruler, his brother Klud had no such plan and tried to assassinate Trigo. In the years to come, Trigo will institute a treaty with Hericon, the other great power on the planet of Elekton, be crowned first Emperor of the Trigan Empire, and face many other threats to himself and his empire. Brag Trigo's brother. While some consider him slow and perhaps a bit stupid, Brag is well meaning and ever faithful to his brother. Despite living in relative luxury with all the benefits of more advanced technology there are times that Brag wishes he was back to his life as a simple Vorg huntsman. He keeps himself in good physical shape despite growing older. If Brag can be classed as having a fault, it is that he can be manipulated by those cleverer than himself. Janno Janno is the son of Brag and nephew to Emperor Trigo. A courageous individual, he has a natural aptitude as an atmosphere craft pilot. He is friends with Keren, the son of Chief Imbala of Daveli, and Roffa from the City State of Ellul. Janno is regularly a representative of Trigan City, whether it is as an athlete in the olympic style games, or as a diplomatic envoy. In some stories it is mentioned in a short dialogue that Trigo had a thought to name him his successor. Peric Chief architect of the destroyed nation of Tharv, Peric with his daughter and other Tharvish refugees made their way into the desert of Vorg after the destruction of the main city of Tharv by Lokan forces. Peric is of advanced years but remains fairly healthy. He is regarded as the greatest living architect on Elekton and an accomplished engineer and scientist. He is often behind many of the great accomplishments of the Empire. Salvia Salvia is the daughter of Peric and is the most visible female character in the series. Salvia is skilled in Tharvish medicine, a trait that would serve the Empire well on a number of occasions, whether it is saving Trigo from potent poison inflicted by Trigo's brother, or the life of Keren, son of Chief Imbala of Daveli, or the life of the Chieftainess of the Tamaz desert warriors. Keren Janno's best friend and son of Chief Imbala of Daveli whose culture closely mirrors that of Central American Indian civilisations. Keren was introduced in the second tale of the series, "Crash in the Jungle". Keren and his people are shown as being either blue skinned or dark green, depending on the printing. Lady Ursa Sister of King Kassar of Hericon and probably the next most visible female character of the series. She and Trigo were married, as guarantee for the ratification of a trade treaty, at the start of the story titled "War With Hericon". They would have triplet sons, although two would later be killed. King Zorth The autocratic, megalomaniacal, despotic and tyrannical leader of Loka whose obsession with planet conquest (especially that of the Trigan Empire) ends only when he is overthrown by his own people. The Lokans are given an olive complexion and appear somewhat Asiatic.

From its start in 1965 until 1976, the series was mainly created by writer Mike Butterworth and artist Don Lawrence. For stories in two Ranger annuals and some fill in serials, other artists made a contribution. During a sabbatical, Philip Corke replaced Don Lawrence. From mid 1976 until the end of 1977, Oliver Frey was the artist. In 1978, Ken Roscoe took over the writing, and concluded the series with artist Gerry Wood.

Although there were no official titles for most of the stories, the following table lists the commonly used names in order of first publication. # Title Writer Artist Pages First publication 1"Victory for the Trigans" MBDL40from Ranger 18 09 1965 until 29 01 19662"Crash in the Jungle" MBDL6from Ranger 05 02 1966 until #23 19 02 19663"Elekton in Danger", a. k. a. "The Falling Moon" MBDL28from Ranger 26 02 1966 until #37 28 05 19664"The Invaders from Gallas" MBDL18from Ranger 04 06 1966 until Look and Learn #237 30 07 19665"The Land of No Return", a. k. a. "The Legend of Hellas" MBDL10from Look and Learn #238 06 08 1966 until #242 03 09 19666"The Wise Man of Vorg"?ER8Ranger Book 1967 (available from 08 10 1966)7"The Lokan Conspiracy", a. k. a. "The Revolt of the Lokans" MBDL26from Look and Learn #243 10 09 1966 until #255 03 12 19668"War with Hericon", a. k. a. "Truce with Hericon" MBDL18from Look and Learn #256 10 12 1966 until #264 04 02 19679"Revolution in Zabriz" MBDL18from Look and Learn #265 11 02 1967 until #273 08 04 196710"The Lokan Invasion", a. k. a. "Vannu's Poison" MBDL12from Look and Learn #274 15 04 1967 until #279 20 05 196711"The Revenge of Darak" MBDL22from Look and Learn #280 27 05 1967 until #290 05 08 196712"The Three Aliens", a. k. a. "The Alien Invasion" MBDL14from Look and Learn #291 12 08 1967 until #297 23 09 196713"The Brief Reign of Sennos the First"MB?RE8from Ranger Book 1968 (available from 28 10 1967)14"The Reign of Thara", a. k. a. "Battle for Trigan City" MBDL38from Look and Learn #298 30 09 1967 until #316 03 02 196815"Voyage to the Moon Bolus", a. k. a. "The Invasion of Bolus" MBDL30from Look and Learn #317 10 02 1968 until #331 18 05 196816"The Three Princes" MBDL62from Look and Learn #332 25 05 1968 until #362 21 12 196817"Poison from Outer Space", a. k. a. "The Alien Dust" MBDL16from Look and Learn #363 28 12 1968 until #370 15 02 196918"The Lost City" MBDL24from Look and Learn #371 22 02 1969 until #382 10 05 196919"The Terror of Mount Spyx" MBRE16from Look and Learn #383 17 05 1969 until #390 05 07 196920"The Invisibility Ray", a. k. a. "False Accusation" MBDL14from Look and Learn #391 12 07 1969 until #397 23 08 196921"The Deadly Formula", a. k. a. "The Ultimate Weapon" MBDL10from Look and Learn #398 30 08 1969 until #402 27 09 196922"The Tyrant" MBDL26from Look and Learn #403 04 10 1969 until #415 27 12 196923"The Red Death" MBDL18from Look and Learn #416 03 01 1970 until #424 28 02 197024"The Puppet Emperor" MBDL28from Look and Learn #425 07 03 1970 until #438 06 06 197025"Trigo's Five Tasks", a. k. a. "The Five Labours of Trigo" MBDL46from Look and Learn #439 13 06 1970 until #461 14 11 197026"The Menace From The Sea", a. k. a. "The Menace from the Deep" MBDL24from Look and Learn #461 14 11 1970 until #473 06 02 197127"The Giant Rallus", a. k. a. "The Rallu Invasion" MBDL14from Look and Learn #474 13 02 1971 until #480 27 03 197128"The City of Jewels" MBDL16from Look and Learn #480 27 03 1971 until #488 22 05 197129"The Imposter", a. k. a. "The Unscrupulous Servant" MBDL16from Look and Learn #489 29 05 1971 until #496 17 07 197130"The Duplication Machine", a. k. a. "The Duplicator" MBDL18from Look and Learn #496 17 07 1971 until #505 18 09 197131"The Masked Raiders", a. k. a. "Revenge of a Friend" MBDL22from Look and Learn #506 25 09 1971 until #516 04 12 197132"The Prisoner of Zerss" MBDL20from Look and Learn #516 04 12 1971 until #526 12 02 197233"The Miniature Killers of Zelph", a. k. a. "The Black Duke" MBDL16from Look and Learn #527 19 02 1972 until #534 08 04 197234"The Hypnotist", a. k. a. "Doran the Hypnotist" MBMQ12from Look and Learn #535 15 04 1972 until #540 20 05 197235"The Wish Fulfiller", a. k. a. "The Black Box" MBDL18from Look and Learn #541 27 05 1972 until #549 22 07 197236"The Fiendish Experiment", a. k. a. "The Hydro Man" MBDL18from Look and Learn #550 29 07 1972 until #558 23 09 197237"The Curse of King Yutta" MBDL18from Look and Learn #559 30 09 1972 until #567 25 11 197238"The Lost Years" MBDL22from Look and Learn #568 02 12 1972 until #578 10 02 197339"Journey to Orcadia", a. k. a. "Atomic Disaster!" MBDL18from Look and Learn #579 17 02 1973 until #587 14 04 197340"The Secret of Castle Doum" MBDL18from Look and Learn #588 21 04 1973 until #596 16 06 197341"The House of the Five Moons" MBDL18from Look and Learn #597 23 06 1973 until #605 18 08 197342"A National Emergency", a. k. a. "The Outlaw Planet" MBDL10from Look and Learn #606 25 08 1973 until #610 22 09 197343"The Palace of Peril", a. k. a. "The Glass Palace" MBDL4from Look and Learn #611 29 09 1973 until #612 06 10 197344"Evil from Outer Space", a. k. a. "Terror from Tarron" MBDL16from Look and Learn #613 13 10 1973 until #620 01 12 197345"The Curse of the Sun Worshippers", a. k. a. "The Sun Worshippers" MBDL18from Look and Learn #621 08 12 1973 until #629 02 02 197446"The Zootha Vorgs", a. k. a. "The Rogue Planet" MBMQ10from Look and Learn #630 09 02 1974 until #634 09 03 197447"The Sea Creatures", a. k. a. "The Melting Ice Caps" MBPC20from Look and Learn #635 16 03 1974 until #644 18 05 197448"The Youth Serum", a. k. a. "The Elixir of Eternal Youth" MBPC16from Look and Learn #645 25 05 1974 until #652 13 07 197449"The Assassin", a. k. a. "Zith the Assassin" MBPC16from Look and Learn #653 20 07 1974 until #660 07 09 197450"The Deadly Seeds", a. k. a. "The Alien Seeds" MBPC14from Look and Learn #661 14 09 1974 until #667 26 10 197451"Emperor Z", a. k. a. "The Stone of Vorg" MBPC20from Look and Learn #668 02 11 1974 until #677 04 01 197552"The Heat Controller", a. k. a. "The Weather Controller" MBPC16from Look and Learn #682 08 02 1975 until #689 29 03 197553"The Time Traveller", a. k. a. "The Man from the Future" MBDL18from Look and Learn #690 05 04 1975 until #698 31 05 197554"The Rocketeer", a. k. a. "The Mission of Lukaz Rann" MBDL20from Look and Learn #699 07 06 1975 until #708 09 08 197555"The Convicts", a. k. a. "Torga's Mind Controller" MBDL18from Look and Learn #709 16 08 1975 until #717 11 10 197556"The Gambler", a. k. a. "Nastor, the Faith Healer" MBDL12from Look and Learn #718 18 10 1975 until #723 22 11 197557"The Ultimate Collection", a. k. a. "The Millionaire" MBDL16from Look and Learn #724 29 11 1975 until #731 17 01 197658"The Dryaks", a. k. a. "The Green Smog" MBDL16from Look and Learn #732 24 01 1976 until #739 13 03 197659"The Nobes", a. k. a. "The Lost Valley" MBDL16from Look and Learn #740 20 03 1976 until #747 08 05 197660"Atomic Fallout", a. k. a. "The Fallout Menace" MBDL10from Look and Learn #748 15 05 1976 until #752 12 06 197661"Vengeance! ", a. k. a. "The Disappeared", a. k. a. "The Satellite Mystery" MBOF16from Look and Learn #753 19 06 1976 until #760 07 08 197662"The Zallus", a. k. a. "The Labours of Janno", a. k. a. "Janno's Desert Ordeal" MBOF16from Look and Learn #761 14 08 1976 until #768 02 10 197663"The Street Sweeper", a. k. a. "Fortune and Consequences", a. k. a. "The Deception of Krusi" MBOF16from Look and Learn #769 09 10 1976 until #776 27 11 197664"The Time Machine", a. k. a. "Janno's 'Out of Time' Mind" MBOF10from Look and Learn #777 04 12 1976 until #781 01 01 197765"The Frozen People", a. k. a. "Sedda's Plot" MBOF20from Look and Learn #782 08 01 1977 until #791 12 03 197766"Abdication", a. k. a. "The Imperial Walkabout" MBOF16from Look and Learn #792 19 03 1977 until #799 07 05 197767"Dr. Mazaratto's Elixir" MBOF16from Look and Learn #800 14 05 1977 until #807 02 07 197768"The Digger", a. k. a. "The Ghost in the Machine" MBOF16from Look and Learn #808 09 07 1977 until #815 27 08 197769"The Stolen Plans" MBOF8from Look and Learn #816 03 09 1977 until #819 24 09 197770"The Curse of Zonn", a. k. a. "The Manipulators of Chaos"MBGW12from Look and Learn #820 01 10 1977 until #825 05 11 197771"Battle for Survival", a. k. a. "Cato Attacks"?OF16from Look and Learn #826 12 11 1977 until #833 31 12 197772"The Killer" KRGW20from Look and Learn #834 07 01 1978 until #843 11 03 197873"The Rival", a. k. a. "Eruption!" KRGW16from Look and Learn #844 18 03 1978 until #851 06 05 197874"The Trigonium Thieves" KRGW16from Look and Learn #852 13 05 1978 until #859 01 07 197875"Chase For a Traitor" KRGW12from Look and Learn #860 08 07 1978 until #865 12 08 197876"The Voyage of the Perici", a. k. a. "Sub Mission" KRGW12from Look and Learn #878 11 11 1978 until #883 16 12 197877"The Flowers of Forgetfulness" KRGW28from Look and Learn #884 23 12 1978 until #897 31 03 197978"Rebellion in Daveli" KRGW28from Look and Learn #898 07 04 1979 until #911 07 07 197979"A Tragic Misunderstanding", a. k. a. "Ice upon Hericon"KRGW24from Look and Learn #912 14 07 1979 until #923 29 09 197980"The Zabriz Conspiracy" KRGW26from Look and Learn #932 01 12 1979 until #944 23 02 198081"Trigan's Deadly Peril", a. k. a. "Shipwreck Peril" KRGW22from Look and Learn #945 01 03 1980 until #955 28 06 198082"The Skorpiads" KRGW28from Look and Learn #956 05 07 1980 until #969 04 10 198083"The Zolt Exodus" KRGW32from Look and Learn #983 10 01 1981 until #998 25 04 198184"Terror of the Skorpiads" KRGW28from Look and Learn #999 02 05 1981 until #1012 01 08 198185"Search Mission", a. k. a. "The Quest of Fidelius" KRGW30from Look and Learn #1013 08 08 1981 until #1027 14 11 198186"Alien Mission", a. k. a. "Bad Moon Arising" KRGW24from Look and Learn #1028 21 11 1981 until #1039 06 02 198287"Mercy Mission", a. k. a. "Desert King" KRGW20from Look and Learn #1040 13 02 1982 until #1049 17 04 1982

Stories marked began in the same issue as the final episode of the preceding story. Not included in this table is the text story "They Came From out of the Night" with illustrations by Don Lawrence. This anonymous story, also known as "The Underworld of Vuldar", was published in a Vulcan Holiday Special on July 1st 1976.

Two radio plays were produced in Dutch, "The Mysterious Meteorite" and "Lumbwabwa the Usurper". Movie rights for a feature film based on the strip were optioned in 2009. In December 2011 it was revealed that a script existed and that the film's producers were holding meetings in England to find a director. Time Inc had a TV series in development in 2017 with 10 episodes written but production halted when Rebellion acquired the rights.