The Trigan Empire Explained

Title P:The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire
Anthology:Ranger and Look and Learn
Lang:en
Scifi:y
Startmo:September
Startyr:1965
Endmo:April
Endyr:1982
Writers:Mike Butterworth
Ken Roscoe
Artists:Don Lawrence
Ernest Ratcliff
Ron Embleton
Miguel Quesada
Philip Corke
Oliver Frey
Gerry Wood
Creators:Mike Butterworth
Don Lawrence
Nonus:y
Tpb:The Look and Learn Book of the Trigan Empire (1973)
Isbn:0-85037-104-X
Tpb1:The Trigan Empire (1978)
Isbn1:0-600-38788-7
Tpb2:Tales from the Trigan Empire (1989)
Isbn2:0-948248-95-5
Tpb3:The Trigan Empire (The Don Lawrence Collection) (2004-2008) (12 vols)
Isbn3:90-73508-54-1
Tpb4:The Rise and Fall of The Trigan Empire (2020-)
Isbn4:978-1-78108-755-8
Altcat:British comics
Sort:Trigan Empire

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.

Background

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.

Publication history

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.[1] 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.[2] [3] 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.[4] 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.

Main characters

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.
  • Creative team

    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.

    Writers

    Artists

    Timeline

    Tales

    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 29-01-1966
    2"Crash in the Jungle" MBDL6from Ranger 05-02-1966 until #23 - 19-02-1966
    3"Elekton in Danger", a.k.a. "The Falling Moon" MBDL28from Ranger 26-02-1966 until #37 - 28-05-1966
    4"The Invaders from Gallas" MBDL18from Ranger 04-06-1966 until Look and Learn #237 - 30-07-1966
    5"The Land of No Return", a.k.a. "The Legend of Hellas" MBDL10from Look and Learn #238 - 06-08-1966 until #242 - 03-09-1966
    6"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 - 03-12-1966
    8"War with Hericon", a.k.a. "Truce with Hericon" MBDL18from Look and Learn #256 - 10-12-1966 until #264 - 04-02-1967
    9"Revolution in Zabriz" MBDL18from Look and Learn #265 - 11-02-1967 until #273 - 08-04-1967
    10"The Lokan Invasion", a.k.a. "Vannu's Poison" MBDL12from Look and Learn #274 - 15-04-1967 until #279 - 20-05-1967
    11"The Revenge of Darak" MBDL22from Look and Learn #280 - 27-05-1967 until #290 - 05-08-1967
    12"The Three Aliens", a.k.a. "The Alien Invasion" MBDL14from Look and Learn #291 - 12-08-1967 until #297 - 23-09-1967
    13"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 - 03-02-1968
    15"Voyage to the Moon Bolus", a.k.a. "The Invasion of Bolus" MBDL30from Look and Learn #317 - 10-02-1968 until #331 - 18-05-1968
    16"The Three Princes" MBDL62from Look and Learn #332 - 25-05-1968 until #362 - 21-12-1968
    17"Poison from Outer Space", a.k.a. "The Alien Dust" MBDL16from Look and Learn #363 - 28-12-1968 until #370 - 15-02-1969
    18"The Lost City" MBDL24from Look and Learn #371 - 22-02-1969 until #382 - 10-05-1969
    19"The Terror of Mount Spyx" MBRE16from Look and Learn #383 - 17-05-1969 until #390 - 05-07-1969
    20"The Invisibility Ray", a.k.a. "False Accusation" MBDL14from Look and Learn #391 - 12-07-1969 until #397 - 23-08-1969
    21"The Deadly Formula", a.k.a. "The Ultimate Weapon" MBDL10from Look and Learn #398 - 30-08-1969 until #402 - 27-09-1969
    22"The Tyrant" MBDL26from Look and Learn #403 - 04-10-1969 until #415 - 27-12-1969
    23"The Red Death" MBDL18from Look and Learn #416 - 03-01-1970 until #424 - 28-02-1970
    24"The Puppet Emperor" MBDL28from Look and Learn #425 - 07-03-1970 until #438 - 06-06-1970
    25"Trigo's Five Tasks", a.k.a. "The Five Labours of Trigo" MBDL46from Look and Learn #439 - 13-06-1970 until #461 - 14-11-1970
    26"The Menace From The Sea", a.k.a. "The Menace from the Deep" MBDL24from Look and Learn #461 - 14-11-1970 until #473 - 06-02-1971
    27"The Giant Rallus", a.k.a. "The Rallu Invasion" MBDL14from Look and Learn #474 - 13-02-1971 until #480 - 27-03-1971
    28"The City of Jewels" MBDL16from Look and Learn #480 - 27-03-1971 until #488 - 22-05-1971
    29"The Imposter", a.k.a. "The Unscrupulous Servant" MBDL16from Look and Learn #489 - 29-05-1971 until #496 - 17-07-1971
    30"The Duplication Machine", a.k.a. "The Duplicator" MBDL18from Look and Learn #496 - 17-07-1971 until #505 - 18-09-1971
    31"The Masked Raiders", a.k.a. "Revenge of a Friend" MBDL22from Look and Learn #506 - 25-09-1971 until #516 - 04-12-1971
    32"The Prisoner of Zerss" MBDL20from Look and Learn #516 - 04-12-1971 until #526 - 12-02-1972
    33"The Miniature Killers of Zelph", a.k.a. "The Black Duke" MBDL16from Look and Learn #527 - 19-02-1972 until #534 - 08-04-1972
    34"The Hypnotist", a.k.a. "Doran the Hypnotist" MBMQ12from Look and Learn #535 - 15-04-1972 until #540 - 20-05-1972
    35"The Wish Fulfiller", a.k.a. "The Black Box" MBDL18from Look and Learn #541 - 27-05-1972 until #549 - 22-07-1972
    36"The Fiendish Experiment", a.k.a. "The Hydro Man" MBDL18from Look and Learn #550 - 29-07-1972 until #558 - 23-09-1972
    37"The Curse of King Yutta" MBDL18from Look and Learn #559 - 30-09-1972 until #567 - 25-11-1972
    38"The Lost Years" MBDL22from Look and Learn #568 - 02-12-1972 until #578 - 10-02-1973
    39"Journey to Orcadia", a.k.a. "Atomic Disaster!" MBDL18from Look and Learn #579 - 17-02-1973 until #587 - 14-04-1973
    40"The Secret of Castle Doum" MBDL18from Look and Learn #588 - 21-04-1973 until #596 - 16-06-1973
    41"The House of the Five Moons" MBDL18from Look and Learn #597 - 23-06-1973 until #605 - 18-08-1973
    42"A National Emergency", a.k.a. "The Outlaw Planet" MBDL10from Look and Learn #606 - 25-08-1973 until #610 - 22-09-1973
    43"The Palace of Peril", a.k.a. "The Glass Palace" MBDL4from Look and Learn #611 - 29-09-1973 until #612 - 06-10-1973
    44"Evil from Outer Space", a.k.a. "Terror from Tarron" MBDL16from Look and Learn #613 - 13-10-1973 until #620 - 01-12-1973
    45"The Curse of the Sun Worshippers", a.k.a. "The Sun Worshippers" MBDL18from Look and Learn #621 - 08-12-1973 until #629 - 02-02-1974
    46"The Zootha Vorgs", a.k.a. "The Rogue Planet" MBMQ10from Look and Learn #630 - 09-02-1974 until #634 - 09-03-1974
    47"The Sea Creatures", a.k.a. "The Melting Ice Caps" MBPC20from Look and Learn #635 - 16-03-1974 until #644 - 18-05-1974
    48"The Youth Serum", a.k.a. "The Elixir of Eternal Youth" MBPC16from Look and Learn #645 - 25-05-1974 until #652 - 13-07-1974
    49"The Assassin", a.k.a. "Zith the Assassin" MBPC16from Look and Learn #653 - 20-07-1974 until #660 - 07-09-1974
    50"The Deadly Seeds", a.k.a. "The Alien Seeds" MBPC14from Look and Learn #661 - 14-09-1974 until #667 - 26-10-1974
    51"Emperor Z", a.k.a. "The Stone of Vorg" MBPC20from Look and Learn #668 - 02-11-1974 until #677 - 04-01-1975
    52"The Heat Controller", a.k.a. "The Weather Controller" MBPC16from Look and Learn #682 - 08-02-1975 until #689 - 29-03-1975
    53"The Time Traveller", a.k.a. "The Man from the Future" MBDL18from Look and Learn #690 - 05-04-1975 until #698 - 31-05-1975
    54"The Rocketeer", a.k.a. "The Mission of Lukaz Rann" MBDL20from Look and Learn #699 - 07-06-1975 until #708 - 09-08-1975
    55"The Convicts", a.k.a. "Torga's Mind Controller" MBDL18from Look and Learn #709 - 16-08-1975 until #717 - 11-10-1975
    56"The Gambler", a.k.a. "Nastor, the Faith Healer" MBDL12from Look and Learn #718 - 18-10-1975 until #723 - 22-11-1975
    57"The Ultimate Collection", a.k.a. "The Millionaire" MBDL16from Look and Learn #724 - 29-11-1975 until #731 - 17-01-1976
    58"The Dryaks", a.k.a. "The Green Smog" MBDL16from Look and Learn #732 - 24-01-1976 until #739 - 13-03-1976
    59"The Nobes", a.k.a. "The Lost Valley" MBDL16from Look and Learn #740 - 20-03-1976 until #747 - 08-05-1976
    60"Atomic Fallout", a.k.a. "The Fallout Menace" MBDL10from Look and Learn #748 - 15-05-1976 until #752 - 12-06-1976
    61"Vengeance!", a.k.a. "The Disappeared", a.k.a. "The Satellite Mystery" MBOF16from Look and Learn #753 - 19-06-1976 until #760 - 07-08-1976
    62"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 - 02-10-1976
    63"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 - 27-11-1976
    64"The Time Machine", a.k.a. "Janno's 'Out-of-Time' Mind" MBOF10from Look and Learn #777 - 04-12-1976 until #781 - 01-01-1977
    65"The Frozen People", a.k.a. "Sedda's Plot" MBOF20from Look and Learn #782 - 08-01-1977 until #791 - 12-03-1977
    66"Abdication", a.k.a. "The Imperial Walkabout" MBOF16from Look and Learn #792 - 19-03-1977 until #799 - 07-05-1977
    67"Dr. Mazaratto's Elixir" MBOF16from Look and Learn #800 - 14-05-1977 until #807 - 02-07-1977
    68"The Digger", a.k.a. "The Ghost in the Machine" MBOF16from Look and Learn #808 - 09-07-1977 until #815 - 27-08-1977
    69"The Stolen Plans" MBOF8from Look and Learn #816 - 03-09-1977 until #819 - 24-09-1977
    70"The Curse of Zonn", a.k.a. "The Manipulators of Chaos"MBGW12from Look and Learn #820 - 01-10-1977 until #825 - 05-11-1977
    71"Battle for Survival", a.k.a. "Cato Attacks"?OF16from Look and Learn #826 - 12-11-1977 until #833 - 31-12-1977
    72"The Killer" KRGW20from Look and Learn #834 - 07-01-1978 until #843 - 11-03-1978
    73"The Rival", a.k.a. "Eruption!" KRGW16from Look and Learn #844 - 18-03-1978 until #851 - 06-05-1978
    74"The Trigonium Thieves" KRGW16from Look and Learn #852 - 13-05-1978 until #859 - 01-07-1978
    75"Chase For a Traitor" KRGW12from Look and Learn #860 - 08-07-1978 until #865 - 12-08-1978
    76"The Voyage of the Perici", a.k.a. "Sub Mission" KRGW12from Look and Learn #878 - 11-11-1978 until #883 - 16-12-1978
    77"The Flowers of Forgetfulness" KRGW28from Look and Learn #884 - 23-12-1978 until #897 - 31-03-1979
    78"Rebellion in Daveli" KRGW28from Look and Learn #898 - 07-04-1979 until #911 - 07-07-1979
    79"A Tragic Misunderstanding", a.k.a. "Ice upon Hericon"KRGW24from Look and Learn #912 - 14-07-1979 until #923 - 29-09-1979
    80"The Zabriz Conspiracy" KRGW26from Look and Learn #932 - 01-12-1979 until #944 - 23-02-1980
    81"Trigan's Deadly Peril", a.k.a. "Shipwreck Peril" KRGW22from Look and Learn #945 - 01-03-1980 until #955 - 28-06-1980
    82"The Skorpiads" KRGW28from Look and Learn #956 - 05-07-1980 until #969 - 04-10-1980
    83"The Zolt Exodus" KRGW32from Look and Learn #983 - 10-01-1981 until #998 - 25-04-1981
    84"Terror of the Skorpiads" KRGW28from Look and Learn #999 - 02-05-1981 until #1012 - 01-08-1981
    85"Search Mission", a.k.a. "The Quest of Fidelius" KRGW30from Look and Learn #1013 - 08-08-1981 until #1027 - 14-11-1981
    86"Alien Mission", a.k.a. "Bad Moon Arising" KRGW24from Look and Learn #1028 - 21-11-1981 until #1039 - 06-02-1982
    87"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.[7]

    Collected editions

    The stories have been collected into volumes a number of times:

    Adaptations

    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.[8]

    See also

    External links

    Notes and References

    1. Web site: British Comic Heroes under one roof! Rebellion snaps up TI Media's classic comics catalogue. downthetubes.net. John. Freeman. John Freeman (editor). 28 September 2018. 11 September 2022.
    2. Web site: Classic British Comic 'The Trigan Empire' to Be Reissued. The Hollywood Reporter. Graeme. McMillan. 19 May 2019. 11 September 2022.
    3. Web site: Preview: 'The Rise And Fall Of The Trigan Empire' A Beautiful British Classic Complete At Last. comicon. Richard. Bruton. 20 February 2020. 11 September 2022.
    4. Web site: "Trigan Empire Volume Two: Limited Edition Hardcover Announced. downthetubes.net. John. Freeman. 27 August 2022. 11 September 2022.
    5. Web site: Artist of The Wise Man of Vorg in Ranger Book 1967, on sale from October 8th 1966 (Look and Learn, issue #247, page 34). paninishop.de.
    6. Web site: Explanation by editor Steve Holland for crediting Miguel Quesada. bearalley.blogspot.com. Steve. Holland. 19 July 2008. 31 March 2023.
    7. Web site: Publication date in UK comics database for researchers. comics.bournemouth.ac.uk. Ian. Stephenson . 24 January 2024.
    8. Web site: TV Series That Might Have Been: The Trigan Empire. downthetubes.net. John. Freeman. 17 March 2022. 11 September 2022.