The Italian hardcover books, titled Spazio 1999, are novelisations adapted by Gianni Padoan from original scripts. Padoan (born 1927, died 1995) was a prolific author of children's books, and also wrote for television and radio. Each book features (usually) two episodes, all heavily illustrated with photos.
Volumes 0 and 4 were translated into German and published in new editions by Koralle in 1977/ 1978. The books were reprinted in Portugal, titled Espaco: 1999 by Ediguia. In 1999 two books were reprinted by Fanucci in Italy (see below).
The original volume, just titled "Spazio 1999", was published in 1975 and contained three stories and a scientific appendix. There were few copies (the show had been seen in the cinema, but was not on Italian television until 1976). It had a dust jacket with a plain blue hardcover binding; the jacket rarely survives. All the later titles have photographic hardcover binding, without a dust jacket.
In September 1975, four more titles were published, numbered 1 to 4, adapting 2 episodes each. These were reprinted in November. Both these editions have stars on the spine; later reprints have plain colours.
By October 1976, with the series on Italian television, the stories from the original volume were reprinted in two books. As Breakaway is the first episode, that became book 0. The other two episodes from the original volume became book 5.
Other volumes continued until 1978, when all 24 episodes had been adapted in 12 books. In 1979, four Year 2 editions were published.
The initial book was 188 pages; the other first series books were 160 pages long, and the second series books 144 pages. The initial pages of each book included photos of the regulars and a full cast list. Each story lasted 63 pages and each book was illustrated with over a hundred large colour photos (the first series books had poorer quality photos, sometimes quite fuzzy). The final pages featured shots from other titles in the series.
The covers of the first series featured an episode shot, usually a head and shoulders portrait of a character, bordered to the right with an Eagle over a hemisphere of Moon. The second series cover features episode photo with various Eagles below and left. The back cover lists all titles over the black sun (prima serie) or the photo of the red moon from the Year 1 series credits (seconda serie).
Title | Cover | Stories |
---|---|---|
Prima Serie/ first series: | ||
Spazio 1999 (large format, 1975, 188 pages) |
Dust jacket with plain hardcover binding |
p1-8 frontpages; p10-156 novelisations |
0 - Il distacco 1976 |
Montage of Koenig and Helena |
Reprint from large format book
|
1 - I naufraghi dello spazio Sept 1975 |
High view of Zoref before open furnace |
|
2 - I pirati delle galassie Sept 1975 |
Koenig in spacesuit, arms up (Ring Around The Moon) |
|
3 - Verso il tremila Nov 1975 |
Vana and Raan |
|
4 - I giustizieri del cosmo Sept 1975 |
Alan in Eagle seat |
|
5 - Al di là del tempo 1976 |
Other Paul and Victor on Earth |
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6 - L'ultimo tramonto July 1977 |
Companion |
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7 - Gli eredi del passato Sept 1977 |
Kara |
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8 - Guerra nel cosmo Sept 1977 |
Alphan falling out of corridor into space |
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9 - I giorni del terrore July 1977 |
Koenig grimaces, holding laser rifle |
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10 - Gli esploratori dell'eternità June 1978 |
Jack Tanner |
|
11 - La grande dominatrice July 1978 |
Sandra in leopardskin (Full Circle) |
|
Seconda serie/ second series: | ||
1 - Gli alieni dai mille volti March 1979 (144 pages) |
Maya |
|
2 - Gli stregoni del cosmo March 1979 (144 pages) |
Taybor |
|
3 - Il ritorno degli ibernati March 1979 (144 pages) |
A, B, Guardian's brother |
|
4 - Rapimento nello spazio March 1979 (144 pages) |
Archon and Varda |
|
Typical page- large, but fuzzy, photos |
Inside covers- the second series titles (bottom) added a Maya transformation |
Fanucci reprinted stories from the AMZ books in 1999, in a new paperback format. The episodes were in production order and included an appendix listing all episodes from both series, a brief description, and credits for each episode.
Each book was L14,000 and 288 pages with a 32 page glossy colour section. Like the original AMZ volumes, the 50 photos used were somewhat fuzzy. The covers were plain silver with a vertical logo. A glossy page inside the covers (page 4) featured a pictorial cover (illustrated here).
In October 2001, Fanucci reprinted more stories in a book for their Solaria series, sold on newstands rather than bookshops.
Spazio 1999 #100 |
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Spazio 1999: Destinazione Terra #104 |
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The English translation of the title is "The Burning Eye of Mbatian". A novel by Michele Tetro, based on the short story "Adagio" by Michele Tetro and inspired by Space 1999 episode "Dragon's Domain" by Christopher Penfold
Published by Edizioni del Nano-Cosmic Group, Modena 2005, pp. 236, graphic and design by Marco Vittorini, cover by Gianluca De Virgilio, technical plans by Roberto Baldassari. It has a preface by Gianni Garko (who played Cellini in the episode).
More details including synopses
Thanks to Michele Tetro
Copyright Martin Willey. Thanks to Angelo Finamore, Gordon Moriguchi, Michele Tetro, Patrick Zimmerman.