The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire, later called simply The Trigan Empire was a science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 comic series written mainly by Mike Butterworth

Mike Butterworth

Mike Butterworth was a British comic book writer, best known for his comic strip The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire in the British weeklies Ranger and Look and Learn...

 and most notably drawn by Don Lawrence

Don Lawrence

Donald Southam Lawrence was a British comic book artist and author.Lawrence is best known for his comic strips The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire in the British weeklies Ranger and Look and Learn and the Storm series, first published in the Dutch weekly Eppo...

. It told the story of an alien culture that contained an educational blend of science and Earth-like ancient civilizations.

Background

It 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 tale, 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 the Roman empire

Roman Empire

The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

. 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 flew atmosphere craft. These vessels were like spaceships, but restricted to the atmosphere of the planet of Elekton. 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 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

Byzantine Empire

The Byzantine Empire was the Eastern Roman Empire during the periods of Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages, centred on the capital of Constantinople. Known simply as the Roman Empire or Romania to its inhabitants and neighbours, the Empire was the direct continuation of the Ancient Roman State...

, and the Persian Empire.

The series was a strange blend of low and high tech. 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 that they must settle. The fledgling Trigan nation is established 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, atmosphere crafts and 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 both low and high tech.

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. Studies of the crew reveal them to be humanoid, but around 12 feet tall. 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 had studied the books from the spaceship as a young man manages to decrypt the volumes, and begins to relate the tales.

Publication history

The strip first appeared in the first issue of the British magazine Ranger

Ranger magazine

Ranger was a British weekly comic/text magazine published by Fleetway Publications which debuted on 18 September 1965 and ran for 40 un-numbered issues until 18 June 1966...

in September 1965 and then in the British Look and Learn

Look and Learn

Look and Learn was a British weekly educational magazine for children published by Fleetway Publications Ltd from 1962 until 1982. It contained educational text articles that covered a wide variety of topics from volcanoes to the Loch Ness Monster; a long running science fiction comic strip, The...

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 young people; although mainly filled with articles on life, history, science and technology, both contained a small comic strip section in each issue.

The series ran in Look and Learn

Look and Learn

Look and Learn was a British weekly educational magazine for children published by Fleetway Publications Ltd from 1962 until 1982. It contained educational text articles that covered a wide variety of topics from volcanoes to the Loch Ness Monster; a long running science fiction comic strip, The...

until the title ceased publication with issue 1049, April 1982, an extraordinary run of 854 issues between the two magazines.

There were a number of early reprints. In the United Kingdom, Hamlyn Publishing printed one book called simply, "The Trigan Empire", this was printed in the United States by Chartwell Publishing. This edition featured early stories. A later book was printed by Hawk Publishing in 1989 as Tales of the Trigan Empire in hardback form. Both the Hamlyn and Hawk books have parts cut from some of the original stories, most notably in the Hawk book there are sometimes entire pages that have been taken out.

In recent years, the parts of the Trigan Empire that were drawn by Don Lawrence have been reprinted by the Don Lawrence Collection in luxury hardback limited editions. These editions have the stories as originally printed without any of the frames that were missing in some of the other reprints, notably the Hawk publications book. They are not direct copies of the Look and Learn prints, but in many cases are taken from the original artwork and use revised fonts to make them easier to read.

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.

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 the Chieftainess of the Tamaz desert warriors.

Artists

• Don Lawrence
  Don Lawrence
  Donald Southam Lawrence was a British comic book artist and author.Lawrence is best known for his comic strips The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire in the British weeklies Ranger and Look and Learn and the Storm series, first published in the Dutch weekly Eppo...
  
  
• Oliver Frey
  Oli Frey
  Oliver "Oli" Frey is a magazine illustrator and artist who worked on comic strips in the 1970s and 1980s.- Biography :Frey was born in Zurich, Switzerland on 30 June 1948. He grew up fluent in Italian and German...
  
  
• Gerry Wood
• Philip Corke
• Henry Winter
• Ramon Sola
• Ron Embleton
  Ron Embleton
  Ronald Sydney Embleton was a British comics artist and illustrator whose work was much admired by fans and editors alike...
  
  
• Miguel Quesada

Tales

Note that although there were never any official titles for the stories, these are the names being used in the reprints from the Don Lawrence collection.

Tales written by Mike Butterworth

• Victory for the Trigans
• Crash In The Jungle
• Elekton In Danger
• Invaders from Gallas
• The Land of No Return
• The Lokan Conspiracy
• War With Hericon
• Revolution in Zabriz
• The Lokan Invasion
• The Revenge of Darak
• The Three Aliens
• The Reign of Thara
• Voyage to the Moon Bolus
• The Three Princes
• Poison From Outer Space
• The Lost City
• The Terror of Mount Spyx
• The Invisible Ray
• False Accusation
• The Deadly Formula
• The Tyrant
• The Red Death
• The Puppet Emperor
• Trigo's Five Tasks
• The Menace From The Sea
• The Giant Rallus
• The City of the Jewels
• The Imposter
• The Duplication Machine
• The Masked Raiders
• The Prisoner of Zerss
• The Miniature Killers of Zelph
• The Hypnotist
• The Wish Fulfiller
• The Fiendish Experiment
• The Curse of King Yutta
• The Lost Years
• Journey to Orcadia
• The Secret of Castle Doum
• The House of the Five Moons
• A National Emergency
• The Palace of Peril
• Evil from Outer Space
• The Curse of the Sun Worshippers
• The Zootha Vorgs
• The Sea Creatures
• The Youth Serum
• The Assassin
• The Deadly Seeds
• Emperor Z
• The Heat Controller
• The Time Traveller
• The Rocketeer
• The Convicts
• The Gambler
• The Ultimate Collection
• The Dryaks
• The Nobes
• Atomic Fallout
• Vengeance!
• The Zallus
• The Street Sweeper
• The Time Machine
• The Frozen People
• Abdication
• Dr. Mazaratto's Elixir
• The Digger
• The Stolen Plans
• The Curse of Zonn

Tales written by Ken Roscoe

• The Killer
• The Rival
• The Trigonium Thieves
• Chase For A Traitor
• The Voyage of the Perici
• The Flowers of Forgetfulness
• Rebellion in Daveli
• A Tragic Misunderstanding
• The Zabriz Conspiracy
• Trigan's Deadly Peril
• The Skorpiads
• The Zolt Exodus
• Terror Of The Skorpiads
• Search Mission
• Alien Mission
• Mercy Mission

Other tales

• The Wise Man of Vorg
• The Brief Reign of Sennos the First
• They Came From out of the Night
• Battle for Survival

Collected editions

The stories have been collected into volumes

Trade paperback (comics)

In comics, a trade paperback is a collection of stories originally published in comic books, reprinted in book format, usually capturing one story arc from a single title or a series of stories with a connected story arc or common theme from one or more titles...

a number of times:

• The Look and Learn Book of the Trigan Empire (70 pages, IPC/Fleetway, 1973)
• The Trigan Empire (192 pages, Hamlyn, October 1978, ISBN 0600387887)
• Tales from the Trigan Empire (160 pages, Hawk Books, 1996, ISBN 0948248955)

• The Trigan Empire (The Don Lawrence Collection, hardcover):
  • The Prisoner of Zerss (98 pages, March 2004, ISBN 9073508541)
  • The Sun Worshippers (106 pages, October 2004, ISBN 9073508622)
  • House of the Five Moons (94 pages, March 2005, ISBN 9073508649)
  • The Curse of King Yutta (98 pages, October 2005, ISBN 9073508665)
  • The Three Princes (98 pages, March 2006, ISBN 9073508789)
  • The Rallu Invasion (96 pages, August 2006, ISBN 9073508827)
  • The Reign of Thara (98 pages, November 2006, ISBN 9073508843)
  • Revolution in Zabriz (122 pages, March 2007, ISBN 9073508916)
  • The Puppet Emperor (114 pages, December 2007, ISBN 9073508932)
  • The Red Death (114 pages, April 2008, ISBN 9073508967)

External links

• Trigan Empire.co.uk
• Don Lawrence.co.uk