Colouring Book Theatre: The Space Sentinels and the Time Machine

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Time to crack open another vintage colouring book and see the madness inside!

The Space Sentinels and the Time Machine-1978 Rand McNalley

As a kid I seriously thought the world of Filmation's syndicated superheroes "The Space Sentinels" and wish it was better remembered today.

The show did get some pretty cool merchandise (I own quite a bit) and I was thrilled to find this colouring book.

Even though Rand McNalley is largely known for road atlases, they did have a children's book division and I fondly remember their Hanna Barbera children's books of the mid-1970s.

So grab your crayons and check out this adventure after the jump!

I'm happy to announce it's really nicely illustrated, it looks like they had oodles of Filmation reference material, it looks just like the cartoon. For an example of when they don't give the artist reference material for a colouring book, click here.

There is, of course, many pages explaining the characters, their powers, their surroundings. I really like this one explaining Astrea's powers.

Then we meet our villain, Dr. Doom. Imagine how different the Fantastic Four comics would have been if Dr. Doom looked like my 9th-grade auto shop teacher Mr. Brown.

Doctor Doom has a time machine and uses Dinosaurs to steal Gold, now, if you're wondering why he doesn't just plunder from the past, worry not this colouring book has an oddly satisfying conclusion.

This is where the book slows down, after like 2 dozen pages of the Sentinels getting the news, then debating how dinosaurs could exist in this modern era, they finally leap into action.

Then we're treated to a dozen pages of them getting chased by dinosaurs until they realize they're superheroes. Then it's another dozen pages of them trying to get into Dr. Doom's lab.

WHEN ARE ITCHY AND SCRATCHY GOING TO GET TO THE FIREWORKS FACTORY? *SOBS*

They finally get in and discover the whole thing is a fraud, Dr. Doom doesn't have a time machine, it's just this sort of "Scooby-Doo" type contraption.

Dr, Doom is captured and sent to jail for making the duck face in 2020. The gold is returned and everything is wrapped up neatly.

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[RonnyG]

I loved coloring books when I was a kid. My first stop at K-mart was the coloring book section. This was before VCRs were a common household item, so the only way I could relive my favorite movies and TV show was through coloring books. I had so many, that my Aunt said I couldn't buy another one until I finished coloring the books I already had. I still have a few from childhood, and the ones I lost, I have found on ebay. While I can't say I'm a fan of the Space Sentinels, I do appreciate the artwork. I'll have to check out your website!

[drquest]

I totally had this comic book!

[Earth 2 Chris]

I only vaguely recall the Space Sentinels. I was more familiar with the Freedom Force from The Super 7. This coloring book matches the fidelity of the Whitman Publishing Super Friends coloring book, which almost looked like the art was drawn by Alex Toth himself. Great art, even if the cover is a little strange. It looks like Astraea is trying to get the heck out of Dodge!

So glad to see Colouring Book Theatre return!

Chris

[sprytel]

Dr, Doom is captured and sent to jail for making the duck face in 2020.

While I enjoyed the whole post, that line was simply brilliant. Thank you... we can all use a good laugh these days!

[ShadowAvenger]

Cool pages. I like coloring books that have full figures of superheroes. I used to trace them so I cold color them different colors. I also made different costumes.

[Wee67]

There are few thinks more childhood than coloring books. So creative and fun. I really love this segment (segment? is that right) on the Museum.

BTW, were the Space Sentinels the first completely multi-racial hero team, aside from the Honeycomb Hideout Gang of course? Or would that be the crew of Ark II?

[palitoy]

BTW, were the Space Sentinels the first completely multi-racial hero team, aside from the Honeycomb Hideout Gang of course? Or would that be the crew of Ark II?

I think Ark 2 had them beat by two years but I think they may be the first multi-racial superhero team on children's programming.

I really liked this show as a kid and was kind of oblivious that it was somewhat groundbreaking in that regard.

[Earth 2 Chris]

Black Vulcan, Samurai and Apache Chief first appeared in fall of 1977, although they were only used ins team-up segments that season, and wouldn't get to fully integrate into the Super Friends format until the next season.

But 1977 was a big year for Super Heroes to start to shake off the awful "whites only" club stigma. Definitely a good thing!

Chris

[toyhunter1970]

Love filmation