Reading – Space WARP Coloring Album

Coloring book archaeology by Doctor Kent (website, Twitter). This man can find anything!

I’m visiting Matt Doughty (Onell Design) today, and one of the many things Matt’s showing me is a classic coloring book from 1978 that he points to as one of the influences on his art and his work with the Glyos System toys. And as I flipped through the coloring book, which is really a lot more than just a collection of illustrations, I decided there was no way that I wasn’t going to share this with all of you.

Warrior Activated Robot Patrol

Space WARP tells the story of Galaxy T-42, a spectacular paradise where an evil force led by Baron Zax turns everything into a war. To combat Baron Zax, WARP is created and sent off into the galaxy. The giant robot is piloted by smaller robots, and in the story — each spread is a page of text and a full-page illustration — we see WARP fight a robotic dragon, a robotic octopus, use a drill hand, and transform into a spaceship. Basically, everything awesome about robots and space stories of the seventies.

Twenty Pics on Flickr

Click through to the Space WARP Coloring Album at Flickr for a look at the photos I shot of the coloring book. Matt’s copy only has a few pages that were attacked by crayons, and as I looked at the art I found myself wishing I had the time to create a coloring book. I know there’s the Glyos System coloring book on Flickr that I created, but I’d really like to create an actual printed coloring book of all new images.

Definitely a Glyos System Influence

As I read the pages and looked at the art I could see exactly why this is one of the influences on the entire Glyos System series. Robots, a galaxy-spanning force trying to fight off evil, and lots of bizarre and fun robotic constructions all look as if you could drop them right into the Glyos System and they would be a perfect fit. I could totally see a force of Armodocs (first review here, second review here) going up against WARP. And a WARP in Galaxia colors would be fun.

Closing Thoughts

Flipping through the Space WARP Coloring Album from 1978 was a lot of fun, and as I think more about it I realize that there are probably dozens of coloring books from the seventies and eighties that are packed with neat robot and spaceship designs that I’d love to see. Off to eBay, I guess. And even if I can’t find any weird coloring books I can always enjoy the Space WARP photos I posted at Flickr.