STARTING FROM DAY ONE -- THE NEW PEOPLE !!!

"It is today, this time, this decade. But for a stranded group of young people on a remote island in the South Pacific, it is Year One. Theirs, by a sudden thrust of circumstance, it is a New World. Can they create a better one?" 

Panel from The New People #1!

Panel from The New People #2!

This began the adventures of The New People, first a short lived television series, seventeen episodes, then a Dell Comics series, unfortunately lasting only two issues. Prolific writer Joe Gill and artist Frank (Secret Six) Springer brought life to the comic book series. There were two stories in each issue. Each comic book sported photo covers.

The pilot episode was written by Rod (Twilight Zone) Serling. The New People, a planeload of teenagers, college students, marooned on a deserted island, was influenced by Lord of the Flies and The Mod Squad counterculture of the time.

The New People #1  Teenagers...Marooned Forever. Survive or Die!
"For the Guilt of One"
Jamie Foyle is the first to discover a boat and he threatens to shoot anyone else who tries to board it. He's captured and tried but escapes and he tries to leave on the boat, it has a fuel leak and blows up. 
"Sole Survivor"
Alf is ready to give up but changes his mind when he believes he's the last survivor, after an illness strikes the island.
Note that the cover to this issue features a scene from the TV show, featuring the crashed plane, as well as two of the red mannequins the survivors found left behind on the island by the Atomic Energy Commission, that planned to use it as a test site.
Love the photo cover, it was so eerie looking with the mannequins!

The New People #2  Their Chance to Change the World! Do They Dare! Would You?
"So Close...So Far"
A man who doesn’t want the survivors to be rescued tries to sabotage efforts to contact help.
"Odd Man Out"
The survivors are shocked when a mysterious stranger begins stalking one of the women on the island.

William Johnston also wrote the two Mod Squad Whitman Books!

There was an original novel published, They Came From the Sea, written by Alex Steele (aka William (Mod Squad, Then Came Bronson novels) Johnston.)  The novel involved a hoard of poisonous crab-like creatures descending on the island, killing one of the new people and putting another in a coma. It's a good read, I'd recommend it to fans of the show.

Unfortunately, The New People has not been reprinted, other than Mexican editions (both issues were released in Mexico through publisher Organización Editorial Novaro) at the time. The television series has not come out in DVD. There's a certain shame in that, The New People was a good show and a comic book reflective of the television show.

More panels from The New People #2!

Live Large My Friends!

Thank You!