Look-In #26/1975
Look-In #26 (21 June 1975) marks the debut of The Six Million Dollar Man comic strip in the British weekly magazine, bringing Steve Austin and OSI handler Oscar Goldman to British children's comics for the first time. The strip would run continuously until 1979, becoming what multiple sources confirm was the longest-running adventure strip in Look-In's entire twenty-plus-year history — a remarkable achievement for a licensed property rooted in American television. Beyond its longevity, the inaugural instalment carries a unique piece of in-universe lore: it contains what the Bionic Wiki identifies as a rare, post-pilot acknowledgment of the OSO (the predecessor intelligence organisation to the OSI), and may be the only licensed product in which Oscar Goldman explicitly confirms the OSO's existence. The issue also marks the moment Look-In staked a claim on the peak of the mid-1970s bionic-hero cultural wave, cementing the magazine's role as the primary comics conduit for ITV-adjacent American action television for an entire generation of British young readers.
Sell my copy
Have this issue — or a whole collection? Get a fair offer from us, skip the marketplace fees and the hassle.
We Buy Collections ▸History
Look-In was published by Independent Television Publications Ltd — the same organisation behind the TV Times — and was subtitled 'Junior TV Times,' positioning it as the ITV network's own children's media brand from its 1971 launch. The magazine was founded under editor Alan Fennell, a Gerry Anderson scriptwriting veteran, but by mid-1975 art editor Colin Shelbourn had taken over the editorial chair, meaning issue #26 arrived right at this transition point. The Six Million Dollar Man strip stepped directly into the slot vacated by the Kung Fu strip, with writer Angus Allan and artist Martin Asbury assigned to the new property — a creative team that would, unusually for British anthology comics, remain stable for the strip's entire run. Asbury had joined Look-In the previous year to draw Kung Fu, so the handoff was a smooth one; Allan, meanwhile, was at this time scripting virtually every strip in the magazine simultaneously.
Trivia · 8 facts
- First appearance of The Six Million Dollar Man comic strip in Look-In, debuting in issue #26, cover-dated 21 June 1975.
- First comic-strip appearances of Steve Austin and Oscar Goldman in a British weekly publication.
- The strip replaced the Kung Fu comic strip, which had occupied the same page position in the magazine.
- Opening story is titled 'Zero Hour,' in which Steve Austin must prevent a nuclear warhead from being stolen from a train by a criminal named Starro Stein ('The Admiral').
- This inaugural instalment includes what the Bionic Wiki describes as a rare reference to the OSO — the intelligence organisation predating the OSI — and possibly the only time Oscar Goldman acknowledges the OSO's existence in any licensed product.
- Written by Angus Allan and drawn by Martin Asbury, the creative team that remained on the strip without interruption through its entire run to 1979.
- The Six Million Dollar Man went on to become the longest-running adventure strip in Look-In's history, spanning from 1975 issue #26 to 1979 issue #12, comprising just under 200 installments.
- The strip received colour page treatment for the bulk of its run, consistent with Look-In's practice of assigning colour to its most prominent strips.