Published nearly 50 years ago in January of 1964, GOLD KEY's
STEVE ZODIAC AND THE FIREBALL XL5 comic is an interesting
little one-shot. Of all the many puppet programmes produced by GERRY
ANDERSON, Fireball XL5 was the only one to be shown on network
television in America, making it perhaps the most successful of all
Anderson's shows in the States.
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The comic contains two stories, believed to have been written
by PAUL S. NEWMAN and drawn by MEL CRAWFORD, 'though
PAUL NORRIS and FRANK SPRINGER have also been suggested.
The stunning cover is by GEORGE WILSON, who some think may
have been the cover artist of at least three of the four issues of the
SUPERCAR comic by the same publisher.
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As I said, this was a one-shot. It's just a shame that the comic didn't
continue as a series. At least we can content ourselves with the stunning
MIKE NOBLE Fireball XL5 artwork from TV CENTURY 21, which
has recently been reprinted in a series of hard and softcover albums
by REYNOLDS & HEARN and SIGNUM BOOKS.
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Anyway, enjoy the first story in the comic, THE MOON
MASTERS, and click here to folow Steve Zodiac as he goes on
the TRAIL OF THE TRAITOR.
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You didn't think I'd forget the cover? Shame on you.
9 comments:
And now, you've planted the theme tune firmly in my head. Happy days, eh?
Indeed, Martin. I'm lucky enough to have the original Don Spencer single of the theme tune from the '60s - great stuff.
I remember Fireball XL5 and several other Gerry Anderson shows (Supercar, Stingray, Captain Scarlet) from the 1960's. I didn't see Thunderbirds until it was rerun on the WB or Fox network in the mid 1990's. As you said, in the US, Fireball XL5 was the only one of those shows to be broadcast on a nation wide network. The others were syndicated, so their distribution in America was erratic. When the Bronze Age Babies blog had a post about Thunderbirds in April, several (American) commenters said, "It wasn't aired in our city," "Our local TV station didn't carry it," and so on. So one would expect that Fireball XL5 would be the most widely remembered Anderson/marionation series in the US. And yet, despite its limited exposure, more Americans seem to remember Thunderbirds than XL5 or any of the other Anderson shows. I've heard that Thunderbirds is an institution in the UK. In the US, all of those shows have more of a cult following.
I'd only ever seen the excellent cover to this American comic before. What, with the Noble and recent Coton postings, the illustrators of this Gerry Anderson property are receiving some well-deserved attention. Let me know if you'd like scans of Neville Main's colour work on this feature from TV Comic annuals (unless you already have them, of course).
Actually, I don't have them, Ric. I'd love to see them.
I'll get scanning then. Would you like the 'Space Patrol' features from the 1966 annual as well?
Sure, why not? If they're in colour and it isn't too much trouble, that is. I doubt you'll be able to send scans to this blog, so if you send your email address instead (don't worry - I won't publish it), I'll then send you mine and you can send me the scans.
If you can, scan at 150%. With your permission, I'll post the Fireball ones and give you a credit.
What I'll do, Kid, is make the scans (next week, most likely) and put them in a DropBox folder online. I'll then send you the URL and you can download them from there. Obviously I'd be grateful if you didn't publish the DropBox URL!
The annual stories are short (4-6pps each) so they're quite simple and their naivety is kind of charming. The 'Space Patrol' feature is a bit more sophisticated and drawn by TVC stalwart Bill Mevin.
Superb. Thanks very much.
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