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| Images copyright Egmont Publishing Group |
It's always exciting to receive a book in the post and when my review copy of the new THUNDERBIRDS volume arrived today, courtesy of those extremely nice people at EGMONT, it was no exception. I already have all the stories in one form or another, either in their original TV CENTURY 21 printings, or their various reprintings in THUNDERBIRDS The COMIC, RAVETTE, REYNOLDS & HEARN or SIGNUM editions, but a sturdy hardback book is always very welcome to this particular bibliophile.
Nothing, of course, can compare to the actual artwork or original printings, but this is a very handsome edition which is sure to inspire memories of many a childhood, not only in the 1960s and 1970s, but also 1991, when GERRY ANDERSON's premier puppet programme enjoyed a resurgence of interest all across the U.K. after being networked by the BBC for the first time in the series' history. Featuring strips by FRANK BELLAMY, FRANK HAMPSON, ERIC EDEN and JOHN COOPER, the book is an absolute delight for all lovers of action and adventure.
One of the disappointing aspects of previous collections is that the centrespreads never fared too well, often having word balloons or captions split in two (and the parts not quite matching up) on account of being printed on two separate pages instead of just one double-pager. This book sensibly avoids that problem by presenting stories consisting mainly of individual pages rather than double-page panoramic spreads. Fortunately, GRAHAM BLEATHMAN's cutaway centrespreads aren't too affected by being divided by the binding method.
Talking of Graham Bleathman, his work is right up there with the very best artists who ever illustrated Gerry Anderson-themed comic strips, and it's a shame that no such high-quality periodical like TV21 is around today to give artists of Graham's calibre the opportunity to dazzle the current crop of youngsters, who would surely lap up such fantastically detailed 'video-grams'.
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| Now that's what I call an endpaper |
Thunderbirds: The Comic Collection is a heavy, extremely lavish book, which would make an ideal present for anyone who enjoyed the programme or experienced these strips the first time around. With Christmas fast approaching, it could save you the headache of trying to decide what yuletide present to buy for the big kid in your life. In fact, it'd make an ideal gift at any time of the year. With an informative introduction (and, alas, art credit errors in the list of contents - but, hey - no-one's perfect) it deserves pride of place on any true Thunderbirds fan's bookshelf. Yours for only £25. F.A.B.
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Coming next: The THUNDERBIRDS POSTCARDS review.
6 comments:
It certainly does bring back the memories, Kid, although some of them are slightly embarrassing. In those days you created your own entertainment, so bear in mind that my friends and I were only about 6 or 7 years old when we would go up into the woods and sit in trees that represented Thunderbirds 1 to 5. There was a big tree in the middle which was Thunderbird 5, surrounded by four smaller ones - Thunderbirds 1, 2, 3 and 4. Everyone wanted to be in Thunderbird 3, the cool red one, or Thunderbird 1 (blue?). The yellow one, Thunderbird 4, was okay, but no one wanted to be in the boring green one, Thunderbird 2.
The details could be wrong, but that's how I remember it, not having thought of it for years. Man, the hours we spent up those woods passing the time and having a laugh and it didn't even cost us a penny.
Can I ask what the binding quality is like? Modern printing seems to produce books where pages start falling out due to substandard binding - blessed if I want to spend that kind of money on something that'll fall apart after a few reads.
There used to be a fallen tree in the woods up at the top of my street where I lived from 1960 to '64. To me, it was Fireball XL5, and I used to play on it all the time. I was none too thrilled when my brother came in one day and said that the tree had been turned around to face the other way by workies doing something or other in the woods.
Even when I moved away from the area, I would make pilgrimages back along to the neighbourhood every so often, just to see 'my' tree. I even broke little bits off to keep as mementos. You can't imagine how sad I was when I took a trip along to see it one day (as an adult) and it was gone - along with yet another part of my childhood.
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The pages are sewn (stitched) together, B. It's pretty sturdy.
Graham Bleathman used to do a strip, I think it was in the old 80's Fanderson magazine. I recall cos a mate of mine was corresponding with him over some models for Bleathman's own SF project, called the Santa Maria or something such as that. I don't think my mate ever finished the models though, he did have one painted up quite nicely but he took a bit of licence with the drawings that Bleathman had sent him from what I could see.
Mr Kid, am I dreaming or did a cereal box give away a pair of plastic spectacles that resembled Brains'? This would be in the mid to late 1960s. Interesting article btw, nice to see a British creation thats almost half a century old still generating interest.
Gerry
If you ever hear from your mate, DSE, it would be interesting to see any photos or drawings from the time you mention - if he still has any, that is.
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I don't immediately recall any being given away with cereals, 'though it's always possible. I think they were obtainable in shops 'though. Can anyone else help?
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