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Back in the early '60s, GOLD KEY issued four SUPERCAR comicbooks to tie-in with the GERRY ANDERSON TV puppet programme of the same name. Thought you might like to see the covers, so no sooner said than done, honoured effendis. This was the first show to use the SUPERMARIONATION name, but the only one not to be set in the 21st century.
16 comments:
One of my earliest childhood recollections is of having the "Supercar" toy/model - they must have repeated this on TV in the UK as I think the original series was 1961/2 and I would not have been aware of it then. I didn't realise Gold Key produced these comics based on UK TV series so far back,
It's stranger than it first appears, McS, because Fireball XL5 was the only Anderson show to be broadcast on a U.S. network (NBC), whereas the other shows were syndicated. Yet, as far as I know, there was only one Gold Key Fireball comic. Who'da thunk Supercar would've managed four? I had a friction-drive Supercar around '62 or '63 - what I'd give to have that toy back again.
Listening to Keith Shackleton, A.P. Films merchandise manager at last years Fanderson, I gather in exchange for the Gold Key Supercar deal he got the publishing rights to several American TV series amongst them Burke's Law and The Man From Uncle. Oddly enough, it was a series of Dr Kildare paperbacks that made A.P. Films a small fortune!
Thanks for that, Scoop, it's certainly interesting and just the sort of snippet I like to read - as do other Criv-ites I'm sure. Dr. Kildare? Who'da thunk it?
Even stranger, Fireball XL5 is not the best-known Gerry Anderson show in the US, even though it aired on a nation-wide network. Somehow, Thunderbirds is more widely recognized by American audiences. And that was the case even in the 1960's, when it had only been shown in syndication in the US. (Re-edited reruns were broadcast on the Fox network in 1994.)
The syndicated distribution was kind of hit-or-miss, so you will hear Americans say, "I remember Stingray, but I never heard of Captain Scarlet," or "I watched Thunderbirds, but our local TV station didn't carry Supercar," and so on. It was the same with the 1970's live action shows, UFO and Space: 1999, although the latter did get more publicity, and probably wider distribution, than most syndicated series.
I remember seeing Supercar, Fireball XL5, Stingray, and Captain Scarlet in the 1960's, and UFO and Space 1999 in the 1970's. Thunderbirds never aired in our city back then (AFAIR), although I had heard of it, somehow. (I did finally see the reruns in the 1990's.)
I don't remember ever seeing any of the Supercar comic books, or the XL5 one-shot, either. I do remember getting the MPC Fireball XL5/Space City toy set one Christmas when I was about six. And I had a Supercar cardboard cut-out set that was designed to be assembled in a sort of diorama. IIRC, it was an underwater scene, with dolphins. And I saw some die cast toys on sale in stores sometime around 1979-80, with the aircraft/spacecraft/vehicles from Thunderbirds, Space 1999, and UFO.
Those diecast toys you mention in your last paragraph would doubtless be by Dinky toys, TC. And as you'll know, that MPC Fireball toy set is worth a small fortune nowadays - wish someone would reissue it. I'm lucky enough to have original '60s merchandise for Supercar, Fireball, Stingray, Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet. Wouldn't part with them for the world.
Supercar likewise didn't air in the New York City market (at least in reruns ) but Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet did. In fact they even had toy distribution. I don't recall these comics at all. Did they ever release any US comics of thunderbirds or Capt Scarlet?
Not that I've ever heard of, Phil, but I couldn't say with any certainty.
I've never heard of any American comics based on Stingray, Thunderbirds, or Captain Scarlet. In the 1970's, Charlton Comics published two Space 1999 series, one a color comic, the other a black-and-white magazine. IIRC, each lasted about seven or eight issues.
With Stingray being the first Gerry Anderson show in colour, you'd have thought it was a shoe-in for a comicbook, eh, TC? I think they missed an opportunity there.
Seemingly there was a "Steve Zodiac and the Fireball XL5" Gold Key comic (see link)
http://www.technodelic.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/Upload05/GoldKey60.htm
"Oh, do pay attention, 007!" Mentioned it already, McS. I've got two copies - and it's on the blog somewhere.
Well there you go! Learn something new every day.
And you learned it by reading about it in the 2nd comment to this post, Phil. McS was too busy dreaming about Judith Ralston to have noticed.
I don't have them scanned nor do I know quite where they are at the moment but somewhere I have several drawings that 7 year old me made of Supercar!
We're all looking forward to seeing them on your blog when you find and scan them, Steve.
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