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What's significant about this FIREBALL XL5 page from TV CENTURY #21 #105, Criv-ite chums? It's the first time that The DALEKS hadn't featured on the back cover, their strip having ended the week before, with issue #104. To be honest, I thought that TV21 was never quite as good as it had been with The Daleks, and it was perhaps around the same time (or the year after) that original editor ALAN FENNELL left the comic for pastures new.
MIKE NOBLE drew the Fireball page, as well as 2 interior pages of ZERO X (the first instalment of the strip I believe), so that was a full 3 pages in one issue, no mean feat considering how detailed his artwork was. Again, to be honest, I never warmed to Zero X, despite the great artwork, seeing as it just seemed like a reworked, inferior version of Fireball XL5, which I much preferred. Hard to believe though, considering how polished a magazine TV21 yet was, that this was probably the beginning of its decline, though regular, committed readers were probably unaware of that fact at the time.
What's your view, frantic ones? Do you think the comic was still a force to be reckoned with on the newsagents' counters, or were things for you never quite the same again? Feel free to record your views for posterity in our recently much-neglected comments section.
This is a title that I am too young to remember, but have always had a curiosity about - it looks like the kind of thing I'd have enjoyed and I do remember older relatives speaking about it in reverential tones.
ReplyDeleteAlso, the art on that Fireball XL5 page is GORGEOUS!
I'm finally at the Zero X reprint section of the tv 21 hardcover stories and yes. It's a bit confusing since readers are going to go- who is this? I haven't seen it on tv. And - hey this is just like Fireball Xl5. Why are they doing This strip if it's not on tv and just like a previous one?
ReplyDeleteYou should take a look through the blog at some of Mike Noble's 2 page Fireball XL5 strips, DS (if you haven't already seen them) - you'll love 'em. The very first ones by Graham Coton are also worth a look.
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I think that was my problem with the strip at the time, PS - I hadn't seen the movie, so I didn't know how they fitted into the worlds of Gerry Anderson. It just seemed like an XL5 imitation.
Hiya Kid, I'm back again going through you TV21 posts ( actually looking for another two "bonus" issues you showed us as well as the #243 which I've recently bought.
ReplyDeleteI hadn't seen the film either, so didn't have a clue what Zero X was all about until much later. Consequently, I just couldn't get interested in it. I stuck with the comic for a few weeks, hoping that The Daleks would one day reappear, but gave up after a while. And when the Daleks stopped featuring with DW in TV Comic, I stopped that as well.
But, other comics were appearing and I started buying all five Power comics and TV Tornado instead.
Hi, JP. I've only ever seen clips of the two Thunderbirds movies, even though I've got them both on DVD - still haven't watched them yet. In fact, I can see why the films weren't the success that was expected, because they're just too long and tend to drag a bit. The TV episodes would've benefitted from being the originally intended half-hour shows, as the first few actually were before Lew Grade asked for them to be extended.
ReplyDeleteZero X seemed like a second-rate Fireball XL5 to me, and I didn't like it when Fireball was turned into a one-page strip on the back page. I can only guess that maybe circulation was slipping a bit and that getting rid of The Daleks was a cost-cutting exercise, as it must have cost a fair bit to license them. However, if so, how in heck was TV Comic able to afford them?
Only bought TV Tornado occasionally (for free gifts usually), though I read a few of other people's copies. Ah, the Power Comics! Great days.
Agree with you about halving the Fireball strip ( my second favourite ).
ReplyDeleteIncidentally, speaking of not knowing who Zero X was, I didn't know who Lady P was at the start of the comics run. So how come the comic got her before Thunderbirds came on the telly?
The same thing happened with Captain Scarlet, which had a comic strip about The Angels (can't remember if it was in TV21, Lady Penelope, or TV Tornado) before the show appeared on TV. In the case of Lady P, TV21 was an Anderson comic, so the idea was to generate interest in the upcoming show among readers. Even Jeff Tracy appeared in TV21 before he was seen on TV, JP.
ReplyDeleteThe Angels was in the Lady P comic. TV Tornado ( and Solo before it ) had The Mysterons own strip ( looking like Crystals ). I think I may be the only person who actually liked the strip?
ReplyDeleteI remember it (just), JP, but don't recall whether I Liked it or not as I would've only seen a few episodes. I'd need to sit down and read them all again, but I don't have them - apart from maybe one or two.
ReplyDeleteThese are the strips and if you want them you know where you can get them from ( ;-) ;-) )
Deletehttp://www.spectrum-headquarters.com/comic_strips_mysterons.htm
Ta much, JP, I'll certainly give them a look - even if only to refresh my memory.
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