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My favourite UK comic of all time is TV (Century) 21. I cut my milk teeth on the early Gerry Anderson puppet TV shows for children and enjoyed the comic strip adaptations of Torchy the Battery Boy in Harold Hare's Own Paper and then Four Feather Falls, Supercar and Fireball XL5 in TV Comic. So when, in January 1965, a new publication went on sale, featuring all of the Gerry Anderson shows in strip form together in one tabloid-sized glossy comic to rival the Eagle, it was an absolute 'must' for me! The icing on the proverbial cake was that The Daleks were also included in this comic set mainly in the imaginary Century 21 universe!
On its first anniversary in 1966, Thunderbirds joined the comic and Lady Penelope exited to star in her own title. This was probably the greatest year for my favourite comic, but on its second anniversary in 1967, we were to find that The Daleks were to leave the weekly to join Doctor Who in TV Comic and, for me, this year was a disappointing lull in its history until Captain Scarlet was added to the line-up.
Anyway, another event happened between 1966 and 1967, unbeknownst to we kids until many years later! Over in Holland they published their very own version of the comic called TV2000, featuring reprints from both TV Century 21 and Lady Penelope. This periodical has become highly sought after by collectors of Gerry Anderson comics and although many of you will have heard of it, I wonder how many have actually seen its interiors? So, for your delectation I would like to share with you an example copy in its entirety from the early years of the publication, which lasted for 174 editions.
In the early days of its run, it closely resembled its UK counterpart, but later on the format was changed to American comic book size and these closely resembled the UK's Top Sellers comic books of the 1970s, like Tarzan.
So feast your eyes on the images below and join in with me in thanking our host Kid for allowing me to guest post on his renowned blog!
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(Cheque's in the mail, JP.) I'm sure all you faithful Crivvies would like to leave a comment expressing your appreciation for all JP's hard work in scanning the pages for this post. Go to it, tigers!
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| Click on image to enlarge, then click again for optimum size |
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| Click on image to enlarge, then click again for optimum size |
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| Or, as we Brits knew him, Special Agent 21 |
24 comments:
Thanks for sharing this with all your readers, Kid. My interest in all things Anderson has been reawakened by that beautiful Fireball XL5 book, which I am so glad that you told me that you yourself had on preorder. I missed out on that Century 21 book on EBay, but, not to worry, as I have preordered the new reprint of "Doctor Who In An Exciting Adventure With The Daleks" with a brand new colour cover (one of the illustrations inside the book)!
Available now on Amazon, folks!
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Nae bother, JP - saves me having to write something for the blog. I've got the 'replica' edition of that Dr. Who/Dalek book from a few years back, plus the original paperback and two or three other reprints of it, but I'll take a look at the one you mention.
I don't speak Dutch but I do have A-Level German so I know "geheimnis" means "secret" in German and I assume that Geheim Agent means Secret Agent in Dutch. (Gestapo was short for Geheimnis Staat Polizei - Secret State Police).
So nice to hear from John Pitt again!
If I recall correctly, CJ, the original UK version of the strip was called Special Agent 21. There had been a couple of text stories called Double Two-One in the first Annual, but I'd have to read them again to see if it was the same agent (Brent Cleever) or a different one.
Danke schon fur deine Antwort, Colin. ( I can't get umlauts on this keypad!)
I was so chuffed with this comic, I just had to share it. I trust you are well, old chum?
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Kid, I didn't remember that they called him double 21.I will need to check that one myself. My favourite story was when he faced The Astrans, albeit "grey" ones!
What I didn't remember (or know) was that the Astrans appeared in at least three different Fireball stories over the years. It wasn't until I got the recent book that I was reminded (or discovered) they weren't restricted to just the first story.
I remember their being in two, but I don't remember a third. I probably didn't buy those issues. Not got very far in my book yet
Anyway, popular adversaries make return appearances 'by popular demand ". It was like The Trods in Doctor Who.
I finished reading the book in a few days, JP, and I actually found a couple of the later Mike Noble strips quite gripping, real page turners they were. Now I just like looking through it at the pictures and enjoying the great art. The Countdown strips don't do a lot for me, art-wise, but there are only four of them. Maybe there'll be a (slim) follow-up volume with the picture strips from the four Fireball Annuals, the colour strips and coloured-in b&w ones, plus the Fireball strips from the TV21 Annuals. That'd be good, eh?
I'm OK, John, thanks :)
Kid, I've just logged into Crivens and all the images were blank so I tried your tip of clicking on one of the images and it worked perfectly so thanks for that!
I'm not quite sure what causes some (or all) images to be blank, either on mine or other blogs, CJ, but it can be annoying. Thank goodness I discovered a solution, though I'm not claiming exclusivity on the remedy.
It certainly would and don't forget the strips from TV Comic + Specials & Annuals! Many by Neville Main, if I remember rightly, who was TV Comic's first Doctor Who artist?
I'm not sure I'd bother with the TV Comic strips, JP, as the art wasn't in the same league as Mike Noble's, nor most of the artists in the Fireball Annuals. Too juvenile as well.
Kid, BT is installing full fibre broadband in my house on November 30th (replacing the current phone-line broadband) so it'll be interesting to see if my internet service improves. Maybe I won't get any more blank images?
It's never been a huge problem for me as it happens so infrequently, CJ, but maybe the area you're in has some patchy spots with phone-line broadband and that's caused the blank images. It'll be interesting to see if you get a better 'reception' in the future - let me know.
Kid, have you seen the new-look stamps with a barcode down the side? They call it a barcode but it looks more like one of those QR codes rather than a proper barcode you see in the shops. Last year I bought a book of 12 Christmas stamps (1st class) and there are three left unused but it occurs to me that my stamps are now collector's items because they are the final Christmas stamps issued in the Queen's reign and the final Christmas stamps issued without a barcode.
Not only seen them, but used them, CJ. I think I have a single unused Christmas stamp from a year or two ago, so I'll hang on to it for posterity. I collect some stamps anyway, though my collection isn't huge, but I only collect stamps I like - I don't buy stamps just because they're stamps. Incidentally, when I bought my first book of barcode stamps, at first I wasn't sure whether you were meant to remove the barcode before affixing the stamp to the envelope, but then I realised that doing that would render it redundant. Must've had brain fog that day not to catch on quicker.
You're not the only one, Kid, as I too wondered if you were supposed to remove the barcode as there's a perforated line between the stamp and the barcode. I'm not even sure what the barcode is for - I've read that if you scan the barcode on this year's Christmas stamps (with your phone I assume) you can see a video of Shaun The Sheep.
I'd assume it's for tracking purposes, CJ, but don't know for sure. I didn't know anything about the barcodes until I bought my first book of stamps with them, so they came as a bit of a surprise to me. My 'phone is a cheap one so I won't be able to scan anything with it, meaning Shaun The Sheep is out for me, I'm afraid.
According to Royal mail "We aren't barcoding special issue stamps - which are printed as a one off to commemorate a person / event — these remain valid as postage so don't need to be swapped out.
Also, although Christmas Stamps are being barcoded, previous years of non-barcoded Christmas Stamps will remain valid as postage after 31 January 2023 — so there is no requirement to swap them out."
As to why they're doing it, Royal Mail says "The move is part of the Company’s extensive and ongoing modernisation drive and will allow the unique barcodes to facilitate operational efficiencies, enable the introduction of added security features and pave the way for innovative services for customers." Future proofing their service, then.
Ah, but will there be any service worth future-proofing when the repercussions of strikes eventually kicks in, DS? Anyway, ta for the info.
Kidda, I don't know whether you are interested or not, but I have just managed to compile all of the Batman articles / covers, etc. from this publication. Let me know if you wany me to send you them? I don't know if you think there will be any interest on here or not about them, being as they are all written in Dutch?
Thanks for the offer, JP, but I'm not short on Batman articles and suchlike, and I've got at least a couple of books on the Adam West Batman series so I'm pretty well-covered on the subject. Thanks anyway.
If any other Crivs are interested, say so in this comments section.
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