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Regular followers of this blog will already know that Kid has treated readers to many early Gerry Anderson comic strips, including some beautiful colour strips of Supercar and Fireball XL5 taken from the 1963 and '64 TV Comic Annuals. Indeed, these very strips in TV Comic were embryonic incarnations of what was arguably the greatest UK comic of its generation. Of course, no prizes for guessing that I am referring to TV Century 21!
So, when I recently discovered a few even earlier Gerry Anderson comic strips from TV Comic Annuals for 1961 and '62, I naturally thought that the ideal home to show these to the world would be "Crivens!", to add to Kid's enormous selection of all things comics-related.
I hope that you enjoy the images and I suspect that, like myself, many of you will be viewing these for the first time. Comments welcome.
And just because a Mighty Moth page followed the above Supercar strip, I thought I'd throw it in for free, seeing as how Kid is such a fan of the character.
36 comments:
Well, I think they're great. Thanks, JP.
Thanks for posting and sharing, Kid! 😉 I am a couple of days behind, because GMail have cut me off. I will send you my new email address.
As usual, you have done a great job with the images!
Since I found these images I have delved back even further and now managed to download all of the Torchy The Battery Boy strips from Harold Hare's Own Paper as well!
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I can't remember whether or not I ever saw Torchy on the telly, JP. Or Four Feather Falls for that matter. My Gerry Anderson experiences began with Supercar and Fireball XL5, then Stingray, etc. I now have all the soundtrack CDs from Supercar to The Secret Service (which I've also never seen), apart from Joe 90, which I've ordered the upcoming new release of and which I'll receive in around a fortnight. I've also got all the DVD box sets of Supercar up to Joe 90. (And UFO.)
That's because you are far too YOUNG, Kidda! Myself, I am too young to remember Twizzle! Four Feather Falls was very much like all the other GA shows and cashed in on the current trend of westerns on the telly. There is SO much brilliant merchandise on the two GA sites - I wish I had it all! I have never seen The Secret Service either, but one of the puppets is actually Captain Scarlet in civvies! I have recently seen most of the UFOs again on The Horror Channel. What I like the best about this programme are the babes! 😉😉
I think my first Anderson show as a kid was Supercar as well but I have a much stronger recollection of Fireball XL55. I do recall my brother talking about Four Feather Falls and Torchy and being a fan of the latter which I have never seen. Supercar was also the first Anderson based toy that I had as a kid as well.
It was common for the Anderson shows to reuse puppets, JP. Steve Zodiac's puppet was reused with black hair in a Stingray episode, and I know it happened with other shows.
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I think Supercar was also the first Anderson-based toy that I had as well, McS, followed by the Quercetti Fireball XL5 parachute toy - unless I got them in reverse order, but I don't think so.
The first Gerry Anderson show I remember watching is Joe 90 in the early '70s. My grandmother had a colour TV and I have a hazy memory of watching Joe 90 on that colour TV. By the way, TV Century 21 may be famous to a certain generation but I'd never heard of it until I started reading Crivens!
Haven't you got a DVD box set of Space 1999, Kid? That's a Gerry Anderson show too!
And you too are but another youngster compared to me(thusala), McS! When it came to toys though, a plastic Supercar was also the first toy bought for me. But when it came to comics, Harold Hare was the very first one that I asked my mother to order for me every week. I THINK? the character had been in Jack & Jill prior to getting his own title? J & J, along with Playhour were often bought for me by my mother, but HH was my favourite of the three. Even now, looking through the pages I can see why - it is truly delightful for little kids! I stuck with it every week until another "HH" came out - Huckleberry Hound and I swapped over to that one, as, besides Anderson puppets I was starting to become very keen on all Hanna-Barbera cartoons as well!
As I mentioned to McS above, a Supercar toy was my first toy as well. In fact, you probably will have posted it. I can still remember the smell of the plastic in my mind.
But, GA comic-wise, the Torchys were my first, but shortly afterwards I remember having some TV Comics with Four Feather Falls in and the strips had a pink ink tint to them. Without checking, I would guess that they were Neville Main strips, as they were very similar to the Fireball XL5 and Doctor Who strips that later appeared in TV Comic?
Nah, I was never really into Space 1999, CJ. (And that date is now 24 years in the past, though it was set 24 years in the future when it was first shown in 1975. Amazing, eh?) Where would you be without Crivens, CJ? It's a font of information.
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There were a number of Supercar toys available back in the day, JP. There was a Fairylite plastic one (which I had and now own again), A diecast Budgie Toys one (which I had for around half-an-hour and now own again), a plastic Cecil Coleman one (which I wanted though never had, but now own one), a plastic Plastron one (which I never had and don't have now), and another blue plastic one, made of a plastic similar to bubble bath plastic (which I never had though someone I knew did, but I've never been able to track one down). There may have been more, but don't know for sure.
And CJ as well! All the old gang back together in one place! A joy to behold! I remember your telling us that Joe 90 was your first, Colin. They tried to simplify things a bit for that one, as the previous show Captain Scarlet had been a tad "dark" for younger viewers. But it really appealed to an older audience.
Yep, let's not forget Space 1999, another I have recently reaquainted myself with on the Horror Channel!
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TC and DS were once part of the old gang as well, JP, but they haven't commented in a while. Could I be losing my sex appeal?
John, As a child Harold Hare was a big favourite of mine as well. Not sure if I read his tales via an old annual of my brothers or if he had a comic in the mid 1960s but I have a vivid memory of the character and the lovely art.
Oh, and Col - THE (non-Marvel) UK comic of YOUR generation could very well have been Countdown, which reprinted a lot of the TV 21 strips?
I will take another peek at your Supercars and see if I can identify it? I think it was a friction drive?
Ah, but I'm talking about "The Fab Four"!
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Friction-drive was the Fairylite one, JP, and it's definitely on the blog in various posts. I don't remember ever being bought any nursery comics, so don't think I learned of Harold Hare until much later.
John, I don't remember Countdown either. I was born in 1966 and the earliest comics I can recall reading were the Beezer and the Topper. I also remember receiving an annual called Teddy Bear when I was about five. Teddy Bear was a comic too so maybe that was my first comic?
Kid, my father died on September 2nd 1999, just 11 days before the date of "September 13th 1999" which appeared at the beginning of every episode in the first season of Space 1999 (September 13th is the date that a massive explosion on the moon causes the moon to be blasted out of Earth's orbit). And in the very first episode Commander Koenig arrives on Moonbase Alpha on September 9th 1999 which was the day after my father's funeral in real life!
Teddy Bear? Don't recall that one either. I was deprived. I suppose watching Space 1999 nowadays (if you ever do) makes you think of your father, eh, CJ?
I will find out when the comic ended and let you know. There were a few annuals, which were printed sideways, if you know what I mean?
I do vaguely remember seeing Teddy Bear in the shops. Pity you missed out on a couple of beauties, but at least you didn't miss out on POTA!
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Wow, that's quite a coincidence, Col. As Kid says, Space 1999 and the loss of your Dad - the two things must be forever inextricably linked for you?
Yeah, I think that was the one, Kidda!
https://kidr77.blogspot.com/2019/03/supercar-marvel-of-age.html
I had a similar experience as you when one of my plastic toy soldiers went inside a convector heater and melted. The heater smelt of molten plastic forever afterwards.
The three Polystyle nursery comics were a great introduction to the wonderful world of comics for me. Every page seemed magical!
I know that HH went on at least to 04//04/1964, McS, so might you have seen some? I reckon it may have then merged with Playhour?
Kid, I watched the entire first season of Space: 1999 on YouTube a few years ago but all the episodes have now disappeared (the last time I checked anyway). I googled Teddy Bear and apparently the annuals continued into the '80s but I can't recall anything about Teddy Bear beyond the name.
Yes, JP, like the early Topper and Beezer (and Black Bob) Annuals - they were printed 'sideways' (landscape format) too.
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In that case it's possible I saw some of the '80s Annuals, CJ, but if so, I can't quite remember. I'll Google them when I have more energy.
Col, some are on Dailymotion, but don't know if they all are or not?
https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x6foqzi
Ta, JP.
Thanks, John - I'd never heard of Dailymotion.
Totally unrelated but I think you may find fun I just found this visit to the Beano by Blue Peter. Don’t know the year .https://youtu.be/XYOfKbkqnAE
That was interesting, PS - I may watch Part 2 later when I'm fully awake. (Sitting for 6 mins tired me out.) That clip must be between 15-20 years old.
I remember watching 4Ff, Stingray, fireball XL5, Captain Scarlet and Joe 90 in through the '60s. Good times. I have been looking recently for a map of 4FF. Would you know of one? Any help would be great
I'll have to throw that one open to other Crivvies, K, as I don't know of any map. Hopefully, someone will be able to provide a link, though I did a quick search and couldn't find a map. (Found a map of Feather Falls, which is a real place, but that's not what you're looking for.)
Supercar had all the styling of a 50s Cadillac. First Anderson was Supercar which I vaguely just about remember. Fireball is more vivid. Can remember being a bit afraid of Robert the robot.
Teddy Bear was my first regular comic. Absolutely loved it. It was pitched as a comic for mothers to read to their children. And my mother did just that every Friday night as it was delivered. One of those cherished childhood memories that will hopefully never fade for me.
When my late mother was in care suffering from dementia, I was encouraged to bring in old photos to rekindle old memories for her. I also brought in a 1964 Teddy Bear comic which I had recently purchased on EBay. She took hold of the comic and without prompting started to read to me as she would have done then. It might even have been the same edition she had read to me 56 years ago! I managed to control my tears of joy, and of course sorrow until I got home!
Ken
Oh, that's a bittersweet tale sure enough, K. One day I'll reveal to all Crivvies just how much I can relate to it.
I remember Supercar vividly from the early '60s, but I'm not sure if I ever saw its 'predecessors', Four Feather Falls or Torchy or Twizzle. I do remember Space Patrol though, and may even have had a toy of the Space Station. I love Robert the Robot and want to marry him. (Oops! Did I just admit that in public?) Don't think I ever saw the Teddy Bear comic either, but couldn't swear to it.
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