British 'My Favorite Martian' strips to be reprinted

Fans of the 1960s comedy My Favorite Martian are in for a treat next year, when US publisher Hermes Press publishes a complete collection of the strips that featured in Britain's TV Century 21, most drawn by the legendary Bill Titcombe.

Gold Key Comics published a number of My Favorite Martian comics telling way-out stories of Uncle Martin and Tim O'Hara. Now, thanks to Hermes Press and their hardcover reprint series of the vintage My Favorite Martian comics, you can catch up on thes long-lost misadventures of everyone's stranded antennae-headed alien when our collection comes out this Wednesday.

My Favorite Martian: The Complete Series - Volume One, on sale this week, represents the first five issues of the Gold Key comic book that ran from 1964 and 1965, while the upcoming second volume, planned for 2012, will also feature the English TV Century 21 comics.

Not only does the first volume have artwork by Russ Manning, Dan Spiegel and Mike Arens, but also stories by Paul S. Newman and Bob Ogle, and a plethora of rare photos and memorabilia reproduced in the back. We're not just talking photos that haven't seen the light of day in decades - Hermes have worked with the TV series copyright holders, Chertok TV, to present previously unpublished set photos, many in colour, that have been thought lost since the 1960s.

This out of the world library edition comes with a sweet retro design to best present Uncle Martin's long-lost adventures. So if you're a My Favorite Martian fan, or even just a huge fan of classic TV, check this out. (And if you've never seen the show, then you'll be pleased to hear that a DVD collection is in the works for the UK).

The first episode of My Favorite Martian
in TV Century 21 Issue 1. Art by Bill Titcombe
My Favorite Martian © Chertok TV

Drawn by Bill Titcombe, who also drew TV Comic's The Telegoons and many other adaptations of US and British TV comedy characters, TV Century 21's My Favourite Martian stories have pretty much snuck in under fans' radar for many years – the comic is better known for its adventure strips based on Gerry Anderson shows such as Thunderbirds and Stingray, but it also featured a number of one-page humour strips, such as The Munsters.

My Favourite Martian ran in TV Century 21 for over two years. Like other strips based on US shows, some of the visuals don't quite match the series but Bill, like Mike Noble and others who worked on TV21's Star Trek adaptation later, were clearly working from limited reference when they started on the strips.

There's no publication date for the second volume, but Hermes Press have also announced they'll be offering a special My Favorite Martian comic book on Free Comic Book Day, next year - 5th May, 2012. Keep an eye out for it.

• My Favorite Martian: The Complete Series - Volume One is available from all good comic shops now (Diamond Code: FEB111066) and both real world and online book stories. 

My Favorite Martian © Chertok TV