Century 21: Menace from Space line-up revealed

Earlier this year, we revealed Signum Books was continuing the terrific TV Century 21 and Countdown strip collections initiated by Reynolds & Hearn.

Their first Century 21 book, Menace from Space, is on course for release next month and we can now reveal the strip line up for this title is as follows (all TV21 story titles are new) ...

Thunderbirds - The Eye of Jupiter
Script: Scott Goodall Art: Frank Bellamy
(Originally published in TV Century 21 issues 147 - 154 , November-December 2067)
 
Zero X - Lost on Mars
Script: Angus P Allan Art: Mike Noble
(Originally published in TV Century 21 issues 105 - 109, January-February 2067)
 
Captain Scarlet - Foothold
Script: Angus P Allan Art: Mike Noble
(Originally published in TV21 issues 164 - 166, March 2068)
 
UFO - Too Old at 32
Script: Dennis Hooper Art: Gerry Haylock
(Originally published in Countdown issues 7 - 11, April-May 1971)
 
Thunderbirds - The Space Mirror
Script: Scott Goodall Art: Frank Bellamy
(Originally published in TV Century 21 issues 137 - 140, September 2067)
 
Zero X - A World of Deadly Particles
Script: Angus P Allan Art: Jim Watson Prologue art: Mike Noble
(Originally published in TV21 issues 155 - 160, January-February 2068)
 
Captain Scarlet - Robot Challenge
Script: Angus P Allan Art: Mike Noble
(Originally published in TV21 issues 182 - 184, July 2068)
 
UFO - Ghost Ship
Script: Dennis Hooper Art: Brian Lewis
(Originally published in Countdown issue 53, February 1972)
 
Fireball XL5 - Space Membrane
Script: Tad Sullivan Art: Mike Noble
(Originally published in TV Century 21 issues 64 - 70, April-May 2066)
 
Thunderbirds - The Crexus Creature
Script: Dennis Hooper Art: Don Harley
(Originally published in Countdown/TV Action issues 59 - 60, February-April 1972)
 
Zero X - The End of the World
Script: Scott Goodall Art: Jim Watson
(Originally published in TV21 issues 161 - 168, February-April 2068)
 
Captain Scarlet - Return of the Rock Snakes
Script: Dennis Hooper Art: Keith Watson
(Originally published in Countdown issue 32, September 1971)
 
Thunderbirds - The Barracuda Awaits
Script: Scott Goodall Art: Frank Bellamy
(Originally published in TV Century 21 issues 179-183, June-July 2068)

Edited by Chris Bentley, the book features a cover by Doctor Who and Thunderbirds artist Lee Sullivan.

Publisher Marcus Hearn also tells us: "We've just uncovered an amazing batch of original Frank Bellamy artboards, so if and when we do another volume we'll be including them."

• Signum are offering signed copies from www.signumbooks.com

• Pre-order Century 21: Menace from Space from amazon.co.uk

Vintage British Star Trek pages sold on eBay

Two pages of vintage Star Trek art by veteran British comic artist John Stokes created for British publication have just been sold on eBay.

Published in August 1972 in Valiant and TV21, John Stokes was one of several artists to work on the property, which first featured in the weekly comic Joe 90: Top Secret in January 1969, six months before the TV show itself began to air in the UK on BBC1, coinciding with the first moon landing.

Star Trek transferred to TV21 when the two titles merged in September 1969, becoming TV21 and Joe 90.

TV21, a pale shadow of its former 1960s self, was eventually merged with Valiant in late 1971, with Star Trek one of the strips that survived the merger.

Artists who worked on the strip - which proved an instant hit from its first appearance in Joe 90 - included Harry Lindfield, Mike Noble, Ron Turner, Harold Johns, Carlos Pino and Vicente Alcazar and, finally, John Stokes, who drew 13 untitled stories in total.

The strip appeared in colour, his art often falling prey to the vagaries of Valiant's letterpress printing, running until 29 December 1973.

This artwork was part of a huge deal between IPC and collector Peter Hansen and Blase Books, run by Phil Clark, regularly offer items via eBay, sold as from the Peter Hansen Five Star IPC Archive Collection.

While the British Star Trek comic is riddled with continuity errors, especially in early stories where the artists and writers had no idea of the show's format or how its vehicles looked, aside from what we can only assume would have been a few reference photographs, there is still plenty of interest in this curious spin-off from the hit SF franchise, which included one of the first attempts to visualize the Romulan homeworld and a story set on Earth - a setting never realized on the original TV series itself.

Perhaps there may yet be interest in a print collection of the material at some point.

• Written by pop-culture historian Alan J. Porter, author of the bestselling James Bond: The History of the Illustrated 007, Star Trek: A Comic Book History, published last year, should be of interest to people interested in the story above, offering a complete history of the Star Trek universe in comic books and newspaper strips all over the world.

It features nine information-packed chapters detailing the history of Star Trek in comic books and newspaper strips from the first Gold Key comic book, the British Star Trek strips to Marvel and DC's titles, and up to the present day. Covering all publications of the entire Star Trek universe it includes creator interviews, unpublished artwork, and a detailed checklist.

Century 21 Collection News

Details of the strips in Century 21 Volume 4 - the latest in a great series of books from Reynolds & Hearn featuring some of the best strips from the Gerry Anderson-inspired weekly comic TV Century 21 and other comics - have just been released.

FIREBALL XL5: Timeslip - Art by Mike Noble
FIREBALL XL5: The Sword of Damacles - Art by Mike Noble
STINGRAY: The Flying Fish - Art by Ron Embleton
THUNDERBIRDS: Destination Sun - Art by Frank Bellamy and Don Harley

THUNDERBIRDS: The Quake Maker - Art by Frank Bellamy
ZERO X: The Ghosts of Saturn - Art by Mike Noble
CAPTAIN SCARLET: Unity - Art by Ron Embleton
CAPTAIN SCARLET: Satellite 4 - Art by Ron Embleton
UFO: The Movies - Art by Martin Asbury

The book is available in paperback (ISBN 978 1 904674 15 3) from all good bookshops but there's also a limited edition hardback (ISBN 978 1 904674 14 6) on offer only from the publisher's web site (www.rhbooks.com), signed by Thunderbirds creator Gerry Anderson.


Reynolds & Hearn have also announced that their Century 21 Annual 2011 - collecting stories from the classic TV Century 21 annuals from the 1960s - will now go ahead next year after all. Expect to see the book released in August. The released dummy cover, left comprises images from several of the original annual covers.

Andersonic 8 Is Go

The latest of the superb Gerry Anderson fanzine Andersonic has just been released. Issue 8 includes a new interview with artist Mike Noble, who discusses his work on Anderson-related comic strips in TV Century 21 and Look-In, talking about his techniques, influences and drawing everything from cowboys to bedsteads!

Other features in the latest 40-page magazine include:-

• Stingray - is there more to Stingray's longevity than all that colour? Line out to Deepsville with Commander Daddio to find out about the Andersons' foray into inner space.

• Joe 90 - City of Dolls - a look at how the series captured the zeitgeist of the late 1960s.

• The Metamorph Retrospective - Changes were deemed necessary to get the series back on the air, but did they do the trick? Andersonic examines the colourful opening episode of Space:1999's reboot.

• Beyond Century 21 - A look at the fate of costumes, instrumentation and miniatures from the Anderson series after the closure of the studios... but where exactly do Sid James and mashed potato fit into the equation?

• Space:1999/ Missing Link - a look at Edward di Lorenzo's thoughtful offering from the first series. Is it more important to feel than to think? Koenig's not sure...

The magazine also features reviews of two classic episodes – Joe 90: Business Holiday and UFO: The Square Triangle, reviews Fanderson's Stingray CD and two volumes of Reynolds and Hearn's TV21 reprints, and more.

• Andersonic Issue 8 is available via the website www.andersonic.co.uk - price £2.25 including UK postage and also from eBay for a limited period. If you'd prefer to pay by cheque or PO, please get in touch for our postal address.

Bellamy, Noble Art Up for Auction

Rare wartime Beanos and The Dandys and artwork by Frank Bellamy, Don Harley, Ken Reid, Mike Noble and Dudley Watkins form just part of the British section of the latest auction from London-based Comic Book Auctions.

While best known for his Thunderbirds art for the 1960s comic TV Century 21, Frank Bellamy also drew some Captain Scarlet pages and it is the cover of Issue 192 that features in this auction, offered with a copy of the self same issue of the comic.

Described as being in Poster paint on board measuring 15 x 11.5 inches, the lot is expected to fetch £550-650.

Also offered is another page from TV Century 21, this time from Fireball XL5 drawn by Mike Noble. The page is from what continues to be a popular story among TV21 fans, in which Steve Zodiac and crew face off the menace of what seem to be living snowmen, the page taken from Issue 38, published in 1965, Measuring 21 x 17 inches, the art is signed by Noble and expected to fetch anything up from £300.

The Dan Dare art on offer features work by Desmond Walduck for Eagle Volume 5, No 7 in which Vora, Blasco and The Rootha attack Dan's rebel stronghold with their cosmic-ray armoured Black Cats. Another page, this time from Eagle Vol 12 No 30, is the scond page of the Dan Dare story for the issue published in 1961 by Don Harley and Bruce Cornwell, in which
Dan and Digby land on a strange platinum planet and have to run for their lives.

Deseperate Dan art by Dudley Watkins, Keyhole Kate original artwork drawn and initialled by Allan Morley for a 1949 issue of The Dandy, Clever Dick by Leo Baxendale and Faceache by Ken Reid are among the other art offerings, alongside a huge range of comic titles spanning decades of British comics history including issues of Lady Penelope, sister title to TV Century 21 (including a rare 1966 Lady Penelope Summer Extra), Champion (from 1922), a complete year of the 1928 editions of Film Fun in two bound volumes, starring Harold Lloyd, Buster Keaton and Mr E - Man Of Mystery, wartime issues of The Beano and The Dandy -- rare finds, given that much paper was recycled for the war effort -- and much more.

• Bids on lots will be accepted until Tuesday 10 March at 8.00pm GMT

Direct Links for Catalogue Sections

• British comics, annuals and artwork
• US Golden Age comics
• US Silver Age Marvel comics
• US Silver Age DC comics
• US 1970's & 1980's comics

New Mike Noble Art Highlight of latest Spaceship Away

On sale in all good comic shops soon is the latest issue of Rod Barzilay’s Spaceship Away comic magazine, featuring all-new comic strip starring the original Dan Dare and a variety of other SF strips including Rocket Pilot, written and drawn by Commando artist Keith Page, Ex Astris by John Freeman and Mike Nicoll, Nick Hazard by Philip Harbottle and Ron Turner, coloured by John Ridgway, and many more.

A highlight of the issue must surely be an all-new Dan Dare centrespread by veteran artist Mike Noble, perhaps best known for his work on TV Century 21 and Look-In – his first SF art, we believe, in years.

But that’s not all, because the issue also includes Frank Hampson's original Operation Saturn Dan Dare story outline that's just been rediscovered by his son, Peter Hampson; science fiction author Stephen Baxter has written an article comparing Eagle and TV21; ace downthetubes' contributor Jeremy Briggs has a look at Dan's Anastasia and cutaway king Graham Bleathman tackles the craft's cockpit - a difficult job as the details kept changing in the strip!

Plus, artist Don Harley talks about working with Frank Bellamy; a debate about SF writer Arthur C. Clarke's involvement in the creation of Dan Dare continues; and the magazine lifts the lid on a hidden bit of Dan Dare Red Moon artwork.

As usual, it's a packed issue with plenty to keep Dan Dare and SF comic fans happy!

• To order online visit: http://spaceshipaway.org.uk