TV Comic Annual
Undated but presumably ©1960
Cover: Bill Mevin (front), various (back)
Pages: 96
Publisher: TV Publications Ltd.
Printer: Jarrold & Sons Ltd, Norwich.
Price: 7s 6d.
Related Strips:
Four Feather Falls: Untitled. Artist: Neville Main
Notes:
• The first appearance of Four Feather Falls in a TV Comic annual, appearing the same time as the first Four Feather Falls annual.
• The strip is in colour.
• Tex Tucker, Little Jake and Dusty appear on the back cover of the annual.
• Neville Main also draws Red Ray and Muffin the Mule.
• Bill Mevin draws Lenny the Lion, as well as the front cover.
• Robert Tyndall illustrates the Larry the Lamb text story.
• Harold Tamblyn-Watts draws For The Honour Of The King - A story of King Arthur.
• Brian Lewis draws Sergeant Gunn, and a one-off strip called Mark Of The Scorpion.

TV Comic Annual 1962
Copyright ©1961
Cover: Various (front),Unknown (back)
Pages: 104
Publisher: TV Publications Ltd.
Printer: Taylor Garnett Evans & Co, Watford.
Price: 8s 6d.
Related Strips:
Supercar: Untitled. Artist: Harold Tamblyn-Watts
Four Feather Falls: Untitled. Artist: Neville Main
Supercar: The Maharajah's Ruby. Artist: Harold Tamblyn-Watts
Notes:
• The second and final appearance of Four Feather Falls in a TV Comic annual, again in colour drawn by Neville Main.
• Tex Tucker, Dusty, Rocky and Little Jake appear in a TV studio setting with other characters from the annual.
• The first appearance of Supercar in a TV Comic annual, in colour and drawn by Harold Tamblyn-Watts.
• Unusually, instead of two 4 page strips for Supercar, the first is 3 pages, while the second has 5.
• The second Supercar strip is the only Anderson strip in any of the TV Comic annuals to actually have a title.
• Harold Tamblyn-Watts also draws The Black Baron, a historical strip about Sir Gawain, and illustrates On The Trail with Grahame Dangerfield.
• Bill Mevin draws four Lenny the Lion strips.
• Mike Noble draws a six page, two colour strip called The Indian Fighter, based on the legend of Pocahontas.

TV Comic Annual 1963
Copyright ©1962
Cover: Bill Mevin
Pages: 104
Publisher: TV Publications Ltd.
Printer: Taylowe Limited, Berks.
Price: 9s 6d.
Related Strips:
Supercar: Untitled. Artist: Bill Mevin
Fireball XL5: Untitled. Artist: Neville Main
Supercar: Untitled. Artist: Bill Mevin
Notes:
• This annual was published just as Fireball XL5 was making its first appearance on ATV Midlands, and the strip was either completed while the series was early in production. Fireball XL5 itself and the main characters bear only a superficial resemblance to those seen, and 'Captain Zero' is a bearded Fidel Castro lookalike!
• The game on the back cover is called Sunken Treasure Hunt and features Supercar. Four different coloured Supercar counters plus a spinner are on page 100, to be cutout and used for the game.
• As well as now drawing Supercar, Bill Mevin continues to draw Lenny the Lion in this annual
• Harold Tamblyn-Watts draws Robin the Brave, and illustrates African Adventure by Grahame Dangerfield.
• Mike Noble draws The Range Rider in this annual

TV Comic Annual 1964
Copyright ©1963
Cover: Artist: Unknown
Pages: 104
Publisher: TV Publications Ltd.
Printer: Taylowe Limited, Berks.
Price: 8s 6d.
Related Strips:
Fireball XL5: Untitled. Artist: Neville Main
Supercar: Untitled. Artist: Bill Mevin
Supercar: Untitled. Artist: Bill Mevin
Fireball XL5: Untitled. Artist: Neville Main
Notes:
• The game on the back cover this year is called Mission Into Space and features Fireball XL5. Four different tinted Fireball XL5 counters are on page 85, to be cutout and used for the game.
• As well as now drawing Supercar, Bill Mevin continues to draw Lenny the Lion in this annual
• Mike Noble draws The Range Rider in this annual
• Harold Tamblyn-Watts draws Robin the Brave.
• John Canning draws The Milky Bar Kid.

TV Comic Annual 1965
Copyright ©1964
Cover: Artist: Bill Mevin (?)
Pages: 104
Publisher: TV Publications Limited
Printer: Taylowe Limited, Berks.
Price: Not known
Related Strips:
Fireball XL5: Untitled. Artist: Neville Main
Supercar: Untitled. Artist: Bill Mevin
Supercar: Untitled. Artist: Bill Mevin
Fireball XL5: Untitled. Artist: Neville Main
Notes:
• The last TV Comic annual to feature Anderson based strips
• The endpapers, for the first time, are photographic and feature the team at Black Rock Laboratory from Supercar for the front, and Steve Zodiac and Venus on their jetmobiles from Fireball XL5 at the back.
• A Fireball XL5 cartoon appears in the 'Pick of the Jokes' on page 11.
• Harold Tamblyn-Watts draws Robin Hood.

TV Playland Annual 1966
Copyright ©1965
Cover: Artist: Neville Main (?)
Pages: 80
Publisher: TV Publications Limited
Printer: Taylowe Limited
Price: 9s 6d.
Related Strips:
Twizzle: Untitled. Artist: Robert Tyndall
Twizzle: Untitled. Artist: Robert Tyndall
Twizzle: Untitled. Artist: Robert Tyndall
Twizzle: Untitled. Artist: Robert Tyndall
Notes:
• A curiously late appearance by Twizzle in an annual, considering the strip was published in 1960/61!
• The four strips are reprints from issues 7, 10, 19 and 23 of TV Land.
• Harold Tamblyn-Watts illustrates The Pingwings.
• Neville Main draws Jimmy and Larry the Lamb.

TV Century 21
Copyright ©1965
Cover: Ron Embleton
Pages: 96
Publisher: City Magazines Ltd & A.P. Films (Merchandising)
Printer: Jarrold & Sons Ltd, Norwich.
Price: 9s 6d.
Related Strips:
Fireball XL5: The Red Planet. Artist: Desmond Walduck
Stingray: Untitled. Artist: Unknown
Lady Penelope: Bullion Raid. Artist: Unknown
Stingray: Marineville Traitor. Artist: Unknown
Related Stories:
Supercar: Untitled. Artist: Unknown
Supercar: Spun Out. Artist: Unknown
Notes:
• The Dateline 2065 cutaway technical specification is reprinted, in colour, from issue 4 of TV Century 21.
• Ron Embleton's illustration of Gene Barry as Amos Burke from the TV series Burke's Law would later be used in the masthead for the regular strip in TV Century 21.
• The annual also features two text stories featuring Double Two-One - Special Agent, which act as an introduction to the Agent 21 strips in the weekly comic. These appear inspired by James Bond 007, and the likeness of Double Two-One is recognisably based on Sean Connery. The two stories are illustrated by Desmond Walduck.
• Selby Donnison illustrates the two My Favourite Martian text stories.
• Articles and publicity in the trade press suggest heavily that World Distributors had a hand in the production of these first TV Century 21 and the Stingray annuals, hence the similarity to their format.

TV Century 21
Copyright ©1966
Cover: Rab Hamilton (?)
Pages: 104
Publisher: City Magazines Ltd & A.P. Films (Merchandising)
Printer: Jarrold & Sons Ltd, Norwich.
Price: Not known
Strips:
Thunderbirds: Untitled. Artist: Rab Hamilton
Supercar: Untitled. Artist: Unknown
Fireball XL5: Untitled. Artist: Rab Hamilton
Supercar: Untitled. Artist: Unknown
Fireball XL5: Untitled. Artist: Richard Jennings
Stingray: Untitled. Artist: Ron Embleton (?)
Thunderbirds: Untitled. Artist: Ron Embleton (?)
Supercar: Untitled. Artist: Unknown
Stories:
Stingray: Seven Hours To Sunburst. Artist: Unknown
Thunderbirds: The Violent Mountain. Artist: Unknown
Notes:
• Rab Hamilton also draws the 21 Special Agent strip, and illustrates the text story Spy Bait.
• The annual features full biographies of 21 (aka Brent Cleever) and Tina Palamac for the Agent 21 strip. This also fills in some nice 'historical' points about the rest of the 21st Century, prior to the events seen in TV Century 21. These would be reprinted in the 1990s Joe 90 comic as an introduction to the Agent 21 strips.
• The annual also features a cutaway specification of Fireball XL5.
• The Rab Hamilton Thunderbirds strip is reprinted in issue 84 of The New Thunderbirds.

TV Century 21
Copyright ©1967
Cover: Photographic
Pages: 96
Publisher: City Magazines Ltd & Century 21 Publishing Ltd
Printer: Jarrold & Sons Ltd, Norwich.
Price: 10s 6d.
Strips:
Thunderbirds: The Renegade Rocket. Artist: Jim Watson
Fireball XL5: The Ghost Fleet. Artist: Eric Kincaid
Zero X: Conflict on Mars. Artist: Ron Turner
Stingray: Trial of Danger. Artist: Martin Aitchison (?)
Thunderbirds: Volcano Alert. Artist: Ron Turner
Stories:
Stingray: Traitor at Marineville. Artist: Unknown
Notes:
• The first large format TV Century 21 annual and, like the Thunderbirds, Lady Penelope and Captain Scarlet annuals for this year, heavy in photographic content.
• Jon Davis draws 21 Special Agent.
• Trial of Danger is reprinted in The New Thunderbirds issues 76 and 77.
• The annual also features a cutaway specification of Fireflash and a Junglecat

TV 21 Annual
Copyright ©1968
Cover: Photographic
Pages: 96
Publisher: City Magazines Ltd & Century 21 Publishing Ltd
Printer: Jarrold & Sons Ltd, Norwich.
Price: 12'6 or 62.5 new pence.
Strips:
Captain Scarlet: Destroy Earth's Communications. Artist: Jim Watson
Stingray: Invisible Death. Artist: John Cooper
Thunderbirds: Secret Cargo. Artist: Jim Watson
Captain Scarlet: Untitled. Artist: Ron Turner
Fireball XL5: Double Disaster. Artist: Unknown
Zero X: Brink of Disaster. Artist: Ron Turner
Captain Scarlet: Project Leapfrog. Artist: Jim Watson
Stories:
Thunderbirds: Brains' Gamble. Artist: Photos
Captain Scarlet: Land of the Pharoahs. Artist: Photos
Notes:
• Like the weekly TV21, this features 'Stop Press' sections which promote the strip stories.
• Scoop! The 'Inside' Story of TV21 is a fascinating fictitious account by 'Spencer Howard' (editors Chris Spencer and Howard Elson) about the creation of the publication.
• John Cooper also draws Secret Agent 21, and could be the illustrator for the Mr Magnet text story.
• Peter Ford draws Get Smart.

TV 21 Annual
Copyright ©1969
Cover: Photographic
Pages: 96
Publisher: City Magazines Ltd & Century 21 Publishing Ltd
Printer: Jarrold & Sons Ltd, Norwich.
Price: 12'6 or 62.5 new pence.
Strips:
Captain Scarlet: Destroy San Francisco. Artist: Ron Turner
Stingray: Ghost Fleet. Artist: Michael Strand
Zero X: Break Out. Artist: Ron Turner
Thunderbirds: Ocean Outlaw (aka The Hook). Artist: Jim Watson
Fireball XL5: Black Out. Artist: John Richardson
Captain Scarlet: Lost In Time. Artist: Ron Turner
Stories:
Project SWORD: The Loyal And The Dead. Artist: Malcolm Stokes
Thunderbirds: The Kettle. Artist: Photographic
Zero X: Delicate Mission. Artist: Malcolm Stokes
Notes:
• Jon Davis draws The Titans - the Contact 21 strip.
• Peter Ford draws The Munsters.
• Battle Breakdown is a three phase feature in the annual. Phase Two is an interesting overview of the Fireball XL5 Astran War strip story from issues 15 to 26 of TV Century 21. Phase Three gives an overview of Project SWORD.

Lady Penelope
Copyright ©1966
Cover: Artist: Unknown
Pages: 96
Publisher: City Magazines Ltd & A P Films (Merchandising) Ltd
Printer: Jarrold & Sons Ltd, Norwich.
Price: 10s 6d.
Related Strips:
Lady Penelope: Undercover Secretary. Artist: Don Harley
Perils of Parker: Artist: Unknown
Marina: Rescue in Titanica. Artist: Gerry Embleton
Lady Penelope: The Everglades Affair. Artist: Unknown
Lady Penelope: Stay Healthy and Die. Artist: Chris Higham (?)
Related Stories:
Lady Penelope: A Sniff of Suspicion. Artist: Unknown
Lady Penelope: The Finger on Parker. Artist: Unknown
Notes:
• Paul Trevillion (?) draws The Man from UNCLE.
• The first, along with this year's Thunderbirds annual, to be in the larger format. Century 21 Publishing layout artist Bob Reed surmised this was due to adopting the new metric A4 size of paper, as opposed to the old imperial quarto (10" x 8") size that previous titles had been.

Lady Penelope
Copyright ©1967
Cover: Photographic
Pages: 96
Publisher: City Magazines Ltd & Century 21 Publishing Ltd
Printer: Jarrold & Sons Ltd, Norwich.
Price: 10s 6d.
Related Strips:
Lady Penelope: Adventure in Bereznik. Artist: Enrique Romero
Marina: The Menace of the Weed. Artist: Rab Hamilton
Perils of Parker: Artist: Gerry Embleton
Lady Penelope: The Million Pound Lipstick. Artist: Stanley Houghton
Perils of Parker: Artist: Gerry Embleton
Lady Penelope: Versus The Fox. Artist: Frank Hampson (?)
Related Stories:
Lady Penelope: Himalayan Terror. Artist: Unknown
Lady Penelope: The Active Pharoah. Artist: Don Harley
Notes:
• Enrique Romero also draws The Girl from UNCLE, in which a Fireflash airliner makes a rather incongruous appearance!
• Jon Davis draws Daktari.
• While The Angels is mentioned on the back cover, there are no stories or features relating to them in this edition.

Lady Penelope
Copyright ©1968
Cover: Photographic
Pages: 96
Publisher: City Magazines Ltd & Century 21 Publishing Ltd
Printer: Jarrold & Sons Ltd, Norwich.
Price: 12'6 or 62.5 new pence.
Related Strips:
Lady Penelope: Symphony of Terror. Artist: Enrique Romero
The Angels: Aprés Ski. Artist: Enrique Romero
Perils of Parker: Artist: Peter Ford
Lady Penelope: Duel in the Jungle. Artist: Enrique Romero
Perils of Parker: Artist: Peter Ford
Lady Penelope: Sabotage Session. Artist: Enrique Romero
Related Stories:
The Angels: Deadly Decoy. Artist: Photos
Notes:
• Tom Kerr draws The Monkees.
• Jim Baikie draws The Spectrum.

Penelope
Copyright ©1969
Cover: Artist: Frank Langford (?)
Pages: 96
Publisher: City Magazines Ltd & Century 21 Publishing Ltd
Printer: Jarrold & Sons Ltd, Norwich.
Price: 12'6 or 62.5 new pence.
Related Strips:
Penelope: Meets the Guru. Artist: Michael Strand
Perils of Parker: Artist: Peter Ford
Perils of Parker: Artist: Peter Ford
Lady Penelope: Ice Bound. Artist: Frank Langford
Penelope: Double Trouble. Artist: Michael Strand
Notes:
• Despite the appearance of Lady Penelope on the covers and endpapers, and retaining the larger format size, this is a pale shadow of the previous three annuals.
• The Lady Penelope strip Icebound is a colourised reprint from the 1965 TV Century 21 International Extra.
• Peter Ford also draws What Did That Dog Say?

Joe 90: Top Secret
Copyright ©1969
Cover: Photographic
Pages: 96
Publisher: City Magazines Ltd & Century 21 Publishing Ltd
Printer: Jarrold & Sons Ltd, Norwich.
Price: 12'6 or 62.5 new pence.
Related Strips:
Joe 90: Black Gold. Artist: Keith Luck (?)
Joe 90: Snatch to Slavery. Artist: Enrique Badia Romero
Related Stories:
Joe 90: Double Strike. Artist: Malcolm Stokes
Notes:
• Ron Turner draws very stylised The Champions and Star Trek strips, but a nicely faithful Land Of The Giants.
• Mario Capaldi draws the other Land Of The Giants strip.
• Don Harley draws Campbell - Man Of Speed, a strip account (with photo inserts) of the life of Donald Campbell.
• Malcolm Stokes illustrates The Champions text story 'Deadline Discovery'.

Penelope Annual 1972
Copyright ©1971
Cover: Artist: Unknown
Pages: 128
Publisher: IPC Magazines Ltd
Printer: Fleetway Printers, Gravesend.
Price: 70p
Related Strips:
Lady Penelope. Artist: Frank Langford
Marina, Girl of the Sea. Artist: Rab Hamilton
Lady Penelope. Artist: Frank Langford
Notes:
• A late reprint reappearance of three strips from the Lady Penelope comic.
• Each reprint is in full colour, bar - annoyingly - the last instalment!
• The masthead of each instalment is replaced by new artwork by a different and uncredited artist, usually reworking elements from elsewhere in the strip.
• A couple of features also appear - a cutaway illustration of FAB 1 (originally from the Lady Penelope Summer Extra), and a profile of the Spectrum Angels.
• Tom Kerr, a regular contributor to girls' comics, draws Smile Please, It's Snappy.
• Leslie Branton draws Ghost Island.

Countdown Annual 1972
Copyright ©1971
Cover: Photographic
Pages: 80
Publisher: Polystyle Publications Ltd.
Printer: Purnell and Sons Ltd.
Price: 60p
Related Strips:
UFO: The Circus. Artist: Jon Davis
Thunderbirds: Terror at Toreba. Artist: Don Harley
Captain Scarlet: Untitled. Artist: John Cooper
The Secret Service: Untitled. Artist: Peter Ford
Related Stories:
Joe 90: Joe 90 Resigns. Artist: Jon Davis
Notes:
• A feature on SHADO called The Defenders - Emergency Red Alert is on pages 10-13.
• The endpapers are photographic and feature SID above the Earth at the front, and Skydiver at the back, from UFO.
• As well as drawing The Secret Service, Peter Ford also draws two Dastardly & Muttley strips.
• Jim Baikie draws Doctor Who.
• The Thunderbirds strip Terror at Toreba would be reprinted in the Thunderbirds Holiday Special in 1982.

Countdown & TV Action Annual 1973
Copyright ©1972
Cover: Photographic
Pages: 80
Publisher: Polystyle Publications Ltd.
Printer: Purnell and Sons Ltd.
Price: 65p
Related Strips:
UFO: Smash and Grab. Artist: Martin Asbury
Thunderbirds: The Collector. Artist: Ron Turner
UFO: The Haunted Mine. Artist: Unknown
Captain Scarlet: Wheels of Destruction. Artist: Malcolm Stokes
Notes:
• Pages 66 & 67 feature a UFO game with several photos.
• Pages 68 & 69 feature a full colour double page cutaway of an Interceptor from UFO.
• Page 77 features a half page biography of UFO actor Ed Bishop.
• Peter Ford draws Dastardly & Muttley and Autocat & Motormouse.
• Frank Langford draws Doctor Who.

TV Action Annual 1974
Copyright ©1973
Cover: Photographic
Pages: 80
Publisher: Polystyle Publications Ltd.
Printer: Purnell and Sons Ltd.
Price: 75p
Related Strips:
UFO: Operation Babylon. Artist: Jon Davis
Related Stories:
The Protectors: The Collector. Artist: Photographic
Notes:
• Very disappointing for Anderson content but a nice last annual from the Countdown & TV Action team.
• It ould seem the writer of Operation Babylon was slightly confused with his biblical references - it was at the Tower of Babel that man was 'cursed' with different languages, and therefore unable to understand everyone else.
• Frank Langford draws The Persuaders.
• Malcolm Stokes draws Hawaii Five-O.
• Leslie Branton illustrates the Alias Smith & Jones text story.
• Peter Ford draws Dad's Army.
• Brian Lewis draws Droopy.
• Jim Baikie draws Doctor Who.

Look-In
Copyright ©1976
Cover: Arnaldo Putzu
Pages: 80
Publisher: Independent Television Publications Ltd
Printer: Jarrold & Sons Ltd, Norwich.
Price: £1.00
Related Stories:
Space 1999: Centre of Conflict. Artist: Photos
Notes:
• As a prelude to the Space:1999 story, there is a four page feature called 'Flair + Imagination + Talent = Anderson!', which covers his career with an impressive array of photographs.
• Angus Allan's Space:1999 story reworks elements of 'Curse of the Dead' from the Space:1999 annual the previous year, and the third strip story from Look-In.
• John Burns draws a four page The Tomorrow People strip.
• An amusing feature-come-quiz called 'Spot The Sounds' asks the readers to match the description from a comic script to 'arted effects' - drawn sound effects used in the strips. One from Space:1999 features among others for The Tomorrow People, The Six Million Dollar Man, Man About The House and Doctor On The Go.
• The 'Spot The Difference' quiz on page 68 features a scene from the Space:1999 episode 'Breakaway'.

Look-In
Copyright ©1977
Cover: Arnaldo Putzu
Pages: 80
Publisher: Independent Television Publications Ltd
Printer: Jarrold & Sons Ltd, Norwich.
Price: £1.20
Related Strips:
Space 1999: Untitled. Artist: Leslie Branton
Notes:
• Martin Landau as Commander John Koenig from the second year of Space:1999 features as one of the stars on the cover.
• The six page Space:1999 strip is a reworking of ideas from Angus Allan's own 'Mindprobe' story from the Space:1999 annual the previous year.
• In addition to the Space:1999, a special two page Worlds of Gerry Anderson called 'Sci-Fi Foundations' features an interview with Gerry Anderson, who describes how he got into film and television.

Look-In
Copyright ©1979
Cover: Arnaldo Putzu
Pages: 80
Publisher: Independent Television Publications Ltd
Printer: Morrison & Gibb, London & Edinburgh.
Price: Not known
Related Strips:
Space 1999: Untitled. Artist: John M. Burns
Notes:
• The Space:1999 strip is an abridged b/w reprint of the first story in Look-In.
• This would be the last comic tie-in for an Anderson series to appear in an annual.

Any additions, corrections or notes about any of the annuals featured here, please contact technodelic@blueyonder.co.uk.

The Gerry Anderson Complete Comic History would like to thank:
John M. Burns
Jackie Clark
Howard Elson
Bob Reed
Phil Rushton
and Robert Tyndall
- for their help with this feature.


Version 1.3 - 01.05.05



All text © The Gerry Anderson Complete Comic History, and its respective writers, and may not be reproduced without permission.
All images © their respective copyright holders