Fireball XL5 strip guide - part 2

Story Eleven
Writer: Alan Fennell. Artist: Neville Main. 2 pages, b/w.

Part 1: TV Comic Issue 617, dated 12 October 1963
A huge freighter floats in the blackness of space... the deathly silence broken only by its automatic distrss signal.
Captain Kidd and his mate Salty Sam plan to become space pirates, with the aid of vanishing rays which make their ship invisible. Their first target is Earth freighter K2, and the crew put out an emergency call as they are under attack from an enemy they cannot see. It is picked up by Fireball XL5, which is soon on the scene...

Part 2: TV Comic Issue 618, dated 19 October 1963
Steve and Venus take jetmobiles over to the freighter, where the doctor tends to the crew. Venus puts down the story of an unseen foe down to hallucinations, and XL5 returns the crew to Earth. But Kidd and Sam are now homing in on a new victim, Cargo freighter 207. This time, XL5 is ready, and arrives to see the ship under fire from something they cannot see...

Part 3: TV Comic Issue 619, dated 26 October 1963

The missiles appear to be coming from nowhere so Steve steers XL5 at the invisible source only for the tail fin to hit something. Kidd veers off, not liking the attack, leaving XL5 to return to Earth for repairs and to plan a counter-measure. Mat devises a plan, and later Interplanetary Television News tells of a £5 million loan in gold bullion being granted to the planet Silus. But while Kidd and Sam make plans to strike the freighter with the shipment, they are unaware Steve and Mat are piloting it...

Part 4: TV Comic Issue 620, dated 02 November 1963
The freighter journey appears uneventful until a rocket attack out of nowhere indicates the pirates have arrived. Steve tells Mat to let thenm have it, and sections of the decoy freighter slide away to reveal a battery of cylinders. Sprays of white paint mark out the pirate ship, leaving it clearly visible for Fireball XL5 to apprehend as Kidd and Sam argue between themselves.



Notes:
• The concept of using a ship as bait to draw pirates appears in the Supercar episode 'Pirate Plunder' and, interestingly, a Supercar strip earlier in the year (Story 15/C).
• It is interesting that pounds are still a currency in the 21st century.


Story Twelve
Writer: Alan Fennell. Artist: Neville Main. 2 pages, b/w.

Part 1: TV Comic Issue 621, dated 09 November 1963
As space explorer Will Preston brings his ship, RS97, in to land on the planet Marcos, something goes wrong. Preston only has time to utter a short call for help before his ship smashes into the planet's surface...

Fireball XL5 is despatched immediately but approaching Marcos, its speed increases and only by firing its retro-rockets at full power does the ship make a safe landing. Preston's ship is two miles away but upon leaving XL5 the high gravity pulls their jet mobiles to the ground. Struggling back inside, Mat believes he has a solution and makes three anti-gravity torches which will enable them to make the journey. But by the next morning, one has disappeared...

Part 2: TV Comic Issue 622, dated 16 November 1963
The culprit is Zoonie, who points the torch and Venus and Mat, making them float into the air. The crazy pooch makes most of the equipment float around until the torch is taken from him, and shortly they set off on their jet-mobiles to the RS97. But the wreck is very quiet and Steve thinks something strange has happened...

Part 3: TV Comic Issue 623, dated 23 November 1963
There is no-one aboard the ship but as they leave to explore further, the ground nearby groans and trembles, to reveal a large opening. A strange machine comes out, and encases them in plastic cocoons, helpless. Then three mechanical arms reach out to from the machine to grab them...

Part 4: TV Comic Issue 624, dated 30 November 1963
The three armed machine picks them up and descends back under the surface of Marcos, watched by a bewildered Zoonie from the RS97. In an underground complex, short stocky humanoids aim their weapons at Steve and the others, releasing them from the cocoons. Steve greets their leader, claiming they are only searching for the two men. But Preston and his colleague are due to be executed for failing 'the trial of the rock', which determines who is weak. A guard demonstrates by lifting a huge rock from a pinnacle, but Steve is unable to even move it...


Part 5: TV Comic Issue 625, dated 07 December 1963
Exhausted, Steve collapses and the Marcian leader tells his men to take them to the Black Spur. Outside, Zoonie sees a Marcosian saucer lift off, and tries to follow on a jet mobile - only to crash it. The XL5 crew are taken to the top of a tall pinnacle, and Steve is pushed to fall to his death - only to find the crashed jetmobile's anti-gravity torch slows his fall. The others follow, slowed by the torch as well, and they make their way back to Xl5 and leave Marcos.

Notes:
• The physics here are a little more than odd, implying the high gravity only affects you outside of a spaceship and, interestingly, not under the surface of the planet where the Marcians live.
• In issue 623 of TV Comic, Halas & Batchelor's Foo Foo and Gogo buy a radio controlled Fireball XL5 kit and end up meeting Steve Zodiac.


Story Thirteen
Writer: Alan Fennell. Artist: Neville Main. 2 pages, b/w.

Part 1: TV Comic Issue 626, dated 14 December 1963
Fireball XL5 is returning from its last space patrol before the crew go on their Christmas holidays... and in the lounge of the space ship, there is great excitement...

The crew will be spending Christmas with Venus' Uncle Felix. Weather control will be making sure it's a mild Christmas, even though Venus misses the snow. Felix, a retired historian, lives in an old-fashioned mansion and seems weary of technology, asking Mat to put the hovercar in the outhouse. But outside, a space craft lands in the forest and two icicle men disembark, making the forest sparkle with frost, and it begins to snow. Mat, having put the hovercar away, suddenly turns and finds himself facing the strange creatures...

Part 2: TV Comic Issue 627, dated 22 December 1963
The icicle men take Mat away. Venus notices it is snowing, and rushes outside where she, Steve and Felix see the saucer lift off. One hour, fourteen minutes and ten seconds later, Fireball XL5 is taking off in pursuit. With Felix is also on board, Venus plots a course which takes them to planet Iceloc. But when they take Fireball Junior down to land, the retros melt the ice to reveal only darkness...

Part 3: TV Comic Issue 628, dated 29 December 1963

The 'hole' is actually black water, and Steve lands to one side of it. Exploring, Steve Venus and Felix find an ice castle, where Mat is guarded by icicle men. Mat reveals the Icelocs only kidnapped him to find out more about Earth, and Felix decides to stay and teach them as he likes the climate. Steve takes the others back to Felix's mansion to spend Christmas there, and using an ice box given to them, are able to have the white Christmas Venus has always wanted.

Notes:
• Mat states in the first part it is Christmas 2063 implying, as with the later TV Century 21, that these strips also take place (give or take the odd month) exactly 100 years ahead.
• On the planet Iceloc, Steve and Venus are seen wearing similar fur-lined hats and coats to those they have exploring the ice planet Arctan, in the episode 'Mystery of the TA2'.
• Some fans have speculated that Venus shares the same surname as her uncle, Felix Crabtree, and this was used as part of the 'official' biography of the character when the Fireball XL5 strips from TV Century 21 were reprinted in Thunderbirds - The Comic in the 1990s. However, there is nothing to substantiate this in the canon of the television series itself.


Story Fourteen
Writer: Alan Fennell. Artist: Neville Main. 2 pages, b/w.

Part 1: TV Comic Issue 629, dated 05 January 1964
In the depths of space lie the twin planets of Alpha and Omega. On one live the Alpharites, a rich and peaceful planet... but on Omega, no bird, beast or human being lives. Only silence reigns...

Until a powerful explosion tears the surface apart. In space, Mat detects the explosion and as Omega is off-limits to all but the Alpharites, Steve decides to investigate. They see another explosion and take Fireball Junior down. but as it nears the surface they see another ship on a collision course with them...

Part 2: TV Comic Issue 630, dated 12 January 1964
Steve pulls XL5 Junior into a steep climb and avoids the ship, and orders it to land on the authority of the World Space Patrol. The pilot is Silas Lincoln, who is prospecting for gold in his old broken down spaceship. Not realising he has broken any space laws, he agrees to collect his stuff and leave. But unknown to them, there are aliens waiting at his camp...

Part 3: TV Comic Issue 631, dated 19 January 1964
The Alpharites ambush Lincoln and the XL5 crew as they approach and their leader aims a weapon. Suddenly an explosion goes off in nearby hills, and amidst the falling dbris Lincoln finds gold. But the blast reveals another treasure - a massive statue of Heslop, guardian of Omega, lost for hundreds of years. The Alpharites are gratful, and Lincoln asks permission to mine the gold in return. Six months later, the XL5 finds Lincoln piloting a magnificent new ship.

Notes:
• Another short tale that seems to promise much and just - ends!


Story Fifteen
Writer: Alan Fennell. Artist: Neville Main. 2 pages, b/w.

Part 1: TV Comic Issue 632, dated 26 January 1964
XL5 is patrolling near unexplored Planet 40, when Mat finishes building a new radio wave gun. Leaving Robert in control, Steve takes Mat outside to test it on a plastic balloon moored a thousand yards off the starboard engine housing. But when he fires, XL5 lurches, and they find Robert has come outside - the radio waves have affected him. Balancing on the tether between XL5 and the remnant of the balloon, Robert suddenly falls, towards Planet 40...

Part 2: TV Comic Issue 633, dated 02 February 1964
Steve leaves Venus in charge of XL5 while he and Mat go outside to find the robot. But Robert has drifted towards another ship and been picked up by two aliens, Oma and Glub, who take him to Planet 40. Unable to find Robert, Steve and Mat take Fireball Junior around Planet 40 for several orbits in case he has been captured by the gravity. But when this also proves futile, they descend and find the surface is like a giant chess-board...

Part 3: TV Comic Issue 634, dated 09 February 1964
The buildings resemble huge chess pieces, and inside Steve and Mat find Robert is being examined. The robot is brought before their king who, learning he is from outer space, challenges him to a game of chess to prove he is champion of the galaxy. But Robert beats him and, as is custom on this world, he is made their new leader...

Part 4: TV Comic Issue 635, dated 16 February 1964
Crowned and enthroned, Robert is brought canned and bottled oil. Mat has an idea how they can get him back, and they return to Fireball. Modifications are made to the radio-wave gun, and Steve and Mat return with it to Planet 40. But when they land, they are captured by angry followers of the ex-leader...



Part 5: TV Comic Issue 636, dated 23 February 1964
Steve and Mat persuade the ex-leader and his men that they want Robert back but the only way is for another chess game to be played. If the leader loses, it is the law that he will be flung into orbit. This time, Mat fires the gun at Robert during the game, and he loses. The ex-leader is made king again, and Steve, Mat and Robert are allowed to leave in peace.

Notes:
• A rather bizarre tale. The Prisoner-like giant chess board promises an intriguing tale but it never quite lives up to expectations and the resolution is a litle convenient. But in some ways the feel of the story is close to some from the original episodes.


Story Sixteen
Writer: Alan Fennell. Artist: Neville Main. 2 pages, b/w.

Part 1: TV Comic Issue 637, dated 01 March 1964
Commander Zero and Lieutenant 90 stand together in the telescan iewing room at Space City...

Seeing larger than usual explosions on the surface of the Sun, Zero orders Steve to take Mat and Venus to Observation Station 6, where they can establish whether the flares are serious enough to interfere with communications. With Zoonie, the pair are left for a couple of days, but on the first night Venus is woken by stifling heat...

Part 2: TV Comic Issue 638, dated 08 March 1964
Mat is also awake and calls on Venus. Both find the mischievous Zoonie has smashed the control room, and the station is without radio and falling into the Sun. But Space City is also aware of the problem, and Zero diverts XL5 to assist, but it will be six hours before Steve can get to them...

Part 3: TV Comic Issue 639, dated 15 March 1964
On board Observation Station 6, Mat tries to repair the damage but the contact leading to the boosters is broken. Venus suggests operating them by hand but the boosters are at the end of three long tubes, and the only one are small enough to crawl through them is Zoonie. Venus is sure she can instruct him and, repeating the mantra 'Take out the broken plug at the bottom of the tube and put this one in its place', the Lazoon is despatched into one of the tubes...

Part 4: TV Comic Issue 640, dated 22 March 1964
Zoonie crawls down the tube, as time runs out. Only a few minutes remain before the Sun's gravity is too strong for the booster motors to have any effect. For once, the Lazoon gets it right and fixes the wires correctly, allowing Mat to connect the other end and fire the boosters. Already on his way, Steve receives a message that Observation Station 6 is under control, and to pick up Mat and Venus. Back on Earth, Zoonie is a hero, and toasted by Mat, Venus, Steve, Zero and Ninety at dinner.

Notes:
• Alan Fennell's hand can clearly be seen in this story, which bears similarities to his Thunderbirds episode 'Sunprobe', and a story about another observation station falling into the Sun features in the ©1964 Fireball XL5 annual. His fascination with the Sun is also seen in the his later Thunderbirds strip Solar Danger, which concerns gigantic explosions on its surface signalling the 'birth' of a new planet.


Story Seventeen
Writer: Alan Fennell. Artist: Neville Main. 2 pages, b/w.

Part 1: TV Comic Issue 641, dated 29 March 1964
After a well-earned rest, Fireball XL5 and its gallant crew set off again to patrol Sector 25 in the depths of space.
After an uneventful first week, Mat detects an unusual star-shaped object. When Steve goes out to investigate, the object moves away, and continues to do so even when pursued by Fireball XL5. AS they follow, it starts to near a strange planet...

Part 2: TV Comic Issue 642, dated 05 April 1964
The object fires an electrical charge, putting XL5 out of control and causing it to crashland on the planet's surface. Amidst wreckage of many other crashed ships, a voice tells them to follow the object which leads them to a tall building, where a strange creature welcomes them to planet Mog...

Part 3: TV Comic Issue 643, dated 12 April 1964
The creature introduces himself as Og, and invites them inside to rest and eat. Og reveals he invented the star-shaped object to lure them and other ships to the planet, but when Steve asks why, the alien just laughs and tells them they will know soon...

Part 4: TV Comic Issue 644, dated 19 April 1964

Og takes them to a clear bowl-like construction, in which he bids them to rest for the night. But once inside, shutters seal the doors and the bowl rises into the air. Og gloats over a speaker that there is no escape, and sometime later, the bowl descends towards a landscape where there are dozens more like it...

Part 5: TV Comic Issue 645, dated 26 April 1964
As their dome lands among the others, Venus sees they have creatures in them. Og appears with a sign 'Earthmen from the Solar System', and the XL5 crew are the latest exhibit in his zoo. Og will keep them there, well cared for, forever and he goes to inspect his other captives. Mat suggests Steve contact Robert to rescue them but unknown to them, the robot is trapped - pinned to the floor by his chair...

Part 6: TV Comic Issue 646, dated 03 May 1964
Robert responds but is trapped in the cockpit of Fireball XL5 and cannot help. But Mat has the idea of using high notes to break glass, and Steve orders the robot to make high frequency radio waves. The noise shatters the bowls and Steve is able to settle the score with Og. As the alien was responsible for crashing all the ships, Og is set to work helping the other prisoners make repairs to theirs. Two week later, when this is done, Og is taken by XL5 to Earth and something very like his zoo - a prison.



Notes:
• In a rare touch of strip continuity, Og's zoo contains an inhabitant of planet 40 from Story 15.
• Interestingly, Slans from Galaxy X are also featured (see above - second from right), but it is not thought this is a reference to the SF novel by A.E Van Vogt.


Story Eighteen
Writer: Alan Fennell. Artist: Neville Main. 2 pages, b/w.

Part 1: TV Comic Issue 647, dated 10 May 1964
Returning from patrol, the crew of XL5 check the Space City notice board and find 'Space City Grand Prix - Space race to the Moon and back - Big cash prizes'. Steve would like to enter so Mat designs and builds a space racing ship in two weeks. But before the race, Mat wants to give it a test flight and, with Steve watching, launches. Steve is impressed as Mat puts it through a crazy series of loops, but the craft is actually out of control and suddenly plunges towards Space City...

Part 2: TV Comic Issue 648, dated 17 May 1964
When Mat's ship flies into a hangar and out the other side, Steve begins to think he is in trouble and goes to the control room. On the radio, Mat tells him the problem but the emergency cut-out switch for the motors is not working, and the ship heads out into space. Steve chides mat for getting himself into the mess, as the ship goes into orbit around the Moon. Getting the engineers to build a device for him, Steve and Venus launch in Fireball XL5 to rescue him...



Part 3: TV Comic Issue 649, dated 24 May 1964
As XL5 closes on Mat's space racer, the professor asks how Steve plans to get him down. Steve was going to do some fishing on his holiday, and aims to do the same here. Deploying a large net, Steve flies XL5 within a few feet of the small spaceship - and catches it! But as they return to Earth and enter the atmosphere, the net breaks - and the space racer with Mat aboard splashes into the sea! Steve tells Mat he is only a mile offshore, and the swim will cool him off. By the time the wet and weary professor wades ashore, Steve and Venus are already on the beach enjoying themselves. A week later, back on duty and in XL5, Mat still ponders why his space racer did not work. Steve's response: it was no good!

Notes:
• Mat's racer ship ship bears some resemblance to a single-seater version of the Anastasia from Dan Dare.


Story Nineteen
Writer: Alan Fennell. Artist: Neville Main. 2 pages, b/w.

Part 1: TV Comic Issue 650, dated 31 May 1964
Fireball XL5, under the command of Colonel Steve Zodiac, resumes its lone patrol of space sector 25...

A navigational check reveals that Fireball XL5 is off-course and way outside the sector. With a fault in the gyros, the ship drifts further off-course and, seeing a planet, Steve decides to land and make repairs. In a forest of massive trees and plants, Steve and Mat tend to the ship while Venus and Zoonie explore, but then a giant claw lifts the doctor into the air...

Part 2: TV Comic Issue 651, dated 06 June 1964
Steve hears Venus' screams but when he and Mat get outside they only find trampled vegetation. Venus has been carried off by a giant reptile, and there is no sign of Zoonie. The two men follow the trail of crushed plants and see the creature in the distance but the ray gun has no effect on it. They can only watch in despair as the creature wades into a swamp, which they have no way of crossing...

Part 3: TV Comic Issue 652, dated 13 June 1964
The creature wades ashore an island in the middle of the swamp, and Steve realises they can use the massive plant leaves as rafts to cross it. Once on the island, Steve climbs a tree to give the creature a ray blast up close but this still has no effect and, as Mat cries a warning, it turns to attack...

Part 4: TV Comic Issue 653, dated 20 June 1964
The creature drops Venus into a large fungus-type plant, and its tail knocks Mat flying. But Zoonie had climbed up the reptile's neck, hanging on all this time, and clamps a paw over one of its eyes. Half-blinded, the creature is dazed, allowing steve to fire again. This time, the ray works and it collapses. But a new terror appears in the skies - winged creatures that look like prehistoric vultures...



Part 5: TV Comic Issue 654, dated 27 June 1964
The winged creatures attack, and Steve cuts some of the plants to make protective shields as they head back to their rafts. The creatures keep trying and, after a narrow miss by a swamp creature, the crew make it back to the shelter of the jungle. But as they near XL5, they see a giant snake has wrapped itself around it...

Part 6: TV Comic Issue 655, dated 04 July 1964
Steve decides the best thing is to try and get aboard without disturbing it, which they are able to do. Lifting off, Steve is sure they can shake the snake free once in flight, but the creature starts to tighten its grip. Unconcerned, as Fireball was built to withstand pressure, the craft continues to climb. But then Mat notices the snake is pulling Fireball Junior from the main body, and without control the ship starts to go down...

Part 7: TV Comic Issue 656, dated 11 July 1964
Steves decides the only chance may be to hit the marsh at the right angle to stun the snake. While it makes the creature loosen its grip, it is still hanging on so Steve puts XL5 back in a steep climb and it eventually falls off through lack of air. Now free, the ship returns to Earth for more adventures.

Notes:
• Not the most complicated of plots but certainly an action-packed one.
• This strip would mark the last appearance of Zoonie in a regular Fireball XL5 strip.
• Issue 655 features a half page advert for 'Spacemakers', a joint Supercar and Fireball XL5 club offer (left). By sending 2'6 (two shillings and six old pence - approximately 12.5 new pence) plus 3 old pence postage, readers would receive a Spacemakers wallet, a full colour slide of Fireball XL5 called 'Full boost to the Moon', a special magnifier and a Supercar Wings badge. An additional offer of purchasing five more colour slides of images from Fireball XL5 was also available.


Story Twenty
Writer: Alan Fennell. Artist: Neville Main. 2 pages, b/w.

Part 1: TV Comic Issue 657, dated 18 July 1964
On the main trade routes from the Solar System to Galaxy X lies a cluster of uninhabited planets, the smallest of which is the barren Aridus, but...
Aridus is not uninhabited - it is base to space pirates who launch their ship Black Roger One on another mission of plunder. The ship can change ship to enhance its speed, and closes on Freighter CF7, which send out a signal for help. Picking it up, Fireball XL5 primes its rockets and prepares for action stations...

Part 2: TV Comic Issue 658, dated 25 July 1964

The pirates transfer the cargo and take the crew prisoners before wrecking the freighter with explosives. Changing shape for greater speed, the pirate heads away only to be pursued by Fireball XL5. As the pirates head for the shelter of a planet cluster, Steve fires a warning missile...

Part 3: TV Comic Issue 659, dated 01 August 1964
The pirate ship is too fast, and the rocket explodes harmlessly into one of the uninhabited planets of the cluster. Unable to pursue, Steve calls the salvage fleet to tend to the freighter and returns to Space City. Meanwhile the pirate ship has made planetfall at its base on Aridus, where its captain - Black Roger One - reports to the Admiral about Zodiac. But this will have to wait, as the pirates have customers waiting for the stolen cargo in Galaxy X. At Space City, Zero gives Zodiac an ultimatum to stop the pirates, or make way for someone who can...

Part 4: TV Comic Issue 660, dated 08 August 1964
Steve decides they must get on the pirates' trail, and takes XL5 to Kalizma, the interstellar airport city of Galaxy X. There, they are spotted by Black Roger One, who is in the city to sell the cargo. In the main transit shed, mat compares the cargo awaiting customs clearance, but Black Roger follows and sets a car careering into the shed in the hop of killing them...

Part 5: TV Comic Issue 661, dated 15 August 1964
The car bursts into flames, trapping the XL5 crew and a government official inside. Steve uses a cargo trolley to get himself and Venus through the fire, and mat and the official use the same method to escape. E???, but steve leaves them to it as they check every space freighter leaving Kalizma. On a possible wild goose chase XL5 lifts off in pursuit of one, but pirate fighters have lifted off from Aridus to intercept them...

Part 6: TV Comic Issue 662, dated 22 August 1964

Mat thinks there are too many pirate ships but Steve is determined to fight. One ship is destroyed when Fireballs XL3 and XL4 arrive, and the pirates are forced to flee. The pirate Admiral is shocked to see his fleet leading the XL craft straight back to their base, and he prepares to fight. Arriving at the base, Zodiac decides to land and storm the base by force but pirate weapons are already trained in the XL craft...

Part 7: TV Comic Issue 663, dated 29 August 1964
The pirates open fire, and Fireball XL3 topples over. As the crews take cover, Steve decides they need firepower, and makes a dash for XL5. Climbing aboard, he gets Robert to prime the TNT rockets and retaliates. The pirates gun outpost is hit and, seeing their chance, the other XL5 crew advance on their base...

Part 8: TV Comic Issue 664, dated 05 September 1964
Steve tells Robert to cease fire, and joins the others in the attack. With their ray guns switched to knockout power, the XL crews advance and take out any opposition. Using smoke bombs, the last few pirates are put out of action, and their prisoners released. Repairs are made to XL5, and they return to Space City.

Notes:
• The concept of a ship capable of changing its shape to make better speed is quite innovative, though Neville Main's artwork never gives this interesting idea the recognition it deserves.
• Fireball XL3 makes a third appearance in TV Comic, having been destroyed twice in strips the previous year. It doesn't do too well here but at least it survives to be repaired!
• The television episode 'Space Pirates' features a planet Aridan as a base for Captain Catt and his mate Patch.


Story Twenty-One
Writer: Alan Fennell. Artist: Neville Main. 2 pages, b/w.

Part 1: TV Comic Issue 665, dated 12 September 1964
It is a hot, sultry night - suddenly the sky above Space City is lit by a series of brilliant flashes.
From the beach Steve and Venus, relaxing after a swim, watch as the balls of fire seem to plunge into the sea. Unknown to them, these are ships belonging to aquatic aliens led by Captain Pike and his aide Roe. Deeming the aliens on the surface to be a threat, they make plans. A while later Mat arrives to tell Steve that there is a flap on at Space City as the objects are believed to come from a spaceship. Then, across the bay, there is a series of explosions...

Part 2: TV Comic Issue 666, dated 19 September 1964
Taking a hoverboat, Steve and Mat cross the bay to help but Roe tries to plant a mine on it. As he struggles to find metal while fighting the air-jets, Steve sees him and grabs his arm. Human and alien look at each other in fear and astonishment before Roe uses a jellyish sting weapon to stun Steve. Recovering in hospital, Steve is asked by Zero if he is fit to fly. The fishmen have been rounded up and the fires put out, but now there are reports of a large strange craft in sector 9. Lifting off, XL5 finds it - and it is huge...

Part 3: TV Comic Issue 667, dated 26 September 1964
Steve gets Robert to prime the neutron rockets just in case, and radios Zero for orders. He is told to destroy it, or get on board and make an arrest, so Steve jets over to the ship. An airlock opens, but once inside it seals shut and starts to fill with water...

Part 4: TV Comic Issue 668, dated 03 October 1964
Venus tells Steve to hold his breath, as the oxygen pills will provide him with air for a time. Fishmen appear, and fit an helmet to Steve's head before placing him in an 'airquarium'. The alien ship moves off, and Mat is ordered by Zero to keep after it. The President is informed, and the Terrestial Forces are placed on a war footing. Meanwhile, the alien ship has headed for the water planet, and plunged beneath the surface of the ocean...

Part 5: TV Comic Issue 669, dated 10 October 1964
Mat tells Venus to stay in the main body of XL5 while he takes Robert in Fireball Junior. Under the surface of the ocean, he finds a city under a dome but then ponders what they need protection against. On Earth, Lieutenant 90 tells Commander Zero that M.I.5 have found a way to talk to the Fishmen prisoners. Meanwhile, Steve is being interrogated by the Fishman leader Pisces but the arrival of a captured Mat and Robert interrupts. Then Steve is amazed to hear Mat say he wants to help the Fishmen...

Part 6: TV Comic Issue 670, dated 17 October 1964

Mat believes the oceans have become poisonous to the Fishmen, and Pisces confirms it is Earthmen who are responsible before condemning them to be chained outside the city to drown. The oxygen pills sustain them for a time but in water there is no way to contact Venus or order Robert. Mat indicates the radio mike can be used for morse and after tapping a message, Venus orders Robert to break his chains and free Steve and Mat. Swimming to the surface to talk, they decide the only way is to convince the Fishmen they are friends is to return to the city...

Part 7: TV Comic Issue 671, dated 24 October 1964
The guards allow them in and, fitting them with thought-helmets and placing them in airquariums, bring Steve and Mat before Pisces. Mat explains that because Earthmen thought the planet uninhabited, it was used as a dumping ground for chemicals. Pisces is pacified by the fact it was an act of ignorace rather than aggression, but the seas are poisonous now. Mat still thinks they can help, but need to return to Fireball XL5 so they can talk to Earth...

Part 8: TV Comic Issue 672, dated 31 October 1964
Mat thinks the Fishmen can live on the oceans of Earth, if it is in peace. The World Government agrees, and Pisces orders his people to the ships for the journey of Earth.



Notes:
• Probably the best strip of the run, and a dramatically fitting finale.
• Interestingly, the concept of underwater races would be the main focus of the new Stingray series, which would have just made its debut on television, and would appear as the main strip in TV Century 21 in three months time.
• With the ending of the Fireball XL5 strip in TV Comic, this would mark the first cessation of any Anderson-related strips in nearly four and a half years.
• After a break of a week, Doctor Who would replace Fireball XL5 on pages 2 and 3 of TV Comic with issue 574, retaining artist Neville Main.

It is the final story that is the most interesting, on a number of levels, featuring alien Fishmen who invade Earth. With Stingray having already appeared on television from the beginning of October, there must have been some bemusement to TV Comic readers that neither the Supercar strip, which finished at the end of September, or Fireball XL5 were replaced by a tie-in appearance. Does this final story give a suggestion that it was planning, in some way. to segue into Stingray, and that a strip had at some point been planned for TV Comic also?



More likely though was that it was a deliberate (though subtle) way of signposting the new TV Century 21, which had already been announced in the trade press in October, and would appear in late January 1965. In light of this, it can almost be seen that the stories where being groomed for a new direction, and whatever tug-of-war was going on to make the strip veer from whimical half-heartedness and near-classic was slowly being won. It is also pleasing that the strips did actually end on a high note with, like the best stories the previous year, three adventures that would not have seemed out of place in the new publication.

Either way, the strong run of final stories gave the strip the boost it needed to carry on to a new and quite different phase in its life, in colour and in a brand new title. And where crossovers with Stingray, and indeed other Gerry Anderson-based strips, would start to become the norm...

TV Comic Summer Special ©1964

Story One
Writer: Unknown. Artist: Neville Main. Two pages, red and blue tritone.
Steve sees what appears to be Fireball XL3 under attack by space pirates - but XL3 is on patrol in Sector Two Zero. Mat explains it is not a mirage but probably light reflected from a planet causing an optical illusion. Mat is able to calculate where the real attack is taking place so they can rescue the ship.

Notes:
• Someone certainly had it in for Fireball XL3. It gets a pasting here too!
• Neville Main draws the XL5 interceptor rocket bay as being part of the main body rather than XL5 Junior.

Story Two
Writer: Unknown. Artist: Neville Main. Two pages, red and blue tritone.
Steve is given orders to transport the President of the planet Tomack to Earth, but this is his first space trip and he is extremely nervous. But when Robert malfunctions, Fireball XL5 finds itself on a collision course with two gigantic meteorites...

Notes:
• It has to be said the red and blue tritone of the two Fireball XL5 strips give it a distinctly odd look.

On to Part Three of this series.

The Gerry Anderson Complete Comic History would like to thank:
Keith Ansell
and Alastair Roxburgh
- for their help with this feature.

Version 1.1 - 01.05.05


Any comments or notes about any of the strips, please contact technodelic@blueyonder.co.uk.

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