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Lady Penelope: Lady Penelope, 1966
 The growing success of TV Century 21, and of the new series Thunderbirds, did not so much as sow the seeds of a new comic, but allowed it become a reality. As editor Gillian Allan recalls, 'I think it was always planned for a comic for girls to be produced right from the start. It was just that the backers providing the money wanted to make sure they had a winning team of journalists who knew what they were doing!' A girl's version of TV Century 21 - in terms of a futuristic content - would be a somewhat futile gesture, but it was obvious that television would feature heavily such a venture, considering these backers were - through the Gerry Anderson series - Lord Lew Grade's ATV. Using the Anderson series as the initial springboard again: 'The title was an obvious choice once everyone had seen a preview of the Thunderbirds series,' Gillian explains, 'Long before it came onto television.' However, while the success of TV Century 21 was very quickly proven, the fact Thunderbirds was not due to air until the autumn of 1965, meant it would take a whole year for the
comic to be viable under this title. The other Anderson strips would be The Perils of Parker and Marina, Girl of the Sea, but while Fireball XL5 was still going strong as a strip in TV Century 21, the series was already some three years old and not being shown as frequently, so a strip along the lines of 'Doctor Venus - Space Medicine Woman' was not a consideration for the newer now girl readership.
Less effort was made to ram the future down the necks of the readers, and Lady Penelope's many gadgets could easily have come from The Man from UNCLE, which was also sharing the limelight as a full colour strip. While links with International Rescue were kept in a few stories, and visual continuity with both the Thunderbirds series and TV Century 21 maintained, the strip continues to focus on Penelope's other adventures. In many ways it was business as usual, but the stories had a slightly harder and more action driven edge than the more character-driven humour of the earlier adventures. As Gillian Allan recollects, 'Lady Penelope became more of an action person to make the stories more geared to her, and more interesting. She was the heroine of the magazine, after all.' And as with the Thunderbirds strips, these were initially written by Alan Fennell.
 If there was any change in the scripts, perhaps it was to Penelope herself. While she maintained her unflappable coolness for most of the year, towards the end we begin to see some uncharacteristic edginess. The turning point comes shortly after being shot (left) in a shocking coda to The Assassination Threat. Penelope's flirtation with a cinema career brings her into personal conflict with egotistical actor-come-spy Paul Carson. It seems markedly unusual for her to seem, let alone look, really annoyed, and more so when she - perhaps unwittingly - pursues him to death in a perilous car chase. Even though poetic justice of this sort is often meted out in TV Century 21, it comes as an abrupt and slightly shocking end when other criminals, such as semi-regular Mr Steelman, are seen to be served proper justice.
While Eric Eden's artwork had been entertaining enough for Lady Penelope's standing in TV Century 21, to elevate her to star role required a new talent. Frank Langford's distinctive and stylish artwork raised the strip to new levels, and while at times it was obvious he was working exactingly from photographic reference, his depictions of cityscapes and 21st century technology blended seamlessly into the TV21 mythology. A worthy and equal stablemate for Frank Bellamy's depiction of Thunderbirds, starting at the same time.
By now, A.P. Films was a well established company, and the merchandising arm led by Keith Shackleton successfully negotiated the rights to several popular American television series airing in the UK at the time. The Man from UNCLE has already been mentioned, initially drawn by a European artist who signed himself Gonzales, but was later handled by Stingray artist Ron Embleton, and as the other main colour strip it undoubtedly assisted the sales of the comic. The other pages would be allocated to strips based on other series popular with girls at the time - The Beverly Hillbillies, Bewitched and Space Family Robinson, a British adaptation of the popular Gold Key comics, in the absense of the rights to its television variation Lost In Space being available.
 Lady Penelope strip guide - part 2
Story One (aka Dangerous Fashion!)
Writer: Alan Fennell.
Artist: Frank Langford.
Colour centrespread.
Part 1: Lady Penelope Issue 01, dated 22 January 1966
Penelope decides she does not have a thing to wear, and gets Parker to take her to Wickfen, the leading fashion salon in London. Owner Elaine is due to hold the first fashion show in Oasis, a new city built in the desert. Penelope notices one of the Wickfen models is making furtive signals to a man watching nearby, and follows when they meet backstage. She overhears them discussing what a covert mission. and when the model returns to the salon, Penelope examines the wardrobe with a sensitive detector in her necklace. She finds microfilm, unaware she is being watched through the keyhole by the man...
Part 2: Lady Penelope Issue 02, dated 29 January 1966
Back in FAB One, Penelope discusses the matter with Parker, who discerns the model is probably going to smuggle the microfilm out to Oasis for the fashion show. Penelope contacts Jeff Tracy and lets him know her plans, and phones Elaine to let her know she will be secretly joining them, unaware the model is eavesdropping. As FAB One leaves Creighton-Ward Mansion early the next morning, they are watched by the man. On the coast, FAB One joins Lady Penelope's yacht, hidden in a concealed cliff hangar, and sets sail for Alexandria. Ahead of them, the man - Winguard - has landed at Cairo Airport, and contacted his superior Ivanovitch, who has given him a scorpion with which to deal with her Ladyship...
Part 3: Lady Penelope Issue 03, dated 05 February 1966
Winguard has driven ahead and feigns a breakdown so FAB One will stop to help. Penelope immediately recognises him but stops to give him a lift to a service centre. Trying to make conversation, Penelope mentions she may have seen him before and Winguard says he is a dress designer on his way to Oasis. But he also covertly brushes his foot against Penelope's boot, leaving a substance on it. Winguard is dropped off at a service station, leaving a small box hidden by an armrest. An electronic signal opens it, to reveal the lethal scorpion, and as FAB One arrives at the ultra-modern Oasis, Penelope notices the creature on her foot...
Part 4: Lady Penelope Issue 04, dated 12 February 1966
Telling Parker to stop the car and remain still, Penelope uses a ray in her signet ring to kill the scorpion. It is obvious Winguard is onto them, and at Oasis Penelope joins Elaine and enquires after the model. She is Moira Kingsley, a new model for Wickfens, but the girl is adept at eavesdropping and travels across Oasis to contact Winguard with the news her Ladyship is still alive. After supper with Elaine, Penelope retires for the night, as a robed stranger moves along her bedroon balcony and enters, brandishing a dagger...
Part 5: Lady Penelope Issue 05, dated 19 February 1966
The arab is startled when the bedroom floor seems to explode around his feet, and hurls himself out of the window. Awakened by the noise, Parker bangs on the door to see if her Ladyship is alright, and finds an unruffled Penelope. She had left explosive powder on the floor, which would be ignited by the heat from the feet of an intruder. The next day, Wickfens first fashion show is held in the exhibition hall, and orders are flooding in. Moira is also modelling, and Penelope notices her signalling to a arabic man in a fez. Certain this was the intruder from the night before, Penelope orders Parker to follow him as he leaves. But as Parker follows the arab's car in FAB One out of Oasis, he in turn is followed by Winguard. When the arab stops and Parker follows on foot, Winguard knocks him out. The arab then returns to Oasis, and starts rummaging through Moira's dressing room, looking for the microfilm...
Part 6: Lady Penelope Issue 06, dated 26 February 1966
Some time later, Elaine enters the dressing room to find her precious collection in shreds. Meanwhile, Penelope has been shadowing Moira, and tries to contact Parker when she the model makes to leave. With no response, Penelope can only watch as Moira is picked up in a car driven by Winguard. A distressed Elaine finds Penelope, and tells her of the wrecked collection. Penelope tries to assure her she knows what has happened, then finds a dishevelled Parker has returned, and the two set off in FAB One in pursuit of the arab. The homing dvice indicates he is heading for Abu Simbel, site of famous Egyptian monuments, and Penelope suspects he, Winguard and Moira may be working for Bereznik. But as they follow the arab to one of the giant monuments where a helijet is landing, Moira and an armed Winguard appear behind them...
Part 7: Lady Penelope Issue 07, dated 05 March 1966
The arab urges Winguard to shoot, but there are guides who would find the bodies. Penelope and Parker are taken into one of the inner chambers in the cliff, and a well-aimed shot at the ceiling seals them in. As Winguard and his accomplices escape in the helijet, Penelope uses explosive powder from her compact to blast themselves free again. In FAB One, Parker determines the helijet is heading for Bereznik, and Penelopes calls Jeff Tracy for assistance. The authorities are notified, and the helijet intercepted by British fighters. Mission accomplished, Penelope fills in for the absent Moira at Elaine's fashion show. After all, a titled lady has such little excitement!
Reprinted:
TV2000 - issues 36 to 42/1966
Thunderbirds The Comic - issues 59 to 65
 And Her Ladyship is wearing:
• A white coat with black zig-zag design and trim, with matching hat and boots, which Penelope had sported in the episodes 'The Duchess Assignment' and would later reappear in 'Alias Mr Hackenbacker'.
• Underneath, she wears a 'Mondrian' dress with a black collar and navy block on the left shoulder - seeming part based on the one Penelope wears in the episode 'The Duchess Assignment' (left). This outfit also appears on a few covers of Lady Penelope (including the first), was the basis for a girls' playsuit released in 1966, and finally appears in the strip towards the end of this year (issues 51 & 52).
• In part 2, Penelope seems to keep the dress on but wears a different open collar coat over it, and in part 3, she wears a ruby brooch in the dress collar.
• A pink nightdress and matching wrap.
• A white tunic with green sleeves and open bowl collar, with a black skirt and black and green patterned boots.
• A frilly mint dressing gown.
• Penelope models an emerald green evening dresswith long white gloves and and jewelled collar.
Notes:
• This story introduces Elaine Wickfen, and her fashion salon.
• The first, second and final parts reiterate Penelope's relationship with International Rescue, and feature brief cameos by Jeff Tracy. The final part does raise the question - at what point does International Rescue get involved in political espionage?
• Winguard flies to Cairo in a Fireflash, maintaining visual continuity with the television series. The helijet is also based on a design from the television series, and the British air fighters look suspiciously like WASP interceptors in Stingray.
• Fashion faux pas? The design of Penelope's dress changes subtlely throughout the first parts
 Story Two
Writer: Alan Fennell
Artist: Frank Langford.
Colour centrespread.
Part 1: Lady Penelope Issue 08, dated 12 March 1966
Penelope is contacted by her friend Amanda Cliveden, whose daughter Susan has been offered an advanced secretarial course in the Swiss Alps but who now seems to have vanished. The principal, Fraulein Zadain, claims she never arrived. Penelope uses the World Information Service to find out about the college, and recalls seeing a symbol with 'WR' before. This turns out to be for the Equal Rights for Women Organisation, who have offices in Fleet Street. Using the simpler name 'Penny Ward', Penelope enlists with them, claiming to have been the equal of her boss at the Blacklaw Plutonium Plant. She was dismissed when asking for equal wages from her boss, and is taken on as a member...
Part 2: Lady Penelope Issue 09, dated 19 March 1966
Penelope is put through a secretarial examination, to test her typing, administrative and computing skills. She passes and gains a diploma, and also an offer of a secretarial course in Switzerland. This is the opportunity Penelope needs to find out what happened to Susan, and three days, she is flown out by private aircraft with three other girls. After landing at a small airstrip at the base of the mountains, the girls are transferred by a revolutionary snowship, and then by cable car to the Academy. A girl called Brenda Simmons takes Penelope to the stock room for a outfit, which will be monogrammed with her initials. Penelope notices the old outfit has 'SC' on it, which could be for Susan Cliveden, but Brenda tells her she will get into trouble if she starts asking questions...
Part 3: Lady Penelope Issue 10, dated 26 March 1966
Penelope believes Brenda knew Susan was there, and her theory seems confirmed when two women burst in and bring her before Fraulein Zadain. The principal is viciously dismissive of Penelope's claim that Susan had been there, so Penelope tries to ask Susan again in the coffee lounge. Brenda suddenly jumps up and takes Penelope ski-ing - because the whole Academy is bugged. Susan was there, but had a row with Zadain, after which everyone was told the girl had left. But the meeting is being monitored by Zadain from afar. In the classes under Madame Krugar, Penelope begins to learn the nature of the Academy - the front of women's equality is a means of training the girls to be industrial spies...
 Part 4: Lady Penelope Issue 11, dated 02 April 1966
Penelope decides to do some spying of her own, and finds a barred door. Away from the Academy microphones, she tries to ask Brenda further questions but only succeeds in turning the girl against her. Penelope arranges a 'ski accident', so she can give Brenda a bugged version of the 'WR' badge they all wear. Before long, Brenda has reported Penelope to Fraulein Zadain, who tells her she will be expelled. But Penelope, listening via the bug, is sure Zadain will actually kill her. She finds the door is locked, but uses an explosive shoe to break out. But once in the corridor she is found...
Part 5: Lady Penelope Issue 12, dated 09 April 1966
The two girl guards try to detain Penelope, but she stuns them with gas from her lipstick. She makes for the airport by skis, and finds from the officials there that Susan arrived on the fifteenth of last month, but did not fly out. A check at the auto depot reveal nothing, and Penelope suspects the girl may still be in the Academy. Meanwhile, the guards have been found, and Zadain mobilises and arms her staff to look for Penelope. Penelope tries to use a miniature rocket and winch system to scale the five thousand foot drop up tp the Academy. It works perfectly, until Penelope is nearly there, then one of the rockets breaks, leaving her suspended by a single cable...
Part 6: Lady Penelope Issue 13, dated 16 April 1966
Penelope swings to the sheer mountainside, and begins a desperate climb the remaining short distance. Finally, she makes it to level ground, and buries the cables and rockets. Concealing herself near the entrance, she evades the searching guards and gains entry. Outside Zadain's office, Penelope hears the principal give orders for six girls to be sent to the airport after her. As the excitement dies down, Penelope explores further, and finds two guards who unlock the barred door and enter a tunnel. Following, she finds they pass food through a locked door and leave. The prisoner is Susan Cliveden, but she tells Penelope she does not know her, and to go away...
Part 7: Lady Penelope Issue 14, dated 23 April 1966
Susan has been brainwashed, but Penelope uses flashing lights in her keys to break her from the hypnosis. Recovering her senses, Susan recognises Penelope at last, and she is freed from the prison. She relates there is a vast factory hidden in the mountain, and down another tunnel they find it. Fraulein Zadain appears, and reports to 'Boris' another girl has brought secrets that will help Bereznik! Watching from a concealed place, Susan does not think the other girls will help as they believe in the cause of equality. But Penelope thinks if they can bring Brenda around to the fact they are being used by a hostile power, they may have a chance. Taking Susan back to the cell, she embarks on a dangerous mission to convince the girl...
 Part 8: Lady Penelope Issue 15, dated 30 April 1966
Aware Brenda may cry out if she sees her, Penelope uses a bottle of perfume near the door as she cuts through. The fumes stun Brenda, and Penelope is able to lead the dazed girl to Susan's cell before she recovers her senses. Penelope is now forced to show Brenda the factory at gunpoint, but the fact these are Bereznik facilities convinces her. Penelope tells Brenda to get to the control switch and unlock all the dormitory doors, and get all the other girls to the ski-run chalet. She and Susan have to do something about the factory. Quietly, the two girls place explosive cigarettes arund the area, but as the mission is nearly finished, they are spotted...
Part 9: Lady Penelope Issue 16, dated 07 May 1966
As armed guards lead Penelope and Susan away, Brenda convinces the other girls of the Bereznik link and the need to get clear of the explosives planted. The guards try to take the to girls to Zadain, but Penelope slams a door in their face. Two other guards are gassed by Penelope's lipstick, and the two girls join the others to ski to safety as the mountain top explodes. Penelope returns to London with Susan, where she is reunited with her mother.
Reprinted:
TV2000 - issues 43 to 51/1966
And Her Ladyship is wearing:
• A fawn camel coat with white fur collar and trim, with a white fur hat. Twice.
• Another sleeveless Mondrian dress in white, lime green and deep pink.
• A deep pink. belted coat with black horizontal bands, and matching flower pot hat.
• A blue and black top with brooch fastening, worn with a matching blue and black coat.
• A blue skirt suit and pearl necklace, similar to the blue lounge suit the previous year.
• A red coat with think black and gold zig-zag patterned collar.
• A yellow Academy outfit which appears to be a tunic, trousers and cap.
• A red hooded ski jacket and black ski pants. She later wears a red jacket with a seperate red and white fur hood.
• A white, black and red Mondrian jumper and black leggings.
• Another Mondrian dress in white, black and red, but with white sleeves.
• A white fur coat and matching hat.
• A black ski outfit and hood, with yellow sleeveless v-neck tunic and white boots.
• A white and black coat with fur trim.
Notes:
• Penelope adopts the simpler name 'Penny Ward' - which is the name the character would become in late 1969 when Century 21 ceased to have a concern in the comic, and the title of the strip became Penny On Her Own.
• The 'cable car' in part 2 seems based on the spacemobile from the Space Family Robinson strip.
• In part 5, Penelope ponders if the miniature rocket winch system devised by Brains has been tested by Jeff Tracy, as not all his gadgets work!
• Oops - Brenda's surname seems to change between 'Simmons' and 'Simmonds' throughout.
• With its main theme of a all-girl school for spies based in the Swiss Mountains, this would appear to be the inspiration for the later Class 6 Sterndorf strip in 1968.
• This story was omitted from the 1990s reprints.
 Story Three (aka The Great Silver Robbery!)
Writer: Alan Fennell.
Artist: Frank Langford.
Colour centrespread.
Part 1: Lady Penelope Issue 17, dated 14 May 1966
A young woman arrives in the London Silver Vaults to see some Georgian candelabra. As the salesman attends to her, another identical womans arrives by lift in the vaults, and then another, until six are there. Acting out of instinct, a salesman actives a silent foot alarm, but the staff are then mesmerised into immobility by the strange stares of the women. Alarms active, electrified glass barriers slide into place, but these prove useless as the women smash into them and steal the silver, immobilising any opposition. Two hours later, Lady Penelope is relaxing in her garden when two plain-clothes policemen arrive looking for Parker. He is the main suspect for the robbery, as only his skills could have cracked the safes, but Parker has been in London shopping...
Part 2: Lady Penelope Issue 18, dated 21 May 1966
Parker returns to the mansion to be taken to a London police station for questioning. Penelope follows in FAB One, and finds the inspector has no grounds for suspecting Parker apart from his skills. The main suspect is the 'woman', but Parker knows some of his underground mates had mentioned someone was pulling off big robberies to hire an army 'to rule the world'. Penelope suspects Mr Steelman may be behind this, but while investigating the Silver Vaults herself she is unaware of a bespectacled man watching her. This is indeed Steelman, whom Penelope has never seen, operating out of a office in Lincoln's inn, off Chancery Lane. When he returns there, he orders his private secretary go to Creighton-Ward Mansion and kill her...
Part 3: Lady Penelope Issue 19, dated 28 May 1966
Steelman writes a message: 'So Perish Steelman's Enemies. I Will Rule The World' - and gives the girl a knife. A swift limited-stop coach brings the assassin to the mansion, and she rings on the doorbell. With the pretense of having a message for Lady Penelope, she is admitted to the drawing room - and throws a knife! Penelope dodges instictively but her sleeve is pinned to the wall. She calls for Parker but the girl tries to mesmerise her. Having not heard, Parker returns with tea and tackles the girl but she flings him across the room, then turns on Penelope again...
Part 4: Lady Penelope Issue 20, dated 04 June 1966
Recovering, Parker grabs the girl's head from behind, only to see her collapse. Parker frees the mesmerised Penelope, and they discover the girl is a robot - covering her eyes switched her off. Penelope is now certain Stellman is behind this, and his message confirms it. But it also gives a clue, as the watermark on the paper is from the Law Stationers. The manager is most helpful, and gives Penelope the delivery address of the one shipment of that paper. But by the time Penelope and Parker arrive there, it appears Steelman has already fled...
 Part 5: Lady Penelope Issue 21, dated 11 June 1966
Penelope searches for a cue, and finds a desk blotter. Using a pencil, she is able to find the imprint of Steelman's message to her - and a name: Hotel Majestica. There may be hundreds of hotels with that name but the one in Monte Carlo seems most likely - Steelman is going to rob the casinos! Taking the yacht FAB Two, Penelope and Parker arrive at Monte Carlo harbour by nightfall, and drive FAB One to the Hotel Majestica. There is no 'Steelman' registered, but there is a Mr Ironsides with a companion already in the casino. Penelope dresses for the occasion, and she and Parker head there too, unaware Steelman has already seen them...
Part 6: Lady Penelope Issue 22, dated 18 June 1966
Penelope and Parker take their place at one of the roulette tables, and enjoy a short winning streak as a young woman enters. She is the exact double of the girl who tried to kill Penelope, and must be another of Steelman's robots. As she sits opposite Penelope, Steelman's plan takes shape as he remotely adjusts magnetic bias to fix the roulette wheel. After six consecutive wins, the girl has broken the bank, and Penelope orders Parker to follow the girl when she takes her winnings. Meanwhile, casino owner Charles Legrane is bankrupt, and decides to take his own life with a revolver...
 Part 7: Lady Penelope Issue 23, dated 25 June 1966
Penelope, a friend of Legrane's, enters the office in time and stops him, telling him he was robbed. She writes a cheque for him for 10 million francs, to keep his casino going, until she can recover the money for him. Finding FAB One outside, Penelope contacts Parker who is following the girl in a taxi. She stops at a bridge over a river, and dumps boxes of money into the water. By the time Penelope arrives, the girl is long gone, and they decide to use FAB Two to come up the river and retrieve them. By daybreak, the yacht is moored near the bridge, and Penelope is ready to dive in. But Steelman is now ready for the second part of his plan...
Part 8: Lady Penelope Issue 24, dated 02 July 1966
Five of Steelman's girl robots drive a car into a Rolls-Royce driven by the governess of the young Prince of Monaco, and both are whisked off to a hideout. Meanwhile, Penelope has found the boxes on the riverbed but they are too heavy for her to lift. Returning to FAB Two, she gets Parker to buy some fishing tackle from town but then hears of the kidnapping of the Prince on the radio. Realising Steelman has struck again, Penelope takes FAB One to return to Steelman's room at Hotel Majestica in the hope of finding a clue. But then Steelman returns...
Part 9: Lady Penelope Issue 25, dated 09 July 1966
Penelope has to hide and Steelman, having heard noises, bursts in to find nothing, not even out of the open window. But Penelope is on the ledge above, and when Steelman finally departs, she is able to climb back in and follow him. At a chateau in the countryside, Steelman has converted a room into a control centre. He is holding the Prince to ransom, but when alarms indicate Penelope has broken in through a window, he leaves the governess to die with the 'intruder'. Girl Robot Seven has been ordered to crash-dive a plane into the chateau, and when it hits, flames start to spread rapidly, trapping the governess...
Part 10: Lady Penelope Issue 26, dated 16 July 1966
Penelope hears the cries for help, and with the use of a perfume syphon from her handbag, containing a special anti-fire liquid, she is able to rescue the governess. She shows Penelope the secret tunnel Steelman used to escape with the Prince, which leads outside to where a car had been waiting. The road leads to the bridge where FAB Two is anchored, so Penelope warns Parker to keep an eye out. Steelman's car heads over the bridge, heading for Monte Carlo, and Penelope pursues in FAB One. But then Steelman's car turns off the road, and drives straight over a cliff...
Part 11: Lady Penelope Issue 27, dated 23 July 1966
The car plunges into the water but Penelope refuses to believe Steelman has just thrown his life away. Returning the governess to the palace, Penelope orders Parker to take FAB Two to Monte Carlo and rejoins him there. Diving into the sea off the cliff, she finds tyre tracks that indicate the car was amphibious. They lead to an underwater cave, and inside she finds another hideout. Steelman has the Prince there, and is charging up his girl robots for more robberies. But when he detects Penelope nearby, he sends them to kill her...
 Part 12: Lady Penelope Issue 28, dated 30 July 1966
Seeing the girl robots advancing on her, Penelope recalls they shut down when Parker covered their eyes. Using a spray, she squirts soap in their faces, covering their eyes and stopping them. Penelope confronts Steelman for the first time but he knocks her to one side and escapes in his amphibious car. Pursuit is unnecessary, as Parker has been warned, and a machine cannon makes short work of the vehicle. Steelman is fished out and finally caught, to be handed over anonymously to the police, and Penelope returns the Prince to the palace. That night, Penelope uses one of the girl robots to play the tables of the casino again, and 'lose' Steelman's ill-gotten gains back to Charles Legrane.
Reprinted:
TV2000 - issues 52/1966 to 10/1967
Thunderbirds The Comic - issue 66
The New Thunderbirds - issue 67 to 76 (omitting part 8 - see Notes)
And Her Ladyship is wearing:
• A pink patterned trouser suit.
• A top with black sleeves, possibly with trousers.
• A loose-fitting dress, with ruffled sleeves and matching sash belt, in mottled reds, pinks and orange, originally seen worn by Tin-Tin in the episode 'The Cham-Cham'. A photo of this also appears on the cover of issue 19.
• A yellow sleeveless top and matching pencil skirt, with black and white scarf, white gloves, and whitish muff hat. Penelope also wears a yellow sleeveless top in the final part but it is uncertain it is the same one.
• A blue twin-set with ribbed collar and trim. A photo of this outfit can be seen on the cover of issue 11.
• A navy jacket, for sea journies (of course).
• A blue ballgown with white fur trim, awhite fur-lined full length cloak, and tiara. This is based on the outfit we see in the episode 'The Duchess Assignment', and Penelope wears it twice in this story
• A skin-diving outfit. Twice.
• A white tunic with black geometic design, and white trousers.
 Notes:
• In line with devices around Creighton-Ward Mansion, Penelope has a microphone hidden in a flower pot with which Lil tells her of the arrival of the police.
• Although Lil was already a regular in the Perils of Parker strip, this is her first mention in the Lady Penelope strip.
• According to part 7, Penelope banks with Barclays! However, the cheque is dated 02 July 2066 - the week after that part appears.
• The governess of the Prince is based on the Duchess of Royston from the Thunderbirds episode 'The Duchess Assignment', and several photos from that story are used to promote the strip on the front cover.
• Penelope's garden pagoda, as seen on the cover of issue 17, is from the episode The Cham-Cham.
• Parker's 'fishing outfit', on the cover of issue 24 (and in part 8) is also from The Cham-Cham.
• The plane crash into the chateau is taken from the episode Martian Invasion, and a photo of the scene appears on the cover of issue 25 (left).
• The recap of part 7 is missing from the 1990s reprint, in issue 72 of The New Thunderbirds.
• Part 8 of this story was accidentally omitted from the reprint, which should have appeared in issue 73. The stories for Fireball XL5 and Zero X that week also jumped forward an instalment, and these were not reprinted.
 Story Four (aka The Assassination Threat & Kill Lady Penelope!)
Writer: Alan Fennell.
Artist: Michael Strand.
Colour centrespread.
Part 1: Lady Penelope Issue 29, dated 06 August 1966
As FAB One heads back to FAB Two in Monte Carlo harbour after the Steelman affair, Penelope receives a call from her agent Roger Lyon. Lyon is certain a Bereznik agent called Hermutt Clinger plans to assassinate the World Government Defence Minister, who is in Paris to sign a treaty. Lyon is cut off, and Penelope diverts to Paris, arriving that night at the Hotel Scores-Vaneau where Lyon was staying. She finds a matchbook from the Rooftop Club in his room before being locked in the room by a Bereznik agent. A bomb is placed by the room door, and explodes seconds later, trapping Penelope to a fiery death...
Part 2: Lady Penelope Issue 30, dated 13 August 1966
Penelope contacts Parker on her compact, and he uses the telescopic platform in the boot of FAB One to rescue from the window of the upstairs room. Parker saw a man enter the hotel after Penelope, but her Ladyship is more concerned with the 'Rooftop Club' - the only possible clue Lyon could have left. That night, Penelope's fears seem confirmed - the man is there, and it is Clinger. When he leaves, Penelope tells Parker to search for Lyon. But Clinger leaves over the rooftops, and when Penelope follows he opens fire, causing her to fall, hanging by her fingers from a crumbling guttering...
 Part 3: Lady Penelope Issue 31, dated 20 August 1966
Penelope swings out on the guttering, and kicks back in through a window. Apologising to the unfortunate old lady within, Penelope rejoins Parker, and they obtain a map of Paris from an all-night bookshop. The Rooftop Club overlooks the route the Defence Minister will take in her car, and is the obvious place for an assassination attempt. Penelope is right, for in the building beneath the club, Lyon is being held prisoner by Clinger. The Bereznik spy plans to frame Lyon by shooting him in the room, making it look like suicide after the assassination. Penelope is closing in though, but there is only an hour to go...
Part 4: Lady Penelope Issue 32, dated 27 August 1966
Penelope and Parker search the roofs around the club in vain, as the minister's motorcade approaches. Penelope suddenly realises Clinger may have attempted to mislead her, and doubled back! Penelope and Parker dash back through the club, and find the small room where Clinger has Lyon. Surprised, Clinger turns from the balcony where he is aiming, only to be thrown over the edge as Lyon swings himself in the chair he is tied to. The assassin is dead, and Penelope leads Parker and Lyon back over the roofs - and back through the broken window of the poor old lady - back to FAB One before the police arrive.
Part 5: Lady Penelope Issue 33, dated 03 September 1966
Unknown to Penelope, Clinger has survived the fall by landing on a shop blind. Evading the police in the milling crowds, Clinger sees Penelope, Parker and Lyon leave in FAB One, and follows in his car. Reporting his failure to his Bereznik superiors, Clinger attempts to redeem himself by suggesting he remove these three enemies. But first, he is ordered to take a photo of 'the female' for identification. Clinger drives alongside FAB One and photographs Penelope, and she is equally surprised to see Clinger is alive. Parker is ordered to stop the car, and overtakes, using the oil slip to make Clinger's car swerve off the road - but the spy has already transmitted the picture to Bereznik...
Part 6: Lady Penelope Issue 34, dated 10 September 1966
FAB One doubles back, and they find Clinger has been thrown clear of the car. The spy is in nearby trees with a telescopic rifle. A shot rings out, and Penelope falls wounded. Lyon fires back, killing Clinger for once and all, but Penelope is in a bad way. To take her to a hospital will blow her cover when doctors report the gunwound. In a brief moment of consciousness, she tells Parker and Lyon to take her to the Reinstat Clinic, seventy kilometres to the south. Parker's foot touches the floorboards of FAB One as he races against fate to save her Ladyship. But it all seems in vain, for at the clinic undr the care of Dr. Reinstat himself, Penelope is declared dead...
 Part 7: Lady Penelope Issue 35, dated 17 September 1966
Tears welling up, Parker is taken with Lyon to see the body in the operating theatre. But behind closed doors, Penelope sits up... alive! It is necessary to put Bereznik of the scent of Penelope, and news of the death of a 'mystery woman', who turns out to be the double of Lady Penelope, will do just that. A Bereznik agent is sent to check, and sees the pallbearers carrying the coffin leave the clinic. The file is closed, and Penelope gets out of the coffin as the hearse, driven by Parker, takes her and Lyon back to FAB Two to recuperate.
Reprinted:
TV2000 - issues 11/1967 to 17/1967
The New Thunderbirds - issues 77 to 83
 And Her Ladyship is wearing:
• A similar coat with black zig-zag design and trim as seen before, with matching boots. This one is pale rose, with the zig-zag more around the waist.
• The blue ballgown and fur cloak from 'The Duchess Assignment'. Again. Though this one appears to have no sleeves. (The poor girl really does have nothing to wear! And whats more it's quite useless for rooftop chases...)
• A pale blue trouser lounge suit, with matching boots and pearl necklace. This seems to be the same outfit she wore in TV Century 21. This really is quite tragic!
• A white coat with black zig-zag design and trim. Now this is the same one as before! It is even more tragic someone puts a bullet through it too, into her Ladyship.
• A tiger-skin patterned bikini.
Notes:
• In part 1, Penelope has 'sound only selected' for her videophone to speak to Roger Lyon - but she had already previously met him.
• Oops - Penelope does a quick change of clothes between parts 5 and 6, no doubt to tie in with the photo used on the cover of issue 34 (right). But in part 7 - oops again! Not only does Dr Reinstat save Penelope, he also changes her clothes back to the blue trouser suit!
• This story was split in two for its reprint in The New Thunderbirds - a four part story (The Assassination Threat) and a three parter (Kill Lady Penelope)
Story Five (aka Down Under!)
Writer: Alan Fennell. Artist: Frank Langford. Colour centrespread.
Part 1: Lady Penelope Issue 36, dated 24 September 1966
Penelope goes shopping for clothes at Elaine Wickfen's fashion house in Bond Street, and among her purchases is a new woollen dress. The manufacturers have just closed down, owing to all their machinery going wrong. Driving back, FAB One suddenly accelerates, and it is only Parker's skills and some built-in safety devices that prevent a disaster. The cause appears to one of the dresses and when Penelope and Parker analyse the fabric of the wool, it is found to contain traces of Luveniam, a rare mineral used for rocket fuel...
Part 2: Lady Penelope Issue 37, dated 01 October 1966
Parker reads that some construction machinery in Australia, where the wool came from, had similar problems. Penelope and Parker fly by private jet to the area, and find the sheep are contaminated with Luveniam. Construction site boss Gruber is pleased to see Penelope but is certain they are alone in the mountainous region. Traces of Luveniam in the machinery imply otherwise, so Penelope and Parker decide to investigate - but they are being watched...
Part 3: Lady Penelope Issue 38, dated 08 October 1966
An explosion tears one of the mountains apart, but Penelope and Parker are far enough away to only be knocked to the ground. Realising they are being watched, Penelope tells Parker to remain still, satisfying the unseen attacker. Parker finds a cable which leads to explosives equipment from Gruber's site, which Penelope believes was stolen. Parker has his suspicions but the noise of a jet forces them to take cover. The aircraft flies into a massive hidden hangar, and they realise this is bigger than they had suspected...
Part 4: Lady Penelope Issue 39, dated 15 October 1966
As Penelope and Parker approach to investigate, they unwittingly trip a trapdoor into the complex. Jumping from the belt which would deliver them to their captors, they see a massive arsenal of rockets. Bereznik commandos start combing the area for the intruders as an announcement is made the rockets are ready to destroy the World Government strongholds...
Part 5: Lady Penelope Issue 40, dated 22 October 1966
With Australia inside World Government territory, it is one of the last places an attack would be expected from. But before Penelope and Parker can do anything they are caught. Parker is thrown in a cell but Penelope is tied to one of the rockets, where the Bereznik General tells her the base will be destroyed after the launch. Using a hidden transmitter in his cap, Parker warns International Rescue, and Scott is despatched in Thunderbird 1 to help. But he arrives with only fifteen minutes left before the launch...
Part 6: Lady Penelope Issue 41, dated 29 October 1966
Since areas of the base have already been evacuated, Scott has no trouble in finding Parker and freeing him. Together they reach the control room and overpower the General. With the countdown stopped, Scott leaves Penelope to clear things up. But the General has recovered and set the delayed self destruct in action before making an escape in a jet...
Part 7: Lady Penelope Issue 42, dated 05 November 1966
Realising the General would probably not want to leave any trace of the base, Penelope and Parker escape and take cover just as the mountain is torn apart. With no evidence, the World Government cannot place blame on Bereznik. But Penelope is determined the General should not get away, and radios Scott who intercepts the jet in Thunderbird 1. Penelope and Parker are found by Gruber and his men, who find the destroyed mountain clears the way for them, putting them weeks ahead of schedule. Penelope performs the honour of opening the pass the next day, before returning home.
Reprinted:
TV2000 - issues 18/1967 to 24/1967
The New Thunderbirds - issues 84 to 89
 And Her Ladyship is wearing:
• The white coat with black zig-zag design and trim! Those invisible seamstresses are miracle workers! You would never notice the bullet hole now...
• A red polar-neck jumper and matching trousers.
• A snakeskin dress, with a pink headscarf and white boots, based on Penelope's outfit in the episode 'Atlantic Inferno' (see notes), and a pink monogramed helmet ('inscribed by a jovial site sign writer') throughout much of the story.
Notes:
• This story first appeared as Thunderbirds' second series was making its debut in the UK, and features some interesting ties that make the end of the strip dovetail into the opening scenes of the episode 'Atlantic Inferno'. A photo from the episode is used to promote the story on the cover of issue 43. It therefore comes as little surprise to learn Alan Fennell was in all probability resposible for this script too.
• Mr Gruber, the boss of the site, is quite obviously meant to be Sir Harry from that episode, and his men seem based on the puppet character extras.
• However, it is obvious that the strip Penelope does not have a sheep ranch in Australia - unless she was so impressed by the idea she bought one straight away, just in time for Jeff to take a holiday there!
• For some reason, it takes Scott four of the precious five hours to arrive in Australia from Tracy Island. Thunderbird 1 supposedly has a top speed of 15,000 miles per hour, which means it sould be able to reach anywhere in the world in just under an hour.
 • While the Lady Penelope strip maintained strong continuity in itself, links to the same week-by-week 'reporting' in TV Century 21 are presumably abandoned here. During the same weeks Scott Tracy and Thunderbird 1 make cameos in the strip, he was also on his way to the planet Venus in the strip Solar Danger!
• Once again though, the issue of International Rescue being involved with political matters, such as Thunderbird 1 shooting down the Bereznik jet, is somewhat sidestepped.
• Strip continuity is maintained, with Penelope's private jet being the same one she used to visit Tracy Island in issue 52 of TV Century 21, though it does not seem big enough to carry FAB One.
• A Project SWORD Moon Bus also makes an appearance in the last part (though months in advance of the strip in Solo, and the related toy range), as the vehicle used by Gruber's men to pick up Penelope and Parker (left).
 Story Six
Writer: Alan Fennell.
Artist: Frank Langford.
Colour centrespread.
Part 1: Lady Penelope Issue 43, dated 12 November 1966
Penelope and Parker return from Australia, to find a letter from Century 21 Film Productions ('Cor!' says Parker, 'They make smashing pictures.'). It invites her Ladyship to visit the casting director Digby Short, who wants her to star in their next motion picture. Meanwhile, in the moorland prison of Cradley, Mr. Steelman is serving out his term. Producing metal goods for industry, the master technician has made a robot mouse, and uses it to gas the prison guards. With a key he has fashioned, he escapes from his cell...
Part 2: Lady Penelope Issue 44, dated 19 November 1966
Using an oxygen mask, Steelman leaves the prison unhindered, and vows revenge on Lady Penelope for putting him there. Penelope is unsure about the offer of a film role, despite the charm of producer Mr. Andershill. Her work as an agent must come first, she confides in Parker. But Short has already put the word out to the society news columns as publicity build-up, alerting Steelman to Penelope's whereabouts. Penelope is wined and dined by Andershill, and to her surprise the waiter is Jimmy Bondson, who passes her a message. Reading it in private, she sees Bondson want her to accept the offer, and so does. But Steelman has also got a job at Century 21 as well...
Part 3: Lady Penelope Issue 45, dated 26 November 1966
Penelope leaves the restaurant in FAB One, but advises Parker to drive slowly so Bondson can contact them again. This he does, leading them to a wooded country lane where Colonel Thomas, head of British Intelligence, waits for them. Thomas is certain actor Paul Carson is passing top secret information to Bereznik, and as he is leading man in Penelope's film, her help is being enlisted. Carson. however, does not attend the first script read through and, feeling insulted, Penelope goes to his hotel afterwards to confront him. However, Carson is busy but when Penelope and Parker barge into his room, they find he has just shot someone...
Part 4: Lady Penelope Issue 46, dated 03 December 1966
Carson is actually rehearsing a scene from the film, and the co-stars clash on personality, with Penelope believing Carson an egotistical show-off. Meanwhile, Steelman has fixed one of the cameras with a built in gun, shooting Penelope for real! She is unwittingly saved by Carson, whose ego insists his screen test should be first, and Steelman has to bluff a replacement camera is needed. But this also gives Penelope a glimpse of him, though she cannot quite place the face. As Digby Short tries to apologise to Penelope for Carson's attitude, Steelman lines up the camera on her again...
Part 5: Lady Penelope Issue 47, dated 10 December 1966
Penelope suddenly realises who Steelman is, and jumps up just as the camera fires. Parker leaps into action from nearby, and holds Steelman down before being taken away by police. Carson is not pleased, believing Penelope a trouble-maker! After the long day's shooting, Penelope is taken home by Parker, and ponders on Carson''s script, which has words underlined unlike any other copies. It could be a code, and Parker's skills as burglar and thief are once again employed, by breaking into Century 21 and getting that script. Back at the mansion, Penelope examines the underlined words, which say: Hollywood Location. Meeting In Desert. Collect Aerial Car Detail...
Part 6: Lady Penelope Issue 48, dated 17 December 1966
Penelope asks Parker to find out who typed the scripts, which turns out to be a company called Film Print Limited. Penelope reports this to Colonel Thomas, who relates the head of Film Print is a known Bereznik agent. But Thomas wants exidence of Carson receiving the plans, which are of a new aerial car developed by the World Government Plant in the Borrego Desert. Carson continues to clash with Penelope throughout filming in the studio, but then the shoot moves to location work at Hollywood. At London Airport, Carson is warned that the British are onto them, and someone he works with could be out to get him. With one obvious suspect, as the crew take their places on Fireflash, Carson homes in on Penelope and asks her outright why she accepted the film offer...
Part 7: Lady Penelope Issue 49, dated 24 December 1966
 Penelope manages to confuse Carson by saying she wanted to work with him, which flatters his ego. In Los Angeles, as Carson is making a theatre appearance that evening, Penelope and Parker decide to investigate the Borrego Desert research plant. Parker uses a current locator to find and bypass the electrical supply for the fence, allowing it to be cut through. There do not appear to be any guards, but a noise alerts them to three savage guard dogs closing in on them...
 Part 8: Lady Penelope Issue 50, dated 31 December 1966
Gun fire would attract attention so Penelope uses an atomiser with kock-out spray on the lead dog. But Parker is not so lucky, and the other two knock him to the ground before Penelope can use the spray on them. Unfortunately, the spray puts Parker out too, and Penelope must leave him. Inside, using Parker's tips on avoiding and immobilising alarm systems, she finds the top secret aerial car. But once outside again, she is trying to carry Parker back to FAB One when a hand falls on her shoulder...
Part 9: Lady Penelope Issue 51, dated 07 January 1967
It is a guard, and Penelope swings Parker's current locator at his face, knocking him out. She makes good their escape, and the next day Penelope goes to the studio to find Carson has not appeared. Parker had placed a homing device on his car, and with filming unable to continue they decide to follow the trace. In the desert, from a safe distance they see Carson... and the guard from the night before handing over the film! Now Carson has the secrets, Penelope can catch him red-handed. But when he drives off, and Parker forces him off the road, they find Carson is armed...
Part 10: Lady Penelope Issue 52, dated 14 January 1967
Carson's shot bounces off FAB One's bullet-proof glass, and he gets back to his car and drives off. Penelope wants Carson alive, and advises Parker not to use the guns. A perilous car chase ensues through the high hills, and Carson is unable to match Parker's skills and FAB One's superior road-holding, plunging to his death. Penelope has to return to the studio and announce the death of Carson, and the film is cancelled. Penelope returns to England, and reports to Colonel Thomas as well, that Carson paid the price of evil.
Reprinted:
TV2000 - issues 25/1967 to 34/1967
Thunderbirds Are Go - issues 1 to 8 (story unfinished)
 And Her Ladyship is wearing:
• A rose pink overcoat and black muff hat. Penelope wears a similar coat, in white, a fw times later on.
• A blue twin-set with ribbed collar and trim (see Story Three) with a pearl necklace.
• A pink blouse with large red dotted pattern, and a frill trim, possibly with a pastel abstract patterned jacket.
• A black sleeveless dress with white diagonal stripe, and necklace.
• A red jacket with epaulettes.
• A trouser lounge suit, like the blue one seen before but this is in white (or light grey) with pearls again. Penelope is also seen wearing this in photos promoting the story (left), and on the cover of issue 43.
• A fuschia polar neck jumper, with yellow v-neck sleeveless top over it.
• A large green jumper with a black turtleneck underneath, with black trousers.
• A blue/white dressing gown with fur trim.
• A white sleeveless dress, with black and red 'Mondrian' pattern (see photo for Story One). This makes two appearances, though with different patterning, and worn with a headscarf for the second outing.
• A casual blue and black lounge outfit, with wide collar.
• A black and white (?) coat with fur trim and hood.
• A pink jacket.
Notes:
 • Probably the most self-referencial of the stories to the world of film making and in particular Century 21 Productions - newly named from the old A.P. Films.
• This strip would coincide with a feature and a three-part adaptation of the new Thunderbirds Are Go film, making the studio visit all the more relevant.
• Mr Andershill (Gerry Anderson and Reg Hill) is the producer, and it would seem likely behind the scenes stills from Thunderbirds were probably used for reference, with some of the crew making unwitting cameos.
• Bondson from the episode 'The Man From M.I.5' appears (though is never seen fully).
• Stripwise, Mr. Steelman makes his fourth appearance as semi-regular villain, albeit briefly.
• The robot mouse harkens back to the Thunderbirds episode 'The Mighty Atom'.
• Paul Carson wears a red Spectrum jacket at a time when Captain Scarlet was just entering production - but readers would not recognise it as such for months (until The Angels meet Colonel White at the end of August).
• Even though Penelope is working at Century 21 Films, publicity photos show the model cameras used by the puppets still have AP Films Ltd on them!
• The reprint of part 7 in the 1995 Thunderbirds Are Go! comic omits the text from two speech bubbles. The first is Penelope replying 'I will tell you.' to Paul Carson in frame 1. The second, in frame 14, is Parker replying 'Sounds... like dogs!'
Filling out the other colour spread would usually be a rotation of competitions and fashion features, sometimes mixed into one. For the first several months, a series of double-page text stories, linked by the loose thread of being from Lady Penelope's own spy and mystery files, would round out the content, until being replaced briefly by tales of her ancestors, using the Creighton-Ward family gallery as a means of continuity. Towards the end of the year by a black and white strip based on new pop sensation The Monkees was introduced, which would alter the direct of the title quite markedly afterwards.
Lady Penelope, by virtue of its female readership, would have a continuing accent towards fashion. As seen in the strips, Her Ladyship went through a bewildering change of clothes each story - despite her bemoaning having 'nothing to wear' in the very first issue - and pictures of these were an added highlight. With the filming of several 'Penny-centric' Thunderbirds episodes - notably 'The Duchess Assignment' and 'The Cham-Cham' - late in 1965, a great many stills were available to flesh out the photographic content. During 1966, six more episodes would be filmed, and whereas Penelope had only appeared in half of the original twenty-six, it comes as no surprise for her to be absent from only one of the new block. The first of these, 'Atlantic Inferno', gives rise to a quite astonishing tie-in to the strip Down Under, and 'Alias Mr Hackenbacker', which centred on fashion design, gave opportunities for more costumes. In this respect, Lady Penelope seemed to have closer ties to the television production than the marvellous, but impersonal, pictures of the vehicles that illustrated TV Century 21, which rarely if ever had any special pictures of Troy Tempest or the Tracy brothers.
But like TV Century 21, the comic would undergo an annual reshuffle after one year, and issue 53 would see some big changes.
The Gerry Anderson Complete Comic History would like to thank:
Gillian & Angus Allan
and Amanda Lovell
- 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
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