Thunderbirds - TV 21, 1968

Thunderbirds strip guide - part three

Into the Heart of the Icebergs (aka Antarctic Menace)
Writer: Scott Goodall (?).
Artist: Frank Bellamy. 2 pages, colour.

Part 1 - Issue 155, dated 06 January 1968
A television crew is covering the opening of the trans-oceanic highway linking Australia to Antarctica. As the first convoy of hovertrucks crosses, mechanical penguins suddenly surge from the water. They spray the road with oil, causing the trucks to skid off the bridge into the freezing water. Jeff and his sons receive the call for help on Tracy Island. As the trucks’ cabins are pressurised, there may be a chance to save the drivers, so Thunderbirds 1 and 2 lift off with Gordon and Thunderbird 4 on board. At noon that day, the two craft reach the danger zone when suddenly Scott finds his ship being pulled off course towards a nearby iceberg...

Part 2 - Issue 156, dated 13 January 1968
Thinking Scott has crashed into the sea, Gordon checks the sea bed in Thunderbird 4 but only finds the eight trucks, minus their drivers. Suddenly mechanical grabs reach out and drag Thunderbird 4 into the iceberg. Then missiles are launched at Thunderbird 2 which Virgil is able to evade. But after flying clear of ice particles to prevent the hull freezing, Virgil finds the iceberg has vanished...

Part 3 - Issue 157, dated 20 January 1968
'I've Got To Find That Iceberg!'

Virgil lands and discovers the rogue iceberg has camoflaged itself into an indentation in the nearby coastline. He tries to melt his way inside, finding a steel casing fifteen feet below the ice. Just as he discovers the two missing Thunderbirds, he is attacked by two mechanical penguins but manages to destroy them with his laser gun. Following a passageway, Virgil finds a lift which leads him back to the surface. Footprints in the snow lead him to Scott, Gordon and the eight missing drivers chained up on a nearby cliff face. As Scott calls to his brother not to approach, Virgil is attacked by a robotic bear with huge steel claws...

Part 4 - Issue 158, dated 27 January 1968
Secret Of The Iceberg!
Virgil loses his gun but is able to short circuit the robot with a massive icicle. He then frees the men, and Gordon informs him it is part of a Bereznik plot. Back at the highway, Scott and Virgil watch as a convoy of Bereznik troops arrive. The two IR men climb aboard the supply truck at the rear of the convoy and knock out the two-man crew. Taking the controls, they follow the other vehicles and head for their hideout built into the glacier. However when they are unable to provide the secret password at the entrance, massive flamethrowers open fire on their truck...

Part 5 - Issue 159, dated 03 February 1968
"Leap For Your Lives"

The two brothers dive from the stricken truck but are captured by soldiers who escort them into the glacier to meet their leader Professor Volzac. He immediately recognises his captives. Volzac reveals that he plans to send an army of his penguins to attack all the ore and mineral plants in Antarctica. His troops are to prevent any reinforcements from getting through. Volzac then orders a patrol to destroy Gordon and the waiting Thunderbird 2. Gordon and the drivers escape in the elevator, taking them into the iceberg. They manage to get the iceberg underway but come under fire...

Part 6 - Issue 160, dated 10 February 1968
The iceberg starts sinking under the barrage. Gordon is the only survivor and he makes for Thunderbird 1 as his own vessel is washed away. He manages to get the ship airborne and returns fire, destroying the attacking Bereznik troops. Gordon then follows transporter tracks which lead him to the area of the enemy HQ. Volzac launches more penguins which fire gas missiles at Thunderbird 1. Gordon attacks the base, but Volzac has one trump card left. Virgil and Scott have been bound to metal poles which are extended out over a crevasse, with acid slowly eating away at their bonds...

Part 7 - Issue 161, dated 17 February 1968

Gordon breaks off the attack. With the ropes binding Scott rotting rapidly, Gordon brings Thunderbird 1 directly beneath the two men, allowing them to jump safely onto the wing. Moments later, safely back on terra firma, they spot Volzac’s army of robot penguins advancing on a mineral plant. Scott spots Volzac controlling the robots from an electronic impulse panel in his jet car. Scott blasts the circuits with his laser rifle, sending the penguins haywire, destroying each other. Volzac is destroyed by the evil of his own genius. Now all the Tracy brothers have to do is rescue Thunderbird 4, last seen drifting towards New Zealand.

Stop Press:
• Issue 156: Thunderbird One - Vanish Mystery. TB4 In Ocean Search
• Issue 158: Rescue Search For International Rescue - TB Craft Lost In Antarctic
• Issue 161: Bereznik Plot Smashed! International Rescue Destroy Antarctic Base

Reprinted:
TV2000 (Holland) - issues 18 to 24, 1968
Thunderbirds The Comic issues 14 to 16
Thunderbirds: To The Rescue (Book 1)

Notes:
• The dialogue is dull in parts and expository in others, but that is consistent with the television episodes. The rescue plot veers off into a stop-the-mad-scientist runaround, although the subtext of technology going out of control is still represented by Volzac’s penguin robots. Bellamy does well with a dull script, depicting machinery and explosions with his customary relish. His Thunderbird interors are a vast improvement on the castellated television versions, more futuristic and believable.
• There is an empty speech bubble in part 1, page 2 panel 2.
• Gordon blasts the Bereznik troops in revenge for the deaths of the eight drivers - totally uncharacteristic for the television series.
• The Stop Press for issue 158 carries a crossover with other series, with the Supreme Headquarters Earth Forces (seen in the Captain Scarlet episode 'Point 783') dispatching submarine aircraft carriers (from early Stingray strips) to search for the lost Thunderbirds. Spectrum was also searching Antarctica with helicopters, and a photo of one over the Himalayas from the episode 'Shadow Of Fear' is used.
• The Classic Thunderbirds Calendar 2004 lists this story as 'Heart of the Iceberg'.

Story Sixteen (aka Brains is Dead)
Writer: Scott Goodall (?).
Artist: Frank Bellamy. 2 pages, colour.

Part 1 - Issue 162, dated 24 February 1968

Hiram Blake, a New York optician, is closing for the evening when he and his assistant Miss Wilshaw are ruthlessly shot down by two intruders. The men seem interested in Blake’s book of clients. Meanwhile on Tracy Island, Scott launches Thunderbird 1 to take Brains to see his favourite eye specialist in New York. Scott waits while Brains takes a bus into the centre. But when Brains arrives at Hiram Blake’s premises, he is attacked by the two waiting assassins. Scott heads off to help and when he arrives he finds Brains strapped to a chair connected to a string of electrodes. As Scott flips the light switch, there is a sudden electrical flash which leaves Brains apparently dead...

Part 2 - Issue 163, dated 02 March 1968
Burial In Space
Scott informs his father of the sad news. Thunderbirds 2 and 3 later arrive in New York where they identify the body in the city morgue. Some time later, they bury the brilliant scientist in space. Meanwhile, watching eyes report to a temple deep in the jungle. A rocket is launched which retrieves the drifting coffin and returns it to the temple, where the Hood awaits. He now has the technical genius of Tracy Island in his power, who will play a part in his plans even though apparently dead...

Part 3 - Issue 164, dated 09 March 1968
Brains - Slave Of The Hood
The Hood is able to revive the apparently dead Brains with a special stimulant. The injection also renders the scientist subservient to his new master, the Hood, giving him access to all Brains’ knowledge. Two days later, as the Tracys mourn their friend, their island comes under attack by two seaborne assault craft. As troops advance, Virgil rushes to launch Thunderbird 2 but is caught in the attack...

Part 4 - Issue 165, dated 16 March 1968
The End For International Rescue?

Virgil survives the assault, as the raiders head for Thunderbird 3 on the northern cliff face. Jeff and Kyrano arm themselves and aim to hold off the attackers until Alan gets Thunderbird 3 clear. Scott launches Thunderbird 1 and attacks the assault craft but his missiles are deflected. Jeff and Kyrano’s attack is too late as Thunderbird 3 is hit as it launches from the Round House. The remaining raiders are trapped on the cliff face, so pull back to their boats. As they leave, etched in the sky are the words ‘First round to me Tracy! Now prepare for the final blow...’

Part 5 - Issue 166, dated 23 March 1968
The Beginning Of The End!
Thunderbirds TV21 Jeff and Kyrano don jet-packs and meet Gordon and Virgil at Thunderbird 2’s bay. They drag the pod to the water’s edge so Gordon can launch Thunderbird 4 and track the attackers. He is able to locate their base on an uncharted coral atoll. Gordon goes ashore and knocks out the lone sentry. On his way to the building he finds a pair of blue-framed glasses - Brains’ glasses. Inside, he is confronted by two Brains, sitting in wait for him...

Part 6 - Issue 167, dated 30 March 1968
Is Brains Dead?
Gordon learns that Brains had only been in suspended animation, before he is grabbed by two guards. The second Brains is revealed to be the Hood in disguise, who reveals he has no further use for either of them. Gordon and Brains are locked in a wire cage attached to rails which pass over a pit alive with snakes and sharpened stakes. Gordon is able to rip a hole in the wire of the cage, allowing them to jump free in the nick of time. Pursued by guards, Gordon carries the stupefied Brains and jumps off the cliff, swimming to the waiting Thunderbird 4. The Hood however is unconcerned, sure that in three hours time Tracy Island will cease to exist...

Part 7 - Issue 168, dated 06 April 1968
The Final Battle
Gordon heads back to the island where everyone is glad to see Brains alive. They try electronic shock treatment to bring the scientist back to normal. Just as Brains is showing signs of recovery, the house begins to shake - it’s an earthquake ! Scott, airborne in TB1 reports that there is no attack force in sight, but Tracy Island is sinking...

Part 8 - Issue 169, dated 13 April 1968

A recovered Brains reveals that the Hood is underwater with a vast cutting machine, slicing the top off the underwater mountain upon which Tracy Island sits. Gordon launches Thunderbird 4 and attacks the Hood’s vessel, forcing it to the surface where Scott finishes the job. The Hood survives the destuction of his ship and reaches the shore. Jeff knocks him out and they take him back to the base where they are able to erase all knowledge of Tracy Island from his mind. Jeff plans to ship him out for trial by the World Government, but Brains is sure no jail on earth will hold him for long... meanwhile the recovering engineer has two Thunderbirds to rebuild.

Stop Press:
• Issue 162: Brains Dies In New York - Famous Scientist In Mystery Killing
• Issue 163: Thunderbirds Man Vows Vengeance
• Issue 164: Pacific Island Mystery
• Issue 165: Thunderbirds H.Q. Raided - 'Senseless Destruction'
• Issue 166: Thunderbirds Raid - Brains' Death Connected
• Issue 167: 'Brains' Alive! - Brainwashed By The Hood

Reprinted:
TV2000 (Holland) - issues 25 to 31, 1968
Thunderbirds The Comic issues 17 to 20
Thunderbirds: Shockwave (Book 6)

Notes:
• The plot is unnecessarily convoluted and contrived, but is a good showcase for Bellamy’s talent. He uses lots of moody monotone panels to great effect, along with his usual trademark splash panels, explosions and machinery. But why would Brains fly all the way across the mainland of America just to see a New York optician?
• The Hood has a stimulant which not only revives Brains but also renders the victim subservient - quite an invention. His cage on rails is a long-winded ( and inefficient) way of killing unwanted prisoners.
• It is also far too convenient that Jeff is able to wipe the Hood’s knowledge of Tracy Island at the conclusion.
• The idea of Kyrano, armed with a heat-beam blaster shouting ’Napalm team on patio - nail them!’ is somewhat out of character. All in all, it’s only Bellamy’s art that keeps this story up to scratch.
• A rare female character appears in the strip - but is killed off on the first page... not trying to encourage the comic’s female readership, then. Tin Tin and Grandma are not mentioned even during the attack on the island.
• Scott and the others sit on Tracy Island wearing their IR uniform, contrary to the series, where uniforms are of course only worn on call.
• The Hood is referred to by name and recognised by the Tracy brothers, but Gordon later does not recognise the Hood’s voice when he is disguised as Brains.
• The Hood’s convoluted plan hinges on the assumption that the Tracys would bury Brains in space rather than have him cremated.
• Thunderbird 3 and the Roundhouse are apparently destroyed on take-off, but no mention is made of Alan’s fate.
• In part 5, TB4 is seen to be housed in pod 2.
• The start of this strip saw a reduction in page size of TV21, making an additional strip or banner necessary at the top or bottom of the 1990 reprints.
• The original artworkof the first page of part 5 is still known to exist.

Story Seventeen (aka The Space Cannon)
Writer: Scott Goodall (?).
Artist: Frank Bellamy. 2 pages, colour.

Part 1 - Issue 170, dated 20 April 1968
A group of lads are riding their hover-bikes on Dartford marshes. One of the gang goads another, Jacko, into proving how good a shot he is. Jacko takes a shot at a military helijet passing overhead en route to Purfleet Spaceport. The shot causes the pilot to lose control and the ship crashes into the Thames. The helijet’s cargo, a neutron cannon for the solar system’s outer space defence ring, falls to the river bed, The impact sets the cannon on automatic firing at 90 second intervals. The first casualty is the approaching rescue derrick, then an office building. Listening on Thunderbird 5, John recalls that Brains has worked on the weapon. Even as Thunderbird 2 is launched, part of the Spaceport is hit. Brains reveals that the cannon could carry on indefinitely, destroying everything within a one thousand mile radius...

Part 2 - Issue 171, dated 27 April 1968
The Spaceport is a blazing inferno by the time Scott arrives in Thunderbird 1. He learns that the chief officer has already dived down to the river bed to try and deactivate the cannon. When Thunderbird 2 arrives, Brains and Gordon follow and find the man trapped under the cannon. Suddenly the weapon fires, and the recoil traps his legs. Brains will have to shut down the firing mechanism before they can help the trapped man, but even at that moment the Ministry of Defence is planning to drop an atomic bomb on the rogue cannon...

Part 3 - Issue 172, dated 04 May 1968
Can Gordon And Brains Do It In Time?

Brains jams the firing mechanism with his screwdriver, giving them about eight minutes to free the trapped man and destroy the cannon before the World Air Force arrive with the atomic bomb. Gordon launches Thunderbird 4, and Virgil uses Thunderbird 2’s grabs to lift the cannon. Brains is able to drag the man clear just before the grabs slip. The cannon falls to the river bed and the impact snaps the screwdriver, causing the weapon to fire. Gordon destroys the cannon with a missile. Unfortunately, Brains is still suffering from a headache several days later, caused by the cannon’s explosion...

Stop Press:
• Issue 170: Military Helijet Down In Thames - Explosions Every Ninety Seconds
• Issue 171: Neutron Cannon - T'Birds Men Move In
• Issue 172: Double Triumph By T'Birds Men

Reprinted:
TV2000 (Holland) - issue 38, 1968 (as Ruimtekanon Stort In Thames - Space Cannon Crashes In Thames)
Thunderbirds The Comic issues 20 to 22

Notes:
• Bellamy’s art is especially dynamic and eye-catching, particularly the final instalment. Futuristic buildings, explosions and some very atmospheric underwater panels make every page interesting and different from the last. His flatter version of Thunderbird 2 looks great too.
Thunderbirds TV21 • The script itself is brief and a little contrived (Why would a weapon have an automatic firing setting? That’s just asking for trouble in this strip). The lads who initially cause the accident are not seen again.
• The story could be said to have been written as a showcase for Bellamy’s work. There is no attempt at characterisation, all the Tracy brothers are interchangeable ciphers... but it looks fantastic.
• I would hate to think the Ministry of Defence would seriously consider dropping an atomic bomb on a populated area of their own country, never mind anyone else’s.
• A speech balloon is incorrectly placed on page 5, panel 8.
• Oops - the Stop Press features for issues 171 and 172 (above) refer to Gordon Tracy, but it is John Tracy who is shown instead in both instances.
• Issue 38 for the 1968 edition of the Dutch TV2000 (left) featured a complete compilation of this story, with a painted cover by Mario Caria depicting a somewhat stylised version of 'Thunderbirds 2' (sic) and one of the Tracy brothers, possibly Scott, in a red uniform.
• The Classic Thunderbirds Calendar 2004 lists this story as 'The Neutron Cannon'.

Trouble at the Olympic Games (aka The Olympic Kidnap Plot)
Writer: Howard Elson (?).
Artist - Frank Bellamy. 2 pages, colour.

Part 1 - Issue 173, dated 11 May 1968

The 2068 Olympic games is being held in the once-active cone of Mount Vesuvius in Italy. The marathon is the highlight of the fifth day of the games; the two favourites Jim Baldwin of England and Tibor Zelgad of Greece set the pace through the Appenine mountains. Suddenly on a bend they are overcome by gas and fall off the cliff. One of the other runners spots them unconscious on a ledge below. International Rescue are called and Scott races off to Italy in Thunderbird 1. On arrival, he finds the two men have vanished. Using his thruster pack, Scott sails down the cliff face. He finds the athletes in a cave but is suddenly attacked from behind...

Thunderbirds TV21 Part 2 - Issue 174, dated 18 May 1968
The Lake Of Fire!
Scott comes round in time to see the two runners abducted in a rocket. He follows in Thunderbird 1 and tracks the ship to the North African coast. Landing in the Atlas Mountains, Scott spots the two men and their captor in a marsh of erupting natural gas. The kidnapper is ordering the athletes to run across the lake, when he spots the watching Scott. The kidnapper shoots, and Scott falls towards the erupting marsh gas...

Part 3 - Issue 175, dated 25 May 1968
The Lake Of Fire!
Scott recovers and runs across the marsh but is overcome by the eruption. The watching runners rush to help him. Their captor reveals he is Lavan Morgan, and he has need of the two finest marathon runners in the world. He herds the three of them into his truck and they travel into the mountain. They reach a cave lined with skulls - it is an ancient pirate hideaway, complete with a preserved 17th century sailing ship...

Part 4 - Issue 176, dated 01 June 1968

Morgan explains that three hundred years ago a pirate captain Darien Stuart plundered the nearby coastal town of Santa Peron. He and his men carried the treasure though a mountain called ‘Dead Man’s Finger’ and buried it in a second cave. But on the way back to their ship, the tunnel erupted killing them all. Morgan has retrieved a map from the ship - the tunnel is five miles long with eruptions every fifteen minutes. So, Morgan wants the two athletes to race through the tunnel and retrieve the treasure. He forces their agreement by threatening to kill Scott. However, four miles into the tunnel the runners discover it is blocked...

Part 5 - Issue 177, dated 08 June 1968
Countdown To Death!
The two men dig a hole in the rocks to protect them from the eruption. They radio Morgan but he does not believe them. Scott believes they could use the Mole to rescue the two exhausted men, so he calls base. Thunderbird 2 arrives and Scott, Virgil and Morgan drill through the mountain into the pirates’ cave. Morgan eyes the treasure greedily. While Scott and Virgil discuss how to get to the runners on the other side of the rockfall, Morgan grabs the jewels and makes a break in the Mole...

Part 6 - Issue 178, dated 15 June 1968
Morgan blasts the tunnel behind him, trapping Scott and Virgil. They rescue the exhausted athletes, and Scott realises he will have to run back through the tunnel of fire to catch Morgan. Virgil protests, but Scott knocks his brother cold and races off. He just makes it to the cavemouth before the next eruption. He is able to stun Morgan and thwart his plans to escape... now he has to rescue Virgil and the two runners from the cave.

Thunderbirds TV21 Stop Press:
• Issue 173: Olympic Call For Thunderbirds - Marathon Runners Vanish

Tomorrow's News Today:
• Issue 177: Thunderbird 2 Blast-Off! - Urgent Call For Mole!

Reprinted:
TV2000 (Holland) - issue 35, 1968 (as Olympisch Goud Voor Scott Tracy!)
Thunderbirds The Comic issues 21 to 22

Notes:
• Bellamy’s figure work comes to the fore in this story as there is a lower quota of machinery on show. He seems to compensate for that by enlarging several panels featuring Thunderbird 1. The flashback showing the fate of the pirates is painted as a predominantly red toned section. Bellamy also illustrates the two runners racing against the clock with two silhouetted figures against a large stopwatch.
• Building a 200,000 seater stadium atop a volcano is just asking for trouble.
Thunderbirds TV21 • England has its own Olympic team, rather than being part of a Great Britain team.
• Surely Morgan would have had a better chance using middle-distance runners, but perhaps he would not have been able to kidnap athletes from within the stadium. It is stretching credibility that Scott could match a marathon runner for fitness, or that he could run 5 miles in fifteen minutes.
• The concept of Scott having to race through a blazing tunnel - a marsh of erupting gases - also appears again in the ©1968 Thunderbirds annual strip Code Of Courage. A similar thing happens to Joe 90, in the novel Revenge, suggesting perhaps Howard Elson as writer of these.
• Issue 177 would be the only cover for '2068' to share the front page Captain Scarlet strip, with a news flash for this Thunderbirds story. Unfortunately for the 1990s reprint of the Captain Scarlet strip, this flash got incorporated into the accompanying copy, in issue 78 of The New Thunderbirds.
• Issue 35 for the 1968 edition of the Dutch TV2000 (left) featured a complete compilation of this story, with a nice painted cover by Mario Caria, showing Thunderbird 1 and Scott Tracy running.
• The Classic Thunderbirds Calendar 2004 lists this story as 'The 2068 Olympics'.

Revolt on Jupiter
(aka Mission To Moonbase)
Writer: Scott Goodall (?).
Artist: Frank Bellamy. 2 pages, colour.

Thunderbirds TV21 Part 1 - Issue 179, dated 22 June 1968
While relaxing on Tracy Island, Jeff learns from the interstellar newscast that Kranol of Jupiter has been arrested following another attempted revolt. Jeff recalls Kranol’s first attempted rebellion on Jupiter twenty years earlier; Jeff had been in charge of the colony’s costruction programme and helped take Kranol prisoner. He was then banished to a mountainous area in the north of Jupiter, and his son Tragan was shipped to an alien training school on Earth to escape his father’s influence. Now Kranol has agreed to sign a treaty with Earth on condition that he and his people are given a new planet in sector 7. Jeff wishes to meet his old adversary one last time, so he and Alan launch Thunderbird 3 to meet Kranol’s ship when it refuels at Moonbase. One week later, as the two ships converge on Moonbase, Kranol’s ship is attacked by an unidentified strike craft...

Part 2 - Issue 180, dated 29 June 1968
Assassination!
Thunderbird 3 attaches grabs Kranol’s stricken ship and lowers it to the lunar surface. Inside, Jeff and Alan find Kranol, the sole survivor, is badly injured. Jeff realises that the ship which attacked was an earth design, so if Kranol were to die, revolt could break out on Jupiter again. The Moonbase doctor recommends Kranol be transferred to the galactic alien hospital in sector 12, so TB3 lifts off with him and the doctor on board. As they reach the border of sector 12, a transport ship with Kranol’s son Tragan comes alongside. Once on board, Tragan demands to see his father. He suddenly knocks Jeff unconscious and draws a knife over his father’s prone body...

Part 3 - Issue 181, dated 06 July 1968
The doctor grabs Tragan but is fatally stabbed before Jeff can regain his senses. Tragan returns to his ship and blasts clear. Jeff guesses that Tragan must have been behind the first assassination attempt, feeling that his father has betrayed his people by wanting to make peace.

They must save Kranol to prevent another revolt on Jupiter. As they approach the hospital, Tragan’s fleet reappears and opens fire. Alan avoids the missiles which streak past and hit the hospital...

Part 4 - Issue 182, dated 13 July 1968
If Kranol Dies... A Revolution
The hospital is destroyed. Tragan jams Thunderbird 3’s radio so Jeff blasts one of the attackers and heads for Earth. Tragan’s ships follow. Thunderbird 3 is hit over the Pacific and crashes into the sea near Tracy Island. Thunderbirds 1 and 4 are launched, and while Scott drives Tragan’s two remaining ships off ,Gordon, Alan and Jeff take Kranol to the World Health Clinic in Washington aboard TB4. At that moment, Tragan contacts the alien training school in Washington, ordering a sinister figure named ‘The Barracuda’ to prepare for reception...

Part 5 - Issue 183, dated 20 July 1968
The Final Battle!

The Barracuda, a metal suited figure, dives into the sea and heads for Washington. Gordon and Jeff later arrive there in Thunderbird 4. As they are passing Kranol over to the medics, The Barracuda suddenly leaps from the sea but Jeff is able to shoot him down. Seeing this, the watching Tragan mounts an all-out attack. His followers from the alien training school surround the ambulance. Tragan reaches his father and draws his gun, but Kranol is able to grab his knife and ,to prevent further war, kills his son. He realises that there can now be peace between Jupiter and Earth. Tragan had perverted the original goal of the alien training school to bring men of different planets closer together.

Thunderbirds TV21 Stop Press:
• Issue 179: Jupiter Revolt Quelled - Kranol For Sector 7
• Issue 181: Second Attack On Kranol - Space Hospital Blown Up!
• Issue 182: Thunderbird 3 Crash Dive

Reprinted:
TV2000 (Holland) - issues 43 and 44, 1968 (as Jeff Tracy Voorkomt Revolutie! - Jeff Tracy Prevents Revolution)
Thunderbirds Holiday Special 1993

Notes:
• Bellamy seems to have enjoyed drawing TB3 in this story, with several enlarged panels showing the craft launching and travelling in space. His designs for Tragan’s ships are suitably alien and reminiscent of the bizarre ships he created during his time on Dan Dare.
Thunderbirds TV21 • The artwork has become looser than the earlier strips in his first year - perhaps he was dividing his time between several jobs, or making time for a holiday. The panel sizes are varied to suit the action, ingeniously as ever, most noticeably the very shallow panel showing TB4 which spans the whole width of the page in part four. But he does seem to have overdone the ‘talking heads’ a bit in the first installment.
• The story implies that there were indigenous inhabitants on Jupiter when it was colonised by Earth , part of TV21’s dense continuity, and unrelated to events on screen. This story and others are presumably an attempt by the writer to take the strip beyond the confines of the television format by giving the Tracys something to do other than rescue people.
• Sectors 7 and 12 are not identified and the references are meaningless.
• The Barracuda is the Boba Fett of the Thunderbirds strip - he threatens much, but delivers little. He is no more than a bit of padding which is unveiled and disposed of within a few panels.
• Bellany always draws the numerals on the Thunderbirds in black, as he once voiced concern that process white ink could flake off the artwork before printing.
• Issue 44 for the 1968 edition of the Dutch TV2000 (left), featuring the second half of this story, had a painted cover by Mario Caria showing Thunderbird 3 pursuing Kranol.
• Researcher (and part-time artist) Andrew Pixley used Frank Bellamy's depiction of Thunderbird 3 lifting off in part 1, as part of his montage for the cover for Time Screen 21: British Telefantasy In Comics.

The Devil's Crag
Writer: Scott Goodall (?).
Artist: Frank Bellamy. 2 pages, colour.

Part 1 - Issue 184, dated 27 July 1968

Steinbeck College is the main Swiss training centre for Alpine guides. On the nursery rock face, intermediate prefect Franz Muller is taunting shy English youth Roger Webb. Irked, Roger vows to Muller that he will be the first to stand on the summit of the ‘Devil’s Crag’, a notorious nearby pinnacle, thus far unconquered. Next morning, Roger is discovered to be missing. Muller discovers a note he has left stating hat he has gone to climb the Crag alone. The headmaster searches for Webb using his telescope and spots the boy slipping into a crevasse. With the blizzards sweeping south, they call International Rescue. A short time later, Thunderbirds 1 and 2 arrive, but when Scott tries to land TB1 on a plateau near the Witch’s Chimney, he is caught in an avalanche...

Thunderbirds TV21 Part 2 - Issue 185, dated 03 August 1968
Fight For Survival!
Thunderbird 1 is thrown into a ravine by the snowfall, but Virgil attaches Thunderbird 2’s grabs and is able to pull his brother’s craft clear, setting it to rest on the plateau. Scott and Virgil then take Thunderbird 2 to search for the boy, and locate him stuck on a ledge near the foot of the Chimney. They lower a rocket pack down to Webb but he cuts the rope. Virgil lands Thunderbird 2, and Scott lowers himself on a rope to try and talk some sense into the boy, but Roger threatens to cut Scott’s rope if he doesn’t keep away...

Part 3 - Issue 186, dated 10 August 1968
The Tables Are Turned!
Roger refuses to be rescued. He is determined to prove to Muller that he is no weakling by climbing the Crag alone, even in a blizzard. Scott makes a grab for him, misses and drags Virgil over the edge. They are both hurt in the fall and call Roger for help, but the boy carries on towards the summit, seemingly oblivious to their plight. It seems he has left his two injured rescuers to die in the blizzard...

Part 4 - Issue 187, dated 17 August 1968
Virgil’s broken leg and Scott’s twisted ankle are hampering their progress in reaching the safety of the Reichsmeyer pass. Scott has to drag his brother all the way, but then when they reach the pass, they find it blocked. As dusk falls, the Tracy brothers are resigned to their fate when they hear a noise - it is a snow plough, directed to them by Roger Webb! The next day, Roger reveals that he was able to see from the Witch’s Chimney that the pass was blocked, so the only chance to get help was from the valley rescue headquarters on the far side of the mountain. Muller also has to eat his words when he spies the Union Jack at the summit of the Crag, planted there by Roger. Sheer necessity drove the boy on. Virgil and Scott wonder what their father will say when he learns that they had to be rescued themselves by a 13 year old boy.

Stop Press:
Thunderbirds TV21 • Issue 184: Boy Climber Attempts 'Devils Crag' - T'Birds Called Out
• Issue 187: T'Birds Men Safe - Teenage Hero Brings Help

Reprinted:
TV2000 (Holland) - issues 49 and 50, 1968 (as Scott Tracy In Levensgevaar - Scott Tracy In Mortal Danger)
Thunderbirds The Comic issues 23 to 24

Notes:
• The artwork features some nice architecture and figure work, and an impressive panel which takes up nearly half of the sixth page featuring Thunderbird 2 at rest at the foot of the Crag. However, the illustrations of Thunderbirds 1 and 2 on the last two pages are somewhat confusing as they are not part of the story, and are perhaps a little self-indulgent. Maybe Bellamy felt that a Thunderbirds strip should have at least some of the vehicles present in each instalment.
• The plot has more of a moral message than previous strips, illustrating what can be achieved in the face of adversity with determination and bravery.
• The third page features virtually no dialogue.
• An additional Stop Press entitled 'Eiffel Tower For Museum' (right) appears in issue 187, acting as a prelude to the next Thunderbirds story.
• Issue 49 for the 1968 edition of the Dutch TV2000 (left), featuring the first half of this story, had a painted cover by an uncredited artist (possibly P. Franco) showing Scott Tracy (in a green uniform and white hat) lowering himself on a rope while a knife man awaits. Atmospheric, but not entirely accurate to the story!

Death at the Eiffel Tower (aka Eiffel Tower Demolition/Demolish the Eiffel Tower)
Writer: Scott Goodall (?).
Artist: Frank Bellamy. 2 pages, colour.

Part 1 - Issue 188, dated 24 August 1968
The Eiffel Tower, now rusting and dangerous, is to be dismantled and removed to the World Museum in Geneva. Suddenly one of the jet-driven skycranes’ jibs snaps and the craft plummets to the ground, killing the pilot. This is the third accident within a month, causing the workers of Transworld Construction to panic and call a strike. As the decaying monument may endanger human life, the city fathers call International Rescue for assistance. Thunderbirds 1 and 2 arrive in Paris the next morning. But when Virgil extends Thunderbird 2’s grabs to attach to the upper section of the tower, the grabs snap and a section of the Tower plunges into a nearby building...

Part 2 - Issue 189, dated 31 August 1968
The Tracy brothers douse the flaming building with the Firefly, but they cannot prevent 15 people dead and over a hundred injured. Brad McClaine, a foreman with Transworld Construction, is vocal in his convinction that the job is jinxed. However, Virgil has noticed that a broken pincer grab has been sawn through, pointing to deliberate sabotage. They decide to keep an eye on the main agitator, Brad McClaine. That night they follow McClaine as he heads back to the tower on a jet-bike. They follow him to the uppermost girders where they spot him opening a secret compartment in the main girder. McClaine hears them coming and throws something at Virgil before making his escape. After he has gone, Virgil and Scott find that the missile was a bar of solid gold...

Part 3 - Issue 190, dated 07 September 1968
They realise McClaine must have made off with a cache of bullion that had been hidden in the girder for some time. From Thunderbird 1 they track McClaine as he heads for the coast. Scott lands TB1 and the two brothers close in on foot. They find a cave, and as they enter, they spot a submarine heading out to see. The sub opens fire on Scott and Virgil and they are lucky to escape unhurt. After the sub has made its escape, they find McClaine’s lifeless body floating in the water...

Part 4 - Issue 191, dated 14 September 1968
A Link With The Past

Scott and Virgil find a clue in a pile of old newspapers in which the gold bars had been wrapped. The paper, dated 25th April 2048, reports on a gold bullion raid in Paris ; the gang were all jailed for twenty years, which means they were released recently. It seems the gang used McClaine as a contact man to retrieve the gold then disposed of him. The Tracys’ one chance to stop the sub is to contact the Channel Tunnel Authority in Boulougne, who are able to track every ship within two hundred miles. The escaping sub is located heading towards the Atlantic, so Scott and Virgil intercept in Thunderbird 1. Hovering above the sub’s position, Scott lowers the electro-clamp pulsator which attaches to the sub’s hull and knocks out the crew and the ship’s systems with a high voltage shock. They then tow the sub back to the coast and find the four ex-jailbirds and their gold haul on board . Two days later in Paris, the city fathers thank International Rescue and announce that they have decided to use the recovered bullion for the complete restoration of the Eiffel Tower. After all, Paris wouldn’t be quite the same without it.

Stop Press:
• Issue 190: Eiffel Tower Sabotage!

Reprinted:
TV2000 (Holland) - issues 51 and 52, 1968
Thunderbirds The Comic issues 23 to 24

Notes:
• Again, credibility is stretched by the idea of the French allowing the Eiffel Tower to become so dilapidated that it has to be dismantled. The rescue forms a brief part of the story as the Tracys then stumble across a robbery mystery to solve.
• Bellamy’s artwork is simplified in this story, with some panels sketchily completed, and others painted in a monotone. But that’s a typical Bellamy-designed submarine to even things out.
• In part 1, in a curious compromise between wearing/not wearing their uniforms around Tracy Island, Virgil seems to be wearing his uniform trousers and boots, but with a white tunic top.
• In part 4, Scott and Virgil read the headline in the French newspaper 'Le Citoyen' (The Citizen) but it is in English, as is the date.

Thunderbirds TV21 Danger on the High Seas! (aka The Nuclear Threat)
Writer: Scott Goodall (?).
Artist: Frank Bellamy. 2 pages, colour.

Part 1 - Issue 192, dated 21 September 1968
A treaty has been drawn up to destroy a fifth of the world’s nuclear bombs; remote-controlled freighters are to ferry the nuclear material to a given position in the Pacific Ocean. The first freighter’s escort ship has a two man crew, Captain Brian Roberts and Navigator Howard Lipton. They scan the area for other ships, then turn their escort ship onto a new course and put fifty miles of clear water between them and the cargo. Three minutes later, the freighter explodes as planned. Three hundred miles away, Thunderbird 1 launches from Tracy Island to monitor fallout from the blast. Scott records acceptable levels and so returns to base. A week later, the second explosives ship is escorted by the same two-man crew. Brains notices they are on a slightly different course which takes them close to Grand Keys Reef. The escort ship’s keel is ripped open by the coral and it begins to sink. Meanwhile the explosives ship runs on unchecked...

Part 2 - Issue 193, dated 28 September 1968
Thunderbirds To The Rescue!
With the freighter timed to detonate in two and a half hours, the crew try to deactivate the automatic trigger mechanism, but the flooding sea water short-circuits the electrical system. Captain Roberts drags his injured shipmate to the life boat, as Thunderbirds 1 and 2 launch in response to the escort ship’s automatic sos signal. The men are unable to escape before the ship sinks, but Gordon is able to pick them up in Thunderbird 4. Roberts reveals that the explosives ship can’t be diverted without the escort’s control systems being altered. So, after the two men have been transferred to Thunderbird 2, Gordon dives down to the wreck in Thunderbird 4. Brains has plotted that the freighter will strike Griffon Island in under two hours’ time - with no time to evacuate the island’s twenty thousand inhabitants...

Part 3 - Issue 194, dated 05 October 1968
Battle For Survival!

Gordon finds the wreck of the escort ship but is unable to correct the trigger. Jeff suggests to the Admiral in charge that the vessel could be bombed, but the explosives are protected in fire and shock-proof containers. The safest other option is to divert the ship by blasting it off course. Scott launches missiles at the vessel, followed by the arriving airforce, but to no avail. The freighter is now ablaze and less than thirty minutes from the island...

Part 4 - Issue 195, dated 12 October 1968
Thirty Minutes To Save An Island!
In an attempt to divert the freighter’s course, Virgil attaches Thunderbird 2’s electromagnetic grabs to the rogue vessel and fires maximum thrust. This has no effect on the ship’s course so Gordon speeds alongside and pushes from the side. Slowly, the freighter shifts its course, but it is now ablaze and a mass of molten steel hurtles down onto Thunderbird 4...

Thunderbirds TV21 Part 5 - Issue 196, dated 19 October 1968
Buried Under Molten Metal!
Gordon dives and takes Thunderbird 4 as deep as he can. With minutes remaining until detonation, Virgil finds he is unable to release the grabs, as the freighter’s melting hull has welded them to the deck. Scott has to fire a small missile from Thunderbird 1 to break the cable. The two Thunderbirds blast clear on full power. Five minutes later, the freighter explodes and even one hundred and fifty miles away, the two craft are hit by the shockwave. Scott and Virgil manage to control their ships and they and Gordon head for home. Jeff later vows that if the navy do not make some modifications to their bombs, he will be looking for a new island in the Atlantic.

Reprinted:
TV2000 (Holland) - issues 1 to 3, 1969
Thunderbirds The Comic issues 25 to 27

Notes:
• The ‘runaway vehicle’ plot is familiar from the TV series, but this strip is based on a contrived premise. It is again asking for trouble to set atomic bombs afloat, timed to explode... don’t they ever learn? Dismantling unwanted weapons is a safer and more eco-friendly option to actually detonating them and releasing fall-out. But you could not get a five part comic strip out of that.
• Bellamy’s style has become looser, with some panels comprising simpler line and wash. He clearly still relishes drawing the launches and explosions, in fact the last three instalments have a larger than average number of panels crammed onto their first pages to make room for bigger and bigger splash panels on the second. Half-lit faces and figures are a Bellamy trademark, inspired by the films noir of the 40s .
• The Classic Thunderbirds Calendar 2004 lists this story as 'Atom Bomb Ship'.
• The artwork for the second page of part 1 is known to still exist in a private collection.