Thunderbirds strip guide - part five

Story One (aka Seeking Disaster)
Writer: Unknown. Artist: Frank Bellamy.
1 page, colour (Pt.1), 2 pages, colour (Pt.2), 2 pages b/w (Pts 3-4),.
Colourist (1990s): John Cooper

Part 1 - Issue 1, dated 27 September 1969
This story began when the eccentric, bigoted Dr. Melvin V. Kettle decided - against all good advice - to probe the extinct volcano on the island of Puerto Tamina, centre of a vast complex of off-shore oil-rigs...
Kettle and his assistant Wade drive down into the volcano crater in their mobile laboratory, where the scientist is certain there are vast mineral deposits. Using a TV camera and lights on the end of a drill, Kettle locates an underground deposit of oil... only for the petroleum vapour to be ignited when a light short-circuits. The explosion blows out a natural rock fault that had dammed back the lake of oil, and within seconds the flaming fuel pours into the sea. As the rigs are forced to evacuate because of the burning sea, International Rescue are alerted...

Part 2 - Issue 2, dated 04 October 1969

Not only are the rigs in danger but the island's main port and harbour. As Scott takes Thunderbird 1 out to check on the situation, Virgil and Brains load the Mole, Firefly and other equipment in the pod of Thunderbird 2. With no seismic activity reported, Scott flies into the volcano crater to check, and finds Kettle. The scientist is exultant about his discovery but horrified when Scott shows him the results of the short-circuit. As Thunderbird 2 approaches, Kettle's loyal assistant Wade decides to act to shut Scott up before his employer gets in bad trouble...

Part 3 - Issue 3, dated 11 October 1969
Wade punches Scott to the ground, and the dazed pilot watches as the two men make off in the mobile laboratory. Meanwhile, Thunderbird 2 has landed near the harbour, and used a fireproof boom to confine the blaze as it is brought under control with foam. With conventional fire-fighting machines now able to cope, Thunderbird 2 joins Scott at Thunderbird 1 in the volcano crater. Brains examines the ground and determines the point where Kettle may have started the blaze, and Virgil takes the Mole underground to investigate. After nearby plummeting into the underground blaze, Virgil returns to the surface, and Brains takes the Firefly to try and stop the fire...

Part 4 - Issue 4, dated 18 October 1969
Can Brains Succeed?

Brains reports the blaze is too extensive to use nitro-glycerine to blow it out, so self-annealing mobelium is used to seal the outlet. As the boats start to bring the sea-fires under control, Thunderbird 2 flies the Firefly into the crater to seal the source of the blaze there - without oxygen, the underground fire will die out. Their mission complete, the Thunderbirds leave but ponder on the fate of Kettle, whose position has been reported to the police. On returning to Tracy Island though, the boys find Kettle is a hero, as Sultan Oil only had the concession for off-shore oil, and the new discovery belongs to the people.

Reprinted:
Thunderbirds The Comic issues 46 to 47
Thunderbirds (Dutch Edition) - issues 13-14 (as Gevaarlijk Spel - 'Dangerous Game')

Notes:
• This was to be Frank Bellamy's last Thunderbirds strip.
• The Classic Thunderbirds Calendar 2004 lists this story as 'Volcano Oil Search'.


Story Two (aka The Big Bang)
Writer: Geoff Cowan (?).
Artist: John Cooper. 2 pages, b/w.
Colourist (1990s): John Cooper

Illustration: John Cooper's coloured work for part 1 of The Big Bang, in issue 48 of Thunderbirds The Comic, August 1993.

Part 1 - Issue 5, dated 25 October 1969
It began early one morning on the waterfront of New York - where a large section of slum dwellings was about to be disposed of in a new and unusual way...
The captain of the ship explains to the group of reporters onboard that his ship is towing the buildings, which have been moved onto a vast floating platform. When out at sea, charges will be detonated, and the whole lot will sink to the bottom. But five hours later, as the platform is moved into position in deep waters, a reporter with a pair of binoculars sees a boy unconscious through a window in one of the basement buildings. It is too late, and the charges blow, sending the buildings underwater. There is one slim chance, and that is the some of the basement vaults were airtight, and the boy might still be alive in an air bubble. Within an hour, International Rescue are alerted, and Virgil and Gordon are on their way in Thunderbird 2. By noon, they have arrived and Thunderbird 4 launches into the area. but as Gordon approaches the sunken buildings, he sees a large black sub-aqua craft, which attacks him with a giant net...

Part 2 - Issue 6, dated 01 November 1969
Who Are The Mystery Attackers?
Thunderbird 4 is tossed around, and Gordon is thrown from his seat, as Thunderbird 2 loses contact. Reporting to Tracy Island, Virgil is told to land on the coast and explore underwater himself. Taken back in a coastguard boat, Virgil dons underwater gear and swims down to see four men using cutting equipment on the building foundations. Thunderbird 4 is still held by the net nearby, and Virgil cuts through it to find Gordon alive but trapped by his chair. Once freed, they take Thunderbird 4 to the building where the boy is trapped - and still alive in an airtight room. Virgil cuts through the toughened perspex window and rescues him, but as Thunderbird 4 returns to the surface, they find a magnetic mine has been attached to the hull...

Part 3 - Issue 7, dated 08 November 1969
Can Disaster Be Averted?
Gordon thinks they will have to abandon ship but with the boy still unconscious they would not get five hundred yards. Virgil decides the only course of action is to go back outside and cut the hydroplane off with the mine still attached. The heat starts to build up on the metal fin as Virgil cuts through but moments later it falls free. Swimming back through the airlock, Virgil tells Gordon to get out of there at fulll throttle, and at three hundred yards distance the mine explodes. Thunderbird 4 is holed and shipping water but the sub still makes it to the surface, where support ships take it on board. Before long, the boy is in hospital and awakes to tell Gordon and Virgil he is Sammy Leach - he was playing in an upstairs room when he tripped and fell into the vault. Why Thunderbird 4 was attacked is still a mystery but Sammy believes he has an answer - before the buildings were blown up, he saw four men digging out an old sewer. When the authorities arrived, they panicked and ran, dropping an object the boy still has in his bag - a large cut diamond...

Part 4 - Issue 8, dated 15 November 1969
Contacting Jeff Tracy with details, they are told the 'treasure trove' is a famous collection stolen five years ago and never recovered. The gang, headed by Carl Brunswick, was caught and jailed, but their sentences finished last week. Brunswick has just bought a house south of Daytona Beach in Florida - the perfect hideout for the sub-aqua ship - and Scott is despatched in Thunderbird 1 to rendezvous with Thunderbird 2 en route. Patrolling the coast area, their hunch soon pays off and the sub is spotted leaving a concealed pen. The crooks open fire with missiles, and Thunderbird 1 retaliates, crippling the sub. Brunswick tries to make a break for it but Virgil gets him - after their attack, these crooks are going straight back to jail.

Operation Cover-up:
• Issue 7: Mine Blast On The Ocean Bed!
• Issue 8: Thunderbirds Under Attack!

Reprinted:
Thunderbirds The Comic issues 48 to 50
Thunderbirds (Dutch Edition) - issue 4-5 (as De Grote Klap!)

Notes:
• The coastguard boat in part 2 seems to have been based on the rescue patrol boat from part 4 of The Hawaiian Lobster Menace from TV21.
• Part 3 was split into two parts, on pages 12 and 14.
• Curiously, in parts 3 and 4, Thunderbird 4 is shown to have small hydroplanes - but only in the close-ups depicting the magnetic mine. This almost suggests the writer was unfamiliar with the design of Thunderbird 4 - hydroplanes (horizontal rudders) are characteristic of more conventional types of submarine.
• In part 4, the crooks' sub-aqua ship is armed with hydromic missiles - which originated in the Stingray television series.


Story Three
Writer: Geoff Cowan (?).
Artist: John Cooper. 2 pages, b/w.
Colourist (1990s): John Cooper

Part 1 - Issue 9, dated 22 November 1969
It was by way of being a holiday for Professor Horatio Hackenbacker, known as ‘Brains’. He was on a quick trip to the Moon in Thunderbird 3 with Alan Tracy… ‘Brains’ hoped to watch the launch of ‘Spearhead’, a new, experimental space-ship, and check its progress with other scientists at Moonbase…
On Moonbase, the first inhabited complex on another world, ‘Spearhead’ is being prepared by its two man crew, Commander Tim Beck and co-pilot Sam Doone. But in the Moonbase medical room Victor Zax is also being checked by doctors seeking to finally cure him of his power-mania and allow him to return to Earth. But Zax is too mentally and physically strong and resists the brainwashing, escaping his guard when being escorted to his quarters. Armed and ready to kill, the criminal attacks a technician, steals his space-suit and makes his way to ‘Spearhead’. Holding the crew at gunpoint, the space-ship lifts off and Zax orders them to head for Earth. Knowing ‘Brains’ is on his way in Thunderbird 3, chief scientist Doctor Dale Parks sends out a call for help to International Rescue…

Part 2 - Issue 10, dated 29 November 1969
Thunderbirds In Pursuit Of Zax!

Jeff Tracy contacts Thunderbird 3 from International rescue H.Q. on Tracy island, and tells ‘Brains’ and Alan of the situation. Following advice from Dr. Parks on Moonbase, Thunderbird 3 changes course to intercept the experimental space-ship. On board ‘Spearhead’, Beck and Doone call Zax’s bluff when they realise he cannot pilot the craft himself, but the crazed man becomes violent and throws the co-pilot against a console, smashing the flight computer. Out of control, ‘Spearhead changes course and increases speed, heading out into deep space – its crew and Zax trapped on a journey into infinity! Brains spots this, and tells Alan they must catch it before it is too late…

Part 3 - Issue 11, dated 06 December 1969
Brains Challenges The Perils Of Space!
On board the runaway ‘Spearhead’, Zax’s ruthless arrogance has given way to gnawing fear, as Beck and Doone believe they are heading for Mars or Jupiter. A call from Moonbase informs them of the rescue attempt by Thunderbird 3, which has now caught up. Brains tells ‘Spearhead’ to cut all motors, and with Alan flying parallel with ‘Spearhead’, he spacewalks between the two craft and gains entry. Zax is still armed and warns Brains not to try any tricks, but the scientist replies the criminal’s life means nothing to him. However in order to save ‘Spearhead’ and its crew, he must also save Zax…

Part 4 - Issue 12, dated 13 December 1969
What Is The Dangerous Bluff ‘Brains’ Is Trying?
Zax has no choice but to allow Brains to repair the flight computer. With a radio channel constantly open, Alan hears every word as the two craft hang in space. Over half and hour later, the work is done, and Brains give Alan an order to use ‘Control Z’ if anything goes wrong on the return journey to the Moon. But Zax once again resorts to violence, and Brains is felled by a brutal blow. With the computer now fixed, Zax tells the crew to reprogramme it – for Earth again. As ‘Spearhead’ swoops over Moonbase on its new heading, Alan follows in Thunderbird 3 and prepares to follow his orders…

Part 5 - Issue 13, dated 20 December 1969
Can Thunderbirds Rescue 'Brains' In Time?
From Thunderbird 3, once again flying parallel with ‘Spearhead’, Alan is able to control the space-ship’s course remotely. The crew realise the change in direction, allowing a recovered Brains to paralyse the crazed and distracted Zax with a little gadget of his. With Zax now immobilised, Brains tells Alan to direct them to Space Junction One – a huge satellite transit station with repair and rescue facilities – which is also the headquarters of the Space Security Forces. Under Alan’s control, ‘Spearhead’ is docked, and the paralysed Zax taken into custody. Recovering later, Zax finds his new ‘sentence’ delivered by Jeff Tracy from International Rescue Headquarters – he will sent to the new Mars Base to work. And now, Brains can return to Moonbase, with the crew of ‘Spearhead’, for his unfinished business.

Operation Cover-up:
• Issue 12: Space Rogue!

Notes:
• Throughout this story, Brains is written as 'Brains' (in parentheses), indicating this is not his real name.
• Oops – in part 3, Dr Parks calls the ‘Spearhead’ commander ‘Kemp’.
• This story was omitted from the 1990s reprints.


The Menace of the Hood! (aka The Mountain Station)
Writer: Dennis Hooper (?).
Artist: John Cooper. 2 pages, b/w.
Colourist (1990s): John Cooper

Part 1 - Issue 14, dated 27 December 1969
Dr Kumo has built Space Research Station K on Mount Everest after years of planning, but the Hood plots to destroy it and kill the world's top scientists assembled there. Thunderbird 5 intercepts part of the Hood's message to his accomplices, and Thunderbirds 1 and 2 are despatched to warn the station. Kumo refuses to evacuate as several important experiments are already in progress. Unknown to them, the Hood has already arrived at Calcutta and hypnotised a station supply crew to carry a bomb to the station...

Part 2 - Issue 15, dated 03 January 1970
Can Thunderbirds Save Station K?
Scott finds security at the station is tight, but the Hood's anti-tracking devices cause interference, warning of an impending attack. The supply craft lands, and the Hood orders the Captain to plant the bomb in workings under the Station. When the Hood's heli-jet flies off without attacking, Scott is suspicious an attack is coming from within...

Part 3 - Issue 16, dated 10 January 1970
Thunderbirds Under Fire!

Under the Hood's control, the Captain plants the device and returns to his craft, recalling nothing. Meanwhile, Scott is being shown the base's missile defences by the security chief, and they decide to ask the supply fliers if they have spotted anything. As the Hood circles in his helijet, he spots Thunderbird 2 approaching and orders his henchmen - flying three attack fighters - to destroy it before it gets within the anti-missile screen. But Virgil and Brains have seen them, and the fighters are destroyed by their own exploding missiles as Thunderbird 2 reaches the screen. The Hood rages for a moment, then realises the Tracys will be destroyed with the station. Meanwhile, Scott and the security chief find the supply men have been hypnotised, meaning they are under the Hood's control...

Part 4 - Issue 17, dated 17 January 1970
Scott Walks Into A Trap!
Questioned, the three men remain silent and wooden, and Brains believes even if they could talk, they may not know what they have done. The Hood is monitoring events, and concerned Brains' intelligence may find a way to get through to the men, renders them unconscious in a complete trance. Scott calls for a medical squad, and the Hood's victims are taken away. One man mentions the Captain acting strangely, and Scott goes to investigate - finding the small device. However, Dr. Kumo - believing International Rescue and the security squad can dal with any threat - continues with experiments, and launches the space probe. Unknown to him, the vibration of the launch causes a rock fall in the tunnel where Scott and the device are...

Part 5 - Issue 18, dated 24 January 1970
A Desperate Search Into The Heart Of Everest!
Scott survives but finds the Hood's device has not gone off - he could be blown up at any minute. He contacts Virgil and Brains, who take off in Thunderbird 2 to drop the Mole off lower down the mountain and drill up. The Hood watches the departure, and believes he has won. But as Brains takes the Mole through Mount Everest, Virgil returns to the station, and the Hood decides to strike...

Part 6 - Issue 19, dated 31 January 1970
Thunderbirds In Action Above And Below Everest!
Virgil spots the missiles at the last moment, and slams Thunderbird 2 into a violent course change, aided by the air currents around the mountain slopes. The missiles explode harmlessly on the mountain, as the Hood watches Thunderbird 2 reach the safety of Station K and land. By now, Brains in the Mole is approaching Scott, and the burrowing machine emerges in the cavern as the annihilator device starts to glow red-hot. Brains cannot neutralise the device, which will probably has a thermo-fuse and will detonate when it reaches a certian temperature. The only hope is to take the device to the surface in the Mole and dispose of it. With time running out, Brains and Scott take the Mole back to Station K and emerge next to Virgil and Thunderbird 2 on the launch apron...

Part 7 - Issue 20, dated 07 February 1970
How Can Brains Prevent The Device Exploding?
Brains tells Virgil to move Thunderbird 2, and the craft lifts off. The only way to dispose of the device is for Brains to take it away in the freight craft. Scott returns to Thunderbird 1 and watches as the craft leaves Station K, but it is not responding to Brains' control - it must be damaged. With seconds to spare, Brains ejects the device over a snowfield, to watch it explode harmlessly in deep snow. Watching from his heli-jet, the Hood snarls as his plan is foiled, and swears revenge of the pilot of the freighter...

Part 8 - Issue 21, dated 14 February 1970
The Deadly Duel In The Sky!

Scott sees the heli-jet closing, and realises if the Hood fires, Brains will not stand a chance. It is up to him to fly past the Hood's craft at fifteen thousand miles an hour and throw it out of control. The Asian Air Patrol strike planes have arrived, and with a visual on the Hood, they open fire. Ejecting unseen in his escape capsule, the Hood has his disguises, and is confident he will never be found. Thunderbird 2 has arrived, and the grapnel is used to hold the damaged plane and bring it into for a safe landing at Station K. While Scott returns to Tracy Island, Brains wants to pay his respects to Dr. Kumo, and finds him and the visiting scientists engrossed in an experiment, oblivious of the danger. And far away, a lone robed figure trudges along a mountain track and swears International Rescue have not heard the last him. The Hood shall return!

Operation Cover-up:
• Issue 14: The Menace Of The Hood!
• Issue 16: The Hood's Pirates Attack!
• Issue 18: Trapped Under Everest!
• Issue 21: Duel In The Sky!

Reprinted:
Thunderbirds The Comic issues 57 to 60
Thunderbirds (Dutch Edition) - issue 10 (as De Basis in de Bergen - The Base In The Mountains)

Notes:
• Through this story, as with Brains, the Hood is written as 'The Hood' (in parentheses), indicating this is not his real name.
• The cover of issue 18 incorrectly shows Scott in his International Rescue uniform (he was wearing a protective suit in the strip), and the Mole burrowing in with its tracks. Scott is also incorrectly shown with a green sash, where his is blue.
• The supply plane used throughout the story seems to have been based on Frank Bellamy's design for the transporter plane from the cover of TV21 issue 185, for the Captain Scarlet strip Liquid Dynamite!.
• In the last part, the grapnel is used, and it is referred to Brains' own invention, having first been seen in the TV21 strip The Zoo Ship.
• Dr. Kumo refers to Brains as Professor Hackenbacker.
• The reprints in Thunderbirds The Comic (issue 58) are in the wrong order, with page 1 of part 2 appearing with page 2 of part 3, and vice versa. This is corrected for the Dutch reprints.


The Menace Of The Mini-Moon! (aka The Mini-Moon!)
Writer: Richard O'Neill (?).
Artist: John Cooper. 2 pages, b/w.
Colourist (1990s): John Cooper

Part 1 - Issue 22, dated 21 February 1970
The crew of a space-freighter, heading for Mars, were the first to make close and almost catastrophic contact with the huge object that flashed out of deep space...

Scientists on Earth had already flashed global messages warning of the huge meteoroid's approach, and as it gets nearer, hurricanes lash the south seas, and a massive cloudburst starts to flood the Sahara desert. Tracy Island itself is hit by huge waves, and Brains is consulted - he believes the meteroid could just shoot past the earth. But when John monitors a collision with a large abandoned space station, the meteroid is deflected into an orbit around the Earth to become a 'mini-moon', with continuous and disastrous effects. The tides go mad, and London is flooded. Messages pour into International Rescue, but Jeff Tracy's response is to refuse to help...

Part 2 - Issue 23, dated 28 February 1970
Why Have Thunderbirds Refused To Help?
The response is one of unbelieving horror, but Jeff Tracy is adamant and ends the discussion to find the boys and Brains agree - the only choice is to hit at the source of the problems. And as John Tracy on Thunderbird 5 gets pictures from around the world showing the tidal waves and submarine upheavals, plans are made to either move the mini-moon from orbit or destroy it. Thunderbird 3 is loaded up with extra equipment for 'Operation Luna Minor', and Scott and Virgil are launched in Thunderbirds 1 and 2 to try and help where they can around the world. With Gordon and Brains aboard, Alan lifts off in Thunderbird 3 to see Florida has been completely swamped by the tides. With no back-up from their space complex, they are on their own...

Part 3 - Issue 24, dated 07 March 1970
Thunderbirds Land On The Mini-Moon!
As Thunderbird 3 closes on the new moon, Alan and the others are dazzled by the glare from the surface, which Brains thinks the result of a large amount of reflective material on the surface. Protecting themselves with anti-glare goggles and Brains' new spacesuits, the three 'lunarnauts' land. Meanwhile, with all Thunderbird craft out, Jeff Tracy can only monitor events around the world - and New York city is the latest to succumb to tidal waves. On Luna Minor, Gordon is first to venture out, and gives the spacesuit the okay. But recorders indicate a high temperature which suggests the interior is a huge searing cauldron. While they still need to investigate, Brains is certain they will have to blow the meteoroid to pieces...

Part 4 - Issue 25, dated 14 March 1970
The Deadly Menace Of The Mini-Moon!

John is keeping a watch on Thunderbird 3 from Thunderbird 5, and so far no trouble. On the surface, Gordon is leading the exploration for suitable laser boring sites in the space-cat vehicle. Brains is also finding areas of less dense metallic mass, and marks them for Alan. Brains searches down a fissure to study rock strata but finds his radio out of action by nearby radio-active elements, soo when the rock cracks and traps him, he is unable to call for help. Alan's laser-boring sets off a small volcanic eruption, which could be the start of something bigger, and there is no sign of Brains...

Part 5 - Issue 26, dated 21 March 1970
The Desperate Search For Brains Starts!
Gordon takes Alan back to Thunderbird 3 and tells him to be ready for blast off, while going in search in the space-cat. Underground, his leg pinning by a rock, Brains feels the tremors and realises the lasers have tapped subterrainean activity. From space, John spies the activity and reports to Jeff Tracy that Brains is missing. With Thunderbird 2 trying to save Sydney Harbour Bridge, and Thunderbird 1 reporting appalling damage to the Dutch dykes, it seems moe than ever the world needs him. Then, Gordon spies Brains in the fissure and, unable to take the space-cat down, leaps to his aid. The rock is too heavy for Gordon to shift alone, and he ties cable round it to try and use the 'dozer' but the volcanic activity is spreading...

Part 6 - Issue 27, dated 28 March 1970
The Mini-Moon Becomes A Volcano In Space!

Gordon pulls the rock off from Brains' leg, which fortunately is not broken, and then the scientist is hoisted up from the fissure. Brains is certain the mini-moon will destroy itself, and hurls a timed nuclear bomb into the crevasse in hope it will complete the job. Alan is now at a point where the increasing volcanic eruptions are threatening Thunderbird 3, and the order comes from Jeff Tracy to save himself. Moments later, the dozer appears through the smoke and flame, and Gordon and Brains scramble aboard just in time. Thunderbird 3 lifts off, just as the nuclear bomb explodes, tearing the mini-moon to pieces - the world is saved. But Brains is far from done, and requests Alan to pursue the fragments of Luna Minor, as he wants to take a portion back for scientific analysis...

Part 7 - Issue 28, dated 04 April 1970
The Great Space Chase!
Alan is not entirely convinced about the endeavour, but Brains is adamant. Jeff Tracy gives his go-ahead as Brains has just saved the world - a world now preparing for the reversal of the mammoth tidal upheavals. But it would have been worse had it continued. Amidst the stream of debris from the mini-moon, Brains prepares a space grapnel aboard Thunderbird 3 to collect the sample. The pick-up complete, Thunderbird 3 returns to Tracy Island, where Brains retires to his laboratory to examine his 'souvenir', and the Tracys listen to the news reporting the world gratitude to International Rescue. It is some hours before Brains allows them to enter, where he displays a huge diamond - fused and compressed by the heat of Luna Minor, and cut by himself. There might be thousands of pieces like this floating in space now, a fruitful field for daring space prospectors. The sample Brains has is worth a fortune, and could finance International Rescue for years, but the scientist declares it should remain with him as a scientific sample - and reminder of Luna Minor.

Operation Cover-up:
• Issue 23: Meteoroid Causes Havoc On Earth!
• Issue 27: Nuclear Space Bomb Explodes!

Reprinted:
Thunderbirds The Comic issues 54 to 57

Notes:
• In part 3, The 'mighty ship' torn from its moorings looks a lot like the bow of 'The President' from TV Century 21 in 1967.
• From issue 26, TV21 & Joe 90 reduces in size. This has the effect of the artwork and lettering for part 5 seeming smaller than usual as the artwork was presumably scaled to the previous page size.
• From issue 27, the masthead of the strip changes from one that fades out to a solid and more legible version.
• The vehicle used on the mini-moon changes from being called the 'space-cat' in parts 3 and 4 to the 'dozer' in parts 5 and 6.
• In the last part, a special version of the grapnel, used in the previous story, is used in space.


Story Six
Writer: Dennis Hooper (?).
Artist: John Cooper. 2 pages, b/w.

Part 1 - Issue 29, dated 11 April 1970
The island was a speck in the vast spaces of the Pacific Ocean, far from all shipping and normal air routes. For a year Commander Thor Nielsen and his team had worked there. Now his most amazing invention was completed. It was ready to take him and his men on a fantastic voyage...

Nielsen and his lieutenant, Olsen, observe the vast saucer shaped gyro-sub as it floats in a lagoon, before joining the rest of the crew on-board. As the craft jets out and submerges, Scott Tracy is overflying in Thunderbird One, and spots the large shape. As he tries to identify it, Nielsen triggers the self-destruct of his base complex, and the island spectacularly explodes. As Scott fights to stay in control of Thunderbird One, Nielsen sets course for the Marracca Deep, one of the greatest continental rifts. Back on Tracy Island, Scott has returned and reports, leading Brains to conclude they must investigate...

Part 2 - Issue 30, dated 18 April 1970
At The Mercy Of The Man-Made 'Monster'!
Olsen queries Nielsen on the Marracca Deep, which he has never heard of. The commander reveals he alone escapes the wreck of the nuclear sub Rampage - his first cruise as Captain - which lies at the bottom of the rift along with hundreds of other ships that have sunk there over the years. As the whirring gyro-sub descends in the six thousand fathom depth of the rift, Jeff Tracy briefs Scott, Virgil and Gordon to investigate the atoll blast. Thunderbirds One and Two blast off, and find the Navy are also arriving to find the cause of the nuclear explosion. Gordon in Thunderbird Four finds nothing to report except the hazard to other ships. Brains decides to study his computer records, and finds a World Navy report on Nielsen, who vanished after the loss of the Rampage. At that moment, a freighter entering the Marracca Strait spots a massive whirlpool in its path. The order is given for all engines astern but it is too late - the ship is being sucked in...

Part 3 - Issue 31, dated 25 April 1970
Victims Of The Mammoth Maelstrom!
Their lifeboats wrecked, the crew of the freighter fight for survival as other ships are drawn towards the awesome maelstrom. As an S.O.S. goes out to warn others, a helicopter manages to save a mere handful of the crew. Searching for Nielsen's sub, Thunderbird One picks up the distress signal and Scott reports to base. The Marracca Strait is not known for whirlpools, and Brains suspects the cause may be man-made - Nielsen's submersible below the waters. Unaware his gyro-sub is responsible, Nielsen is searching the bottom of the rift - a quest he sees as taking months. Olsen voices his concern the crew do not know this. Meanwhile, Thunderbird Two has arrived at the whirlpool to despatch Thundrbird Four to find the sub, but a small boat has somehow evaded the Navy cordon and threatens to be drawn in...

Part 4 - Issue 32, dated 02 May 1970
The Big Air Lift!

Using Thunderbird Two's grab, Virgil lifts the boat from the water, saving its two man crew. The ship is lifted to a nearby coastline, from where Gordon is despatched in Thunderbird Four. Diving into the rift from which the whirlpool is coming, he finds the massive gyro-sub. Brains warns Gordon he may be in danger, and the scientist is right. Nielsen has seen the submarine, and is preparing a warning missile to stop him interfering...

Part 5 - Issue 33, dated 09 May 1970
Brains Fights back With His Newest Invention!
Olsen warns Nielsen that if he attacks a Thunderbird craft, the navy will retaliate. But Nielsen fires anyway, and warns Gordon off as he evades the missile. On Brains' suggestion, Gordon tires to reason with Nielsen, telling the entire crew of the devestating whirlpool the gyro-sub has caused. Nielsen is now fanatical about his mission and refuses, despite the protests of his crew, and its nuclear reactor means it can stay submerged for months. Gordon returns to Thunderbird Two with camera shots of the sub, and Brains decides to return with Gordon in Thunderbird Four - with a special device he has. A projector emits 'Hackenbacker molecules', which should put the reactor out of action, forcing the crew to mutiny if they think thay will all die...

Part 6 - Issue 34, dated 16 May 1970

After a few moments of bombardment, the power on the gyro-sub fails. Switching to emergency power and air, Nielsen is given the ultimatum to surface by Brains. With enough air for an hour, Olsen tells Nielsen to use it as ballast to surface, and the commander capitulates, not wishing to endanger his crew's lives. But as the gyro-sub surfaces to be surrounded by Navy carriers, Nielsen escapes in an emergency craft. Brains attends the interrogation of the guiltless crew - the whirlpool was an unforeseen effect of the Marracca Deep. But Brains ponders on the scientific achevement the gyro-sub could be put to, and wonders if Nielsen has survived.

Operation Cover-up:
• Issue 31: Into The Depths Of The Doom-Trap!
• Issue 34: Operation Sub-Shoot!

Notes:
• On both occasions Thunderbird 4 is launched, it seems Thunderbird 2 has to set down on land - forgetting the fact the pod can be dropped in the sea for this.
• Oops - in the last frame of the first page of part 4, Gordon's speech bubble is shown coming from Thunderbird 2, not Thunderbird 4.
• This story was omitted from the 1990s reprints.


Story Seven (aka The Cave Dwellers)
Writer: Geoff Cowan (?).
Artist: John Cooper. 2 pages, b/w.
Colourist (1990s): John Cooper

Part 1 - Issue 35, dated 23 May 1970
Above the choking vegetation of the South American jungle, rose the craning peaks of the Andes mountain range - one of the longest and most powerful natural barriers in the world...
A strange movement intrudes upon a solitary peak - the 'Spider', a revolutionary eight-legged vehicle using powerful sucker pads to scale the incline. But the heavy pads disturb loose rock around an old fissure, and the vehicle is caught in an avalanche, to hurtle down into the heart of the range. Chance, and the ultra-tough hull of the vehicle, save the two crew, but they are buried in the rockfall. The radio presents a slim chance, and theS.O.S. is picked up by John in Thunderbird 5 before it cuts out. With only a general fix in the Andes, Scott and Virgil lift off, with Brains taking his new metal detection equipment in the hope it will find the source. Meanwhile, shifting rocks have smashed the radio - and seemingly created an opening but Brady is certain they could not have moved by themselves. As he and his co-pilot climb into the light, they see footprints - and powerful arms clamp round their necks...

Part 2 - Issue 36, dated 30 May 1970
In The Clutches Of The Cave-Creatures!

Brady ponders that the huge ape-like cave-men seem as puzzled as they are, but Mace panics and frees himself from the grip, swinging a piece of debris at this captor. Both Brady and Mace are clubbed into unconsciousness, and taken to Kargol, the cave-men's leader. He decides that the 'white beings' be taken to the rock house, where they will meet 'Sarta - the hungry one'. Meanwhile, Thunderbird 1 has arrived in the area and carried out a futile search, but Brains in Thunderbird 2 soon detects something metallic - the wreck of the 'Spider'. Another of Brains' inventions, the large-wheeled 'Scrambler' is unloaded from the pod of Thunderbird 2 to continue the search. But as Scott and Brains edge the vehicle forward, rocks come tumbling towards them...

Title becomes just TV21

Part 3 - Issue 37, dated 06 June 1970
A Desperate Crash-Course!
Scott cannot hold the Scrambler, and it topples over, knocking himself and Brains out. They recover to find themselves surrounded by the cave-men, who take them prisoner. Thrown in a cave with Brady and Mace, Scott and Brains are told they will all soon meet 'Sarta'. A long horn blows a wailing howl, and they find the cavemen are ready for them. Concerned at the loss of contact Virgil investigates and finds the abandoned Scrambler. Hearing the horn, Virgil is led by the sound to the cave-men's home, where Scott and the others are taken to the end of a cliff. The waters below stir, and a large prehistoric reptile surfaces. And they are going to be sacrificed to it...

Part 4 - Issue 38, dated 13 June 1970
Virgil's Desperate Decoy!
As Scott and the others are prodded at spear-point towards the edge of the drop, Virgil races back to the Scrambler. Moments later, a jet of smoke gushes into the area, enraging Sarta who turns on the cave-men. Virgil has used the smoke gun, and Scott and the other escape as Sarta kills the cave-leader Kargol and vanishes back into the depths. Angered, the cave-men pursue Scott and his colleagues. Mace stumbles and hurts his leg, and Scott takes the smoke gun to hold the cave-men back as Virgil and the others escape to Thunderbird 2. In the open, Scott dives for cover as the engines of Thunderbird 2 fire, driving the cave-men back, as an avalanche closes the cave mouth for good.

Operation Cover-up:
None of the covers during this story featured Thunderbirds

Reprinted:
Thunderbirds The Comic issues 52 to 53
Thunderbirds (Dutch Edition) - issue 11 (as De Holbewoners)


Illustration: John Cooper's coloured work for the last part of The Cave Dwellers, in issue 53 of Thunderbirds The Comic, October 1993.

Notes:
• Mace is not named until part 2.
• The cave-men show a marked similarity to the Beast Men Of Lingor, from a Thunderbirds strip in TV21 the previous year.
• 'Get your hairy hands off me, you great ape!' - somewhat similarly to Taylor's line in the 1968 film Planet Of The Apes... and followed by a scene where the two 'Spider' pilots are carried off on slings like the hunted humans.
• In the astonishingly short time between parts 2 and 3, Brady and Mace don't just sprout five o'clock shadow but fully grown beards!
• The smoke gun is not mentioned prior to part 4, and seems a convenient deus ex machina.
• The last time we see Thunderbird 2 outside the cave, it is raised to allow the pod to open for the Scrambler, but when Virgil returns to it, it has lowered back over the pod.
• Thunderbird 2 also seems to swivel on the ground, as in one frame in the last part, its engines are facing away from the cave, but a couple of frames later, the engines are conveniently pointing towards it.
• This would be the last Thunderbirds strip, marking the end of an unbroken run of four and a half years, until the launch of Countdown in February 1971.

The Menace Of The Hood is TV21 & Joe 90's first 'epic', even if the writer seems a little unfamiliar with the eponymous villain. On television, the Hood usually works alone and does not have henchmen, but we know so little about him that can this can be forgiven as a need to give him someone to explain his motives to - a trick the original TV21 had occasionally dipped into so it was not too radical a move. It is also nice that his only appearance in this title gives him a characterful departure.

The Menace Of The Mini-Moon ups the ante with a global disaster the likes of which had not been seen in Thunderbirds since Solar Danger, and it is a pity the reset button is engaged immediately after - an Earth partly devastated by the events here would have made for an interesting further series of strips. As things are, things swing from the large scale to the more parochial, and the sixth strip - the second not to be reprinted - is oddly more character orientated with regard to Thor Neilsen. The explorer does not come over as a villain, but a rogue adventurer, almost in the mold of a modern Captain Nemo. If the strip needed another regular nemesis for International Rescue, to offset the Hood, then they could have looked no further.

Unfortunately, as was seemingly becoming habit, the final strip was short and not so well thought out. The Cave-Dwellers lurches from intriguing adventure to dire cliche - the change coming as TV21 shed Joe 90 in both name and content. This was definitely the end of the line, and two issues later, Thunderbirds also disappeared. For the second time in just over ten years of consecutive weekly adventures in strips (the first being between TV Comic and TV Century 21) there was no comic flying the flag for the Anderson camp.

As mentioned in the Joe 90 feature, the majority of the painted covers for TV21 & Joe 90 were by Alan Willow, a significant number of which (over a quarter during its run) promoted Thunderbirds. Most were bold and colourful, focussing mainly on the craft themselves in action scenes as, as Alan Willow himself confessed recently 'My figure work was never up to much!'. These would only last a short time beyond the end of the Thunderbirds strips, as new television sensation Star Trek returned for a second series in the UK on weekday primetime BBC 1 from April. From issue 42 it was promoted from two internal colour pages, to having a third on the cover, remaining in this format through a number of different artists until the title merged with Valiant in September 1971.

Read the interview with artist Alan Willow here.

On to Part Six of this series.

The Gerry Anderson Complete Comic History would like to thank:
Alan Willow
Graham Bleathman
and Angus Allan
- for their help with this feature.


Version 1.1 - 01.09.06

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