Dan Whitehead Exposes Thunderbirds: Hidden Dangers: Tales of Peril

Thunderbirds: Hidden Dangers is go! Our forthcoming multimedia series tells brand new adventures of the daring heroes of International Rescue, told across comics, novels, audios and more. These officially produced stories promise all of the life-saving adventure and heroism Thunderbirds is famed for, while also being purposefully designed to sit within the retrofuture world of the classic series.

Some of Thunderbirds' most memorable and ground-breaking jeopardies can be found within the classic comics of TV Century 21 or Countdown. Now, a brand new collection of comic adventures promises to propel International Rescue into an exciting line-up of deadly danger zones. Thunderbirds: Hidden Dangers: Tales of Peril is preparing for blast-off later this year and sees an incredible line-up of talent creating new comic adventures for International Rescue.

Dan Whitehead, editor of Tales of Peril, reveals more about what we can expect from this electrifying set of newly produced adventures!  

Fred McNamara: What is Thunderbirds: Hidden Dangers: Tales of Peril all about?

Dan Whitehead: In keeping with the whole 60th anniversary Hidden Dangers project, the idea is that these are the International Rescue missions and adventures that we didn’t get to see in the original TV show. Things that happened between episodes, or follow-up events that there wasn’t time to show on TV. So we’ve got stories that tie in directly with episodes such as The Impostors and Attack of the Alligators, as well as a psychedelic secret mission for Lady Penelope and Parker. There are also raging polar bears, deadly storms and infernos, an out-of-control blimp, a tropical island buried in plastic… the sort of situations where you absolutely need International Rescue on the job.

McNamara: You've previously written Terrahawks for Time Bomb's Spectrum anthology; how did you become involved in Hidden Dangers, and what might be your own personal story of how you discovered the worlds of Gerry Anderson?

Whitehead: It was one of those dream scenarios where Jamie [Anderson] just reached out to me over email to ask if I’d be interested in overseeing the comic anthology for Hidden Dangers. I thought about it for a few seconds and said yes immediately!

It’s honestly hard to remember how I discovered Gerry Anderson’s wonderful worlds. I was born almost ten years after Thunderbirds ended, but in the simpler TV landscape of the 70s and 80s nothing ever went away forever and I definitely have clear memories of watching Thunderbirds, plus Captain Scarlet, Stingray, even Joe 90 and Fireball XL5 on TV as a kid. I also had a vinyl LP of TV themes and lots of those were from Anderson productions - though I’m afraid I always skipped the Aqua Marina ballad from Stingray to get to the more exciting ones!

His shows were just always there, a permanent part of the pop culture landscape, and I think it’s a testament to his vision – and the skill of his production crew – that even in the age of Star Wars and Back to the Future they never felt dated or boring, as many other 1960s shows did. Of course, the fact that most of the big 70s and 80s Hollywood blockbusters that had me spellbound were shot in the UK and used former Anderson model makers for their special effects probably has something to do with it!

McNamara: Who are the creators involved in this collection?

Whitehead: On the writing front, we’ve got: John Reppion and Leah Moore, probably best known for their 2000AD work and Sherlock Holmes comics; Dave Cook, whose cyberpunk series Killtopia has been a big indie hit recently; Fraser Campbell, whose long-running Alex Automatic series is a delightfully strange love letter to 1960s spy-fi shows; Paul Cornell, prolific Doctor Who novelist and TV writer, who has also written for Marvel and DC; Ian Edginton, whose comics work includes 2000AD and everything from Aliens to Batman ’66; Corey Brotherson, a comic and video game writer who worked on the BAFTA-winning Tales of Kenzera: ZAU; Ned Hartley, best known as the writer of Bananaman in The Beano who has also written Spider-Man; I’ve also written one of the stories – my background is in writing for video games and licensed books, including Star Wars and Minecraft.

In terms of artists we have: Keith Burns, our cover artist, is best known for his stunning covers on Commando; Lee Sullivan, one of the legends of UK comics, best known for his work on Doctor Who and Transformers; Mike Collins, another legendary figure, who has drawn everything from Batman to X-Men; Gary Erskine, a veteran of 2000AD, Marvel, and DC who was the artist on Garth Ennis’ revival of Dan Dare; Marc Laming, the artist on the new Dan Dare, as well as a prolific Star Wars comics artist.

Of the up-and-coming artists, we have: Kim Hu, who won a BAFTA for her design work on the video game Rollerdrome; Alice Leclert, who has worked on official Thundercats and TMNT comics; Clark Bint, artist on Killtopia and Rebel Moon; Gustaffo Vargas, artist on the upcoming Power Rangers: Green miniseries.

And we also have two writer-artists who have both written and drawn their respective stories; Russell Olson, best known for his ongoing Gateway City comic and his recent run as the artist on Mad Cave’s reboot of pulp hero The Phantom; Dan McDaid, whose sci-fi graphic novel Dega was published by Oni Press and has also contributed to Doctor Who and Firefly.

Our colourists are Kat and Jason Cardy, Gab Contreras, and Fabi Marques. And Ringo-nominee Rob Jones has done all the lettering.

There’s lots of creators who I gather you've rubbed shoulders with, personally and professionally, from the independent/small press comic scene for some years now. Has Thunderbirds been a particular ‘bucket-list’ creation for you all to work on?

It’s absolutely been a dream come true to be able to gather all of these incredibly talented creators in one place, though there were loads more I just didn’t have room for. Maybe for the 70^th anniversary! There are few better feelings than having such an iconic world to play with and the stream of eureka moments as you ponder who would make a great contribution to that world. My criteria was always whether they’d bring something specific and unique to Thunderbirds, either based on their previous licensed work or the tone and aesthetic of their independently produced output.

How does this collection of brand-new comics fit into the classic canon of Thunderbirds?

The Hidden Dangers concept – stories that take place during the original run of the TV show – helped with that. The old TV21 comics, wonderful as they are, often veered sharply away from reality with monsters and aliens. We couldn’t do that, which meant story ideas had to stay close to the core of International Rescue’s original purpose – saving people, preventing disasters, and solving believable problems with bravery, ingenuity, and cool technology. Then it was just a question of putting together a selection of stories that gave every character and every vehicle a moment to shine.

Thunderbirds boasts an incredible comics legacy when thinking of classic artists such as Frank Bellamy or Don Harley who drew Thunderbirds for the likes of TV Century 21 and Countdown. What kinds of artistic styles would you say are at work in this collection?

The goal was always to create a book that honoured the original show without feeling like a purely nostalgic offering. So there are strips here that are absolutely in the style of classic science fiction and adventure comics that long-term Thunderbirds fans would have grown up reading, but also some that feel more modern either in look or tone. My guiding principle was always “If Thunderbirds comics had been in constant production since the 60s, what would they look like now?” The hope is that we’ve come up with something that original fans will recognise and love, but that they can share with their children (and even – gulp – grandchildren) and have them fall in love with International Rescue as well.

What’s been the most rewarding thing for you in bringing this collection of newly made Thunderbirds adventures together?

Making comics is basically a series of delightful surprises. First when you receive the story pitches, then when you see those fleshed out into scripts, and again as the pages of art bring those words to life. I’ve done a lot of licensed work, in books and comics, and it’s rare to have as much freedom to come up with new stories as we did here. I think that’s what feels most special – getting to contribute anything to Thunderbirds is a big deal. It’s a classic show, one that still has a big pop culture footprint, yet with a relatively small canon of official stories. Adding to that canon is a real thrill.

Prepare yourselves for a brand new era of thrillingly bold yet enjoyably authentic adventures from the world of Thunderbirds with Hidden Dangers! Discover more about the series from producer Andrew Clements and best-selling author James Swallow, editor of our short story collection, International Rescues!

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