This week marks 60 years since the first issue of TV Century 21 was published, a landmark comic that brought many of Gerry Anderson's classic characters into a newspaper-styled action/adventure comic that remains one of the UK's best success stories in TV tie-in merchandise and sci-fi comics.

TV Century 21, or TV21 as it came to be known later during its lifespan between 1965 and 1969, remains a crucial chapter in the historical success of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's Supermarionation empire throughout the 1960s. The comic greatly expanded on the worlds of the likes of Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Stingray and Fireball XL5, with adventurous storytelling brought to life through electrifying artwork from the comic industry's greatest talents. 

TV21 has formed a huge part of Anderson Entertainment's continuing mission to celebrate, preserve and expand upon Gerry's creations. Our ongoing range of comic anthologies allows fans to relive these classic comic strips, while our audio adaptations breathes fresh life into these stories, reinventing them. 

Comic Anthologies

Reprinting classic Gerry Anderson comic strips has proved a hugely successful part of Anderson Entertainment's publishing operation. Since 2021, we've so far published definitive collections of Fireball XL5 and Stingray's adventures from TV21. The Fireball XL5 Anthology was published in October 2022, celebrating the series' 60th anniversary.

Our two Stingray anthologies have subsequentially followed - Tales from the Depths and Battle Lines. These comics have been painstakingly restored, some from original artboards. With several classic Anderson strips left to collect and the 60th anniversary of Thunderbirds occurring this year, you'll have to stand by for action to learn what's coming next from the comic anthologies!

The unique mythology of TV21's Anderson strips has also fed into our Technical Operations Manuals. Both our manuals for Fireball XL5 and Stingray feature schematic details on craft only seen in the pages of their TV21 strips, bringing together the fantastic futuristic technologies from both the TV series and the comics under one definitive in-universe schematic bible.

Audio Adaptations

Along with the extensive line-up of original 1960s spin-off novels mostly written by John Theydon, TV21 adventures have formed the backbone for many of our audiobook and audio drama productions. 2022's Thunderbirds Versus the Hood was the fourth release in our line-up of Thunderbirds audio adventures, but the first to adapt comic storylines from TV21, namely 'The Vanishing Ray' and 'Brains is Dead'. 'The Vanishing Ray', adapted by Ben Page, rewires the original story's functionality from a prequel to TV21's Thunderbirds strip, while Chris Dale's take on 'Brains is Dead' readjusts the shockingly violent story to more traditional fare.

Fire and Fury, also released in 2022, adapts the Alan Fennell-penned stories 'The Space Mirror' and 'Blazing Danger', in which Lady Penelope and Parker play a far more active role in the story than in the original comic story. 2024's Danger and Deception remain the most recent release adapts four of TV21's greatest storylines - 'Mr. Steelman', 'The Big Freeze', 'The Revolution' and 'The Trapped Spy'. 

Outside of Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet's TV21 adventures have received similar reinterpretations in audio format. Chris Dale's Captain Scarlet: Martian Menace transforms one of Captain Scarlet's grimmest adventures into an absorbing audiobook, narrated by New Captain Scarlet himself, Wayne Forester. Martian Menace adapts the Captain Scarlet storyline from issues #164 to #166, titled 'Foothold' in Century 21: Classic Comic Strips from the Worlds of Gerry Anderson line-up of reprint collection. This bleakly thrilling adventure sees Captain Scarlet race to stop the military igniting the Mysterons' war of nerves to truly interplanetary proportions when the military take it upon themselves to travel to Mars and stamp out the Mysterons for good. Dale's adaptations transforms a rapid-fire comic strip into an absorbing audio experience, complete with authentic sound effects and music.

Archive Interviews

You can enjoy the thrilling adventures and fascinating real-world history of TV Century 21 through several other ways at Official Gerry Anderson. Our archive interview with Keith Shackleton, head of merchandising for the Century 21 Organisation, offers an extensive and enlightening insight into the publishing history of TV21 and the other comics published between Century 21 Publishing and City Magazines. 

Away from audio adaptations, you can experience the space and spy thrills of the future before your very eyes with our TV Century 21 motion adaptations! These adaptations turn classic artwork into living stories with authentic full casts, sound effects and soundtracks. 'Planet of Bones' brings this classic Zero X story to life starring Wayne Forester, Robbie Stevens and Richard James. Agent 21's 'Enter S.O.F.R.A.M' stars Jack Knoll, Andrew Clements, Cameron McCormack, Kate Guleke brings the space spy to life in Brent Cleever's thrilling first encounter with the Solar Organisation for Revenge and Murder.

The spin-off worlds of TV Century 21 continues to give Anderfans new and old an abundance of fantastic adventures that remain as thrilling as any classic television series of Gerry Anderson! Don't forget to check out our countdown of 10 of the best stories from TV Century 21!

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