10 of the Best Stories from TV Century 21

STINGRAY LOST! 

60 years ago today (January 20th), young readers were electrified by this startling report from a brand new sci-fi action/adventure comic that masqueraded as a newspaper from the far-flung future of the 2060s. TV Century 21 was deliberately designed to be a comic like no other. It was a publication that gathered together A.P. Films' increasing line-up of sci-fi heroes into the company's very own comic (co-published with City Magazines) and illustrated by many of the industry's top talents.

TV Century 21, or TV21 as it came to be known as later during its lifespan between January 1965 and September 1969, ran for 242 issues under the initial editor of Alan Fennell, and catapulted the likes of Stingray, Fireball XL5, Thunderbirds, Lady Penelope, Zero X and Captain Scarlet into thrilling worlds of dynamic adventure that stretched beyond the practical and narrative confines of their TV source material. The comic was chiefly illustrated in colour at a time when black-and-white TV remained dominant, meaning that Mike Noble's Fireball XL5, Ron Embleton's Stingray and Frank Bellamy's Thunderbirds may likely have been fans' first instances of seeing their heroes in colour.

The comic also proposed that most of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's characters co-existed in a shared timeline, something that the various individual TV series mostly avoided. Crossovers, references and cameos were commonplace, all set within a convincing and compelling vision of the future, unified by the comic's journalistic format, presenting its various comic strips as ongoing news stories.

In celebration of the comic's 60th anniversary, we're counting down 10 of our favourite stories from one of the most successful TV tie-in comics of all time! And for the avoidance of any possible doubt, TV Century 21 was post-dated to the Saturday of its weekly publication, so whilst the date on the front cover of #1 may be January 23rd, the comic went on sale on the Wednesday of that week, the 20th. 

10. Stingray - Marineville Traitor

This prolonged epic gave the long-running Stingray strip a grandiose finale in a saga that sees Captain Troy Tempest framed for the destruction of a World Airforce bomber aircraft. Escaping imprisonment and seeking to clear his name, Troy embarks on a round-the-world trip in pursuit of his enemies, tracing numerous clues which point to a far larger and deadlier plan at work. 'Marineville Traitor' is a thrillingly ambitious send-off for Stingray that sees its heroic aquanaut turned into public enemy number 1.

9. Thunderbirds - Solar Danger

Battling against unforgiving weather conditions becomes a surprisingly occurring tactic throughout Thunderbirds' time in TV Century 21 - a possible sign of how the comic took advantage of storytelling tools not possible to produce convincingly in Supermarionation. 'Solar Danger' embraces these tactics to enthralling levels. Intense solar activity triggers a deluge of freak weather disaster across the globe. International Rescue's efforts to calm the sun's rage via a nuclear detonation succeeds, but sends Alan and Brains aboard Thunderbird 3 spiralling into the jaws of Venus, where monstrous horrors await them. Frank Bellamy's depiction of solar chaos is astounding to see in action, and the strip itself is the only Thunderbirds TV Century 21 adventure to be drawn by two different artists - Bellamy and Don Harley.

8. Fireball XL5 - The Astran Assassination

Surprisingly, 'The Astran Assassination' is the only TV Century 21 storyline to dovetail three separate strips into a single adventure. The complexities in doing so, liaising with separate artists on each strip, likely points to why this feat was never attempted again, but 'The Astran Assassination' is a brilliant showcase of TV Century 21's unified sci-fi world. Steve Zodiac is tasked with preventing intergalactic war when the visiting Astran Kaplan is assassinated in broad daylight by an unknown assailant. This politically-charged mission sees Lady Penelope, Parker and the Stingray crew make appearances in helping Steve track down the killers.

7. Captain Scarlet - Unity City

Captain Scarlet's debut adventure in the comic is a stimulating tale of two halves. The Mysterons make an audacious attempt to destroy the world capital, Unity City, by hijacking Cloudbase and sending Spectrum's HQ on a collision course with the city. Scarlet foils their attempts just in time, but incurs the wrath of Captain Black, who threatens to bring Scarlet back under Mysteron control. Ron Embleton makes a welcome return to illustrating Anderson strips with his brief introductory run of stories on Captain Scarlet in a story that hardwires Spectrum into TV Century 21's shared Anderson world, but also introduces the strip's running subplot of the Mysterons' attempts to bring Scarlet back to the Mysterons. 'Unity City' is a multi-layered beginning for Captain Scarlet in the pages of TV Century 21.

6. Stingray - The Flying Fish Mystery

Stingray reaches a peak in narrative and artistic quality with 'The Flying Fish Mystery', a story that heartily embraces Stingray's underwater Cold War credentials. The launching of the WASP's new warship, the Sea Leopard, is sabotaged by Titanican spies. Slow-burning spy-fi deception eventually escalates into an all-out mecha-brawl between the Sea Leopard and the unveiling of the mighty Titan's own devastating mechanical crabs. Ron Embleton's sumptuous artwork enlivens these underwater battles to stimulating effect.   

5. Zero X - Planet of Bones

Zero X occupies a surreal space in TV Century 21. Compared to the mostly humanoid alien intelligences encountered by the World Space Patrol, Zero X's continuing mission to seek out new life and explore strange new worlds results in fantastic encounters with increasingly surreal lifeforms and other bizarre cosmic phenomena that can't be so easily pigeonholed. One such encounter was the planet of bones, in which an investigation to the planet Verspona reveals the most horrifying creatures being discovered. An effectively-paced mystery hooks the reader in before the story explodes with the frightening dynamic action of the Zero X crew battling against living space dinosaur skeletons. It's pure fanciful sci-fi hokum, but Mike Noble's utterly convincing artwork effortlessly communicates the violent terror, resulting in a stand-out classic for the Zero X strip.

4. Captain Scarlet - Secret Mission

The war of nerves becomes personal in one of Captain Scarlet's grimmest stories. Dispensing with his regular Spectrum responsibilities, Captain Scarlet initially incurs Colonel White's anger when rescuing close friend, Professor Loot, and his daughter from the clutches of the hostile enemy state, Bereznik. The Mysterons in turn seize the opportunity to turn a tense situation into global carnage, threatening to assassinate the Bereznik president in the hopes of triggering a fresh world war. Scarlet must make creative use of his indestructibility to call off the trigger-happy state's warmongering ways.

3. Agent 21 - 21's Life Story

Agent 21 may be a comparatively obscure strip, but no less vital. The space spy of the future brought a darker edge to an already stern-faced comic. Initially set in the formative 2040s, Agent 21's espionage-flavoured stories strengthened TV Century 21's spy-fi credentials while showcasing how the likes of the World Space Patrol and World Aquanaut Security Patrol came to be. Agent 21 also gave the comic's editors and artists the chance to tell compellingly heartfelt stories about the very fragile balance of life that comes with jeopardous spy-fi action. Brent Cleever finds himself an target of allies and enemies alike when he attempts to avenge the death of a fellow agent. Rab Hamilton's art perfectly exudes the morose undertones of this downbeat adventure.

2. Thunderbirds - The Revolution

Surviving evidence suggests that 'The Revolution' may well have been Alan Fennell's last Thunderbirds adventure that he wrote for TV Century 21 before being promoted to head of Century 21 Publishing. If so, it's a riveting and politically astute adventure to go out on. 'The Revolution' isn't afraid to show how not everyone in the tech-enhanced retrofuture world of the 2060s is better off. Poverty remains for the unfortunate few, including the impoverished South American rebels who attack the newly launched atomic liner, the President. Rebel leader Juan is a layered and sympathetic character to root for in a story that sees International Rescue forced to pull of a duo of tricky rescues amidst military intervention.

1. Fireball XL5 - Sword of Damacles

Is this the greatest story TV Century 21 ever told? It's a bold claim that has some undeniable substance to it! Mike Noble fires on all cylinders in this cosmic retelling of the Greek parable of Damocles (here renamed Damacles). Steve Zodiac pilots Fireball XL5 into deadly terrain of space piracy, but is captured, and XL5 itself is replicated to become an armada of enemy craft to terrorize the space highways. Noble's painstaking, photorealist artwork and vigorous colour palette captures outer space as a thrillingly dangerous battleground as Steve attempts to uncover the startling truth behind the space pirate's true kingpin. Bursting with deadly danger and stunning visuals, 'Sword of Damacles' captures all of TV Century 21's winning elements at their most muscular.

Happy 60th anniversary to TV Century 21! Relive Stingray's classic comic strip adventures with our two Stingray Comic Anthologies - Tales from the Depths and Battle Lines. Be sure to stay tuned to all Anderson Entertainment frequencies to hear more about future comic anthology releases throughout this year! You can also discover these adventures brought to life in audio form with our Thunderbirds audiobooks and audio dramas!

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