The countdown commences! 2026 marks 55 years since one of the most thrilling space-age comics took to the newsstands. At a time when Century 21 Productions was venturing away from its formative puppet heroes, Countdown brought the retrofuture 21st century as depicted in the likes of Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Fireball XL5 and more back into action with brand new comics adventures for these heroes.

Countdown underwent a variety of significant changes during its lifespan throughout the 1970s, bringing many TV favourites from within and outside of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson in an ever competitive TV tie-in market. During its first year of publication, the comic featured an abundance of newly produced, enthralling adventures for nearly all of Gerry and Sylvia's creations. In celebration of Countdown's 55th anniversary, let's have a rundown of the paper's artists involved in brilliantly illustrating the exciting worlds of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson!

Don Harley

Comic credits: Thunderbirds

Impressively, Countdown's memorable Thunderbirds' comic was the only series not to have its run interrupted by changing artistic line-ups. Between issues #1 to #61 (with a reprint of the TV Century 21 storyline Mission to Africa situated within), Harley's economically clean linework and impressive inks brought to life eight exciting adventures for International Rescue's daringly heroic exploits. A further reprint of Thunderbirds' very first TV21 storyline, Blazing Danger, between issues #71 and #77 marked the end of Thunderbirds' inclusion in Countdown.

Prior to his mainstay on Countdown, Harley had extensive experience illustrating Thunderbirds comics throughout the 1960s. He'd filled in for Frank Bellamy illustrating the second half of Solar Danger in TV Century 21, as well as contributing to several of the TV Century 21 seasonal specials/extras, drawing plenty of standalone Thunderbirds adventures. For TV21, he also drew the short-lived The Investigator and The Mysterons for TV Tornado. 

Harley's other celebrated sci-fi work was being part of Frank Hampson's illustrative team in producing Dan Dare for Eagle throughout the 1950s, alongside fellow future Anderson contributors Eric Eden and Frank Bellamy. Harley became the lead artist on Dare's space-trotting adventures until 1962, when the new resident artist was Keith Watson.

John M. Burns

Comic credits: UFO

John M. Burns had previously illustrated Catch or Kill and Front Page for TV Century 21 before taking over as the main artist on Countdown's UFO comic from issue #71 onwards. Countdown's UFO had begun under the steady illustrative hand of being fairly evenly split between Jon Davis and Gerry Haylock alternating between handfuls of stories before other artists regularly stepped in to draw the grimly thrilling adventures of SHADO.

Burns' run on UFO immediately followed on from his in-house illustrations on Countdown's self-titled space opera epic, which ran for the first #71 issues of Countdown. Burns has the honour then of illustrating unbroken contributions to Countdown for 129 issues over a two-year period!

Rab Hamilton

Strip credits: Stingray, Fireball XL5, UFO

Scottish artist Rab Hamilton was no stranger to illustrating the comic strip worlds of Gerry Anderson. Outside of his in-house runs on Agent 21 and Marina, Girl of the Sea, Hamilton didn't illustrate other mainline strips in TV Century 21, but he extensively contributed to short stories and comic strips from the earlier tie-in annuals and specials which ran alongside the comic. 

Hamilton's work on Countdown's Stingray and Fireball XL5 strips were his latest in a lineage stretching back to the mid 1960s. For Stingray, Hamilton illustrated The Waters of Hyde serial, while for Fireball XL5, he drew the relatively restrained standalone Prison Planet - only the second of two World Space Patrol comic adventures Hamilton ever drew! Hamilton also made a singular contribution to UFO in issue #41, seemingly destined to serve as one of many Countdown artists filling in for other, better known artists who enjoyed lengthier spells on the comic.

Brian Lewis

Comic credits: Stingray, Fireball XL5, Captain Scarlet, UFO

Brian Lewis' career dovetailed from contributing to Lion, Eagle and Hurricane in the 1960s to focussing on TV and film tie-in strips throughout the 1970s. He drew for Hammer's House of Horror magazine. Lewis illustrated many of the Gerry Anderson comics in Countdown throughout its first year of publication, interestingly, all standalone adventures, rather than serials. These included a handful of six UFO stories, two Captain Scarlet adventures (#15, #35), and one Fireball XL5 (#20) and Stingray storyline (#22) each.

Lewis holds the curious honour of illustrating both Fireball XL5 and Stingray's final comic adventures of the 20th century, decades before Fireball XL5 would return in the Interplanetary Rescue storyline and Stingray would surge back into action with Stingray: Deadly Uprising, respectively.

Gerry Haylock

Comic credits: UFO

Throughout 1971, Gerry Haylock was the resident artist on Countdown's UFO strip, lending it a sustained consistency. His Gerry Anderson credits don't stretch much further, but more notable was his lengthily run illustrating the comic's Doctor Who series until 1975, with a brief return in 1978. 

Prior to his 1970s work on Countdown, Haylock had begun his illustrative work contributing to the back pages of Girl magazine and several contributions to The Adventures of Robin Hood annuals. An offer to do Knights of the Long Road in Eagle soon followed between 1960 and 1962, followed by his first contact with Dennis Hooper by illustrating Land of the Giants in Joe 90: Top Secret in the late 60s.

Colin Page

Comic credits: Stingray, Fireball XL5

Colin Page was a lesser-seen face in the post-war British comics scene, illustrating material for the likes of Tiger, Lion and Battle Picture Weekly throughout the 1960s and 1970s. For Battle Picture Weekly, he illustrated D-Day Dawson, written by future Rogue Trooper writer/co-creator Gerry Finley-Day. He also illustrated the time-travelling superhero Adam Eterno for Lion.

For Countdown, Page took over from Michael Strand in illustrating Stingray, contributing the Polar Peril storyline in issue #13, while he opened Fireball XL5's brief tenure in the comic with Giant Tamers in issue #5.

Malcolm Stokes

Comic credits: Fireball XL5, Zero X, Captain Scarlet, UFO

Another stalwart from the Century 21 Publishing days, Stokes' recognisably stylised facial features were a common sight throughout Anderson annuals of the 1960s. Between various storybooks and annuals, he drew adventures for Thunderbirds, Captain Scarlet, Joe 90 and Zero X. He may also be considered the in-house illustrator of Project SWORD, contributing to many of its short stories in TV Century 21 and illustrating much of the Project SWORD annual.

His earliest efforts in Countdown consisted of illustrating Fireball XL5's one and only serial between issues #12 and #14. This occurred during what turned out to be his biggest contribution to the comic: a trio of Captain Scarlet adventures in issues #7, #19 and #29. A couple of issues prior to his last Captain Scarlet contribution, he also illustrated the last ever Zero X comic adventure in Countdown and indeed any comic in issue #27. In the pages of Countdown, he drew a pair of UFO adventures in issues #44 and #57.

Michael Strand

Comic credits: Stingray, Lady Penelope

Strand's determined, dramatic style was a hallmark of his in-house run on TV Century 21's Stingray strip, making it more than a pleasant thing to see him return to WASP in the early 1970s for Countdown. Strand would ultimately illustrate Stingray's opening two storylines. Outside of UFO and Thunderbirds, it was rare for the same artist to illustrate successive stories, and comics would regularly be passed around separate artists. Strand's comfortably recognisable style enlivens Terror of Titan and The Cyber Saboteurs. 

Strand would also return to the glamourous espionage stylings of Lady Penelope, illustrate her third and final original adventure in issue #18 of Countdown. Strand illustrated many of Penelope and Parker's 60s' adventures, filling in for Frank Langford on the main comic and contributing many standalone adventures in the seasonal specials.

Keith Watson

Comic credits: Zero X, Captain Scarlet, UFO

Another artist from the Dan Dare school of illustration, Watson's Countdown contributions were modest but memorable. He illustrated one story each on the paper's Zero X, UFO and Captain Scarlet comics, but in the case of Spectrum's adventures, he illustrated what surely remains the most infamous adventure. Return of the Rock Snakes sees the Mysterons hijack the Martian Rock Snakes from Thunderbirds Are Go and spread them across the Earth in the hopes of causing a biological war. Watson's memorable image of Captain Scarlet launching himself into the mouth of the Rock Snakes is iconic in its absurdity.

Watson illustrated several Captain Scarlet adventures in TV Century 21 and Joe 90 in Joe 90: Top Secret, and was brought back to draw episode adaptations for Fleetway's Thunderbirds the Comic in the early 1990s. 

Martin Asbury

Comic credits: UFO, Captain Scarlet

Martin Asbury illustrated several UFO adventures in Countdown throughout early 1972 before going on to illustrate several comic strip adventures of Moonbase Alpha in the 1977 Space: 1999 annual. He'd also drawn Joe 90 for Joe 90: Top Secret and continued his TV tie-in work throughout the 1970s with further titles in Countdown, Look-in and the TV Times. He also took over the newspaper adventure strip Garth from Frank Bellamy, following his sudden death in 1976. Asbury drew Garth until 1997, by which time he was pursuing an equally fruitful career in storyboard work on Hollywood blockbusters, ranging from James Bond to Alien, Batman Begins, The Da Vinci Code and Chicken Run.

John Cooper

Comic credits: Captain Scarlet

John Cooper's contributions to Countdown may have amounted to a single Captain Scarlet story, but his wider Gerry Anderson connections and efforts in the post-war British comic scene remain immense. Prior to Countdown, he illustrated several Captain Scarlet stories in TV Century 21 and would return to draw Captain Scarlet for both its Fleetway comic of the 1990s and its lesser-known tie-in strip in the pages of News of the World's Sunday magazine. He was a regular talent in the annuals, as well, illustrating many Captain Scarlet, Thunderbirds, Stingray, Agent 21 and Joe 90 comics.

Cooper worked on many of the most successful UK adventure comics from IPC Magazines and D.C. Thompson, his aggressive figurework a perfect fit for the decade that birthed the likes of Action and 2000 AD. He co-created One-Eyed Jack for Valiant with Judge Dredd co-creator John Wagner and worked with Watchmen/V For Vendetta co-creator Alan Moore on several comics in 2000 AD. He also contributed to Starlord, Roy of the Rovers, Warlord, Scream, Judge Dredd Megazine and many more beloved UK titles.

Frank Langford

Comic credits: Lady Penelope

Frank Langford's defining run on Lady Penelope's solo comic adventures throughout the 1960s are masterful in their elegant figurework and fast-paced sense of action. Naturally, Dennis Hooper was wise to bring Langford back to illustrate Penelope and Parker's brief but fresh set of adventures in Countdown. Prior to his Gerry Anderson connections, Langford had worked on several of Fleetway's girls' comics before making his science fiction debut with The Angry Planet in Boys' World in 1963. Langford also contributed heavily to Countdown/TV Action's Doctor Who strip.

Langford's later career was marked by making notable appearances on the American comic scene by illustrating several of DC Comics' romance titles, along with advertising work based in his native UK.

Jon Davis

Comic credits: Joe 90, UFO, The Secret Service

Jon Davis is another regular from the artistic line-up of the 60s whose name you may not be familiar with. Despite his relative obscurity, he illustrated practically all of Gerry and Sylvia's creations, rarely as a lead artist, but regularly appearing. His most prolific runs occur in TV Century 21's Stingray and Lady Penelope's The Angels. Between TV Century 21 comic, the specials, annuals, and storybooks, he's also drawn Agent 21, Thunderbirds and Joe 90. 

For Countdown, Davis illustrated the short-lived runs of Joe 90 and The Secret Service in the comic's early issues before regularly contributing to the UFO comic between late 1971 and mid 1972.

The premier space-age comic of the 1970s boasted some of the most brilliantly illustrated adventures of Century 21's puppet and live-action heroes, many of which can be enjoyed today with our ongoing range of classic comic anthologies! Digital editions of our Fireball XL5 and UFO Comic Anthologies collect the entirety of their Countdown era adventures, as does Stingray Comic Anthology Vol. 2: Battle Lines. Keep your frequencies clear for further announcements for what will be coming next from the Thunderbirds Comic Anthologies!

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