THUNDERBIRDS ARE GO is here!

D.C. Thomson's newest comic Thunderbirds Are Go has arrived in the shops today. The 36 page monthly is the official magazine of the revamped TV series and comes bagged with a plastic model of Thunderbird 1. (The rest of the craft to follow in subsequent issues.) Certainly a better free gift than the usual "plastic tat" and one which I'm sure kids (and a few adults) will enjoy playing with. 

In truth, the main comic strip is actually a 12 page photo-strip in 4 page chunks, using screen grabs to adapt the first episode, Ring of Fire. They do a nice job of it, although the idea of tilting the speech balloons is somewhat distracting. (There's a good reason why it's never been done before. It just looks odd.) 

There's also three illustrated mini-strips on one page intended as funnies, plus a couple of 'Teenage Tricks' strips showing kids how to fake having measles and how to hide a magazine inside a study book. Not too original, but probably new for the age range the mag is aimed at. 

And that's the thing. It'd be easy to compare this magazine to previous publications that featured Thunderbirds strips, but times have changed. Yes, this is a far cry from the sophistication of TV21 fifty years ago, or Countdown weekly in 1971, but so is the series it's based on. The 1965 Thunderbirds TV series was a family show originally broadcast in an early evening slot. The new Thunderbirds Are Go series is squarely aimed at children and broadcast on Saturday mornings on CiTV. The magazine has to reflect that.

Judging the magazine on its own merits then, how does it fare? Well, it's good that over a third of its pages are given to strips, which is more than most kids' mags have these days. The activity pages should also entertain, and are on the same level as those seen in Doctor Who Adventures (its nearest rival). The target range is ages 6 to 12, and I think most of the contents are pitched in between that, which seems about right. There is of course a huge difference between the way a 6 year old and an 12 year old view the world, so it's not easy to make it work. As soon as the older end of that demographic feel something is 'babyish' they'll drop it like a stone, but Thunderbirds Are Go seems to get the balance right. 

Thunderbirds Are Go No.1 is out now, priced £3.99. 

News: http://www.dcthomson.co.uk/media/dc-thomson-releases-thunderbirds-are-go-magazine

Thunderbirds Are Go - on October 14th

Here's the eye-catching cover to the new Thunderbirds are Go magazine that will launch in UK newsagents on Wednesday 14th October. 

Published every four weeks by D.C. Thomson the new title is based on the re-imagined TV series which is due to return to CiTV soon. It promises to feature comic strips, although at this point I'm not sure if that means illustrated or screen-grab photo strips, or both. From the cover line it looks as though it'll contain an adaptation of the first episode, Ring of Fire. 

The mag will also contain posters, fact files, and activity pages. It'll also come with a free mini-model of Thunderbird 1 which is sure to be collectable. It's great to see D.C. Thomson launching a new comic magazine, and with it focusing on the popular Thunderbirds brand let's hope it's as successful as previous comics that featured the concept. 

Subscriptions to Thunderbirds Are Go are already available for pre-order here at the D.C. Thomson shop.

Ads from 50 years ago

It's 50 years today since the first episode of Thunderbirds was broadcast and, yes, it certainly feels like half a century! I've already done quite a few posts on Thunderbirds on this blog over the years so today I thought I'd look at what else we as kids were thrilled about back then. Much has changed over the last five decades, yet in some ways many things stay the same, as shown by these vintage adverts from TV21 comic of 50 years ago.

Above is perhaps the first Thunderbirds-related piece of merchandise, and certainly the first appearance of a Thunderbird in TV21. It's an ad for Century 21 Records from TV21 No.41, dated 30th October 1965. 

Here are a few other ads from around the last few months of 1965, when the popular things were Lego, Daleks, fireworks, and James Bond. Not much change there, although fireworks would not be advertised in comics now. Personally I think it's time for a revival of Stingray Slippers! (When I was 3 or 4 I had a similar pair with Yogi Bear heads on them! They were all the rage you know.)

As always, click on the images to see them much larger.

Thunderbirds hits 50

The newly made Lady Penelope puppet for 'Thunderbirds 1965'.

This week, Thunderbirds reaches its 50th anniversary, with September 30th marking half a century since the first episode debuted on TV a lifetime ago in 1965. As you may know, there are three brand new Thunderbirds episodes currently in production, funded by a Kickstarter campaign that many of us contributed to. These new episodes (not related to the new Thunderbirds Are Go reboot) are using the soundtracks from adventures that had only been released in audio form in the 1960s, and and now being visualised by a team who have meticulously crafted puppets, sets, and models based on the original series. The first clip from an episode has just been released on You Tube. Here it is:

http://youtu.be/2MstQXIIQTM

Fifty years ago this week, this is the issue of TV21 that was on sale when the first Thunderbirds episode was screened. Issue No.37, dated October 2nd...

Despite being the official comic of the Gerry Anderson productions (A.P. Films) there's no mention within its pages of Thunderbirds at all. However, the ongoing Lady Penelope strip was still running of course, having been a regular strip since issue 1. Now, for the first time, readers would also see her on TV in the first Thunderbirds episode Trapped In the Sky and the mystery of why TV21 had featured her in the comic would be solved. Here's the Lady Penelope strip from this week in 1965...

By January 1966, Lady Penelope would spin off into her own successful comic and a regular Thunderbirds strip would begin in TV21. (See this old post here plus this post on Thunderbirds in the comics here.) 

Thunderbirds became such a huge success and part of our culture. I still clearly remember anticipating that first episode from the moment it was announced in the Daily Mirror that Gerry Anderson was making a series that would "be like Supercar, Stingray, and Fireball XL5 rolled into one" (or words to that effect). I was six years old at the time and mistakenly thought it meant the new show would team up Supercar, Stingray and Fireball! (What a show that could have been!) I certainly wasn't disappointed with what Thunderbirds actually turned out to be, though. 

Fifty years later (and it definitely does feel like fifty years) there's a new revamped Thunderbirds Are Go series on CiTV, with related merchandise (and soon a new comic) in the shops, plus the new classic Thunderbirds 1965 in production to be released on DVD next year. A remarkable achievement for a part of pop culture that has entertained millions across the world. 

New comics coming in October

No less than three new comic titles will be launching in UK newsagents next month. Wednesday 14th October will bring us the first issue of D.C. Thomson's long awaited Thunderbirds Are Go magazine, which promises to feature "comic adventures" amongst its content. As the mag will solely be focused on the new series, not the classic, the strips will presumably be all new by British creators. John Freeman has more details of the mag over on his Down the Tubes blog:
http://downthetubes.net/?p=25736

...plus the official Thunderbirds Are Go magazine's website is here:
http://www.dcthomson.co.uk/thunderbirdsmagazine


Titan Comics will also be launching two new titles. Thursday 15th October sees the publication of The Flash No.1, so it sounds like the Flash Special that was published earlier this year must have been a hit.

Then, on Thursday 29th October, Green Arrow No.1 hits the shelves, also from Titan. Both Flash and Green Arrow will feature American reprint from DC Comics. I'm not sure of the format yet but hopefully they'll be in the same 76 page format as Titan's Batman comics.  

Classic THUNDERBIRDS special from Panini

It's been a long time since there was a Thunderbirds magazine on the shelves but Panini UK have just published Thunderbirds: A Complete Guide to the Classic Series. The chunky 116 page 'bookazine' is in the same format as Panini's Essential Doctor Who publication and boasts the same high production values and quality of content. It also has the same editor, Marcus Hearn, and he and his team including Chris Bentley, Alistair McGown, and Sam Denham certainly know their stuff when it comes to classic TV.

Yes, this publication is about classic Thunderbirds, not the new series soon to return to CiTV. This year is the 50th anniversary of the original Thunderbirds and this bookazine is a fine celebration of that. As one might expect, there's a complete guide to all 32 episodes but it also features much more besides.

Here's just a few highlights:

• A previously unpublished interview with Gerry Anderson.

• Interviews with some of the voice artists of Thunderbirds.

• Artist and designer Mike Trim's recollections of working alongside sfx master Derek Meddings.

• Interview with director David Lane.

• Coverage of Thunderbirds merchandise.

That's just scratching the surface. The mag is packed with information and images. Readers of this blog will be pleased to know that of course TV Century 21 is included, in a detailed six page article. The Thunderbirds comic of the 1990s is covered too, as are the annuals, in other chapters. 

This really is a very impressive and well researched publication, essential for any fan of the classic series. At just £9.99 it's a bargain too. You'll find copies in Sainsburys, WH Smiths, and other retailers. 

Another Thunderbirds collection on its way

I noticed this ad in the latest Previews catalogue. It looks like Egmont are releasing a second volume of sixties Thunderbirds comic strips reprinted from TV21. (The first volume was published in 2013 and I reviewed it here.) The promo says it will feature "the first twelve comic strips" by Frank Bellamy. Those early three page strips originally appeared as a double page spread and a black and white page, so it'll be interesting to see how they paginate those. The spread will obviously have to be reprinted as a spread but what will appear on every fourth page opposite the black and white page? A classic TV21 cover perhaps? Time will tell, as the book is due in October.

Other Thunderbirds news today on the Down The Tubes website, regarding Bellamy art being used as prints on clothes! See here:
http://downthetubes.net/?p=24397

New Thunderbirds Annual

Here's the cover to the Thunderbirds Are Go! Annual 2016, the first annual based on the new series. Of course, there's a possibility this might not be the finalized cover but it's the one doing the rounds on bookseller's promotions so it may be. 

The 64 page hardback will be published by D.C. Thomson's Parragon company and should be available next month. I'm not sure if it'll contain any strips but it will feature photos and profiles from the new series currently airing on CiTV at 8.00 a.m. Saturdays.

TV21 goes football!

Early 1969 was a period of change for readers of British comics, and not for the better in the opinion of some. Eagle was merged into Lion, Smash! was changed beyond recognition into a traditional adventure comic and then on May 7th 1969 there was this cover. "TV21 goes football...in a big way!" 

Football United starts today! I remember my heart sinking at the sight of this headline. I'd only recently started buying TV21 again and found it to be great escapism compared to most other British comics, partly due to the absence of football. Sport was something you expected to see in Tiger or Lion, but the whole point of TV21 was that it was mostly set 100 years in the future, focused around the universe of Gerry Anderson shows. Admittedly that theme had been compromised considerably several months earlier with the absorption of TV Tornado, but its reinvention as a 'space and spy' comic was acceptable.

I've never been a fan of football so the inclusion of a football feature in TV21 was not only out of place but something I actually disliked and I soon dropped the comic. I suspect I wasn't the only one, as sales on the comic continued to fall, leading to a relaunch as TV21 and Joe 90 a few months later. (See here.)

In retrospect, despite the cover and the new footie feature, it was still business as usual inside so perhaps I over reacted when I stopped buying the comic. Let's take a look at the contents...

Pages 2 and 3 gave us Secret Agent 21, one of the mainstays of TV21. Not based on a TV show but part of the Anderson universe. I always liked Rab Hamilton's art on this...

Captain Scarlet, which at one time had been the cover feature of TV21 for months, had by now been demoted to a three page black and white strip. This week, - seagulls turned into Mysteron agents! Art by Jim Watson...

The Munsters, usually drawn by Paul Trevillion, was this week ghosted by Graham Allen...

Department S was a kind of 1960s X-Files but with rational explanations to the mysteries. Artwork by Carlos Pino...

Thunderbirds still dominated the centre pages with fantastic artwork by Frank Bellamy...

The Saint had two pages, with art by Carlos Pino I think...

Zero X was the only other full colour strip. Stunning artwork by the great Mike Noble, - and what a memorable cliffhanger!

Of course, the ever-present Corgi Model Club News was there on page 19...

The back page had an ad for a new ice lolly plus a half page feature on the fictitious mission to Saturn.  

All in all, it was still a great comic, but I still think the inclusion of football was a mistake and another nail in TV21's coffin that set it on a decline it never recovered from. The following year, TV21 and Joe 90 would big up the sport even more, with regular centrespread football team photos. Presumably they thought that was what the readers wanted, and admittedly kids were losing interest in space exploration so the publishers had to try something. However it didn't seem to halt the fall in sales. Eventually budget cuts would bring in reprints, poorer paper, and with TV21 a pale shadow of its former self it merged into Valiant in 1971. 

Pictorial Puppetry

In the late 1960s I used to have a weekly children's partwork magazine called Pictorial Knowledge. I recently came across my collection of them and thought this issue might be of interest to collectors of cult tv memorabilia. Pictorial Knowledge was a junior educational magazine covering pretty much everything it could, and one of the articles in this 1969 issue was on puppets. 

The Scott Tracy cover photo was a little misleading if anyone was expecting an article on Gerry Anderson, but the feature inside did include a couple of production shots. Too bad they refer to "Captain Scarlet of Thunderbirds" in the text. The article is quite lightweight but informative enough for the young readers it was intended for. Here it is...

Incidentally, you may have noticed that the cover price of 3/6d (17 and a half pence) was incredibly expensive for a 24 page magazine in 1969, when the average price of comics was 7d (3p) and the more in-depth Look and Learn was 1/6d (7 and a half pence). My parents were certainly not well off (we lived in a council house, my dad lost his job through ill health at this time, and my mum was only working part time) so I think my aunt must have bought it for me every week. At any rate, I lost interest in the mag after a year or so and switched to Look and Learn. Although that was mainly for the Trigan Empire comic strip I must admit.  

Thunderbirds Are Go: Full trailer released

A new trailer for Thunderbirds Are Go is expected to be shown on ITV today and you can also see it on You Tube now at this link:
http://youtu.be/6y2hFqgtjLk

Personally I think it looks great! Obviously a trailer with such fast cuts might not reflect how dramatic the actual episodes will be but it shows promise. So far it seems to have a good balance between updating the show whilst retaining enough of the classic elements to please older viewers. It definitely looks more 'Thunderbirds' than the dreadful live action movie of several years ago.

Here's one update that I'm sure will divide purists. It looks like Lady Penelope's FAB-1 has had a Supercar makeover and can now fly! I like it!

Thunderbirds Are Go debuts on CiTV next month I believe. There's still no word on the Thunderbirds Are Go magazine but I'll plug it as soon as I'm able to.