Century 21: Classic Comic Strips From The Worlds Of Gerry Anderson Vol. 4: Above And Beyond edited by Chris Bentley (graphic novel review).

These ‘Century 21: Classic Comic Strips’ volumes collect reprints from the famous ‘TV Century 21’ British comic (later just TV21) that first came out in 1965. We produce them on high-quality paper using scans of the original artwork, not the comics, ensuring a more elegant display of those pictures. Here’s what you get in volume 4. I include details about the writers, artists, and original publications for aficionados. The issue dates are a century ahead of the actual release, as the comic was pretending to be a newspaper from the future.

Captain Scarlet: ‘Unity.’. Script by Angus P. Allan. The artwork was created by Ron Embleton. Originally published in TV Century 21 #141-149, September-November 2067. When the Mysterons vow to destroy Unity City, Spectrum must defend it at all costs. Interesting and useful that Captain Scarlet sweats and feels ill when in the presence of Mysterons, so he’s alerted when they take over one of Angel Flight’s planes. Although the story is a solid adventure, I found Embleton’s art to be too dark in certain places, which sometimes made the opening captions unreadable against the background colour. Also, the two-page layout with panels spanning the middle means that some text is lost in the seam in book format. It wouldn’t have happened with the original thin comic. This is a minor flaw with all these volumes.

Fireball XL5: ‘Timeslip.’. Alan Fennell wrote the script. Mike Noble created the artwork. Originally published in TV Century 21, #44-51, November-January 2066. XL5 flies to Neptune and back to test a new booster engine, but when they return, Space City has vanished! The title gives away the reason, and it reminded me of the original series ‘Star Trek’ episode ‘Tomorrow Is Yesterday,’ first aired on 26 January 1967, a year after this. Were Paramount stealing ideas from TV21? Probably not. Mike Noble’s art is very clear and easy to follow, and there’s a good joke at the end.

Thunderbirds: ‘Destination Sun.’. Alan Fennell wrote the screenplay for the film. Art by Frank Bellamy and Don Harley. Originally published in TV Century 21, #83-98, August-December 2066. Unusual sun activity is causing high temperatures and natural disasters on Earth, so Brains adapts Thunderbird 3 to investigate. The story evolves into a battle against monsters in the sulphur lakes of Venus, which was a welcome change, and Frank Bellamy’s artwork is consistently visually appealing.

Stingray: ‘The Flying Fish.’. Dennis Hooper wrote the script. Ron Embleton created the artwork. Originally published in TV Century 21 #52-57, January–February 2066. While working as a spy at Marineville HQ, Ernest Halvic used their resources to develop a new weapon, which he gave to the fishmen of Titanica. The Flying Fish, according to the evil dictator Titan, has the power to destroy all shipping weeks and one marine week. It’s unclear how one marine week differs from a surface week, but never mind. It’s clever how the scripters conspired to have a small cliffhanger at the end of every two-page episode, in this case with door jamming and engines not firing. The artwork meets the usual high standard.

Zero-X: ‘The Ghosts of Saturn.’. Script by Angus P Allan. Art by Mike Noble Originally published in TV Century 21 # 122-129, May-July 2067. The theme is the crazed inventor who loves his robot more than humanity. Professor Brian Trent possesses his Techmobile, a mobile computer designed to collect and analyse scientific data, and it resembles a tin spider. Compared to it, ‘human beings are little momorons.’. n snivelling morons’. Zero-X is a giant spaceship built for exploration. On a mission to Saturn, something takes control of the Techmobile, and it takes control of Zero-X. Adventure ensues.

Thunderbirds: ‘The Quake Maker.’ The script was written by Scott Goodall. The artwork was created by Frank Bellamy. Originally published in TV Century 21 #141-146, September-November 2067. Several earthquakes occur in a pattern that is clearly unnatural, keeping International Rescue very busy. Bellamy employs a single-page layout in this instance to ensure the centrefold remains intact. The art is beautiful as always, but it is often obscured by the dark colours. Why draw lovely pictures and then make them hard to see? It might be a printing issue.

Captain Scarlet: ‘Satellite 4.’. Script by Angus P Allan. The artwork was created by Ron Embleton. Originally published in TV Century 21 # 155-157, January 2068. The Mysterons take control of Spectrum’s communication satellite and turn it into a deadly ultrasonic weapon. Some of the art is in black and white, and it looks fine. Ron Embleton painted the scenes used at the end of the “Captain Scarlet” television show.

Fireball XL5: ‘The Sword Of Damocles.’. Script by Angus P Allan. Mike Noble created the artwork. Originally published in TV Century 21, #71-78, May-July 2066. When the black ships attack Freighter 203, destined for Earth, XL5 intervenes. Pirate leader Damacles, who can’t spell his own name properly, decides to capture Steve Zodiac’s ship and copy its superior technology. Mike Noble’s art is very clear again with solid storytelling.

UFO: ‘The Movies.’ Dennis Hooper wrote the script. Martin Asbury created the artwork. Countdown #47 first published the story in January 1972. A clever script in which an alien trying to go home gets confused between real life and the movies with beautiful black-and-white art by Martin Asbury. He went on to a very successful career in movies, doing storyboards for many excellent films, as well as the ‘Garth’ newspaper strip for over twenty years.

Gerry Anderson reprints are available from different publishers in various formats at variable prices; some are crazy. This set from Reynolds and Hearn was reasonably priced when issued, but for some reason, the publisher failed. They cost more now. Other collections, usually ‘Thunderbirds,’ go for a few pounds on eBay. The stories are ordinary, though good fun, and the introductions by editor Chris Bentley are full of interesting trivia, but they work best as art books, or is it just nostalgia for Boomers? Well, I liked it.

Eamonn Murphy

January 2025

(pub:‎ Reynolds & Hearn Ltd., 2010. 160 page softcover graphic novel. Price: varies. ISBN:‎ 978-1-90467-415-3).