Staff Pick (Apr09): Gerry Anderson’s TV 21: Adventures In The 21st Century Volumes 1 & 2

Oh to be a kid watching TV in the early ’60s; you had Roy Rogers, Hopalong Cassidy, The Adventures of Superman, and on Saturdays, you had Astro Boy, Tobor The 8^th Man, Supercar and Fireball XL5. Back then we didn’t know the origins of these shows (Heck, we didn’t even know what anime or manga was yet!), and we sure didn’t know what “Supermarionation” was back then. We definitely didn’t think outside the box with the black-and-white picture screen.

These days, we all know about Gerry Anderson’s puppet shows, or can easily find out about them via the Internet. But finding out that there were comic strips about these British TV icons — and tracking them down — was a collector’s nightmare on a par with attempting to collect the entire run of DC’s Sugar & Spike! (No easy task, believe me!)

But Thanks to Reynolds & Hearns Ltd., fans of Thunderbirds, Supercar, Fireball XL5 and Gerry Anderson’s other shows, can now treat themselves to these classic UK adventure strips presented in full-color, and featuring the top names in British comics history — Frank Bellamy, Ron Embleton, Don Harley and Mike Noble.

Adventure in the 21st Century Volumes 1 and 2, edited by Chris Bentley and authorized and supervised by Gerry Anderson himself, are worthwhile additions to your comics library. These strips, along with Modesty Blaise, Dan Dare, and 2000AD, influenced generations of comic creators.

See PREVIEWS page 284.