Thunderbirds Comic Anthology Volume One (graphic novel review).
The first thing I tend to do with any art or graphic novel book is a flick through. The biggest smile on my face was seeing the complete run of ‘Lady Penelope’ in ‘TV21’ and many extras amid the ‘Thunderbirds’ 3-page strip. They have included a fourth page in each issue that features a comic about disasters from that time, ensuring that the Thunderbirds format remains intact without any empty pages.
For those of you who have never seen TV21 before – and there must be some of you who fit this description – the opening two pages typically feature a double spread. There are also other extras, like merchandise promotions. Can we see photos of them all sometime, along with details of the launches of Thunderbirds One, Two, and Four? I imagine the blueprints from the 1965 ‘Thunderbirds Annual’ of the vehicles will be kept for volume 2. Oh, did someone forget that this year is ‘Thunderbirds’ 60th anniversary? It’s evident how much I’ve grown since I first saw these blueprints.
What is fascinating about reading Penelope again is how much we accepted what she says. Telling Parker that she’s a special agent but not connected to Britain’s security services was acceptable back then but doesn’t explain her training or toys. It’s only much later that we realise FAB 1 might be a Brains design, but a later story seems to indicate this is also not so. What other engineering genius is there out there? The fact that she has other agents, even if we only see Roger Lyon in the first tale, is rarely developed upon.
Having Parker as her manservant/chauffeur with his talent for opening locks might well be seen as both cover and him being more able in that department than her ladyship. The body count is casually passed over but unusual in a children’s comic in the UK. Perhaps adding ‘ruthless’ to her talents might have made sense. Interestingly, from the second story on, we see the unnamed Fireflash used for transportation abroad. This does tend to work against the pilot episode of ‘Thunderbirds’, but it could be an earlier version.
It’s only with the third story that the Fireflash is named. The fourth story also introduces the Hood and Jeff Tracy, which dispels the idea that, unless he did it covertly, Brains did not design the pink Rolls Royce and her toys, so in many respects I think it’s safer to assume that, like with all comic strips, they have separate histories from the TV version. To be fair to writer Alan Fennell, he was probably working blind to what was being done with ‘Thunderbirds’ beyond the episodes he was scripting, having written ‘Lady Penelope’ long before them.
Something that is missing but I expect will appear in the second volume is the full-page/half-page photo pin-ups of each Thunderbird and pilot in TV21 leading up to its first story. There’s a piece focusing on the ‘TV21 Annuals’, although not the ‘Thunderbirds Annuals’. I suspect that will also be in volume 2, or things would be sparse there, although as there’s a bet we’ll see the blueprints of the vehicles there, it shouldn’t be missed.
With the ‘Thunderbirds’ strips themselves, the double-page spread still has the problem of the central crease compressing word balloons, but that’s been a problem with all the TB reprints. With my review hat on and looking at the contrasts between the strip and TV version, the former is a little militaristic. I mean, with the third story, ‘Talons Of The Eagle’, when they have a problem with the 272X, a new USAF prototype aeroplane they couldn’t detect, Jeff Tracy orders it found and captured so they can examine its jamming equipment. When you consider, as a comparison,‘Terror In New York’, where all it took was a phone call to Washington to stop the USN Sentinel from firing missiles at Thunderbird 2. Granted, a better jamming device is a different problem, but you would think looking for its plans, perhaps a little less dramatically, would have been less complicated, or how the 272X could be detected by its own base. A secret aeroplane missing for two days would have had the USAF on red alert. Also, by this time in their comic book career, International Rescue is known. They might not have photographs, but a description and their speeds must surely have been on record.
With some eight ‘Thunderbirds’ stories, it’s difficult to pick favourites. Undoubtedly, editor/writer Alan Fennell felt the maximum usage of all the Thunderbirds was essential. In that respect, in the story ‘Atlantic Tunnel’, no TBs actually appeared for a couple of weeks, and then it was full hog for the rest of the story. It was also Bellamy’s opportunity to do a lot of machinery. Having an underground tunnel under the Atlantic from the UK to the USA is a massive undertaking, although it is not explained why they could sell off parts of the nearby area for exploitation. The Tracys, probably through a cut-off company, need one because they need the mineral mozatinum for its indestructible properties and its rarity. This story also brings back the Hood, and through his control of Kyrano, he learns of it and gets the accompanying excavation claim, ignoring it to undermine them.
Oddly, the story following, ‘Solar Danger’, starts off reasonably with Thunderbird 3 being used to resolve a problem of matter being shot out of the sun, but damage to the spaceship has it crashing on Venus. Back in the day, it was still thought possible to have some habitation under its clouds before some spacecraft were sent to do a proper look. Even so, the story contends it has sulphuric lakes and is not particularly hospitable for humans. The thing is, the other Thunderbirds are then equipped to fly in space in short order to the rescue. Thunderbird 2 taking longer to get there is also unreasonable because in space, size wouldn’t have been a problem. Even as a youngster it felt odd. The animated ‘Thunderbirds Are Go’ did an odd plan like that with their rescue of Jeff Tracy at the end of their series, which gave me similar problems. Outside of Thunderbird 3, there would have been big problems making the cabins airtight enough for space and for them to live outside of their spacesuits for those little things like eating, drinking and defecation.
One of the strengths of Alan Fennell’s writing is addressing problems like ‘The Trapped Sky’, where a USS spy is trapped in a cave in Bereznik and Jeff Tracy refuses International Rescue to save him as they avoid politics. So the USS stages a problem to rescue the Bereznik’s leader’s daughter. To complicate things, one of his generals is planning to assassinate his leader, captures Gordon and dresses his assassin in his uniform. The result is undoubtedly a complicated story for teens with some nice twists.
Finally, a look at other Century 21 and other company books on the various series. These days, getting hold of annuals is relatively easy, but I’ve rarely seen these coming to light.
As you note from above, I’m second-guessing a lot of what will be in the second volume and, if the annuals and specials are kept separate, probably guessing the third volume contents as well.
A big problem with acquiring all the original TV Century 21 comics is the expense, let alone getting decent copies, although I do have some as a second collection. Although the ‘Thunderbirds’ strip has been reprinted a lot over the years, the ‘Lady Penelope’ strips and having them as a collective definitely less so. I suspect, regardless of how many copies you have, you will buy this book. It’s Thunderbirds alone that is a key selling point, and the extras will fill you in with a lot of extra details. The length of this review should make my own enthusiasm clear.
GF Willmetts
September 2025
(pub: Anderson Entertainment, 2025. 296 page graphic novel large hardback. Price: £37.99 (UK). ISBN: 978-1-917142-10-6).
check out website: www.gerryanderson.com and https://gerryanderson.com/products/thunderbirds-comic-anthology-volume-one-hardcover
