Thunderbirds Comic Anthology Volume 1 and 2 - Anderson Entertainment's reprints

Volume Two. Cover by Lee Sullivan

It's arrived! The second volume of the complete reprinting of all Frank Bellamy's "Thunderbirds" stories from TV21 comic...well nearly all. I'll explain shortly, I neglected to review Volume One so that appears at the end of this article especially as most of what I want to say applies to both.

CONTENTS of Volume Two

•      Feature: Thunderbirds in TV Century 21 - 1967
• Operation Earthquake Issues #118 - #124 (22 April to 3 June 1967) 
• Tracy Island Exposed Issues #125 - #129 (10 June to 8 July 1967) 
• The Revolution Issues #130 - #136 (15 July to 26 August 1967) 
• The Space Mirror Issues #137 - #140 (2 September to 23 September 1967) 
•      Feature: In Profile - Frank Bellamy
• The Earthquake Maker Issues #141 - #146 (30 September to 4 November 1967) 
• Visitor from Space Issues #147 - #154 (11 November to 30 December 1967) 
• The Antarctic Menace Issues #155 - #161 (6 January to 17 February 1968) 
• Brains is Dead Issues #162 - #169 (24 February to 13 April 1968) 
•      Feature: Thunderbirds in TV Century 21 - 1968
• The Space Cannon Issues #170 - #172 (20 April to 4 May 1968) 
• The Olympic Kidnap Plot Issues #173 - #178 (11 May to 15 June 1968) 
• Revolt on Jupiter Issues #179 - #183 (22 June to 20 July 1968) 
• Devil's Crag Issues #184 - #187 (27 July to 17 August 1968) 
• The Eiffel Tower Demolition Issues #188 - #191 (24 August to 14 September 1968) 
• The Nuclear Threat Issues #192 - #196 (21 September to 19 October 1968)
•      Feature: In Profile - Scott Goodall
• The Hawaiian Lobster Menace Issues #197 - #202 (26 October to 30 November 1968)
• The Time Machine Issues #203 - #208 (7 December 1968 to 11 January 1969)
• The Zoo Ship Issues #209 - #217 (18 January to 15 March 1969)
•      Feature: Thunderbirds in TV Century 21 - 1969
• City of Doom Issues #218 - #226 (22 March to 17 May 1969)
• Chain Reaction Issues #227 - #234 (24 May to 12 July 1969)
• Jungle Adventure Issues #235 - #238 (19 July to 9 August 1969)
• Danger in the Deep Issues #239 - #242 (16 August to 6 September 1969)
•      Feature: Annual Assignments

As you can see there are six features interspersed between Thunderbirds stories and I like what Fred McNamara has done in describing the changes in story content from year to year - covered by this reprint. The two page biography of Frank Bellamy is sparse but welcome, however Swift was not seen as "girls-orientated" - that would be Girl. Swift was for younger readers than Eagle. I'm glad to see Fred McNamara has corrected an earlier error he made in an online article and returned Bellamy to the Royal Artillery (and not the RAF!). He must get credit for apologising for his "Nancy Wilson" error in Volume One of these reprints - nice touch! I enjoyed the articles which are very well-written and some insights are useful. I was surprised the Thunderbirds Annuals - mentioned in an article reviewing the contents - were not illustrated as TV21 covers had been shown in Volume One. But perhaps space constraints led to this omission. 

Now to my main concern with both volumes. It's the colour.  TV21 changed printing but not printer later in its initial run and the decline in quality from shiny glossy paper to a 'flat' paper was obvious, even to a kid like me at the time. With each reprint of Thunderbirds we see a few issues: the loss of the centre of a two page centre-spread and the murky colours presented. If we compare some of the previous reprints one can see the problem. BUT I must state I am absolutely no expert in this area. I have merely scanned each piece on an A4 Epson scanner without changing any settings or cropping etc.. 

TV21 #163 p.10

TV21 #163 p.10 Original FADED artwork

TV21 #163 p.10from Egmont's Thunderbirds Volume 2 

 

TV21 #163 p.10 from Thunderbirds Comic Anthology Volume Two

I think the nearest to the original might be Ravette's Thunderbirds: Shock Wave and I suspect they lightened all the artwork. We can see the burial in space with the figures clearly visible.

TV21 #163 p.10 from Thunderbirds:Shockwave

As I've said many times I know that viewing anything on a monitor versus the printed output are different and a digital scan versus the original photographed artwork reproduced in photogravure is different again!

Tim Keable kindly gave me permission to show his photo of the original artwork for the next page showing a huge Hood portrait. 

Photo of the original art for page 11 of TV21 #163

Compare this to the scan I made of the same in the volume discussed here - I realise it's not a fair comparison but I wanted to show those who have never seen Bellamy's original artwork how clear his colours were compared to some of the original printing and later reprints.

Page 105

and the Ravette version... 

TV21 #163 p.11 from Thunderbirds:Shockwave

Again I realise how much work has gone into this production and don't want to appear mean, I just would love to see a 'cleaner' brighter version which shows off Bellamy's artwork at its best. Unfortunately as any cursory read of this blog shows, many originals are faded so - although we might see the linework - the colours are gone or near gone on so many originals.

So the PROS are that we have an almost complete reprint of Frank Bellamy's Thunderbirds comic strip in these two volumes - we are still waiting for TV21 & Joe 90 #1-4 (27 September 1969 - 18 October 1969) - the start of the new series before Bellamy left altogether - will this appear in another volume from Anderson Entertainment reprinting the 38 stories from TV21 & Joe90?. The issue with the centre gutter soon disappears as Bellamy changed his art to be two separate pages in lieu of a centre-spread of two pages. It's great to be able to grab two books and get all the stories in one place. The CONS are basically the colours, although they emulate many other reprintings in this, I wish they had been lightened more. 

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS (Volume Two)

• Features writer and researcher: Fred McNamara
• Layout and strip restoration: Robert Hammond
• Cover art: Lee Sullivan
• Cover design: Robert Hammond
• Publisher: Anderson Entertainment 
• Format: Hardcover (printed), 304 x 228 mm (portrait)
• Pagination: 248 pages
• Publishing Date: June 2026 
• ISBN: 9781917142151 
• Price: £37.99 

 Order from Anderson Entertainment store

 Thunderbirds Comic Anthology Volume One

Cover by Lee Sullivan

CONTENTS OF VOLUME ONE

•      Feature: 21st Century Elegance 
•  Mr. Steelman Issues #1–#11 (23 January to 3 April 1965) Artist: Eric Eden. 
• Behind Enemy Lines Issues #12–#18 (10 April to 22 May 1965) Artist: Eric Eden. 
• The Astran Assassination Issue #19 (29 May 1965) Artist: Eric Eden. 
• Mr. Steelman Strikes Back Issues #20–#34 (5 June to 11 September 1965) Artist: Eric Eden. 
•      Feature: In Profile – Eric Eden 
•  The Isle of Arran Riddle Issues #35–#43 (18 September to 13 November 1965) Artist: Eric Eden.
• The Vanishing Ray Issues #44–#51 (20 November 1965 to 8 January 1966) Artist: Eric Eden.
•      Feature: In Profile – Alan Fennell 
•      Feature: Rescue Stations 
• Blazing Danger Issues #52–#58 (15 January to 26 February 1966)
• Mission to Africa Issues #59-#65 (5 March to 16 April 1966)
• Talons of the Eagle Issues #66-#72 (23 April to 4 June 1966)
•      Feature: Renegades, Gambles & Outlaws
• Atlantic Tunnel Issues #73-#82 (11 June to 13 August 1966)
• Solar Danger Issues #83-#98 (20 August to 3 December 1966) Artists: Frank Bellamy (#83-#92); Don Harley (#93-#98)
• The Big Freeze Issues #99-#104 (10 December 1965 to 14 January 1966)
• Operation Depthprobe Issues #105-#109 (21 January to 18 February 1967)
• The Trapped Spy Issues #110-#117 (25 February to 15 April 1967)
•      Feature: Targeted Hardbacks 

This volume starts with the TV21 "Lady Penelope" stories drawn by the excellent Eric Eden and then we get to the actual "Thunderbirds" strip reprints. From TV21 #52 through to #117 we see the Bellamy illustrated stories and for the first eight (presented here) the problem is the same as with many reprints of such comics. The centrespread of a comic is difficult to reprint properly as stuff gets lost in the margins of the gutter. Recently Book Palace bravely reprinted "Wrath of the Gods" from Boy's World (together with Bellamy's "Ghost World") in a landscape fold-out, thus avoiding the problem. In their "Heros the Spartan" reprint, Book Palace "doubled up" the edges of the pages that fell in the gutter so nothing was lost. But I have to say it's a universal problem when reprinting centrespreads. The word balloons all appear to be replaced with clear lettering and I'm guessing that any anomalies in the scanning process meant Robert Hammond has had to correct them, i.e. folds, tears etc. For some reason the blurbs at the bottom of pages ("Next Episode" announcements) have been deleted (except for the issue #91's "Tommy Buster" advert). An opportunity missed in my opinion. They could have also included the Secret Agent code - especially as the aim is to highlight the wonderful world of Alan Fennell's editing and immersion in the Anderson productions. 

Errors have crept into the features, for example - the worst - on page 123, Bellamy's wife is called Nancy Wilson - her maiden name was not even Wilson, let alone her married name! [CORRECTED in Volume Two above] In the feature on the published annuals the images for the TV21 1967 and 1968 annuals are mixed up. I wondered why a gallery of annuals and "targeted hardbacks" - as Gerry Anderson associated titles are called here - could not be shown when a small gallery of TV21 covers are! maybe I'm being too critical as space constraints must have had some part to play. 

Overall, a nice production with added features of interest.  

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DETAILS (Volume One)

• Features writer and researcher: Fred McNamara
• Layout and strip restoration: Robert Hammond
• Cover art: Lee Sullivan
• Cover design: Robert Hammond
• Publisher: Anderson Entertainment 
• Format: Hardcover (printed), 304 x 228 mm (portrait)
• Pagination: 296 pages
• Publishing Date: September 2025 
• ISBN: 97819171422106 
• Price: £37.99 

Frank Bellamy inspired various artists

 K-9 ANNUAL 1983

If you don't know K-9 he is a Doctor Who character who first appeared in 1977 and went on to appear in The Sarah Jane Adventures 2007-2010. The K9 Annual 1983 (published in August 1982) was created to capitalise on the anticipated success of a full television series featuring the robot dog K9 from Doctor Who, which didn't materialise - except for one episode.

K-9 Annual 1983 cover

 

K-9 Annual 1983 Contents

Does one of those images look familiar? Well, here it is from Frank Bellamy’s run on "Heros the Spartan" from Eagle Volume 15 number 31. The artist is apparently Glenn Rix who drew many World Distributors Annuals at the time. Some of the other images show Bellamy's influence on him, where he uses the Bellamy technique of 'swirls' 

I want to bring together various pieces today which don't really deserve an article to themselves, so I hope you'll bear with me. Most have been sent to me either via email or on Facebook. Thanks to all my correspondents!

Eagle Vol.15:No.31 1 August 1964 pp10-11

 

Glenn Rix 'swirling' art in K-9 Annual 1983

BOYS ADVENTURE ANNUAL 1984 

Next we have "Boys Adventure Annual 1984", an oddity published by Opal Quill Limited - who I know nothing about, except they also published these titles: "Mighty Heroes Annual 1984" (a rip-off of Doctor Solar on the cover) with "The Fearless Roldan and Astroman" which I don't recognise but suspect is a re-packaging (and translating) of Spanish comics.  Both can easily be found to purchase on eBay as can the other titles:."My Bedtime Story Annual 1984", "My Nursery Rhyme Annual 1984", "My Storytime Annual 1984", "My Cartoon Annual 1984", and "My Trains & Planes Annual 1984".  "My Football Heroes Annual 1984" and "Modern Girl Annual 1984" are two which look to be packaged in the UK as their content needed that more than the other annuals. It does look as if the rarer annuals are "Mighty Heroes Annual 1985", "My Christmas Annual 1985", "My Fairytale Annual 1985", "Black Beauty Annual 1985" - no relation to the TV series of the 1970s. The logo on the spine was a dump or tipper truck, which is odd too.

Anyway this is a blog about Bellamy, so here's the artwork in question. The western characters are taken from Frank Bellamy's drawing for "Garth" in the Daily Mirror from the episode numbered G154. See the comparison below.

Boys Adventure Annual 1984

 

"Ghost Town" G154, Daily Mirror

 ARABIAN ADVENTURE

 A couple of websites tell me the artist for this movie poster is Michael Vaughn. Can anyone confirm this for me please? He was obviously inspired by Frank Bellamy in one place - the Skarasen

Arabian Adventure (1979)

Look closely at the creature just below the title - which to my knowledge does not appear in the film, except as a statue that belches fire! - does it look familiar?

Radio Times (30 August 1975 - 5 September 75)
Doctor Who - Terror of the Zygons

 It's the Skarasen or commonly called the Loch Ness monster which appeared in Tom Baker's reign as the Doctor! The story was titled "The Terror of the Zygons"

Frank Bellamy and Look and Learn: New discovery - Castaways

 

Cropped image - see below

In issue 414 (20 December 1969) Look and Learn began a short series - featured on the cover by the wonderful Angus McKie - called "Castaways". They introduced the feature with this paragraph: 

Alexander Selkirk was the most famous castaway of them all. After quarrelling with his captain in 1704, he asked to be put ashore on an island and remained there alone for over four years. From his experiences came Robinson Crusoe, the great novel by Daniel Defoe which immortalised the notion of the castaway. Because Robinson Crusoe has now become an almost legendary character, it has often been taken for granted that no other men suffered as he did. In fact there were a number of castaways, whose stories are just as enthralling as the story of Alexander Selkirk's. This week we begin a new series, telling the stories of these forgotten men....

 The first episode concerned the wreck of the Eclipse where survivors found they had come ashore at Sanak Island, which is at the south-western tip of Alaska. At that time, Alaska and the neighbouring islands belonged to the Russian Empire. Read more here. The second in the series (#415) was Philip Ashton who was captured by pirates before escaping to a Caribbean island. The third tale (#416) was about Pedro Serrano who was the sole survivor of a shipwreck off Central America - both images that appeared in L&L can be viewed on the L&L website. The fourth story (#417) tells of William Mann who found himself in the Marianas. Look and Learn have a transcript of the whole article plus one of the accompanying images by artist Graham Coton. 

In issue #418 (17 January 1970) we read about the steamship U.S.S. Saginaw which was working on the Midway Islands and decided to head to the nearby Kure Island but became caught in treacherous currents and smashed in total darkness on - they found out later - Kure Island. After an unsuccessful attempt to get drinking water one seaman suggested creating a condenser from the steamer's boiler but they knew to escape the lonely place they'd need to build a boat and sail 1,200 miles south east to Hawaii.  A boat was built and a crew of 5 men headed out. They were apparently blown off course several times but eventually washed up in violent seas and one man survived to alert the authorities. The crew of the Saginaw had been stuck for 68 days before being rescued and the only casualties were the four men in the skiff. 

 

Look And Learn #418 (17 January 1970), pp.6-7 by Frank Bellamy

Now here comes a surprise. The above black and white page is drawn by Frank Bellamy! How do I know? Well, see if you can follow the facts below.

On 30 January 1970 Nancy Bellamy paid two cheques into the bank. 

The first she called "Capt Cook L&L" which we know was full colour and appeared in issue #422 (14 February 1970) for which Bellamy was paid £50. 

The second cheque was for £18/18/- - i.e. 18 guineas and Nancy titled that one "Look and Learn / Shipwrecked". I'll come back to that in a moment. Then on 3 March 1970 she paid in a large cheque for £177/10/- and stated this was for "Look and Learn First World War, 1,2, 3 and Castaways £20".

Well let's get some publication dates on these items:

• LOOK AND LEARN  418 (17 January 1970): "Castaways"
• LOOK AND LEARN 422 (14 February 1970): "The Man and the Moment: James Cook"
• LOOK AND LEARN 437 - 462 (30 May 1970 - 21 November 1970): "The Story of World War One" (and #1,2,3 were specifically published in 30 May to 13 June 1970)

The cheques are out of order - sort of - so what could that mysterious "Shipwrecked" I mentioned be? The payment of £20 is just under half of the colour double-page rate for Captain Cook, so the above B&W drawing is likely to be the one. Just look at the way the rocks are drawn, the composition of the figures struggling against the waves,  even their shadows are included, notice the explosions of wave formations. If you are able to see the rest of "The Castaways" series you'll see a variety of art styles, but this one, once focussed on, is Frank Bellamy's work. 

But that still leaves us with the mystery of what is the 18 guineas for "Shipwrecked"? Where was it published? I checked all the Look and Learn magazines from August 1969 to April 1970 I couldn't find anything resembling Bellamy's handiwork. I then had inspiration and checked the Look And Learn Book 1970 and 1971. No joy! There was a later series called "Shipwreck" which appeared between 28 November 1971 to 23 January 1971 but again I don't think any are illustrated by Bellamy.

I asked my friend Steve Holland and he wrote back to me:

"My guess is that he illustrated two episodes of 'The Castaways' -- issues 414 and 418 -- but I wouldn't have guessed they were Bellamy. The second illustration in issue 414 isn't by the same artist as the first."

 So here it is so you can decide. .

Look And Learn #414 (20 December 1969), pp.6-7

I spoke to Paul Holder too and he thinks that the only Bellamy is #418 as stated above. But then he suggested that the amount of £18 guineas compared to the £20 suggested something else..

 

If you scroll back up and look at "The Castaways" heading, it could be that the series title was going to be "Shipwrecked" - after all that was used later in the year - and then at the last minute changed to the title above and that Bellamy drew the header! Now that's a really hard one to call as it's reproduced in each episode at such a small size that even scanning at hi-resolution and enlarging it on my screen doesn't convince me (or Paul for that matter!) but that was our best shot. However, and there's always a however, looking at the episode in issue 415 there's the exact ship which appears in the header, just reversed! Admittedly there is a bit of landscape added to the header but I've no idea who drew that! The L&L site has these two images but could not suggest an artist's name, and nor can I. If anyone wants to have a guess, do let me know, because at first I 'saw' Millar Watt, but I don't think it's him

Look And Learn #415 (27 December 1969), pp.6-7

What do you think? 

 

So we solve one puzzle and introduce another. Any Look and Learn fans want to check my research and tell me they think they know of a 'Shipwrecked' image is by Bellamy? I'd love to hear any theories. maybe it was never published? 

AUCTION: Robin Hood page from Swift 1956

 

Lot#118 "Robin Hood" from Swift Vol 3: 23 (9 June 1956)

Compal auctions have their latest auction up at TheSaleroom and their own webpage. This time we have a Robin Hood page from Swift - drawn in his expert fashion by Frank Bellamy.

Malcolm of Compal describes the lot:

Lot #118:
Robin Hood original artwork by Frank Bellamy from Swift Vol 3 No 23, 9 June 1956 (with original comic)
Robin encounters Little John in battle for the first time
Indian ink and grey wash on board, 21 x 15 ins
£350-450

As this is the second page of the two page story from that issue allow me to show you the first page

"Robin Hood" from Swift Vol 3: 23 (9 June 1956)

How have sales gone before?  On 9 May this year, one sold for £550 and two months earlier, one sold for £450. I love the one at auction this time as it has the famous Little John confrontation. 

The auction ends on Sunday 14 June when I'll add the end result below and add it to the spreadsheet.

 

AUCTION SUMMARY

"ROBIN HOOD" Swift Vol. 3:23 (9 June 1956) (Lot 118)

WHERE?: Compal/TheSaleroom
Estimate: £350-£450
Opening Bid: £320
ENDING PRICE: £580
END DATE: Sunday 14 June 2026

Frank Bellamy - Birthday Tribute

Today is Frank Bellamy's birthday - he was born on 21 May 1917 and left us far too soon. 

His influence has not waned over the years. In an interview published just yesterday Alan Moore mentions him in passing! But today I want to concentrate on how Bellamy's artwork is used by others. We've already looked at Al Williamson and Wally Wood, but today we are specifically looking at the 1994 Thunderbirds comic, drawn in this particular story by Mike White. We can see how the late Mike White 'borrowed' Bellamy images in his own quite lovely artwork. Finding which TV21s they came from has been quite an exercise, but Paul Holder was a great help, giving me most of these references. Showing Mike White's art alongside Frank Bellamy's allows us to marvel once again at how respected and loved Frank Bellamy's artwork is. Enjoy Frank's birthday with me by looking more closely at his wonderful Thunderbirds art - his most reprinted work.

The three issue story "The Virus" appeared in The New Thunderbirds 5 August 1994 -  19 August 1994 (#73-75).  I present the whole story here to show how influential Bellamy's artwork is, so I hope the copyright holders won't mind my overview for academic study, but should that not be the case, please let me know! 

The New Thunderbirds #73 p.3

The above page contains images from the following TV21s.  

• Thunderbird 3 from TV21 #181
• Thunderbird 1from TV21 #154?
• Thunderbird 5 from TV21 #52? 

TV21 #181

TV21 #154

TV21 #52

The next page in The New Thunderbirds #73 is page 4 

The New Thunderbirds #73 p.4

Here we have

• The top Thunderbird 1 from TV21 #61
• The middle Thunderbird 1 from TV21 #62
• The bottom Thunderbird 1 from TV21 #219

TV21 #61

TV21 #2

TV21 #219

The next page in The New Thunderbirds #73 is page 5

The New Thunderbirds #73 p.5

The only thing we could match here was the Thunderbird 1 which we think came from TV21 #140

TV21 #140

Here's page 6 of the story. Can you find the craft in TV21s and let me know?  

The New Thunderbirds #73 p.6

Then we move onto The New Thunderbirds #74 is page 3  

The New Thunderbirds #74 p.3

• The Hood comes from TV21 #214
• The Thunderbird 1 on the bottom left comes from TV21 #53 (the second ever episode of Thunderbirds) 

TV21 #214

TV21 #53

The next page in The New Thunderbirds #74 is page 4

The New Thunderbirds #74 p.4

•  The Thunderbird 5 comes from TV21 #137

TV21 #137

Here's page 5 of the The New Thunderbirds #74. Can you spot where these came from?

The New Thunderbirds #74 p.5

Then we come to page 6

The New Thunderbirds #74 p.6

• Thunderbird 4 comes from TV21 #211
• Thunderbird 2 (modified) from TV21 #235
• Thunderbird 2 (final panel) also comes from TV21 #235  

TV21 #211

TV21 #235

Here's page 3 of the The New Thunderbirds #75. 

The New Thunderbirds #75 p.3

• Thunderbird 5 from TV21 #194

TV21 #194

The next page in The New Thunderbirds #75 is page 4 

The New Thunderbirds #75 p.4

• Thunderbird 3 from TV21 #179
• Thunderbird 5 from TV21 #210 

TV21 #179

 

TV21 #210

The New Thunderbirds #75 is page 5

The New Thunderbirds #75 p.5

• The missile in TV21 #89 - note the explosion by White (above) and the one by Bellamy (below) - no attempt to copy the master here (However I've shown Al Williamson had a very good go!)! 

TV21 #89

Finally we have page 6 of The New Thunderbirds #75, which I'll leave you to discover for yourself!

The New Thunderbirds #75 p.6

John Freeman's excellent site DownTheTubes featured an obituary for Mike White with links to other tributes. I'm very grateful to Shaqui Le Vesconte for confirming the artwork was by Mike White, as he is not credited anywhere else for the Thunderbirds work, that I could find. 

I hope that he gets his day in the sun if Jamie Anderson, son of the late Gerry Anderson, publishes reprints of the 1990s Thunderbird original strips in his ongoing comic anthology series. So far we have seen Thunderbirds Comic Anthology Volume One (with Lee Sullivan's artwork on the cover) and Volume Two is coming out any time now and can be pre-ordered on his website. Again we see Bellamy's work still being enjoyed.

Finally, and just because Paul Holder reminded me, the image below started out as a birthday card. Back in 2011 I showed the image Bellamy drew for Dez Skinn of a western gunfighter. Here's the photo taken by Frank Bellamy as a record of his work. Scroll down this page (on Frank's influence!) to read how Bellamy knew he made a mistake in this artwork! 

"Western Gunfighter" taken from a photo of the art by Bellamy

Happy Birthday Frank. You are never forgotten!