And so ends the first Hook Jaw adventure. Surprisingly it took a break of two weeks before a new story began, I can only assume that the artwork was not ready. We may come back to the new adventure at some point in the future, but a new feature will begin next Monday.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 27,920Chief of Staff
With TV Century 21 being a huge success and celebrating its first anniversary in early 1966 it launched a spin-off comic Lady Penelope, dedicated to Thunderbirds’ aristocratic secret agent. Issue 52 advertised the new title but there was a shock for TV Century 21’s largely male readership – it would be aimed at girls. The Lady Penelope strip had featured since TV Century 21’s first issue and it was a strange decision to specify the comic as being for the female sex, especially as a lot of the material was for both boys and girls. This led to a lot of soul searching with boys getting their sister to buy the comic or just gritting their teeth in the newsagent and purchasing a copy. The launch issue was cover dated 22 January 1966, making no attempt to replicate TV Century 21’s gag of being published 100 years hence but it did copy its photogravure tabloid format of 20 pages, eight in full colour, for seven old pence. The first issue came with a free signet ring inscribed with the initial P, while issue 2 carried an X-ray device hairband. The comic was an immediate hit.
Second-billed was The Man from UNCLE based on the hit television spy series, with star David McCallum (Ilya Kuryakin) in particular then a teenage pin-up. Quickly becoming readers’ second favourite strip, and worthy of any boys’ comic, it was two colour pages of atmospheric art.
The back page was Marina – Girl of the Sea, a prequel for Stingray’s mermaid heroine. The opening 23-part story-arc explained the secret of her speech loss. It was very good stuff. Space Family Robinson was licensed from US comicbook publishers Gold Key. Three funnies wrapped up the opening issue. The Perils of Parker - life below stairs at Creighton Ward Mansion, based on the US TV sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies saw the Clampett family in their fish-out-of-water lifestyle adventures, while two pages were given to another US sitcom Bewitched, with modern-day witch Samantha Stephens married to her “normal” husband.
Lady Penelope quickly equalled TV Century 21’s weekly sales of 650,000 copies, providing a staggering combined weekly total of 1.3 million for Century 21 and publishing partners City Magazines. That was a total of £45,500 per week in sales (£718,000 in today’s money) an incredible success story.
Reader Clifford Thornton had a letter printed in issue 12. Could boys read Lady Penelope?
‘It seems very unfair of you to make your magazine just for girls,’ he complained. ‘I have no wish to be called a cissified Cecil because your magazine is aimed to please wee lassies (who wants a hairband anyway?) so give the boys a chance. We want you. Don’t you want us?’
Fair comment.
The 48-page Lady Penelope Summer Extra 1966, took the girls minds (and some boys no doubt) off the World Cup and soon after, the comic’s half-year point was marked by issue 27, its masthead reworked as the punchier Lady P, though with the full title officially retained.
Issue 36’s autumn 1966 revamp came with a free monogrammed Lady Penelope hankie and launched a wacky picture strip for manufactured US Beatle-esque pop group The Monkees, whose series would reach BBC1 on New Year’s Eve 1966.
A first year revamp for issue 53 (dated 21 January 1967) came with a free plastic rain-hat. Strip reshuffles saw the Robinsons permanently lost in space, while The Man from UNCLE departed for City’s ill-fated spin-off comic, Solo. The Girl from UNCLE provided an obvious replacement. The jungle TV series Daktari and mysterious back page strip The Angels replaced Marina who went to monochrome inside, while The Monkees leapt into colour.
Marina concluded in issue 88 (23 September 1967) having met Troy Tempest and company in a reworking of Stingray’s first TV episode.
Issue 103’s second anniversary (6 January 1968), heralded its new, flower power psychedelic masthead marked an even more pop slant. The Girl from UNCLE and Daktari strips disappeared, while The Perils of Parker went text-only for its final few months. A new TV tie-in was devoted to motel soap opera Crossroads, while generic strip Class Six – Sterndorf featured a girls’ school for young spies.
With the closure of Century 21 Publishing all Anderson material was jettisoned. The comic was by now aiming for girls exclusively. Retitled plain Penelope with issue 123 (25 May 1968), from number 127 the cover strip was reformatted as the stories of ‘Penny’ as a nine-year-old girl, returning home to Creighton-Ward Mansion from India with Enid Blyton style stories of ‘gipsy children’. By late 1968, the lead Penelope strip saw Penny attend a Devon boarding school, prompting hi-jinks in a Malory Towers vein, and from autumn 1969 it became Penny On Her Own, putting a teenage Penny at large in swinging 1960s London. It was all worlds away from Thunderbirds.
The run-of-the-mill Penelope eventually merged into IPC’s story paper Princess Tina just before Christmas 1969, after 204 issues of previously ground-breaking tie-in publishing.
Three annuals were published and Christmas issues celebrated the season.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
I remember seeing that on the shelves. It was placed next to the girls' comics such as "Bunty" and I never got to see what was inside, so thanks for enlightening me! 😁
Sir MilesThe Wrong Side Of The WardrobePosts: 27,920Chief of Staff
That’s a new one on me, CHB…but then I’d only have just turned 3 by the time it merged…not that I recall PrincessTina either…but interesting…
The content of this comic strip contains very strong language not permitted in the ongoing threads of this site. It also contains themes that some readers may find upsetting. Reader discretion is advised for those who may be easily offended. The content has been cleared for posting by the moderators.
Cole Turner has studied conspiracy theories all his life. One organization has been covering them up for generations, controlling the narrative for what they claim is the greater good. What is the deep, dark secret behind the Department of Truth—and will learning it destroy Cole’s life from the inside out?
THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH - Chapter 1 (Part 1 of 2)
To be continued tomorrow.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
The content of this comic strip contains very strong language not permitted in the ongoing threads of this site. It also contains themes that some readers may find upsetting. Reader discretion is advised for those who may be easily offended. The content has been cleared for posting by the moderators.
TRIGGER WARNING: “Live and Let Die” has always been Ian Fleming’s most controversial novel. Those easily offended are advised not to read the following adaptation.
LIVE AND LET DIE (2019) Chapter Twenty-One
More tomorrow.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
TRIGGER WARNING: “Live and Let Die” has always been Ian Fleming’s most controversial novel. Those easily offended are advised not to read the following adaptation.
LIVE AND LET DIE (2019) Chapter Twenty-Two (Part 1 of 2)
LALD continues and concludes next weekend.
Yeah, well, sometimes nothin' can be a real cool hand.
Comments
Absolutely loved that, thanks again 🍸
Bram Stoker’s Dracula starring Bela Lugosi (2020)
The team behind this brilliant adaptation…
The introduction…
The afterword…
And THE MASTER…
Thanks for including those pages, CHB, very interesting stuff. I'm sorry that's finished, I enjoyed it so much!
LIVE AND LET DIE (2019) Chapter Nineteen:
Next chapter tomorrow…
Fleming excelled at writing about the underwater world, and this is no exception.
This is cracking 👏🏻
LIVE AND LET DIE (2019) Chapter Twenty:
It really is Fleming’s written words portrayed visually as accurately as possible - even down to small details.
Continues next weekend.
Love it. And a whole week to wait for more!
At the risk of repeating myself…it’s great to see this story portrayed accurately 🍸
HOOK JAW - Part 11:
And so ends the first Hook Jaw adventure. Surprisingly it took a break of two weeks before a new story began, I can only assume that the artwork was not ready. We may come back to the new adventure at some point in the future, but a new feature will begin next Monday.
But what WAS ACTION doing in Cardiff? 🤷🏻♂️🤣
Looks like they were handing out dosh to lucky readers!
No wonder they went bust 🙄🤣
Mickey Spillane’s Mike Hammer - Chapter Three (Part 1 of 2)
To be continued next week…as Sir Miles heads to the bathroom, once again 🤣
😁 It's a good story, very noir. I've heard of Max Allan Collins ("Road To Perdition" - seen the film) but haven't read any of his many books.
@CoolHandBond guilty as charged ☺️ but the light IS better in there 🤗🤣
LADY PENELOPE (1966-1969) 204 Issues
With TV Century 21 being a huge success and celebrating its first anniversary in early 1966 it launched a spin-off comic Lady Penelope, dedicated to Thunderbirds’ aristocratic secret agent. Issue 52 advertised the new title but there was a shock for TV Century 21’s largely male readership – it would be aimed at girls. The Lady Penelope strip had featured since TV Century 21’s first issue and it was a strange decision to specify the comic as being for the female sex, especially as a lot of the material was for both boys and girls. This led to a lot of soul searching with boys getting their sister to buy the comic or just gritting their teeth in the newsagent and purchasing a copy. The launch issue was cover dated 22 January 1966, making no attempt to replicate TV Century 21’s gag of being published 100 years hence but it did copy its photogravure tabloid format of 20 pages, eight in full colour, for seven old pence. The first issue came with a free signet ring inscribed with the initial P, while issue 2 carried an X-ray device hairband. The comic was an immediate hit.
Second-billed was The Man from UNCLE based on the hit television spy series, with star David McCallum (Ilya Kuryakin) in particular then a teenage pin-up. Quickly becoming readers’ second favourite strip, and worthy of any boys’ comic, it was two colour pages of atmospheric art.
The back page was Marina – Girl of the Sea, a prequel for Stingray’s mermaid heroine. The opening 23-part story-arc explained the secret of her speech loss. It was very good stuff. Space Family Robinson was licensed from US comicbook publishers Gold Key. Three funnies wrapped up the opening issue. The Perils of Parker - life below stairs at Creighton Ward Mansion, based on the US TV sitcom The Beverly Hillbillies saw the Clampett family in their fish-out-of-water lifestyle adventures, while two pages were given to another US sitcom Bewitched, with modern-day witch Samantha Stephens married to her “normal” husband.
Lady Penelope quickly equalled TV Century 21’s weekly sales of 650,000 copies, providing a staggering combined weekly total of 1.3 million for Century 21 and publishing partners City Magazines. That was a total of £45,500 per week in sales (£718,000 in today’s money) an incredible success story.
Reader Clifford Thornton had a letter printed in issue 12. Could boys read Lady Penelope?
‘It seems very unfair of you to make your magazine just for girls,’ he complained. ‘I have no wish to be called a cissified Cecil because your magazine is aimed to please wee lassies (who wants a hairband anyway?) so give the boys a chance. We want you. Don’t you want us?’
Fair comment.
The 48-page Lady Penelope Summer Extra 1966, took the girls minds (and some boys no doubt) off the World Cup and soon after, the comic’s half-year point was marked by issue 27, its masthead reworked as the punchier Lady P, though with the full title officially retained.
Issue 36’s autumn 1966 revamp came with a free monogrammed Lady Penelope hankie and launched a wacky picture strip for manufactured US Beatle-esque pop group The Monkees, whose series would reach BBC1 on New Year’s Eve 1966.
A first year revamp for issue 53 (dated 21 January 1967) came with a free plastic rain-hat. Strip reshuffles saw the Robinsons permanently lost in space, while The Man from UNCLE departed for City’s ill-fated spin-off comic, Solo. The Girl from UNCLE provided an obvious replacement. The jungle TV series Daktari and mysterious back page strip The Angels replaced Marina who went to monochrome inside, while The Monkees leapt into colour.
Marina concluded in issue 88 (23 September 1967) having met Troy Tempest and company in a reworking of Stingray’s first TV episode.
Issue 103’s second anniversary (6 January 1968), heralded its new, flower power psychedelic masthead marked an even more pop slant. The Girl from UNCLE and Daktari strips disappeared, while The Perils of Parker went text-only for its final few months. A new TV tie-in was devoted to motel soap opera Crossroads, while generic strip Class Six – Sterndorf featured a girls’ school for young spies.
With the closure of Century 21 Publishing all Anderson material was jettisoned. The comic was by now aiming for girls exclusively. Retitled plain Penelope with issue 123 (25 May 1968), from number 127 the cover strip was reformatted as the stories of ‘Penny’ as a nine-year-old girl, returning home to Creighton-Ward Mansion from India with Enid Blyton style stories of ‘gipsy children’. By late 1968, the lead Penelope strip saw Penny attend a Devon boarding school, prompting hi-jinks in a Malory Towers vein, and from autumn 1969 it became Penny On Her Own, putting a teenage Penny at large in swinging 1960s London. It was all worlds away from Thunderbirds.
The run-of-the-mill Penelope eventually merged into IPC’s story paper Princess Tina just before Christmas 1969, after 204 issues of previously ground-breaking tie-in publishing.
Three annuals were published and Christmas issues celebrated the season.
I remember seeing that on the shelves. It was placed next to the girls' comics such as "Bunty" and I never got to see what was inside, so thanks for enlightening me! 😁
That’s a new one on me, CHB…but then I’d only have just turned 3 by the time it merged…not that I recall Princess Tina either…but interesting…
CONTENT NOTICE:
The content of this comic strip contains very strong language not permitted in the ongoing threads of this site. It also contains themes that some readers may find upsetting. Reader discretion is advised for those who may be easily offended. The content has been cleared for posting by the moderators.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
Cole Turner has studied conspiracy theories all his life. One organization has been covering them up for generations, controlling the narrative for what they claim is the greater good. What is the deep, dark secret behind the Department of Truth—and will learning it destroy Cole’s life from the inside out?
THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH - Chapter 1 (Part 1 of 2)
To be continued tomorrow.
Never mind Cole, I want to go down that rabbit hole. Very intriguing.
CONTENT NOTICE:
The content of this comic strip contains very strong language not permitted in the ongoing threads of this site. It also contains themes that some readers may find upsetting. Reader discretion is advised for those who may be easily offended. The content has been cleared for posting by the moderators.
———————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————————
THE DEPARTMENT OF TRUTH - Chapter 1 (Part 2 of 2)
Wow! I was not expecting that revelation - more of this intriguing tale next Thursday…
😮😮😮
Oh, this is good. And clearly I wasn't expecting that revelation, either.
Only just able to catch up with this now…this looks right up my street 👏🏻
I’m glad you’re enjoying it, gents.
And now the James Bond weekend begins…
TRIGGER WARNING: “Live and Let Die” has always been Ian Fleming’s most controversial novel. Those easily offended are advised not to read the following adaptation.
LIVE AND LET DIE (2019) Chapter Twenty-One
More tomorrow.
I loved the villain big speech above, an almost essential part of the Bond formula rarely done well. Kotto did a good one, but the original is better.
TRIGGER WARNING: “Live and Let Die” has always been Ian Fleming’s most controversial novel. Those easily offended are advised not to read the following adaptation.
LIVE AND LET DIE (2019) Chapter Twenty-Two (Part 1 of 2)
LALD continues and concludes next weekend.
Damn, another week! Loving this.
This is a treat 😁
PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE - (Part 1 of 5)
To be continued next Monday…