GUEST POST BY JP - TV2000 - THE DUTCH TV21...

November 13, 2022

My favourite UK comic of all time is TV (Century) 21. I cut my milk teeth on the early Gerry Anderson puppet TV shows for children and enjoyed the comic strip adaptations of Torchy the Battery Boy in Harold Hare's Own Paper and then Four Feather Falls, Supercar and Fireball XL5 in TV Comic. So when, in January 1965, a new publication went on sale, featuring all of the Gerry Anderson shows in strip form together in one tabloid-sized glossy comic to rival the Eagle, it was an absolute 'must' for me! The icing on the proverbial cake was that The Daleks were also included in this comic set mainly in the imaginary Century 21 universe!

On its first anniversary in 1966, Thunderbirds joined the comic and Lady Penelope exited to star in her own title. This was probably the greatest year for my favourite comic, but on its second anniversary in 1967, we were to find that The Daleks were to leave the weekly to join Doctor Who in TV Comic and, for me, this year was a disappointing lull in its history until Captain Scarlet was added to the line-up.

Anyway, another event happened between 1966 and 1967, unbeknownst to we kids until many years later! Over in Holland they published their very own version of the comic called TV2000, featuring reprints from both TV Century 21 and Lady Penelope. This comic has become highly sought after by collectors of Gerry Anderson comics and although many of you will have heard of it, I wonder how many have actually seen inside the comic? So, for your delectation I would like to share with you an example copy in its entirety from the early years of the publication, which lasted for 174 editions.

In the early days of its run, it closely resembled its UK counterpart, but later on the format was changed to American comic book size and these closely resembled the UK's Top Sellers comic books of the 1970s, like Tarzan.

So feast your eyes on the images below and join in with me in thanking our host Kid for allowing me to guest post on his renowned blog!

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(Cheque's in the mail, JP.) I'm sure all you faithful Crivvies would like to leave a comment expressing your appreciation for all JP's hard work in scanning the pages for this post. Go to it, tigers!