TV Century 21 was the "Eagle" of its day. And unlike its annuals (which weren't quite as good in my view), the six "extras" published between 1965 and 1967 reflected near-enough the same high standards of the early weekly editions of the comic. I'm glad to see that Fireball XL5 was the main "star" on the very first one, as it was sadly neglected on subsequent specials, apart from a shared appearance on the fourth cover.
It's hardly surprising though, as Fireball was a show that had finished its televised run before the first issue of TV21 had even appeared, and Stingray was really the main strip in the comic (hence two specials devoted to it). However, Troy Tempest and his crew were on borrowed time, because Thunderbirds hit the airwaves 8 months after the comic's debut, and subsequently ousted them from the centre pages in the 52nd issue.
However, back to the specials. If you're old enough to be a fan of the comic and Gerry Anderson's puppet programmes, I'm sure you'll enjoy seeing these covers from the 21st century... which, paradoxically, first happened back in the 1960s. Must be a "time-loop" or something.
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