"The Return of the Zombites" is the 21st original comic strip published in Thunderbirds: The Comic (and 11th based on an original story). It was published as a three-part story in issues 61 to 63, alongside The Bullion Trick.
A sequel to The Uninvited (or, more specifically, its comic adaptation), the story reveals the Zombites survived the destruction of their secret pyramid base. It picks up "months" after the events of the episode, with the Zombites having recuperated enough to launch revenge on International Rescue.
One of the more notable original stories published in The Comic, Return of the Zombites features minor crossovers with both Fireball XL5 and Stingray (a rare event outside of TV Century 21) via the appearance of the World Space Patrol (referred as just Space Patrol in the story) and the World Aquanaut Security Patrol at the world fair, which feature replicas of Space City and Marineville, as well as an unidentified space craft bearing similar livery to that of the XL5 ship. The ending of the story features the Hood teaming up with International Rescue after he had been betrayed by Manik, with the final showdown bizarrely happening in an oversized pinball machine.
Plot[]
Having survived the attack launched on their base, the surviving Zombite tribe pit revenge on International Rescue. Teaming up with the organisation's greatest foe - the Hood - the Zombite Manik launches his master plan to strike the Penang World Fair - and if all goes well, Manik might knock out more than just the rescue organisation...
Characters[]
(in order of appearance)
- Virgil Tracy
- Scott Tracy
- Khalid
- Various Zombites
- Manik
- The Hood
- Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward
- Kyrano
- Parker
- Tin-Tin Kyrano
- Maglev operators
- Hotel receptionist
- John Tracy
- Alan Tracy
- Jeff Tracy
- Gordon Tracy
- Brains
IR Equipment Used[]
Trivia[]
- The Pyramid of Khamandides, which has had various spellings over the years, is printed in this story as Kamandadees.
- Seen at the end of the story are members of the Nebab tribe, the ancient enemies of the Zombites, who were mentioned (but not seen) during The Uninvited.