
A Thunderbirds comic strip was published in the Countdown magazine between February 20, 1971 and April 7, 1972. A soft-"reset" following the TV21 series, this version of Thunderbirds was disjoint from the shared universe and the stories that preceded it, allowing it to focus on the core elements of the original format. Don Harley would serve as this strip's illustrator, having previously worked on half of Solar Danger and numerous annual/special stories.
Also present in the magazine was a small series of separate Lady Penelope stories.
The Countdown series of comics would be the final run of stories until The Funday Times began publishing original material in 1991, an almost 20 year gap.
Stories[]
Thunderbirds made a regular presence in the magazine from the first issue in February until the 23rd in July, at which point the Countdown-original stories took an extended leave of absence before returning in the 45th issue in December. The second run would only consist of two stories and would last until the 60th issue in April 1972.
Additionally, two Thunderbirds comics originally published in TV Century 21 were reprinted in Countdown; TV21's second story Mission to Africa immediately followed the first run while its first story Blazing Danger saw print over two months after the end of the second stint by which time Countdown had changed its name to TV Action.
#No | Title | Issues | Publication dates |
---|---|---|---|
1 | The New System | 1 - 5 | February 20th - March 20th, 1971 |
2 | "Story 2" | 6 | March 27th, 1971 |
3 | Pressure Point | 8 - 13 | April 10th - May 15th, 1971 |
4 | The Amazon Affair | 14 | May 22nd, 1971 |
5 | "Story 5" | 15 - 18 | May 29th - June 19th, 1971 |
6 | Higher the Tide | 19 - 23 | June 26th - July 24th, 1971 |
N/A | Mission to Africa (reprint) | 24 - 30 | July 31st - September 11th, 1971 |
7 | U.N. Rescue Ltd. | 45 - 53 | December 25th, 1971 - February 19th, 1972 |
8 | The Crexus Creature | 54 - 60 | February 25th - April 7th, 1972 |
N/A | Blazing Danger (reprint) | 71 - 77 | June 24th - August 5th, 1972 |
Specials[]
Thunderbirds had a presence in two Countdown annuals. Polystyle also published the 1972 Thunderbirds Annual.
Title | Published in |
---|---|
Terror at Torreba | Countdown Annual 1972 |
Invisible Invader | Thunderbirds Annual 1972 |
Doom Wave | Thunderbirds Annual 1972 |
The Law Breakers | Thunderbirds Annual 1972 |
The Collector | Countdown Annual 1973 |