The comics are back!

by **Skybase Girl** » Sat Nov 09, 2013 2:11 pm

Eaglemoss publications have introduced a series of hardback books containing all Gerry Anderson comic strips. It's called "The Vintage Comic Collection" and is sold weekly at newsagents. I've only just discovered it so have only been able to find the latest issues, 3 & 4.

Each book costs £6.99, although issue 1 is only £1.99. If you subscribe to the whole collection, you're entitled to four free gifts, including a digital edition of the comic books, a Stingray die-cast model, a Gerry Anderson calendar and a FAB 1 licence plate.

You can register and order in a variety of ways. I think the series is available from Amazon, but the website http://www.gerry-anderson-collection.com gives various options to order online.

I don't know who Eaglemoss are, but well done to them! This is very good news for diehard fans.

by **Marion** » Sun Nov 10, 2013 11:35 am

That's a great find, Skybase Girl! I've looked on the website and the only things it doesn't tell you are:
Does it include the Lady Penelope comic stories - there was an Angels Strip in there, as well as one about Marina, pre-Stingray - and (importantly) how much it costs to subscribe.
I haven't seen any other promotional material for it, or spotted the actual publication in the shops. It's slightly reminiscent of NCS in the lack of marketing/advertising support, isn't it?

I have the paperback comic stip collections (vol 1-4)that they stopped producing about a year or so ago. I wonder if these will be much the same, although they do say it will include the Countdown stories and comic strips from other publications.
I really hope it gets enough interest to carry out its aims. If anyone does find out how much a subscription costs, I hope they'll post it here...

by **Skybase Girl** » Sun Nov 10, 2013 12:11 pm

Marion, it costs £27.96 for every four issues. It looks as if there will be 50 books in all. 6 devoted to Scarlet, 10 to thunderbirds, 5 for Lady Penelope, 5 for Stingray, 5 for Fireball Xl5, 5 for Joe 90, 6 for UFO, 3 for Space 1999 and 5 for Supercar. There are 4 complete stories in each book, plus other material that was probably originally published in TV21.
The Angels are not shown separately, but they may be incorporated in the Scarlet issues. I have issue 3 which is Stingray and 4, which is Scarlet. The books are expensive, but they are beautifully printed and bound.
BTW, if you take out a premium subscription, which is £31.96 for 4 issues, you get a further 2free gifts, which are die-cast models of Thunderbird 2 and the SPV.
I spotted them by accident in my local Co-op; turns out they were in the newsagents as well. I didn't ask if they had issues 1 and 2 left. I haven't seen any advertising, but I don't watch much TV, so I don't know if they've been advertised on kids channels.

by **Skybase Girl** » Fri Nov 15, 2013 7:29 pm

Bad news, I'm afraid. I have just purchased book 5 of the comics and it includes a notice saying that they are suspending publication until further notice. What a shame. Looks like another non-starter.

by **chrisbishop** » Fri Nov 22, 2013 11:21 pm

Hi everyone!

As you know, I'm a big fan of Gerry Anderson, but as I live in Canada, I found that it might be a little problem for me to get this series. So I wrote the company to ask for any solution for my problem (I even suggested to have the item sent to someone in the UK). For a full week, I didn't get an answer, but then yesterday, I got an email. Here's the content:

Hi Chris,

Thank you for your email, at the moment we are running a very limited area release inside the UK, this release is focused around Southampton and Newcastle so your best bet would be to wait until after the limited release has finished as once the full national release comes out you will be able to call us up and set up a subscription.

If you call us for sorting it out then we would only need a delivery address and not a payment address as well. The only problem you may have is that foreign banks sometimes get a bit funny about payments being made to the UK but hopefully by informing the bank you might be able to get around this.

My best advice would be to keep an eye on the website and wait for information about the full release and then give us a call (to save money calling through skype or a similar service may be a good option) to set up a subscription.

Kind regards

Perhaps this restriction is the reason why you can't get copies, Skybase Girl?

by **Skybase Girl** » Sat Nov 23, 2013 5:11 pm

That email is at odds with the notice that was included with issue 5 of the books, Chris.

Basically, it said, "Unfortunately,I am writing to let you know that we are suspending publication of the series after Part 5 until further notice. This is in accordance with our terms and conditions. However, we do hope to resume publication in the near future."

It went on to say that people interested in continuing the collection can contact the publisher by email or using the postal address.

I didnt know that the release was limited, although as I live in the north-east, it may explain why I have been able to get the issues released so far. I wondered if they may have run into some copyright issues and may not be able to go ahead until they're resolved. I noticed that a separate book of Thunderbirds comic strips has recently been released by a different publisher.