2003 Archive 
I happen to own four such books. And I'm pretty happy about that.
The first two featured in my childhood. They were hardcovers I found at my local library. (I now own these. I used to donate a lot of books to the library... I did a little trade.) These were books written about the Thunderbirds series.
THUNDERBIRDS, LOST WORLD
by John W. Jennison
Hardcover. Published by WORLD DISTRIBUTORS (MANCHESTER) LIMITED,
London - Manchester, England, 1966.
The text on the flaps reads as follows:
| Front Flap | Rear Flap |
|---|---|
| Supersonic airliners and freighters flying in the region of New Guinea have been mysteriously disintegrating. Sabotage is suspected. | Now that you've read and enjoyed this Thunderbirds' adventure, we would like to tell you about another exciting title in this series. |
| A scientist friend of Jeff Tracy, leading an archeological expedition into the same area in search of a long-lost civilisation, disappears mysteriously. | Now that you've read and enjoyed this Thunderbirds' adventure, we would like to tell you about another exciting title in this series. |
| International Rescue decide to investigate the whole situation. They soon uncover many more unaccountable happenings and become immersed in an amazing adventure among the survivors of an ancient race. | The story entitled Operation Asteroids concerns a mine disaster on the moon. A mine-working has collapsed and valuable robot miners and equipment are buried. A plea for help goes out to International Rescue and, with daring, ingenuity and courage, the entire team plunge once more into the battle against destruction and tyranny. |
| This happy mixture of fun, suspense and danger will rivet your attention to the very last line. | Make a date with adventure -- read this fascinating space story for yourself! |
I've read this book many times. For years, before the recent repopularization of Anderson shows, this was my only link to the Thunderbirds show I loved so much as a child.
The dust jacket, having been covered in a plastic protective coating, is actually in very good condition! There is a tear at the binding end at the top (visible in the graphic fold-out, obscuring the THUNDERBIRDS logo) is the only damage, apart from masking tape that was used to tape the plastic down. This tape is acceptable since it served to so well protect the cover from age. The binding itself is cracked in places, and the last page is almost torn off, but the rest of the book is in great shape!
This is a kids' book, folks, so an in-depth review of the story would be silly. It's a cute story in which Scott gets lost in a lost world during the investigation of these airline crashes, which are indeed sabotaged. The story involves all the old favourites, including Lady Penelope and Parker, and the Hood.
The best part of this book is its age, the fact that it has survived all this time in pretty good shape, and that it is a Thunderbirds book. I'm all for that. The worst part of this book is the fact that it refers to the next book in the series, and I don't have it. I'd love to read Operation Asteroids!
LADY PENELOPE, COOL FOR DANGER
by Kevin McGarry
Hardcover. Published by WORLD DISTRIBUTORS (MANCHESTER) LIMITED,
London - Manchester, England, 1966.
The text on the flaps reads as follows:
| Front Flap | Rear Flap |
|---|---|
| The situation seemed hopeless: the risk was too great and there was little hope of success. In Parker's words "...'ere's just the job for 'er ladyship!" | Now you've read the first story of the world's most fascinating Lady agent, and we are certain that you've enjoyed every page. No doubt you've laughed at and with Parker, marvelled at the fearless efficiency of the daring Lady Penelope and been wholly engrossed in the glitter and excitement of her adventures. |
| For danger is an irresistible challenge to Lady Penelope. This blonde and fashionable member of high society is neither as helpless nor as frivolous as her appearance would suggest. Indeed she faces danger as calmly unperturbed as though she was choosing a new dress. Exquisitively groomed as usual, she proceeds to the rescue of a fellow-agent imprisoned in an impenetrable European fortress. Her companions on this adventure are the ever-faithful Parker, manservant and chauffeur, and a terrified burglar whose help she has enlisted. | But now, as Parker would say, "...'ow 'orrible that it's all over". Well, it isn't -- it never is! We are pleased to tell you that another Lady Penelope story awaits you, as full of thrills and frills as the one you've just read... |
| In a tale sparked with humour, intrigue and deadly danger, the tension mounts to a most exciting climax. | In the second story of Lady Penelope's adventures, A GALLERY OF THIEVES, Parker behaves very strangely. Can it be that the ex-jailbird is reverting to type? Lady Penelope, too, is in trouble: a prisoner in the hands of her arch-enemy, Mr Steelman. She discovers a plot to replace all the great art masterpieces of the world with fakes. Can she prevent this disaster? The plot has many twistings and windings before the exciting denouement. But read it for yourselves -- we know you'll enjoy it! |
It's been quite a while since I've read this book. But I have read it several times over the past twenty years. Once again this book is for children, and as Nancy Drew was published to attract the attention of young female readers, I am certain the adventures of Lady Penelope was aimed at the young female audience who would be more fascinated by Lady Penelope than the Tracy boys.
In this adventure, Lady Penelope faces the robotic army of Mr. Steelman, who has just invented a Storm Machine, which she learns of from Roger Lyon, who had been held captive in a prison in Revonia known as the Black Hole. She enlists the aid of an ex-prisoner who knows the layout, entrapping him by enticing him to rob her estate. With his drawn plans of the Schloss Stillban, they are able to rescue Roger Lyon, who is in the grips of an amnesia induced by yet another of the brilliant Mr. Steelman's inventions.
Lady Penelope is determined to get to the Storm Machine before Mr. Steelman and his robots can use it against the world.
A cute book, and lots of interaction with Parker make it thoroughly enjoyable. Plus, of course, the neat James Bond-like gadgets and the ever familiar FAB-1, make this a good read for a fan of Thunderbirds and Lady Penelope.
Once again, the plus is that it is in such good shape, with the only real damage apart from the same masking tape, being an inch-long vertical tear on a few successive pages. In general it is in slightly better shape than the Thunderbirds book. The negative is once again the tantalizing teaser about the next book in the series which I do not have. (Or for that matter, may not have actually been published...)
The next books I want to talk about are STINGRAY, and STINGRAY AND THE MONSTER.
These are paperbacks, published in 1965, were found by me in a used book store on two separate occasions in the children's books section. I felt extremely lucky when I found the first one, but I was ecstatic to find a second one, a few weeks later! Their condition is good, but the bindings are cheap, and the pages tend to fall out if the book is opened too widely. I found this while reading STINGRAY so I didn't read STINGRAY AND THE MONSTER.
STINGRAY
by John Theydon
Armada Paperbacks for Boys and Girls, 1965.
The text from the back Cover:
You have seen them on television -- Troy Tempest, 'Phones', Atlanta, and the bewitching Marina.
You have thrilled to the adventures of Stingray of the World Aquanaut Security Patrol, and shuddered at the villainy of Titan, X2-Zero and the monstrous aquaphibians.
Now for the first time you can read of their exciting adventures, and you will be enthralled!
This edition is based on Gerry Anderson's TV series, Stingray, produced by A.P. Films Ltd., Slough.
Stingray (logo, with illustration of Terrorfish and Stingray facing off.)
The book is illustrated inside with black and white sketches very similar in style to those in the Hardy Boys mysteries. This book contains six illustrations. There are some pages loose and there is a small amount of water damage. Still, for its age, it's in pretty good condition. No tearing on cover, as scan will indicate.
STINGRAY AND THE MONSTER
by John Theydon
Armada Paperbacks for Boys and Girls.
The text from the back cover:
Stingray and the Monster
Atlanta is kidnapped! International crooks use her as bait in order to capture Stingray. In a pirated patrol vessel, they take her into the weird and unknown depths of the ocean.
Troy Tempest, Phones and Marina set out on a hazardous rescue attempt in which they meet a truly terrifying monster of the deep. Here is a story with all the excitement of the celebrated TV series. (Illustration of three aquaphibians swimming with gun-like weapons.)
This book is also illustrated inside with Hardy Boys-like drawings. This book contains six illustrations. There is ad space in the back of the book advertising more Armada books, including:
Again more tantalizing teasers about books I may never get to read. Although I believe the Thunderbirds books were republished in the 1980s. See note at bottom.
Overall this book is in finer condition, no water stains, and only one page loose. But I won't read it because opening the book has cracked the binding, and caused one page to fall out, and I know more will follow. The binding is very brittle.
There you have it. I don't own a lot of printed material based on the Anderson series, but these are four items I'm very pleased to own. I carefully removed the dust jackets of the hardcovers from their plastic coatings and scanned them at 100 dpi. Simon has made smaller versions available to you here. I can e-mail anybody the scans if they want them. I didn't scan the cover-flaps, which fold under the front and back covers because I could easier transcribe the text that's there, and that is the only thing important on them.
I only scanned the front covers of the Stingray books because they didn't have dust-jackets to spread out, and I didn't think the back covers to be as essential as the front covers. If there is demand, I'll scan the back covers and include them here, on Simon's approval.
I wish to say that it's only through the wonderful technology of the World Wide Web and the generosity of Simon Wickes, TV21 Webmaster, that I am able to share at least some of the wonder of these old books with you all. Thanks, Simon.
You're very welcome.
The Armada book re-issues
A brief editorial comment
Sean makes reference to the re-issued Armada books above. There were three Armada paperbacks re-issued: two Thunderbirds paperbacks, "Thunderbirds" and "Calling Thunderbirds" and one Captain Scarlet paperback, "Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons". All of these were written by John Theydon.
Each of the new books contains four pages of colour photos from the show. The black and white sketchy drawings of the original paperbacks are not reproduced.
The books were sold in England for £2.95 and were published by Titan books. They were published in 1990.