''Lady Penelope'' was a British weekly comic book magazine for girls which ran from 1966 to 1969. Produced by

Century 21 Publications Century 21 Merchandising and Century 21 Toys were merchandising companies associated with Gerry Anderson's Century 21 Productions. There was also a publishing line, Century 21 Publications which (in partnership with City Magazines) created the com ...

and published by

City Magazines City Magazines was a British publisher of weekly comics and men's magazines that operated from the mid-1950s to the mid-1970s. The company's most notable publications were comics magazines based on licensed television properties, including ''TV Ce ...

, it was a sister publication to ''

TV Century 21 ''TV Century 21'', later renamed ''TV21'', ''TV21 and Tornado'', ''TV21 and Joe 90'', and ''TV21'' again, was a weekly British children's comic published by City Magazines during the latter half of the 1960s. Originally produced in partnership ...

''. ''Lady Penelope'' was edited by Gillian Allan, wife of comic strip writer

Angus Allan Angus Peter Allan (22 July 1936 – 16 July 2007) was a British comic strip writer and magazine editor who worked on ''TV Century 21'' in the 1960s and ''Look-in'' magazine during the 1970s. Most commonly known as Angus Allan and sometimes credit ...

. The title character was based on

Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward Lady Penelope Creighton-Ward is a fictional character introduced in the British 1960s Supermarionation television series '' Thunderbirds'', which was produced by AP Films (APF) for ITC Entertainment. The character also appears in the film seque ...

, the secret agent seen in the

Gerry Gerry is both a surname and a masculine or feminine given name. As a given name, it is often a short form (hypocorism) of Gerard, Gerald or Geraldine. Notable people with the name include: Surname *Elbridge Gerry (1744–1814), fifth US vice presi ...

Sylvia Anderson Sylvia Beatrice Anderson (; 25 March 1927 – 15 March 2016) was an English television and film producer, writer, voice actress and costume designer, best known for her collaborations with Gerry Anderson, her husband between 1960 and 1981. In a ...

AP Films AP Films or APF, later becoming Century 21 Productions, was a British independent film production company of the 1950s until the early 1970s. The company became internationally known for its imaginative children's action-adventure marionette tel ...

television series '' Thunderbirds''. Most of the other strips in the comic were also based on popular television shows of the era.

Publication history

Background

Before ''Lady Penelope'' became an independent comic, a strip featuring the title character was one of four colour strips (all also related to

Gerry Anderson Gerald Alexander Anderson (; 14 April 1929 – 26 December 2012) was an English television and film producer, director, writer and occasional voice artist. He remains famous for his futuristic television programmes, especially his 1960s produ ...

Supermarionation Supermarionation (a portmanteau of the words "super", "marionette" and " animation")La Rivière 2009, p. 67. is a style of television and film production employed by British company AP Films (later Century 21 Productions) in its puppet T ...

shows) to launch ''

'' in January 1965. The ''Lady Penelope'' strip, was created by Tod Sullivan & Eric Eden, ran for 51 issues in ''TV Century 21'', from 23 January 1965 to 8 January 1966. It was published while '' Thunderbirds'' was still being produced; the stories acted as a prelude to the upcoming ''Thunderbirds'' strip in ''TV Century 21'' (which replaced ''Lady Penelope'' when she moved to her own title).

''Lady Penelope''

Following the success of the strip in ''

'', the ''Lady Penelope'' comic, marketed as "the comic for girls who love television," was launched on 22 January 1966. The title changed to ''The New Lady Penelope'' with issue 53 (January 1967), back to ''Lady Penelope'' with issue 63 (April 1967), and then to ''Penelope'' from issue 123 (May 1968) onwards. City Magazines began publishing ''Lady Penelope'' annuals in 1967, continuing for six editions until 1972. The run ended with issue #204, dated 13 December 1969, after which the title joined with

IPC Magazines TI Media (formerly International Publishing Company, IPC Magazines Ltd, IPC Media and Time Inc. UK) was a consumer magazine and digital publisher in the United Kingdom, with a portfolio selling over 350 million copies each year. Most of its tit ...

' ''

Princess Tina ''Princess Tina'' (at times known as ''Princess Tina and Penelope'' and then simply ''Tina'') was a weekly British girls' comic published from autumn 1967 to summer 1973 by the International Publishing Company, initially under the Fleetway Pu ...

'' to become ''Princess Tina and Penelope''. (A number of City Magazines titles were acquired by, or merged with, IPC titles in the period 1967 to 1971.) This merger appears to have been arranged hastily and would have left some of the weekly comic strip serials unfinished, so the endings of these were included in the form of text stories in issue #204. Despite the combined title, only one comic serial from ''Penelope'' survived the merge, albeit with the format and main character's name altered. The title would revert to ''Princess Tina'' before the end of 1970.

Notable comic strips

A number of strips in ''Lady Penelope'' connected with other Century 21 Productions: * ''Lady Penelope'' — based on the secret agent seen in the television series '' Thunderbirds'' * ''Penny'' — stories about Lady Penelope when she was a young girl * ''Perils of Parker'' — humorous stories based loosely on the character from ''Thunderbirds'' * ''Marina, Girl of the Sea'' — stories about the mute undersea girl seen in ''

Stingray Stingrays are a group of sea rays, which are cartilaginous fish related to sharks. They are classified in the suborder Myliobatoidei of the order Myliobatiformes and consist of eight families: Hexatrygonidae (sixgill stingray), Plesiobatidae ( ...

'' * ''The Angels'' — stories in which the pilots from ''

Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons ''Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons'', often shortened to ''Captain Scarlet'', is a British science fiction television series created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson and filmed by their production company Century 21 Productions for distributor I ...

were the principle characters'' ''Lady Penelope'' also included strips based on popular television programs of the era: *''

Bewitched ''Bewitched'' is an American fantasy sitcom television series that originally aired for eight seasons on ABC from September 17, 1964, to March 25, 1972. It is about a witch who marries an ordinary mortal man and vows to lead the life of a typic ...

'' — based on the

ABC ABC are the first three letters of the Latin script known as the alphabet. ABC or abc may also refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Broadcasting * American Broadcasting Company, a commercial U.S. TV broadcaster ** Disney–ABC Television ...

television series. This was the only strip other than Lady Penelope's to last until the end of the run. *''

The Monkees The Monkees were an American rock and pop band, formed in Los Angeles in 1966, whose lineup consisted of the American actor/musicians Micky Dolenz, Michael Nesmith and Peter Tork alongside English actor/singer Davy Jones. The group was conc ...

'' — based on the

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

television series *''

The Beverly Hillbillies ''The Beverly Hillbillies'' is an American television sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from 1962 to 1971. It had an ensemble cast featuring Buddy Ebsen, Irene Ryan, Donna Douglas, and Max Baer Jr. as the Clampetts, a poor, backwoods family from ...

'' — based on the

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

television series *''

Crossroads Crossroads, crossroad, cross road or similar may refer to: * Crossroads (junction), where four roads meet Film and television Films * ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa * ''Cross Roads'' (film), a 1930 Brit ...

'' — based on the ATV series *''

Daktari ''Daktari'' ( Swahili for "doctor") is an American family drama series that aired on CBS between 1966 and 1969. The series is an Ivan Tors Films Production in association with MGM Television starring Marshall Thompson as Dr. Marsh Tracy, a veter ...

'' — based on the CBS television series *''

The Man from U.N.C.L.E. ''The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'' is an American spy fiction television series produced by MGM Television, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Television and first broadcast on NBC. The series follows secret agents, played by Robert Vaughn and David McCallum, who wo ...

'' — based on the NBC television series *'' The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.'' — based on the NBC television series Other ongoing strips: * ''

Space Family Robinson ''Space Family Robinson'' was an original science-fiction comic-book series published by Gold Key Comics. It predates the ''Lost in Space'' television series. Both are loosely based on the 1812 novel by Johann David Wyss and similarly named movi ...

'' — original stories using the characters and technology from the

Gold Key Comics Gold Key Comics was originally an imprint of American company Western Publishing, created for comic books distributed to newsstands. Also known as Whitman Comics, Gold Key operated this way from 1962 to 1984. Currently, Gold Key Comics is owned b ...

title *''Class Six Sterndorf'' — about a special class where young girls are trained to become spies. Created by

. *''Creighton Ward'' — stories about a young nurse, Pat, on a children's hospital ward *''Jenny Ware'' — humorous stories about a girl who accidentally discovers a chemical that sends her backward or forward in time *''What Did That Dog Say?'' — humorous stories about a girl who can understand the language of dogs thanks to a magic ring. Created by

, this first appeared in ''Lady Penelope'' as a text story. It was popular enough with readers to become a weekly comic strip. Later it would be renamed ''What Did That Dog (And Cat) Say?'' when the main character, Cathy, gains the ability to understand cats as well as dogs.

References

Citations

Sources consulted

* * * *

External links

GACCH - The Gerry Anderson Complete Comic History
{{Thunderbirds 1966 comics debuts 1966 establishments in the United Kingdom 1969 comics endings 1969 disestablishments in the United Kingdom British girls' comics Children's magazines published in the United Kingdom Comics about women Comics based on Thunderbirds (TV series) Comics magazines published in the United Kingdom Defunct British comics Defunct science fiction magazines published in the United Kingdom Science fiction comics Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom