Wednesday 27 August 2014

FIREBALL XL5 - THE ICE PEOPLE...


Copyright relevant owner

Here's a story from the very first FIREBALL XL5 Annual.  Curiously, none of the four Annuals by COLLINS had an identifying year on the cover, only a copyright date inside, which may well represent both the issue date and also the year the book was meant for.  If so, it would be unlike most (but not all) Annuals, which are traditionally copyright dated the year before the one on the cover.

Fireball was first broadcast on U.K. TV on October 28th 1962 until October 27th the following year (there must have been a break in the run as there were only 39 episodes), so it would've made sense to release the first Annual while the show was still 'hot' on TV, in order to capitalise on children's interest in it.  If anyone knows for sure, I'd appreciate you letting me know.

The art is either by EDDIE PAUL or GERRY EMBLETON - if you can identify which one it is, feel entirely free to demonstrate your superior knowledge in the comments section.
     







2 comments:

Ian Duerden said...

It’s Eddie Paul though I’ve never been able to find more than a couple of British annuals he’s attributed to. Seems to have disappeared by the time TV Century 21 went into to publication.

Kid said...

Thanks, I eventually concluded it was Eddie Paul, as later Gerry Embleton art I compared the style to didn't match, but it's nice to have it confirmed. He (Eddie) was a good artist.



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