EXIT TV21, STAGE LEFT...

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Believe it or not (as LEROY ROBERT RIPLEY would say), the above comic is rather significant in a way.  Y'see, this was the very last time that the name of TV21 appeared on the cover of a British weekly, after around two and a half years of sharing space (as junior partner) with the VALIANT masthead.  True, even before the merger in 1971, TV21 hadn't resembled its original incarnation for quite a while, but its title in some shape or form had been a familiar sight on newsagents' counters since 1965.  Five issues later, the host comic found another partner and a new double-act appeared on the scene, with the name of LION taking the place that TV21 had occupied. The previous four issues had returned to Valiant solo status during those intervening weeks, but it was sad to see TV21's logo absent after its years of faithful service.

Excuse the poor quality image, but it's the seller's ebay photo of the comic I've recently bought.  When it arrives, I'll scan and replace the pic with a better one, and add some pages from within to give you a taste of what it was about.  I wonder if GERRY ANDERSON or ALAN FENNEL even noticed or lamented TV21's demise, or had it already faded from their day-to-day consciousness long before the curtain came down for the final time?  And thus a legend passed into history.

Posted in: Cartoons