These early covers including the Dr Who edition were painted by Peter Archer who also did text illustrations inside the books except 'Ring Of Fire' which was done another uncredited artist.
The books with the early painted covers were copyrighted to A.P. Films however 'Ring Of Fire' was copyrighted to Century 21 Films, which may explain why from that point all the covers were photographic. Inside the books there was still text illustrations - Thunderbirds Are Go was Jim Watson and The Albanian Affair was Chris Higham.
The three 'Spectrum File' paperbacks were very Century 21. Again the Chris Higham did the inside art.
The Century 21 look continued for the two Joe 90 paperback, copyright credits were ATV Overseas Ltd. with illustrations inside by Malcolm Stokes.
The seldom seen Secret Service series had two books devoted to it and returned to painted covers.
The artist for both the covers and inside illustrations was unidentified. Copyright credits were Century 21 Merchandising, the same as the two UFO books.
I must admit I did like the UFO books as they were obviously less juvenile than the others and they were the only ones I’ve read more than once.
Apart from the UFO and 1999 books which I picked up at the time most of the others were found at flea markets and charity shops with the odd one being bought cheaply on the dreaded eBay.
Had all the 1999 books. Great logo on the covers. I remember getting the Making of Space 1999 via mail order from Maya Merchandising in London (pre Forbidden Planet I think) in the days when you had to send off your pocket money in a postal order and hope it didn't get lost. Stupidly all thrown away years ago and the Making of book is worth a small fortune these days. Doh!
ReplyDeleteFunny - I HAVE got 'Ring of Fire' somewhere, God knows where, but I recognised it instantly..only mine comes with the special limited edition separate covers!!!
ReplyDeleteHugh
Yep, got all of those loved them they were Vital in pre video days.
ReplyDeleteI had one of the UFO books in a U.S. edition, and nearly all of the Space: 1999 books, including the making of book.
ReplyDelete(If I ever saw a book tie-in for any of the previous Anderson shows I'd have grabbed it faster than the eye can see, but unfortunately they never made it out my way.)
Hey, a few memories stirred there, fellas. I'd forgotten about Maya merchandicing, Yorkie. Used to advertise in Starburst, didn't they. Starburst mag, btw was were I first found out about the Fanderson convention in 1981
ReplyDeleteDidn't know Ring of Fire had different covers. Mine's ripped as you can see, but I'd love to have a look at your version. Have a rummage and see if you can dig it out and send in a pic, Hugh.
You're right about the pre-video days, Kevin. It's amazing how we stuck with these shows when you could only see them when the telly showed them. I remember finding an old Standard 8 3 minute film of Fireball XL5 and had to pay to get it converted to Super 8, but what a buzz to see it when I wanted.
Richard, I knew that both the UFO books had US versions (with different titles - Sporting Blood was one I think! can't remember the other. ) and obviously 1999 had their versions. I just presumed, wrongly I know , that the earlier books would have been shipped over as is! Ah well you live and learn.
Thanks again for the comments, guys.
Scoop - er......I was joking! I meant that my covers had parted company with the rest of the tome some decades ago - although it means there's a free piece of yellowish proprietary-branded sticky-backed cellulose tape down the spine!!
ReplyDeleteYours is in much better condition than mine - is all!!!
Oops! My mistake, Hugh. My enthusiasm got the better of me there. : D
DeleteFairly certain the illustrations in 'Ring of Fire' were by Michael Strand, who had also done strips in 'TV21' and 'Lady Penelope'. I also have the two 'Space:1999' novelisations that were only published in the States, ending each series: 'Phoenix of Megaron' and 'The Edge of the Infinite'.
ReplyDeleteI have all of the Supermarionation novels, but flogged off the UFO and 1999 ones decades ago. Just never really into the live action series
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