Gerry Anderson’s Project SWORD is finally graduating from a forgotten concept to a full-length graphic novel thanks to the team at Time Bomb Comics. This project bridges a sixty-year gap in television history. Most fans know the Anderson name from hits like Thunderbirds or Stingray, yet this particular world remained largely locked away in archives and old toy boxes. It’s a direct collaboration with Anderson Entertainment, bringing a vision from the 1960s into a modern comic format.
Writer Lizbeth Myles, known for her work on Doctor Who and Blake’s 7, is handling the script. She’s joined by artist James Gray, whose previous work includes Star Trek and Space Precinct. Together, they’re expanding on a premise that was originally intended for the screen but never quite made it past the development stage.
What is the story behind Gerry Anderson’s Project SWORD?
The story takes us to the year 3031. Earth is a mess after a massive meteorite slammed into the planet and buried itself in the core. This didn’t just cause a one-time explosion. It destabilized the entire globe. You’ve got continents sinking into the ocean and volcanoes popping up everywhere. It’s a slow-motion apocalypse.
Humanity’s only hope is the Space World Organisation for Research and Development, or Project SWORD. They’re the ones tasked with keeping what’s left of civilization from sliding into the abyss. It’s classic Gerry Anderson stakes with a much darker, environmental edge than some of his earlier “supermarionation” hits.
How did Project SWORD exist before this comic?
This is where the history gets weirdly interesting. In the 1960s, a massive marketing push happened before the show was even filmed. Toys were hitting shelves and serials were running in the TV21 comic weekly. There was even a standalone Annual. Usually, you build the show first and the lunchboxes later. Here, the merchandise outlived the production.
For six decades, fans only had those plastic vehicles and a few comic panels to piece together what this world looked like. Time Bomb Publisher Steve Tanner wanted to change that. He gave the creative team a simple brief: imagine Project SWORD is a big-budget contemporary TV show being made right now. They had to keep that specific 1960s Anderson soul while making it feel fresh for 2026.
Who is involved in the creative process?
James Gray had to take those original toy designs and turn them into functional, modern hardware. He worked closely with Jamie Anderson to make sure the vehicles and ships stayed true to the brand’s DNA. Lizbeth Myles had a tougher job. She had to build a cohesive world out of “nibbles” of existing lore. Some characters only had a single panel of dialogue in an old annual. She’s essentially reverse-engineering an entire universe from sixty-year-old scraps and epic vehicle sketches.
Get your first look at Project SWORD right here.:
When does the Project SWORD Kickstarter launch?
Time Bomb Comics is taking this to Kickstarter at the end of April. This is the latest entry in their partnership with Anderson Entertainment, following up on their Spectrum anthology which featured Terrahawks and New Captain Scarlet. The campaign will offer digital and print editions before the book hits wide retail later this year. If you want the exclusive reward content, the crowdfunding window is your best bet to grab it early.
The Kickstarter campaign can be found at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/timebomb/gerry-andersons-project-sword
