AMAZING WORLD OF THE DCT HEROES!
COMIC BITS may have slipped by you so here are the first three parts of my history of D. C. Thomson & Sons Co. Ltd,of Dundee -here referred to as "DCT"!
Today most comic readers are totally unaware of the British Golden and Silver Ages of comics and the weird and wonderful characters and stories they presented to their young readership,albeit in black and white -most kids seem unable to read a comic these days unless its full of colour! For the next three issues I shall be looking at Dundee based D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. [D. C. T. To fans],but don’t worry;the rival Associated Press-cum-Fleetway will be looked at in later issues.
In the 1920s the boys story paper market was dominated by Alfred Harmsworth’s Associated Press [see CB no.1]. The AP ruled supreme,but not for long.
In 1905,wealthy Tayside shipping boss William Thomson picked up some publishing and printing interests;he wasn’t going to waste the opportunity. Along with his two sons and their respective wives -Frederick,David Couper,Clara,Jessie and Margaret- William founded D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. The family knew the potential of the "lower end" of the market and the company’s newspapers and magazines were aimed specifically at that market. E. S. Turner wrote that "It’s newspapers and weekly journals had a down-to-earth,forthright quality;they made no pretence at aiming at a highbrow public." Whatever,the Thomson’s knew what they were doing and were successful.
Boys comics at the time were mainly illustrated text features and Thomson’s,in 1921,launched a new weekly titled ADVENTURE. The AP retaliated with the CHAMPION [1922} which had weekly sales figures of 500,000 copies! Thomson’s could do better;they responded with the ROVER and then the WIZARD that same year. In 1930 a fourth title,the SKIPPER was launched and this was followed,in 1933 by the HOTSPUR. Collectively,these titles have become famous in British comics history as the "Big Five" [Editor’s note;some recent comic ’historians’ have referred to the "Big Five" as being comic companies so take note,kiddies!].
At its peak,circa 1937,the WIZARD was said to have outsold Aps CHAMPION with its weekly number of copies sold hitting 800,000 per week! And to slap the AP even harder;a 1940 survey showed that boys between the ages of 12-14 made the "Big Five" more popular than any AP title.
The 1930s were definitely the Golden Age boom years for comics but the outbreak of World War II created many cutbacks [though Independents did quite well as I’ll point out in a later issue]. Paper restrictions meant that titles had fewer pages and,in 1941,SKIPPER was,er,shall we say..."Skuppered" -one more reason to hate the dreaded Nazies!!
And what characters those titles gave us!
There were school stories,of course;the Medieval "LION-HEART SCHOOL",the futuristic "THE LOST SCHOOL ON THE WHIRLING PLANET",the Wild West "SIX-GUN SCHOOLBOYS WEAR WHISKERS" and the very polite and smartly dressed pupils of "RED CIRCLE SCHOOL" entertained with such lines as:"Is this a morgue I’ve dropped into,or a public school?". Whizzo! Then there was "THE IRON TEACHER SPEAKS","THE SECRET ROUND THE CIRCUS KID","WOOLLY WEST THE TEACHER WITH THE WORLD’S WORST MEMORY","DOWN WITH HOME LESSONS" and many,many more. What could be more interesting to school kids?
Comic sets [strips] were mainly humorous such as "NOSEY PARKER:OUR PRIZE BUSYBODY","QUICK SLICK QUIPS" with its matchstick figures;"PIMPLE AND HIS PYTHON","THE JUNGLE NIBS" and another matchstick figure set "SLICK STICK SMILE".
Covers,it is said,sell comics and ROVER,HOTSPUR,ADVENTURE and SKIPPER had covers that rivalled any from Timely or the other American companies. The IRON TEACHER about to be crushed by a Nazi tank! "THE NAMELESS NAZI" an armoured villain with German army helmet and swastika emblazoned on his chest [SKIPPER,13th January,1940,which,as far as I can find out,supercedes any US character of that description];ADVENTURE of 16th March,1940 [issue no.959] featured another helmeted Nazi villain:THE HUMAN TORPEDO"!
Bat-winged heroes,ghostly armour and daring heroes [yes,even the "IRON TEACHER" managed to get back on his feet and skupper the Nazies. Naturally,Herr Hitler featured on more than a few covers -as he did later on American comic books- and even olf fatty Goering featured on one [ADVENTURE 14th September,1940:issue no.985].
One WIZARD,in 1942,introduced another wartime story that later went on to become a comic strip [in 1966];"V FOR VENGEANCE". Long before WW II,Aylmer Gregson had been planted in the Nazi party as von Reich,a man to become second to only Himmler in the Black Guard. Only Pierre Michenot,formerly of the French Intelligence service knew the secret of this strutting,die-hard Nazi.
It all began with a note,at the bottom of which was a blood red letter "V". It read:
"V for Vengeance. The free peoples of Europe strike again. This rat is only one of many who will die. The Deathless Men are answering the heart-rendering cries of the innocent sufferers. It is now the turn of the tyrants,the,the murderers,the torturers,to tremble. Before long,all the following will share the fate of this scum. They cannot escape us. Their time is coming."
The "rat" was Otto von Leben,head of Gestapo in Paris,assassinated in his own chauffeur-driven car. The "scum" on the list,and it was a pretty long one,were Gestapo members,various ranked Nazi officials and Hitler,Goering and Goebbels. But who were these so called "Deathless Men"?No one knew. Gregson was "JACK ONE" while all the others wore grey suits,grey felt hats and grey face masks:all were called "Jack" with various numbers after their names. No matter how many died -at the hands of Nazies or to escape capture- more "Jacks" took their places. It was the grim world of US OSS,British SOE and Resistance combined.
Naturally,these boys papers advised kids on how to help the war effort;spotting mysterious
characters who might be asking too many questions,reporting people spreading dangerous rumours or talking about vital work ["chatterbugs"];even helping collect scrap,buying National Savings Certificates to help the war,what to do in air raids and so on. Yes,it sounds very,very propogandist today but one has to remember that by 1943 even those in vital Government positions realised that the war might not go Britain’s way:it was a real struggle for survival we might lose.
"THE HAIRY SHERIFF" [a sheriff who happened to be a...gorilla] was introduced to us in the SKIPPER -years later this,too,became a comic strip. Bill Samson worked undercover among the Afghan and Pathan tribes where he was known as "THE WOLF OF KABUL". His burly side-kick,from the Himalayas,was Chung and Chung carried only one weapon. A weapon every enemy feared. A deadly weapon. A cricket bat [or "clicky-ba" as he called it]. The text stories were the foundation for the later comic strip adventures.
One of the oddest characters was the slim but very muscular man known as "The Man In Black" [no,he didn’t silence UFO witnesses!]. He was a man simply known as "Wilson" a superb athlete who had lived on the Yorkshire Moors for an incredible 150 years!! Introduced in 1943 in the WIZARD,"THE TRUTH ABOUT WILSON" and other series went from text to strip format and even those with no real interest in sports read the stories in wonder.
There were,of course,many,many more and they deserve a book just to cover them briefly. There is no wonder that D.C. T. Literally owned the boys paper field!
In the issues to follow I’ll take a look at a few of the Golden and Silver Ages characters in more detail.
In the meantime,if any Reader knows of old artists from Thomson still alive and kicking whom I can contact to interview,please let me know!
THE AMAZING WORLD OF THE.....
D. C. T. HEROES!
Pt.2In last issue’s featured we looked at the origins of D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd.,of Dundee and some of its early characters. I noted how,out of the "Big Two" -D.C.T. And Associated Press or AP- Thomson’s had some of the oddest and exciting characters that seriously worried it’s rival [and by no stretch of the imagination was the AP a slouch!]. The adventures of the characters live on in the minds of old comic lags like myself.
As with the AP,artists working for Thomson remained mostly unknown -the exception being someone like Dudley Watkins [see last issue’s article]. So,who has heard of Paddy Brennan? It was he who drew "THE AMAZING PEET" [TOPPER 1973-1975],"CRACKAWAY JACK" [DANDY 1955-1960],"IRON HAND" [CRACKER 1975-1976] and "WINGFOOT"/"LONGLEGS" [BEANO 1954-1959;WIZARD 1973 & BUDDY 1981] and had a career spanning some three decades at Thomson.
Although many readers of later Thomson strips will recall Sandy Calder drew GENERAL JUMBO",Brennan was the first and most prolific of the series artists.
"GENERAL JUMBO" [later,"ADMIRAL JUMBO" [1971] ,but then becoming a General again!] was cheery schoolboy Alfie Johnson who lived in Dinchester and,because of his,er,"plump" figure,was known to his friends [!] as "Jumbo". In 1953 Alfie kicked his football over a wall and went to retrieve it - only to be attacked by a tiny RAF jet and a unit of mini-tanks. The genial genius Professor Carter was the mind behind these remote controlled ‘toys’ that pre-dated the G.I. JOE/ACTION MAN craze of the 1960s. Alfie then saves the Prof from being run over and is thus recruited by the scientist as General of his mini Army,Navy and Air Force.
"GENERAL JUMBO’S" adventures ran from 1953-1974 in the BEANO and 1980-1981 in NUTTY. At one point the character vanished but soon returned in Annuals tackling Dinchester’s own mystery big cat [an escaped circus panther!],pollution and a whole lot more.
At the time that the strip appeared toy/model soldier collecting was a big thing amongst school boys. Later,as already noted,G.I. JOE/ACTION MAN [anybody remember the Uks own 12" action man known as TOMMY GUN?] became a huge craze and Jumbo,of course,had an army of them!
Note to Readers and self:constantly hitting ACTION MEN and screaming at them "gowwan ya beggar-move!" did not work. Neither did sitting,crossed-armed glowering at your father who refused to mechanise your figures and create a remote control box.
Saaaaaaad.
BEANO
number 1289 introduced young readers to William Grange,a pupil at the Burnham Academy. Like all middle class schoolboys,William had what might,by some persons,be seen as a kinky habit of dressing up in all-black gear,donning a helmet with painted on cats eyes and bouncing and jumping about. Of course,there was a reason for this. Young William was fighting crime as the acrobatic "BILLY THE CAT". His ‘tail’,incidentally,was a handy bolas.Car thieves,burglars and even [in later years when a price was put on his head] bounty hunters failed to stop him. He was triple hardcore. Sandy Calder,again,was among some of the artists who worked on the strip. Much to the annoyance of us lads,William’s cousin,Kathleen was later to join him after discovering his secret. Exit middle-classed William and Kathleen,enter street cred "BILLY THE CAT AND KATIE".
From 1967-1974 "BILLY THE CAT" battled it out in the pages of the BEANO and from 1981-1982 he appeared in BUDDY. Later in the 1980s BILLY got relegated to a cartoon gag character and ,for myself and other fans,that was the death of the character.
However,the impact of the characters was still strong enough for Grant Morrison and Steve Yeowell to include two alternative earth BILLY and KATIE in the series "ZENITH" in Fleetway’s 2000 AD.
The "BLACK SAPPER" is a name I first recall hearing my Grandfather,Bill,use when I was a kid. It may have been in connection with a news report of some crooks digging a tunnel into a bank,but don’t quote me on that! Then,in 1976,an old chap passing by noticed me digging the garden furiously and remarked:"Be Gar,yer diggin’ like the Black Sapper!". Obviously the character had made a great impact on that generation!
According to the legend:"In the police records of Scotland Yard,no name occupies more space than the Black Sapper." The "BLACK SAPPER" had invented a diamond hard drilling machine with a name to strike terror into the hearts of even the bravest of men...the,uh,"Earth-
Worm"! Marot was the mechanic who worked with the "SAPPER" and he was with the mastermind when he first robbed the Bank of England on 24th August,1929,in ROVER no.384,a text story. The criminal genius was thwarted by Commander Breeze of the Yard [of course]. The "SAPPER" later disappeared and managed to keep his head low until his dramatic re-appearance in picture-strip form -once again coming up against Breeze of the Yard! Mind you,they were now in the BEEZER no.196,17th October,1959! Over a decade later the character returned for a 1971-1973 run in the HOTSPUR,as well as appearing in the HOTSPUR ANNUAL 1973 pitting his abilities against "THE MYSTERY MAN FROM THE FLAMES."
And you’ve guessed it,yes,the "BLACK SAPPER" had returned as a champion of law and order starting with the 1971 run. Jack Glass was the artist who also drew "THE AMAZING MR X",[DANDY 1944],"BOOMERANG BURKE" [DANDY,1941],"BUCK WILSON" [DANDY,1937-
1938],"CRACKER JACK" [BEANO,1938-1939],"LION BOY" [DANDY,1949-50],"NEVER-NEVER NELSON" [DANDY,1938-1939],"QUICK NICK" [DANDY,1958] and "WILDFIRE THE WAR HORSE" [DANDY,1940-1941] yet another artist unknown to many fans but deserving at least an article to himself!
Jeff Bevan,who also drew the story of a robot from outer space that landed on Earth and adopted Huggins family in the hilarious "BIG KLANKY" [SPARKY,1966-1974],also drew "THE BLACK HAWK" in HOTSPUR no.362,24th September,1966-1968. This character was no hero but a villain in the fine old British comic tradition -he had the series title while those who hunted him down did so without major credits! Wearing black,skin-tight clothing,a black eye-mask and flying using bat-like wings,"BLACK HAWK" used the little favoured old sea hulk moored somewhere along the River Thames as his HQ ["little favoured" due to the awful sinusitis,cattarhal and bronchial problems created by the cold and damp]. "BLACK HAWK" was tended by a dumb oriental servant named Soyo.
The big question that often keeps me awake at night [how sad is that?] is this;why,if he flew about with a pair of bat-like wings,did he call himself "BLACK HAWK"? Surely something along the lines of "BLACK BAT" would have been more apt?
Inspector Tarrant was the copper in charge but the two main heroes were private detective Calvin Crisp [snicker] and his side-kick,Bill Budd. Oddly,Crisp was the "richest man in the world" so what he was doing putting his nose into police business I do not know,but for private detective gentlemen the legions of crime and injustice would have seized control from old P.C. Plod years ago.
Those lucky enough to have been able to buy HOTSPUR no.362 will know what happened but,and this is only a guess mind you,I don’t think the "BLACK HAWK" succeeded in his plan to rob....the Bank of England?!
Glass,as mentioned,drew "BOOMERANG BURKE" the Royal Canadian Mounted Police officer with a pretty obvious gimmick ["what gimmick?" Look at the title!];the "no gun Mountie" was what every US TV producer looks for,hang on,hasn’t the Mounti thing been done? Anyway,for several very suspenseful weeks the immaculately dressed Burke pursued the evil Scarface in the jungles of South America.
Issue no.90,of the DANDY,19th August,1939,began the saga of "THE BOY WITH THE IRON HANDS". This strip ran until 1940;the "Boy" was David who came from the hills and challenged King Roderick "The Red" in the city of Albion,capitol of the land of Caledon. The tyrant would eventually,other than being humiliated,overthrown. David had allied himself to the mysterious Master and his "Sword of Truth".
How strong was this boy? Well,at the very outset he had thrown the King’s bodyguard off his horse by hurling the poor beast onto its back -and he even beat a lion!
Fred Sturrock was the artist and he also drew "HANDY CLARK" in the DANDY from issue no.1,4th December,1937 to 1939. "CLARK" related the story of the man servant to Major Bryant and his children Peter and Patricia when their aircraft crashed on a plateau in the Andes. The man servant located a lost city,saved the kids from giant spiders and much more in the series "LOST ON THE MOUNTAIN OF FEAR" which was quite successful and the follow up,HANDY CLARK ON THE TREASURE TRAIL" saw him in Nigeria and facing,amongst other things,a giant!
The HORNET no.475,14th October,1972, saw the first appearance of ‘CAPTAIN HORNET’ in his rugby-style shirt,flying helmet and goggles,riding boots and jodpers. When the good Captain wasn’t looking for trouble while patrolling in his Hoverer,he was in his secret mobile HQ -a lab disguised as a van of "Hornet Removals"! The Captain carried a side-arm [a stun-gun] and the Hoverer was also equipped various wonderful pieces of gear to catch crooks with.
Although the strip’s artist is credited as being Ortiz,1974 strips had a far more British feel to them,looking a little like Mike Western’s style [see issue 1 interview,and,by-the-by,Mike never worked for D.C.T.].
Lord Peter Flint might ring a bell? He was,prior to WW II,Britain’s ace racing driver. In WARLORD no.1,28th September,1974,Lord Peter was presented with the White Feather of Cowardice by Lady Bencham. If she survived the war,hopefully,he was able to throw it back! Because,Dear Reader,on that very day,out top secret agent known as "WARLORD" was off to Austria to kick the Nazi war effort back a few yards.
Yes,Lord Peter was that agent. And in case,like many others,you are trying to remember the name of his boss,or his code name I should say,it was...."Kingpin". A good,all round action series with an unheard of nine [yes,9!!] pages introduction. His adventures were drawn by numerous artists.
As I’ve already mentioned Jack Glass and the strips he worked on I’d like to mention "CRACKER JACK",or "The Wonder Whip Man",or "The Fighting Cowboy with the 30-foot Lash"
[ooh,he was sooo butch!] as he was also billed,in more innocent times!
"CRACKER JACK" was the sensation of the Sunset City Rodeo which resounded to the "Crack!" Crack!" Of his rawhide whip which seemed to almost have a life of its own! "JACK" first appeared in BEANO no.1,30th July,1938,and the strip began when he used his whip to stop the car of bank robbers -shades of Indiana Jones!!
Now,let me tell you a story of a five years old boy who was abducted by aliens from the family home on the Yorkshire Moors. By "aliens" I mean Martians! Taken to the Red Planet,the boy was raised with one aim in life once he reached adulthood;to foster interplanetary goodwill and help all in danger [pretty weird considering they kidnapped the boy!].
On the 4th July,1959,in issue no.885 of the BEANO ,the boy,now a man,arrived back on Earth and was known by the name "DANGER MAN". Equipped with various gadgets such as the Zoomer,a land-sea-air vehicle,flying ring and so on,the action was bound to follow.
Drawn by Michael Darling [and I can find nothing more about or by him],this series later became "DANGER TWINS" and I must admit to never having seen the strip under either title...help,anyone?
That’s it for now but,next issue:"X-BOW","THE DEATHLESS MEN","DANNY LONGLEGS","EBONY" and many,many more. Be here or be cuboid,Man.
THE AMAZING WORLD OF THE.....
D. C. T. HEROES!
Part 3Hands up all those who found an old motorcyclist helmet and painted cats-eyes on it and played "BILLY THE CAT" after last issue? No one? Ah well,must have just been me,then!
In CB no.3 I published an article on the great Dudley Watkins,a Thomson’s stalwart of over thirty years so I won’t need to introduce him or his career to Readers. That lovely art style of his was put to good use in a strip set in the Middle Ages;"DANNY LONGLEGS". This strip ran from 1945-1950,starting on 3rd February,1945 in issue no. 286 of the DANDY. In the little village of Sleepy Valley,Old Dan and his wife,Polly,were very worried about their son,Danny,who had shot up so fast that he was now 10 feet [3m] tall!
"DANNY" was forever in trouble;"Longlegs" was his village nick-name which some Medieval genius had adapted from his real name,Long. On one occasion he stood on a toy rocking horse to steal pies from the window ledge of the castle cookhouse:Sir Standfast Bower spotted the youth and toppled him -the rocking horse broke. Servants and knights grabbed "DANNY" and turned him into a makeshift rocking horse for Sir Standfast’s children! Of course,no respectable comic strip character was going to stand for that! A circus nearby had a "talking horse" costume and it wasn’t long before "DANNY" hatched a plot to get revenge on the knight...who couldn’t tell a horse costume from the real thing! But even then,everything turned out alright.
Watkins also drew "JIMMY AND HIS MAGIC PATCH",the story of Jimmy Watson who travelled through time to meet Robin Hood and his Merry Men,play football with centaurs,race his box car against chariots in the Roman arena and even teamed up with the Three Musketeers. No time cabinet was used. No Time-watch. No,what "JIMMY" had was a magic patch sowed into the seat of his pants!
In one strip,Watkins drew "JIMMY" hiding under a drum in 1704 while a wonderfully drawn battle between English and French troops took place. The same strip saw the lad meet up with Napoleon then with Queen Elizabeth I -the story was featured in the BEANO BOOK 1951.
Perhaps one of the most charming Watkins strip series was "TOM THUMB-THE BRAVE LITTLE ONE". This story series appeared in issue no.1 of the BEANO [30th July,1938 as we all know by now!] and was adapted into strip form for the same title between 1941-1958,becoming the full colour front page star of the nursery comic BIMBO between 1961-1969 and re-appeared in a title I have never seen,LITTLE STAR between 1973-1975.
Based,obviously,on the fairy story of Tom Thumb,Watkins’ character travelled around Medieval England with his equally diminuitive black friend,Tinkel. Looking at his work it must be fair to assume that Watkins loved drawing comic sets/strips as it shows in every page and "TOM THUMB" is no exception.
Watkins also drew the story of "JACK FLASH THE FLYING BOY",the story of the son of Mercury’s top scientist who was blond-haired,sturdily built and had winged feet! "JACK" crash-landed his rocket somewhere on Englands south coast in issue no.355 of the BEANO,19th February,1949. But "JACK" was a friendly ’invader’ and at one point,while flying a group of school kids in his rocket the craft crashed in Africa. Pygmies,deadly fauna and even a lost Roman city were encountered.
Again,the stories were panelled pictures accompanying text. In 1973,in the girls comic MANDY" the character re-appeared but as "JACKIE FLASH"! This version I have never seen so cannot comment on. However,"JACK" did see life again in 1980 in the comic NUTTY.
In 1966 the war time WIZARD text story "THE DEATHLESS MEN" was turned into comic strip form by an artist known only as "Philpott". The adventures of these men in grey in strip form were as exciting as the text features. Great stuff.
The CRUNCH was a boys comic so the fact that a high-kicking,karate-chopping black female character appeared in it is unheard of! "EBONY" appeared in the comic between 1979-1980 and was the story of a woman out to prove her worth in the British Special Mission Squad,"EBONY" found its star captured by a village of Nazies whose features had been altered by plastic surgery! The artist was Magallanes.
"Fireball for hire. Mysteries solved -problems licked -lost things found -crooks straightened out- Anytime -Anyplace - But only dangerous jobs accepted." With a calling card like that how could the owner lead a boring life? "FIREBALL" had his adventures chronicled in nine pages a week starting in BULLET no.1,14th February,1976. When BULLET merged with the comic WARLORD in 1978 the story continued. Another two page spread featured "FIREBALL" running the readers club,"FIREBALL AGENTS". In 1979,WARLORD ran the strip "YOUNG FIREBALL" which told us about the characters adventures as a youth in training. The strip was drawn by Neville Wilson on whom I have no further information.
Anyone out there willing to admit to having purchased girls comics? No? Oh well,you’ll probably not be aware of who the GIRLS FROM N.O.O.D.L.E.S." Were?
If you read "DIANA" between 1965-1970 you would know that they were Gale Price and Nicola Main working as special agents for the National Organisation for Order,Discipline and Law Enforcement in Schools! Yeah,schools were a lot rougher in those days,believe me. Obviously inspired by the MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. TV series,the girls got their orders from Miss Z at a ruined abbey -N.O.O.D.L.E.S. HQ. Cases included the face-changing masks of the evil ballet master,Tengali,and the electrocution by electric guitar of a pupil at Alexander’s Pop School.
The artist is unknown but I’d like to make a point here;girls comics were not all wishy-washy,badly drawn rubbish. There were some excellent creators working on them but this whole section of British comics is relatively unknown about.
One of the big problems with Thomsons has been "in-house art styles". Artists were told at one-point to draw in a style similar to Watkins,but there are other artists who display similar styles to,say,Ted Rawlings,making it difficult to tell one from the other.
Rawlings was the artist on "THE HAMMER MAN" another Medieval strip full of adventure but with tongue firmly planted in cheek. Former blacksmith Baron Chell Puddock [aka:"THE HAMMER MAN" a real beefcake character] and his side-kick the spry Sir Jack Jinks,first saw print in the VICTOR between 1973-1985,though I’d swear the strip was a lot earlier than that! On their wanderings the duo journeyed to Castle Ratsburg were,er,Count Krakula was up to no good with the Ogre of Drakenstein!
Again,this is the only Rawlings strip I can find though he may well have done far more.
Add the word "iron" to anyone/thing and its a sure sign they/it is hard as nails! Maybe. The great Paddy Brennan who I mentioned in a previous column,drew many strips both adventure and humorous such as "GENERAL JUMBO","THE AMAZING PEET" [TOPPER 1973-1975] and so on,drew a character called "IRON HAND" from issue no.1 of CRACKER [18th January,1975 -1976. The character was a British Agent,041,and was fitted with a hand of steel equipped with all sorts of gadgets. Obviously inspired [?] by Fleetways "STEEL CLAW",its worth noting that the Intelligence community was full of steel handed agents such as "SARGE STEEL" of Charlton Comics in the US.
The "IRON FISH" on the other hand was the invention of Prof.Jim Gray;a sleek,fish-shaped underwater craft with various accessories. The Prof’s son,"Deep Sea Danny",operated the amazing craft from within the glass covered cockpit. Bill Holroyd drew the adventures that had begun as a text feature in the BEANO no.367,30th July,1949,but became a comic strip in no.506,29th March,1952. Holroyd was one of several artists. In the DANDY BOOK 1992 the "IRON FISH" re-appeared in a poor feature pitting the craft against generic,evil buck-toothed whalers. A sad demise for such a great strip.
The "IRON FISH" last appeared in the BEANO in 1967. Between 1981-1982 it featured in BUDDY.
Holroyd,incidentally,drew the robotic adventures of "BRASSNECK" in the DANDY,1964-1968 and as a full colour centre spread in the title from 1982-1984 [artist unknown];"DING DONG BELLE" in BEANO,1949-1951 and "THE FIGHTING FRASERS" from 1953-1956 in the TOPPER.
The "IRON TEACHER" I referred to in part 1 but it’s worth noting that its first appearance was in text format in the HOTSPUR no.412,19th July,1941,and it did its bit to help fight the Nazi menace. When the character returned in the Silver Age HOTSPUR,1972-1974 and HOTSPUR ANNUAL 1975,the "IRON TEACHER" had not only changed its appearance but was now controlled by Special Agent Jake Todd and the duo travelled far and wide to deal with menaces such as the evil circus hypnotist Corvo or prehistoric monsters in a lost South American Valley. Terry Patrick is noted as the artist of the strip.
Next:JAKE THE DRAGON KILLER JAKE JEFFORDS JOHNNY JETT
any many more in our final look at the D.C.T. HEROES!
Below:The Turtle Boy -art by the great Paddy Brennan.
