Valiant (comics)
Valiant | |
---|---|
IPC Magazines | |
Schedule | Weekly |
Format | Ongoing series |
Genre |
|
Publication date | 6 October 1962 – 16 October 1976 |
No. of issues | 712 |
Main character(s) | Tom Tully |
Artist(s) | Reg Parlett Jesús Blasco Eric Bradbury John Cooper Mike Western |
Editor(s) | Steve Barker Tony Power Stewart Wales John Wagner Steve MacManus (sub-editor) |
Valiant was a weekly
Creation
Having taken over
Publication history
Valiant launched on 6 October 1962, with a Geoff Campion cover depicting new headline star Captain Hurricane and a free 'Pocket Rocket' and football League Ladders.[3] The new comic eschewed prose stories (by then largely gone from Fleetway's other titles) in favour of comic serials and strips, interspersed with factual pages and, in later issues, letters from readers.[4] The comic led strips based on the typical boys' adventure mix of the time - war, westerns, sport and fantasy.[5] "Captain Hurricane" was a light-hearted World War II series depicting the adventures of Royal Marines Captain Hercules Hurricane and his long-suffering batman 'Maggot' Malone. Already a towering heavyweight, Hurricane's short temper would see him pitched into "ragin' furies" that blessed him with the power to cut an unarmed swathe through German troops and tie tank barrels in knots. Hugely popular with readers,[2] Captain Hurricane would be a constant presence throughout the magazine's life.[1]
More straight-laced military history was provided by "
More fantastical was "The Steel Claw", created by Ken Bulmer and telling the story of metal-handed and embittered laboratory assistant Louis Crandell. After an accident during one of boss Professor Barrington's experiments, Crandell develops the ability to turn invisible (aside from the eponymous appendage) and promptly went on the rampage to make the world pay for its perceived wrongs against him. The character proved an instant hit with readers and in February 1963 underwent a drastic change of outlook, putting his abilities into the fight for good, with Tom Tully taking over as writer. One of the story's most memorable features was the dark, atmospheric art by political exile[2] Jesús Blasco,[7] which has been cited as an influence by Brian Bolland[8] and Alan Davis.[9] Light relief meanwhile was provided by no less than six cartoon strips - Angel Nadal's "The Nutts", "The Soppy H'Porths" by Arthur Martin, "Hey Presto" and a trio of Reg Parlett contributions in "Percy the Problem Child", "Shorty the Sheriff" and "The Crows". The 32-page, 6d Valiant launched to strong sales, with the following three issues aiming for loyalty with further gifts - batches of cardboard tabs for the first issue's league ladders, a Giant Book of World War 2 and a magnifying glass.[4]
Valiant and Knockout
The line-up would stay stable until February 1963, when Valiant would undergo the first of what would be six mergers; the first victim was Knockout, which had been comprehensively outsold by Valiant since the new title launched. The merger brought four new stories to Valiant. "Kelly's Eye" revolved around adventurer Tim Kelly, who discovered a gem called the Eye of Zoltec that made him indestructible. For reasons best known to himself, Kelly chose to keep the talisman around his neck on a thin chain. Drawn by Argentine artist Francisco Solano López, "Kelly's Eye" would run until 1974.[4] Less enduring were the dinosaur-rearing schemes of Doctor Kraken, though the scientist would appear until September 1964.[4] The third addition was also relatively short-lived, the continued adventures of secret agent Nick Shadow in "The Man Called 39" lasting only three months.[4] More enduring were the cartoons. The perpetual travails of 'Heavyweight Chump of Greyfriars' Billy Bunter lasted as long as Valiant did,[1] while Reg Wootton's "Sporty" - depicting the title character's multidisciplinary ambitions usually winning out of the caddish antics of friend Sidney - would make appearances until 1972.[4] The cover bore the moniker of Valiant and Knockout until 22 February 1964. Another new feature added in 1963 was "Little Fred and Big Ed". This was another Uderzo import, roughly translated versions of Asterix, which ran in Valiant until 1964.[4] Fleetway would subsequently try to gain further mileage from the Asterix strips in Ranger and Look and Learn converting the Gauls to Britons, before Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge's faithful, definitive English translations began in 1970.
1963 had also seen an expansion of the use of Valiant as a brand. An ubiquitous annual for the title debuted in autumn 1963, while following year saw the debut of the digest-sized Valiant Picture Library. The latter rarely featured characters from the weekly, instead focusing on a steady diet of war action. Later spin-offs using the name included the Valiant Story of the West, The Valiant Space Annual and The Valiant Book of Pirates, while periodic specials (sometimes in conjunction with 'rival' Lion) were also issued. The Steel Claw meanwhile featured in another series of digests, alternating with The Spider from Lion.[1] Initially titled Fantastic Series before being retitled Stupendous Series, it ran from January 1967 to January 1968.[10]
The following year would see three popular stories debut. The sport quota was topped up by "The Wild Wonders" - drawn by Mike Western in an influential cartoon style,[11] and featuring Hebrides brothers Rick and Charlie Wild using their privation-ridden upbringing to dominate the world of athletics - and "Legge's Eleven", which saw player-manager Ted Legge try to assemble a team for Division Four strugglers Rockley Rovers. The third was another fantasy-tinged strip, "Mytek the Mighty". This concerned the construction of a huge robotic ape, built by Professor Arnold Boyce to communicate with the primitive Akabi tribe of Central Africa. However, Mytek was stolen by the scientist's assistant, the evil dwarf Gogra, and taken on a destructive tour around the world, pursued by Boyce and agent Dick Mason.[1] Drawn by Eric Bradbury, the story would run until 1970.[4]
Valiant expanded to 40 pages in May 1964 - a format that saw the debut of "
In 1969, Fleetway were purchased by
Valiant and Smash!
The following year brought a second merger. This time
Valiant and TV21
Two weeks after abandoning the Valiant and Smash title, the comic also absorbed the last remnants of
Valiant and Lion
This would last until 1974, when Lion's 22-year run ended and it folded into Valiant. The merge was not without controversy; Lion assistant editor Chris Lowder has stated it was outselling Valiant at the time, and that Le Grand - having advanced to managing director of Fleetway - ensured the comic he had helped devise survived. Lowder recalled he and fellow Lion editor Geoff Kemp took Le Grand to lunch to state their case, and were told they "just had to
Valiant and Vulcan
However, the decision to merge Valiant and Lion was a worrying sign of the shrinking market. Increasing competition from television led to a smaller market for boys' comics, as well as the market also having to deal with
Battle Picture Weekly and Valiant
While the comic reverted to simply on Valiant on 9 October 1976 the change was short-lived.[4] The following issue provided "Important news for all readers" and announced the title would be consumed by Battle Picture Weekly the following week.[23][1] Battle revolved around war comics and so there was little room for Valiant's contents, with only "One-Eyed Jack", "Soldier Sharp - The Rat of the Rifles" and "The Black Crow" were continued.[24] Captain Hurricane retired from frontline combat to host the letters page.[25] As with other cancelled weeklies, annuals would continue for some afterwards - the final Valiant Annual was dated 1984.[4]
Legacy
Valiant characters have appeared prominently in several revivals of the AP/Fleetway/IPC characters. New episodes of "The Steel Claw", "Kelly's Eye", "Captain Hurricane" and "Janus Stark" appeared in the 1990 Classic Action Holiday Special. Two years later reimagined versions of "Kelly's Eye", "The Steel Claw" and "Mytek the Mighty" were included in the 2000 AD Action Special. In 2006 several played prominent roles in the WildStorm mini-series Albion, which also used a fictional issue of Valiant as a key plot point.
In March 2012, Royal Mail launched a special stamp collection to celebrate Britain's rich comic book history.[26] The collection featured Valiant, along with The Beano, The Dandy, Eagle, The Topper, Roy of the Rovers, Bunty, Buster, Twinkle and 2000 AD. Several stories from Valiant have been collected by Titan Publishing Group, and as part of the Treasury of British Comics by Rebellion Developments, who have owned the complete Valiant library since 2018.[27]
Stories
Title
- Valiant 6 October 1962 to 16 February 1963[4]
- Valiant and Knockout 23 February 1963 to 22 February 1964[4]
- Valiant 29 February 1964 to 3 April 1971[4]
- Valiant and Smash! 10 April to 18 September 1971[4]
- Valiant 25 September 1971[4]
- Valiant and TV21 2 October 1971 to 20 April 1972[4]
- Valiant 27 April 1972 to 18 May 1974[4]
- Valiant and Lion 25 May 1974 to 22 March 1975[4]
- Valiant 29 March 1975 to 3 April 1976[4]
- Valiant and Vulcan 10 April to 2 October 1976[4]
- Valiant 9 October to 16 October 1976[4]
- Battle Picture Weekly and Valiant 23 October 1976 to 1 October 1977[4]
Spinoffs
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/0/0c/Valiantannual1975.jpg/225px-Valiantannual1975.jpg)
- Valiant Picture Library (144 issues, June 1963 to May 1969)[4]
- Valiant Annual (21 issues, 1964 to 1984)[4]
- Valiant Story of the West (2 issues, 1966)[4]
- Valiant Summer Special (5 issues, 1966 to 1970)[4]
- Valiant Space Special (2 issues, 1967 to 1968)[4]
- Lion and Valiant Special Extra (3 issues, 1968 to 1970)[4]
- The Valiant Book of Pirates (1968)[4]
- The Valiant Book of TV's Sexton Blake (1969)[4]
- The Valiant Book of Conquest of the Air (1970)[4]
- Valiant and Smash! Summer Special (1971)[4]
- Valiant and TV21 Summer Special (2 issues, 1972 to 1973)[4]
- The Valiant Book of Sports (1973)[4]
- Valiant Holiday Special (15 issues, 1974 to 1980)[4]
- The Valiant Book of Magic & Mystery (1976)[4]
- The Valiant Book of Weapons & War (1976)[4]
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Moore, Ray (1994). "Valiant Deeds and a Feast of Fun". Valiant - A Complete Index. Comic Journal/A&B Whitworth.
- ^ a b c d e Bensley, Lin (April 2009). "None But the Brave". Best of British. Metropolis Group.
- ^ "BLIMEY! The Blog of British Comics: Promoting VALIANT in 1962". 25 April 2017.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap Holland, Steve (1994). Valiant - A Complete Index. Comic Journal/A&B Whitworth.
- ISBN 9780714839936.
- ^ "Bear Alley: Paladin the Fearless". 23 April 2007.
- ISBN 9781317915386.
- ^ Stringer, Lew (Summer 1992). "Tales Before Dreddtime". 2000 AD Action Special. Fleetway Publications.
- ISBN 9781893905191.
- ^ "Bear Alley: Fleetway Super Library". 30 April 2007.
- ^ Holland, Steve. Mike Western (1925-2008), Bear Alley, 20 May 2008
- ISBN 9781447207559.
- ^ The Use of English. Scottish Academic Press. 1965.
- ISBN 9780252098369.
- ISBN 9780714839936.
- ISBN 9781135089443.
- ^ Coates, Alan; Coates, David (June 1984). "Smash!". British Comic World. No. 3. Redbridge, London: A. & D. Coates.
- ISBN 9781496807403.
- ^ Stephen Jewell (w). "The Comic That Roared - Lion" Judge Dredd Megazine, vol. 1, no. 421 (14 July 2020). Rebellion Developments.
- ISBN 9781786180544.
- ISBN 9781786188946.
- ISBN 9780749082116.
- ^ "BLIMEY! The Blog of British Comics: This week in 1976: The final VALIANT". 8 October 2016.
- ^ Holland, Steve (2002). The Fleetway Companion. Rotherham: CJ & Publication.
- ^ "BLIMEY! The Blog of British Comics: Captain Hurricane arrives!". 26 January 2015.
- ^ "Beano's Dennis the Menace on Royal Mail comic stamps". BBC News. 19 March 2012. Retrieved 19 March 2012.
- ^ "'Billy Bunter' deal sees Oxford publisher amass huge comic collection". BBC News. 28 September 2018.
External links
- Valiant (1962-1963) at the Grand Comics Database
- Valiant and Knockout (1963-1964) at the Grand Comics Database
- Valiant (1964-1971) at the Grand Comics Database
- Valiant and Smash! (1971) at the Grand Comics Database
- Valiant and TV21 (1971-1974) at the Grand Comics Database
- Valiant (1974) at the Grand Comics Database
- Valiant and Lion (1974–1975) at the Grand Comics Database
- Valiant (1975–1976) at the Grand Comics Database
- Battle Picture Weekly and Valiant (1976-1977) at the Grand Comics Database