Air Hawk and the Flying Doctors

Last updated

Air Hawk and the Flying Doctor Sunday strip by Hart Amos, 1973 Airhawk.jpg
Air Hawk and the Flying Doctor Sunday strip by Hart Amos, 1973

Air Hawk and the Flying Doctors was an Australian comic strip created by John Dixon. The strip began publication on 30 May 1959, premiering in the Saturday issue of Perth's Weekend Mail . It was subsequently published by other Australian Sunday newspapers, Sydney's The Sun-Herald (14 June 1959), Brisbane's The Sunday Mail and Adelaide's Sunday Mail . In May 1963, 'Air Hawk' also became a daily strip and unlike most US adventure strips, the Sunday and daily continuity on 'Air Hawk' were separate stories with Dixon writing them both. [1] By 1967 the strip was appearing not only in every Australian state, but also in Britain, New Zealand, South Africa, [2] France, and both North and South America. [3] Dixon continued the strip until 1986. Dixon was assisted over the years by Mike Tabrett, Hart Amos (March 1970 – June 1977), [2] and Keith Chatto (1977-onwards). [2] Chatto had previously ghosted the daily strip for a short period in 1972 before he took over drawing the Sunday version of the strip in the middle of 1977. [4]

Contents

In 1962 a series of Air Hawk and the Flying Doctors comics were published by Howitz Publications, the series however only ran for three issues. [2] [5] This was followed by another series of comics by Page Publications, [2] reprinting episodes of the strip, with covers by Chatto. The Page series debuted in 1966, also only running for three issues, began with issue #20, but the title was altered to The Hawk and the Flying Doctors on the third issue. Although Dixon ceased the strip in 1986, the strip continued to be reprinted in the Sydney Morning Herald until the early 1990s.

The strip is set in the Australian outback, and follows the adventures of Jim Hawk, a former Royal Australian Air Force pilot flying and intelligent agent, who operates the Air Hawk Charter service from Alice Springs. The charter service worked in conjunction with the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS). Dr Hal Mathews was a close friend of Jim Hawk who worked for the RFDS and Sister Janet Grant belonged to the Australian Inland Mission, whose medical clinic adjoined the air strip. In the mid-seventies, Jim Hawk was granted a franchise to supply a special Emergency Relief Unit. The Unit's function is to relieve any Flying Doctor base in need of assistance and to be available for special emergencies. Hal Mathews had been seconded to work with the Unit and Janet Grant was now his full-time assistant, with the change in responsibilities, the 'Doctors' part of the title was reverted to the singular. Routine charter operations were continuously disrupted by Jim Hawk's involvement in conflict with local and international villains.

Reprints

In the 1980s Queensland comic enthusiast, Nat Karmichael, published John Dixon's Air Hawk Magazine. While the first few issues had small print runs of just 500 copies, later issues were being sold through newsagents. One issue was co-published with Cyclone! Comics, who released it as one of their 'Summer Specials'.

Selected storylines were reprinted in the book, John Dixon, Air Hawk and the Flying Doctor Volume 1, published by Comicoz in 2011. [6]

A second volume John Dixon's Air Hawk and the Flying Doctor: A Second Volume, was published by Comicoz in late 2013.

Adaptation

The comic book was adapted into the 1981 film Airhawk with Eric Oldfield as Jim Hawk.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jimmy Bancks</span> Australian cartoonist

James Charles Bancks was an Australian cartoonist best known for his comic strip Ginger Meggs.

Ron Vivian was an Australian cartoonist who is perhaps best known as having drawn Ginger Meggs after the original creator, Jimmy Bancks died in 1952.

Lloyd Piper was an Australian cartoonist and art teacher, best known as the third artist to take on the iconic Australian comic strip, Ginger Meggs, which he drew from 1973 until his death in 1983.

Stanley John Joseph Pitt was an Australian cartoonist and commercial artist. Pitt was the first Australian comic artist to have original work published by a major American comic book company. He often collaborated with his brother, Reginald Pitt.

Montague Thomas Archibald Wedd (1921–2012) was an Australian comic artist, animator and author.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Comics in Australia</span>

Australian comics have been published since 1908 and Australian comics creators have gone to produce influential work in the global comics industry,

Roger Fletcher is an Australian cartoonist and illustrator. His first comic strip, Torkan appeared in the Australian Sunday Telegraph in 1976 and his second comic strip, Staria, has appeared in the pages of the Australian Daily Telegraph since May 1980. Fletcher has taught children and adults the art of cartooning in the east coast of Australia and Ireland.

John Dixon was an Australian comic book artist and writer, best known for his comic strip creation, Air Hawk and the Flying Doctors.

Ronald Keith Chatto was an Australian comic book artist and writer. He was the first Australian illustrator to draw a full-length episode of The Phantom comic.

<i>Fatty Finn</i> Australian comic strip series

Fatty Finn was a popular long-run Australian comic strip series, created in 1923 by Syd Nicholls. It ran in syndication until the creator's death in 1977.

Leslie Dixon (1910–2002), was an Australian cartoonist and commercial artist.

Gerald Carr is an Australian comic book writer, artist and illustrator, best known for his creations, Vampire! and Vixen.

Paul Wheelahan was an Australian comic book writer, artist and illustrator, best known for his creations, The Panther and The Raven.

Dan Russell (1906–1999) was an Australian cartoonist. Dan's younger brother Jim Russell was also a cartoonist.

Maurice Bramley, was a New Zealand born Australian cartoonist and commercial artist.

Moira Bertram, was an Australian comic book artist and illustrator.

Norman Howard Rice was an Australian cartoonist, comic book artist and illustrator.

Hart Amos, was an Australian comic strip writer and artist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Captain Atom (Atlas Publications)</span>

Captain Atom is an Australian comic book series created and written by Jack Bellew with illustrations by Arthur Mather. It was published from 1948 to 1954, with 64 issues and it also appeared as strips in a number of Australian newspapers. The protagonist, the first to use the name, has no relation to the later American superhero Captain Atom, published by Charlton Comics in 1965 and subsequently by DC Comics in 1987.

Peter Chapman was an Australian comic book writer and illustrator. His most notable works were The Phantom Ranger, The Shadow and Sir Falcon.

References

  1. ↑ Ryan, John (1979). Panel by Panel – An Illustrated history of Australian Comics. Cassell Australia. p. 90. ISBN   0-7269-7376-9.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 Shiell, Annette, ed. (1998). Bonzer; Australian Comics 1900s – 1990s. Redhill, South Australia: Elgua Media. ISBN   1-876308-12-5.
  3. ↑ Burrows, Toby; Stone, Grant (1994). Comics in Australia and New Zealand: the Collections, the Collectors, the Creators. Routledge. p. 44.
  4. ↑ Ryan, John (1979). Panel by Panel – An Illustrated history of Australian Comics. Cassell Australia. p. 192. ISBN   0-7269-7376-9.
  5. ↑ Ryan, John (1979). Panel by Panel – An Illustrated history of Australian Comics. Cassell Australia. p. 210. ISBN   0-7269-7376-9.
  6. ↑ "Air Hawk comic series is making a comeback". The Courier-Mail . 8 July 2011. Retrieved 4 November 2011.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.