The Champion | |
---|---|
Publication information | |
Publisher | IPC/Fleetway Publications, 1966 |
Schedule | Weekly |
Format | Ongoing series |
Genre | |
Publication date | 26 February – 4 June 1966 |
No. of issues | 15 |
Editor(s) | Gil Page |
The Champion was a weekly British comics periodical published by Fleetway Publications from 26 February to 4 June 1966. The series revived the name of the story paper of the same name printed by Fleetway's predecessor, Amalgamated Press; however, while the first version of The Champion had run from 1922 to 1956, the new title lasted little more than three months before being merged with another Fleetway boys' comic, the established Lion .
The original edition of The Champion had been merged with Tiger in 1955, and had been a more traditional 'story paper' largely focusing on illustrated text stories. In 1966, Fleetway announced the name would be re-used for a new "picture weekly", with a focus on comic strip stories. [1] Gil Page was assigned as editor, with the rest of the team drawn from Fleetway's successful Valiant weekly. [2] Both for this reason and to boost sales, the cover would proclaim "Champion is the companion paper to Valiant" - a tactic previously used on Hurricane (29 February 1964 to 13 March 1965). [3]
An unusual feature compared to Fleetway's other boys' comics was the title's high quotient of material imported from continental Europe - including "Dan Cooper" (as "Jet Jordan"), "Michel Vaillant" ("The Knights of Konigsfeld") and "Modeste et Pompon" ("Jinks") from Tintin , and "Lucky Luke" ("Boy Kidd") and "Starter" ("Whacker") from Spirou . These were heavily edited, with dialogue freely translated, names changed, panels resized and rearranged and - with the exception of cover feature "Jet Jordan" - printed in black-and-white. The origin of this material, which had not been previously published in Britain, was not made clear to readers. [4] Newly created material included Norse superhero "The Phantom Viking" (often considered to have been inspired by Marvel Comics' Thor [5] [6] [7] ) and futuristic war drama "Return of the Stormtroopers". [8]
Previewed by a flyer sent out to newsagents, [4] the first issue was published on Monday 28 January 1966 [lower-alpha 1] - as a new comic, it further tempted readers with a free cover-mounted gift in the form of a 'Jet Screamer Balloon' - a toy balloon with a graphic of a space explorer printed on it. The 40-page title was priced at 7d. The second would offer a plastic 'Cup Tie Whistle', while the third tempted potential readers with "The Champion Book of Football Stars", featuring Gordon Banks on its cover. [8]
However, the series would only last for 15 editions before being merged into Lion . "The Phantom Viking", "Return of the Stormtroopers", "Jet Jordan", "Boy Kidd", "Lofty Lightyear" and "Whacker" would all be continued in the renamed Lion and Champion; however, most of these were short-lived and by the end of the year only "The Phantom Viking" was still a regular. The first Lion of 1968 would see The Champion dropped from front page billing. [9] However - as with several cancelled titles - Fleetway continued to use The Champion name for hardbacked annuals, dated 1967 and 1968. [10] [lower-alpha 2] Despite not being intended as a science fiction anthology, The Champion was perceived as such and its failure reputedly put Fleetway off further such series until Star Wars' success led to the creation of 2000 AD in 1977. [2]
In 2018 the rights to the original material for The Champion were among the pre-1970 AP/Fleetway/IPC library purchased by Rebellion Developments. [11]
Doctor Xavier Kent, nicknamed 'Doctor X' by his friends, is abducted by aliens from the planet Pharos.
Scientist Bartok makes four duplicates of himself - one has strength, one speed, one courage, and one genius. Together the five "brothers" fight crime, though their various skills cause some changes to their personalities.
The adventures of a World War II British fighter ace.
A town at the mercy of juvenile outlaw Boy Kidd is offered salvation by louche travelling gunslinger Buck Bingo.
Earth boy Anthony has to cope with the clumsy antics of his alien friend Nick from the planet Clotto.
A motley crew of RAF pilots are deployed as a makeshift squadron during the German invasion of Greece.
Big game photographer Steve Hunter takes his family on assignment to Africa.
Canadian Air Force pilot Jet Jordan undertakes dangerous test missions.
Jinks' wish to simply have some peace and quiet at home is constantly undermined by innumerable catastrophes, usually caused by one of his oddball acquaintances.
On their way to the German Grand Prix at the Nürburgring, racing driver brothers Micky and Roger Brand are among those invited to the mysterious Konigsfeld Castle by Herr Spangeberg and his odd daughter Gabrielle.
Professor Von Nutkaze helps a freakishly tall alien stay out of the clutches of a persistent flying saucer.
Nebbish teacher Olaf Larson finds a mystical helmet belonging to one of his Norse antecendants at a Viking burial site. Donning the headgear gave him the ability to turn into the mighty Phantom Viking - a popular hero, in contrast to the awkward teacher mocked as "Loopy Larson" by his Woodburn School pupils. The Phantom Viking's only weakness was that his powers would disappear when the a south wind blew. Despite his pronounced general air of weakness, Larsen attracted sympathy from beautiful secretary Helen Yates.
A forgotten Nazi army led by General Von Stern awaken in 2046 after being cryogenically frozen in the last days of World War II. Finding an enlightened society which has long eschewed weapons, the unit swiftly conquers Britain but have to contend with a resistance led by plucky Bill Churchill.
Space cadets Booster Bannion and Pluto Pimm deal with the antics of class clown Malcolm Carmody.
Paul Wright, his teacher Arnold Campus and Fred Muggle accidentally land on planet Centaur.
Lanky youth "Spider" Webb tries for a career in boxing, helped by scrapyard-owning uncle Fred Flie.
After an eagle saves Squadron Leader "Brad" Bradley's Spitfire from destruction his squadron adopts it as a lucky mascot.
Liverpudlians Whacker and Mac move to a tumbledown country house Hardnutt Hall. In the garage they find an old jalopy fitted with a computer brain that takes them on adventures.
The crew of submarine HMS Conqueror surface to find a strange green glow has immobilised everything above water, and set out to find who is behind it.
Notable events of 1959 in comics.
Notable events of 1952 in comics.
Ranger was a weekly British comics periodical published by Fleetway Publications from 18 September 1965 to 18 June 1966. Intended as an educational publication, the cover described it as "The National Boys' Magazine" and the content mixed comic strips with a much larger quotient of factual articles than most other Fleetway children's titles of the time. Ranger lasted 40 issues before being merged with Fleetway's fellow educational title Look and Learn in 1966.
Notable events of 1950 in comics.
Belgian comics are a distinct subgroup in the comics history, and played a major role in the development of European comics, alongside France with whom they share a long common history. While the comics in the two major language groups and regions of Belgium each have clearly distinct characteristics, they are constantly influencing one another, and meeting each other in Brussels and in the bilingual publication tradition of the major editors. As one of the few arts where Belgium has had an international and enduring impact in the 20th century, comics are known to be "an integral part of Belgian culture".
Lion was a weekly British comics periodical published by Amalgamated Press from 23 February 1952 to 18 May 1974. A boys' adventure comic, Lion was originally designed to compete with Eagle, the popular weekly comic published by Hulton Press that had introduced Dan Dare. It debuted numerous memorable characters, including Captain Condor, Robot Archie, Paddy Payne and the Spider. Lion lasted for 1,156 issues before being merged with stablemate Valiant.
Valiant was a weekly British comics periodical published by Fleetway Publications and later IPC Magazines from 4 October 1962 to 16 October 1976. A boys' adventure comic, it debuted numerous memorable characters, including Captain Hurricane, The Steel Claw and Mytek the Mighty. Valiant lasted for 712 issues before being merged with stablemate Battle Picture Weekly.
Notable events of 1977 in comics.
Vulcan was a British weekly boys' comic published by IPC Magazines from 1 March 1975 to 3 April 1976, when it merged with Valiant. The comic was unusual among IPC's weeklies for several reasons - it used a much smaller format than most of the company's weeklies and featured more colour; until September 1975 the title was only available in Scotland as the format was tested; and it consisted entirely of reprints of extant material. It was also published simultaneously in German as Kobra.
Notable events of 1967 in comics.
Notable events of 1954 in comics.
Captain Condor is a British comic character who has appeared in eponymous strips published by Amalgamated Press and Fleetway Publications. The character, a space pilot, first appeared in the launch issue of weekly comic Lion on 23 February 1952 and was created by Frank S. Pepper.
Notable events of 1957 in comics.
Carlos Cruz González, usually known simply as Carlos Cruz (1 June 1930 – 27 March 2018, was a Spanish comics artist.
Karl the Viking is a British comic character, appearing in strips published by Fleetway Publications. Centred on a Saxon-born Viking warrior in the 11th century, the strip mixed historical adventure with fantasy, and first appeared in the boys' anthology title Lion on 29 October 1960. Drawn by Don Lawrence and written by Ted Cowan, the character's appearances ran for four years.
The Phantom Viking is a British comic character, appearing in strips published by Fleetway Publications. The character's alter-ego was weak-willed school teacher Olaf Larsen, who gained the ability to turn into the Phantom Viking when he dons a Norse helmet. The character first appeared in the debut issue of the short-lived boys' anthology title The Champion on 26 February 1966, and continued in Lion when it was merged with Champion a short while later.
Hurricane was a weekly British comics periodical published by Fleetway Publications from 29 February 1964 to 8 May 1965. The title was billed as "the companion paper to Valiant" in reference to the weekly launched by Fleetway in 1962 that had rapidly become one of the company's best-selling publications. However, while Valiant would run until 1976, Hurricane was less successful and lasted just over a year before being merged with Tiger in 1965.
Jack o' Justice is a British comic character who has appeared in eponymous strips published by Fleetway Publications. The character is a highwayman adventurer, first appeared in the anthology title Radio Fun on 22 August 1956. The strip began as altered reprints of a Dick Turpin strip from the comic Sun but after being revived in the pages of Valiant became popular enough that new adventures were commissioned. The character was partnered with Moll Moonlight in his adventures - a rare example of a prominent female character in boys' comics of that time. The strip was succeeded in 1966 by Jack Justice, featuring a descendant of the characters.