The Seekers (comics)

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Burns-the seekerscov.jpg

The Seekers is a British comic strip drawn by John M. Burns, written by Les Lilley, succeeded by Phillip Douglas and Dick O'Neil. The strip ran from 1966 to 1971 in The Daily Sketch .

Contents

Synopsis

The main characters, Susanne Dove and Jacob Benedick, are two preferred secret agents employed by Una Frost, director of "The Seekers", an elite agency of missing persons retrieval. Their investigations frequently lead to adventures connected to the sex industry, exploiting the attractiveness of both detectives, and usually leading to the downfall of sexual predators and oppressors. [1]

Publication history

The Seekers began publication on 2 May 1966 in The Daily Sketch. [1] [2] The concept of the strip bears some resemblance to another strip Burns later drew for a brief period, Modesty Blaise . The female characters were consistently drawn in an enticing manner, indicating Burns' evident intent to challenge the limits of the daily British newspaper strip conventions of the times. [1] The initial writer Les Lilley was succeeded by Phillip Douglas starting with episode 14, The Missing Golfers, occasionally aided by Dick O'Neil, who wrote one story, The Curse of the One-Eyed Sailor.

The strip ended on 10 May 1971, abandoned due to its lack of lasting success. [1] It enjoyed some popularity in Italy where it was known as I Segugi, and the Scandinavian countries, serialised as Spårhundarna in Sweden, Sporhundene in Norway and Denmark, and Vainukoirat in Finland, and as Tragači it was serialized in Yugoslavia in at least three different magazines during the 1970s and 1980s. The name, Seekers, translates to Bloodhounds in Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Finnish publications of the strip.

Story list

Exposition panels from the first story, The Boneyard Club (1966) Burns-the seekers.jpg
Exposition panels from the first story, The Boneyard Club (1966)
TitleAuthorStrips
 1The Boneyard ClubLes LilleyM103–M180
 2The Missing GroomM181–M252
 3Red ElibankM253–N12
 4The Bookman VanishesN13–N84
 5The CollectionN85–N155
 6The Irish CaperN156–N233
 7Jamaican JoyrideN234–N309,P1-P2
 8John SilverP3–P83
 9The Highest BidderP84–P169
10 The Missing StarP170–P254
11Lost MonasteryP255–P278,Q1-Q60
12The Off-Beat CaseQ61–Q120
13Art TheftQ121–Q198
14The Missing GolfersPhillip
Douglas
Q199–Q276
15A Matter of Life and DeathQ277–Q309,R1-R45
16Where’s Una?R46–R117
17The Man Who Died TwiceR118–R178
18The Boy With the Golden BootsR179–R239
19Hoop of FireR240–R305,T1-T8
20The Day the Birds Dropped DeadT9–T68
21The Curse of the One-Eyed Sailor Dick O'Neil T69–T107
22Title missingPhillip
Douglas
T109–T125
23Wheels of FateT126–T185
24The Tracy Madison AffairT186–T245
25Goddess of the Seven MoonsT246–T317
26Legs on BroadwayT318–T365
27Dead Girls TellT366–T413

Sources

Footnotes
  1. 1 2 3 4 Filippini, Henri (1997). Encyclopédie de la bande dessinée érotique (in French). La Musardine. p. 73. ISBN   2-84271-082-7.
  2. Lambiek Comiclopedia. "John M. Burns".

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