Sexton Blake is a fictional character, a detective who has been featured in many British comic strips, novels and dramatic productions since 1893. Sexton Blake adventures were featured in a wide variety of British and international publications from 1893 to 1978, comprising more than 4,000 stories by some 200 different authors. Blake was also the hero of numerous silent and sound films, radio serials, and a 1960s ITV television series.
Penny dreadfuls were cheap popular serial literature produced during the 19th century in the United Kingdom. The pejorative term is roughly interchangeable with penny horrible, penny awful, and penny blood. The term typically referred to a story published in weekly parts of 8 to 16 pages, each costing one penny. The subject matter of these stories was typically sensational, focusing on the exploits of detectives, criminals, or supernatural entities. First published in the 1830s, penny dreadfuls featured characters such as Sweeney Todd, Dick Turpin, Varney the Vampire, and Spring-heeled Jack.
The Amalgamated Press (AP) was a British newspaper and magazine publishing company founded by journalist and entrepreneur Alfred Harmsworth (1865–1922) in 1901, gathering his many publishing ventures together under one banner. At one point the largest publishing company in the world, AP employed writers such as Arthur Mee, John Alexander Hammerton, Edwy Searles Brooks, and Charles Hamilton. Its subsidiary, the Educational Book Company, published The Harmsworth Self-Educator, The Children's Encyclopædia, and Harmsworth's Universal Encyclopaedia. The company's newspapers included the Daily Mail, the Daily Mirror, The Evening News, The Observer, and The Times. At its height, AP published over 70 magazines and operated three large printing works and paper mills in South London.
A story paper is a periodical publication similar to a literary magazine, but featuring illustrations and text stories, and aimed towards children and teenagers. Also known in Britain as "boys' weeklies", story papers were phenomenally popular before the outbreak of the Second World War.
The Evening News, earlier styled as The Evening News, and from 1889 to 1894 The Evening News and Post, was an evening newspaper published in London from 1881 to 1980, reappearing briefly in 1987. It became highly popular under the control of the Harmsworth brothers. For a long time it maintained the largest daily sale of any evening newspaper in London. After financial struggles and falling sales, it was eventually merged with its long-time rival the Evening Standard in 1980. The newspaper was revived for an eight-month period in 1987.
Story Paper Collectors' Digest was a journal published from November 1946 until May 2005, and with special intermittent issues continuing on until late 2007. It was created by Herbert Leckenby. With articles on story papers, it heavily featured the work of Charles Hamilton, Edwy Searles Brooks and the tales of detectives Sexton Blake and Nelson Lee. It was published monthly until 2004. The editors were Herbert Leckenby until his death in October 1959, then Eric Fayne until January 1987 when he retired as editor, then Mary Cadogan.
Comic Cuts was a British comic magazine. It was published from 1890 to 1953, and was created by Alfred Harmsworth. In its early days, it inspired other publishers to produce rival comic magazines. Comic Cuts held the record for the most issues of a British weekly comic for 46 years, until The Dandy overtook it in 1999.
The Marvel, originally known as the Halfpenny Marvel, was the first British boys' story paper launched by Alfred Harmsworth, the founder of the Amalgamated Press. The publication was conceived with the intention of countering the influence of "penny dreadfuls"—sensational and often violent literature for young readers. It's aim was to produce "pure, healthy literature" at a cheaper price and the slogan "Started to Suppress Bad Books for Boys" appeared on its cover for many years, underscoring its mission.
The Boys' Friend was a British story paper of the early 20th century, published by Amalgamated Press from 1895 to 1927.
Knockout was a weekly British comics periodical published by Amalgamated Press and later Fleetway Publications and IPC Magazines from 4 March 1939 to 16 February 1963. A boys' adventure comic, the title ran for 1227 issues before being merged with Valiant.
Nelson Lee is a fictional detective who featured in the Amalgamated Press papers over a 40-year run. Created in 1894 by Maxwell Scott he appeared in various publications including The Halfpenny Marvel, Pluck, The Boys' Friend, Boys' Realm, The Boys' Herald and the Union Jack In 1915 he was given his own story-paper series, The Nelson Lee Library, which ran until 1933.
John William Staniforth was a British writer who wrote under the pen-names Stain Cortley, John Andrews and Maxwell Scott.
Henry Thomas Blyth (1852–1898) was a British writer who also wrote under the pen-name Hal Meredith. Blyth was born in Greenwich, London. He wrote for many of Alfred Harmsworth's papers of the 1890s, and is mostly remembered for creating detective Sexton Blake.
The Nelson Lee Library was a story paper of the first third of the 20th century, published by Amalgamated Press. It featured the adventures of private detective Nelson Lee and his boy assistant Nipper.
The Sexton Blake Library was a story paper of the first two-thirds of the 20th century, published by Amalgamated Press. It featured the adventures of private detective Sexton Blake, his boy assistant Tinker and their dog Pedro. It made its debut as a pocket-sized digest on September 20, 1915 and ran uninterrupted until June 1963. After a brief hiatus, it returned in paperback format in February 1965 and ran for 45 issues until October 1968.
Sexton Blake is a fictional detective who has been featured in many British comic strips, novels, and dramatic productions since 1893. He was featured in various British publications from 1893 to 1978 in a variety of formats: single-issue adventures, short stories, serials, and comic strips. In total, Blake appeared in more than 4,000 stories by over 200 different authors. During its golden age (1920s–1940s), Blake's adventures were widely read and translated into at least twenty different languages, including Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Dutch, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Italian, French, Arabic, Hindi, and Afrikaans.
Sexton Blake is a fictional detective who has been featured in many British comic strips, novels, and dramatic productions since 1893. He was featured in various British publications from 1893 to 1978 in a variety of formats: single-issue adventures, short stories, serials, and comic strips. In total, Blake appeared in more than 4,000 stories by over 200 different authors.
During its golden age (1920s–1940s), Blake's adventures were widely read and translated into at least twenty different languages, including Swedish, Norwegian, Finnish, Dutch, Spanish, German, Portuguese, Italian, French, Arabic, Hindi, and Afrikaans.
Sexton Blake is a fictional detective who has been featured in many British comic strips, novels, and dramatic productions since 1893. He was featured in various British publications from 1893 to 1978 in a variety of formats: single-issue adventures, short stories, serials, and comic strips. In total, Blake appeared in more than 4,000 stories by over 200 different authors.
Sexton Blake is a fictional detective who has been featured in many British comic strips, novels, and dramatic productions since 1893. He was featured in various British publications from 1893 to 1978 in a variety of formats: single-issue adventures, short stories, serials, and comic strips. In total, Blake appeared in more than 4,000 stories by over 200 different authors.
"Pluck" was a British boys' story paper published by the Amalgamated Press in the late 19th and early 20th century. Although it never reached the same level of popularity as "The Halfpenny Marvel" or The Union Jack, it holds historical significance for introducing the fictional school of St. Jim's, the setting for the famous "Tom Merry" stories. Its halfpenny series ran for 518 issues from November 24th, 1894 to October 29th, 1904. Its penny edition ran for 594 issues from November 5th, 1904 to March 18th, 1916.
