Valiant in the 60's/70's chat getting the right mix

[Peter Gray]

I think this comic had it right ..the mix in the 70's......Valiant and Lion 1974.

Captain Hurricane
Challenge Charlie
Adam Eterno
The Lincoln Green mob
Mowser
Billy Bunter
Kid Pharaoh
Robot Archie
The Nutts
Trail of nowhere
Danny Doom

Was the 70's the best time for Valiant ..what was in the issue which was good in the 60's.
When did you buy Valiant..what did you like.....

[Captain Storm]

The 70s was certainly the best time for Valiant,ably assisted by Lion of course!Danny Doom,Kid Pharaoh and Adam Eterno had the right mix of the mysterious and supernatural to keep my young mind enthralled and Billy Bunter and Captain Hurricane provided ample humour!Great stories and top class artwork!All in all a great comic.

The Cap!

[Raven]

Peter, my thoughts on Valiant is that its best years were 1970-71, then 72-73, then I'd say 68-69! I'd really recommend getting any from 70-73, a really golden period; both Valiant and Smash and Valiant and TV21 were great.

The greatest line-ups for me were the peak periods of Raven on the Wing, The Ghostly Guardian, Kelly's Eye, Janus Stark and Steel Claw; often well written, atmosopheric, Gothic, macabre looking strips that I think gave Valiant its unique identity - and you'd also get double page Swots and Blots by Leo Baxendale, single pagers from Ken Reid, and The Crows and Billy Bunter from Reg Parlett. I quite enjoy early Kid Pharaoh too, though I think that strip probably went on rather too long.

I do like the 1974/5 period, though - mainly for Danny Doom and western strip Trail to Nowhere - Adam Eterno, too, certainly - but its mightiest line-up was no longer in place. The Lincoln Green Mob and Robot Archie were more conventional and old-fashioned, though not without their charms.

[Kashgar]

I think 1960's Valiant (1964-1969) was by far the best but then I'm a kid of the 1960's so maybe my judgement is skewed by nostalgia, but I think not. The Steel Claw, The House of Dolmann, Kelly's Eye and Mytek the Mighty were a pretty formidable foursome to be appearing in the same paper at the same time and I always liked Legge's Eleven and The Wild Wonders too as well as the perennial comic strips Billy Bunter, The Nutts and the Crows. The Valiant was also published on such lovely paper in the 1960's, it really had a white velvety sheen to it that made all those front cover colour features by Mike Western positively glow at you from the newsagents counter.

[Peter Gray]

Thanks for the input...

With Lion and Smash I find these comics the best to my taste. I like lighter adventures as well...and humour mixed in
So the 60's and 70's are just as good.

I'll try and get hold of a 60's one for reference sometime.

[stevezodiac]

But what about Buster in the 60s and 70s? Whereas Valiant was action with some fun strips Buster was fun with some action strips, to chose between the two? As John Wayne said in Rio Bravo "I'd hate to have to live on the difference." Charlie Peace was one of my favourites but i think the 1970s was when Buster got a bit more balance between comedy and action. Check out Buster circa 1969-1973. I can't think of the action strips in Buster offhand maybe someone with a less used thinkbox can help out. I use the word "action" loosely of course but i mean serious strips.

[Raven]

But what about Buster in the 60s and 70s? Whereas Valiant was action with some fun strips Buster was fun with some action strips, to chose between the two? As John Wayne said in Rio Bravo "I'd hate to have to live on the difference." Charlie Peace was one of my favourites but i think the 1970s was when Buster got a bit more balance between comedy and action. Check out Buster circa 1969-1973. I can't think of the action strips in Buster offhand maybe someone with a less used thinkbox can help out. I use the word "action" loosely of course but i mean serious strips.

Buster had Fishboy and Galaxus, and shorter running strips like Crabbe's Crusaders, Sam's City Jungle and The Wizard of Football - not always quite as strongly scripted overall as Valiant's adventure strips, perhaps, but still charming and very enjoyable. Plus plenty of Baxendale, Parlett and Reid humour pages. Both Buster and Valiant circa 1969-73 are favourite IPC comics of mine - a great period for both titles.

[Peter Gray]

Of course I like Buster best! In the early 70's period...World wide Wheelers...love Zargo the man of mystery best...hypontises himself with a gift (like typerope walker)

Have Buster very early issues and don't enjoy those so much.....the first year or so...
wonder when it got better...when Radio Fun joined? Found the comic too big to read..when did Reg Parlett join with Consternation street as that would be when I would like the comic...
Humour and adventure needs to go together for my perfect mix.....so useful that Valiant had that in the 70's...and Kashgar said it was good in the 60's as well..

Also later with Marney the fox..Ski-Board Squad..Pete'a pocket army...Leopard of Lime street.....I also like Whizzer and chips adventure strips in the late 70's /early 80's. Dialing man...Whizz wheels..Big Ben..Rogan runs..

[Raven]

Of course I like Buster best for the best mix in this period...World wide Wheelers...love Zargo the man of mystery best...hypontises himself with a gift (like typerope walker)

Have Buster very early issues and don't enjoy those so much.....the first year of so...
wonder when it got better.....when did Reg Parlett join with Consternation street as that would be when I would like the comic...

I think Consternation Street was 1965. In the period we mention above there's plenty of Parlett, too, with Rent-A-Ghost Ltd., The Happy Family and Bonehead.

I'm not quite so keen on some of the later adventure stuff like Marney the Fox and Ski-Board Squad - they were a bit less 'out there' - the adventure strips got a little more juvenile like most of the ones in Whizzer and Chips, I suppose - but it's still nice stuff. I do like Pete's Pocket Army, and remember enjoying Leopard of Lime Street as a boy.

I think Buster remained a good comic through the 70s, bolstered by mergers with Cor!! and Monster Fun, though there were periods where it seemed to fill with reprints. But as they were reprints of good Leo Baxendale and Ken Reid strips (like Queen of the Seas) even that wasn't so bad.

[Kashgar]

I love the tabloid sized Busters. Content wise I think it got into its stride after the mergers with Radio Fun, which brought in Charlie Drake and Jimmy Edwards, and Film Fun which introduced Roy Wilson into the artists pool. Mind you my favourite adventure strip of all time Maxwll Hawke (1960-1966) was also a constant source of pleasure in this period. All in all a beatifully produced, brilliant comic paper at this time.
As for Reg Parlett Consternation Street did begin in 1965 and, thanks to reprints from Radio Fun and TV Fun the Buster in the mid 1960's also contained not only his Benny Hill but also his take on the Jimmy Edwards strip.
Writing this I'm suddenly aware that while all kids of my generation will know who I'm talking about there are probably a lot of younger fans thinking 'Who the hell was Jimmy Edwards?' Well, just to put you right, he was the handle-bar moustachioed, conniving, cane wielding headmaster of Chiselbury School in the long running TV series 'Whacko!' Ah for the days when flogging schoolboys was fun!

[comickev]

Reading Raven's post about Valiant prompted me to write.

The greatest line-ups for me were the peak periods of Raven on the Wing, The Ghostly Guardian, Kelly's Eye, Janus Stark and Steel Claw; often well written, atmosopheric, Gothic, macabre looking strips that I think gave Valiant its unique identity -

Specifically, the story of Janus Stark still captivates me. He began life as Jonas Clark, changed his name and became a Victorian contortionist. In one issue the story covered NINE pages! As I remember, he took on a challenge to escape from a prison cell, bound in a strait-jacket, chained to the ceiling or something ridiculous. In no time he was free of the restraints, and free to carry out his hidden agenda. This involved accessing the small drain in the cell, and squeezing himself through what was brilliantly illustrated as a tiny circular brick tunnel. In one frame, which still makes me shiver whenever I recall it, Janus is viewed within the tunnel from the front, his foregrounded fingers gripping the mortar joints between the bricks, his face with the pronounced forehead beyond, distorted in pain. The thought bubble read, " This is smaller than I thought; if I get stuck, I'm doomed!" To my immense relief, he emerged above the water line of the Thames. He then went on to carry out some detective work, return to the cell, and to the amazement of his jailers, to be waiting for them outside the cell door, with what was a concrete alibi.

My parents considered comics to be rubbish. Yet such comic texts as this, 'well written, atmospheric, Gothic, macabre looking,' and utterly spellbinding, refutes such a view.

[felneymike]

Sexton Blake even got a brief look-in in 60's Valiant! to coincide with a now-lost (it caught Patrick Troughton syndrome) TV series. However i've read a few of the stories and they aren't all that good. In fact they're closer to Scooby Doo than anything... still the artwork is better than the otherwise superior Knockout strips of the 40's and 50's

[Kashgar]

A fair few of the Sexton Blake Valiant strips had scripts pinched from Buster's Maxwell Hawke - Ghost Hunter hence the predominance of spooky set-ups and locales.

[felneymike]

Now that i didnt know... i ought to direct Mark Hodder, who runs the Blakiana website, over here... an entry for the trivia section

[Peter Gray]

What's your favourite in Valiant..also fun to reread these posts..

also whats your favourite annual of Valiant