Patriotic British Heroes

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

In the funnies, I seem to remember a ROBERT NIXON character with a very Union-Jack-like logo on his jersey, but I'm damned if I can remember the characters' name...possibly he appeared on later covers of BEEZER.

[Digifiend]

The cover character you're thinking of was Geezer, but he didn't wear a flag on his chest.

[Kashgar]

The cover character you're thinking of was Geezer, but he didn't wear a flag on his chest.

No Digi, Rab is thinking of True Brit who Lew mentioned in his original roll call of patriotic British heroes.

[tony ingram]

All this talk about Union Jacks and no-one's mentioned Union Jack of the Invaders/Knights of Pendragon.

Don't know if it counts but Albion of the aforementioned Knights sported a lion rampant. There's also Chuck Austen's version of Captain Britain, who went on to call herself Lionheart.

Lionheart and Union Jack are really American characters though-or rather, British characters created by American writers and mostly seen in
American comics (UJ's brief tenure as a Knight of Pendragon aside). Albion was a British creation, admittedly. I've often wondered what happened to him.

Possibly the most absurd 'British' hero created by our colonial cousins was The Beefeater, in DC's comedic title Justice League Europe, a Basil Fawlty like character with a 'power staff' who dressed as a Yeoman of the Guard. Sadly, Mr Michael Morice hasn't been seen in years...

[Digifiend]

The cover character you're thinking of was Geezer, but he didn't wear a flag on his chest.

No Digi, Rab is thinking of True Brit who Lew mentioned in his original roll call of patriotic British heroes.

Who never appeared on the Beezer cover, apart from when they featured the entire cast on there. Usually, in the Beezer and Topper era, the cover star was Geezer, right? He must've got the two characters mixed up re: the later covers.

[Lew Stringer]

The cover character you're thinking of was Geezer, but he didn't wear a flag on his chest.

No Digi, Rab is thinking of True Brit who Lew mentioned in his original roll call of patriotic British heroes.

Who never appeared on the Beezer cover, apart from when they featured the entire cast on there. Usually, in the Beezer and Topper era, the cover star was Geezer, right? He must've got the two characters mixed up re: the later covers.

Time for you to use the embarrassed emoticon again Digi....



Lew

[ISPYSHHHGUY]

my memory ain't too bad in general, Digi...trust me! Cracking illustration by Bob by the way.

[Digifiend]

Didn't realise that character started so early, let alone on the cover. That's the first Beezer cover pre-merger which I've seen without either Ginger or Pop Dick and Harry on the cover. Why did the annuals always stick to focusing on Ginger? No Beezer Book ever had True Brit on the cover, which is very odd for a cover star.

[Kashgar]

True Brit ran in the Beezer from No 1651 to 1710 so, despite being a cover star, didn't really create that much of a stir. Geezer first turned up in No 1741.

[Digifiend]

Thanks. Did True Brit directly replace Ginger as cover star, or was there anyone else in between, and who took over the cover from issue 1711?

[Phoenix]

I think that cover was a bit of a conceit on Brian's part and not really connected to the early 2000AD Dan Dare storyline, though later versions did go on to take up the idea of a British Empire extending to the stars - indeed, Pat Mills even 'revealed' that Dan himself was a Battle of Britain pilot who'd been accidentally catapulted forward in time. In fact there is something of a thriving sub-genre of parallel world stories in which the sun never set on the British Empire which includes Bryan Talbot's Luther Arkwright, Mark Millar's Ministry of Space, Edginton & D'Israeli's Scarlet Traces, Michael Moorcock's Oswald Bastaple stories, Harry Harrison's A Transatlantic Tunnel, Hurrah! and Christopher Priest's fascinating The Separation.

Thank you for that clarification, Phil. Sorry about the delayed reply, I've been very busy in Lancaster for the last five days. I must admit I will keep an eye open for The Separation. Having read Priest's excellent Fugue For A Darkening Island several years ago, I was delighted yesterday to pick up his 1977 novel A Dream Of Wessex in the Oxfam bookshop there. I've only read the opening chapter so far, but it looks promising.

[Brendan McGuire]

A Dream of Wessex should be more widely read. A brilliant book.

[Kashgar]

True Brit did take over the Beezer cover directly from Ginger and after his departure the cover featured full page ills of Beezer stars in general.
BTW as a matter of interest True Brit changed emphasis during its run. Initially Tommy Britain, after accidentally eating some fried silicon chips in mistake for the usual chip-shop variety, becomes suffused with patriotic anger every time his adversaries, the Silly Party, hatch a plan to make something inherently British look stupid eg painting the White Cliffs of Dover a garish colour. In due course though this 'Brit Power' as it is named becomes, instead, 'silicon chip power' and the emphasis of the stories takes a much less 'patriotic' turn even down to Tommy losing his Union Jack emblazoned jumper and shield.

[SID]

Big Ben

Which was a supporting character in the Marvelman strip (Warrior) before going solo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Ben_(comic)

[Phoenix]

Initially Tommy Britain, after accidentally eating some fried silicon chips in mistake for the usual chip-shop variety, becomes suffused with patriotic anger every time his adversaries, the Silly Party, hatch a plan to make something inherently British look stupid eg painting the White Cliffs of Dover a garish colour.

I have always been perfectly happy to suspend my disbelief when watching plays, whether in the theatre, on television or films, and when reading novels, short stories, serials in story papers and even cartoon strips in comics, but Kashgar's brief synopsis quoted above confirms my good judgement in moving on from comics at the age of nine to the less anarchic and more inherently rational world of Adventure, The Wizard, The Rover and The Hotspur.