Talk here about just about anything associated with British comics or story papers and the industry that does not fit in any other forum.
There are separate fora open to registered members for discussing specific comics, artists, websites etc.
colcool007 wrote:
There was also a story in the Victor where the children of Embassy staff in Berlin took it upon themselves to fight against the growing fervour of Nazism in Berlin and acted as Junior Detectives. I am sure that Kashgar or Phoenix will come to my rescue with the name of the series, as I just can't remember it at the moment.
Now that sounds like a very interesting variation (presuming they were detectives rather than spies?) Hope we come up with a name and dates.
I've just thought - I suppose Peter the Cat in his early days in Score 'n' Roar was sort of a variation on the theme. In between goalie bouts for Chester Street Colts he spent time trying to get back his dad's stolen medals, using his moggy-like agility to clamber over walls and into buildings and factories to explore the places he thought they'd been hidden, and confirm the culprit.
colcool007 wrote:Just been mulling this one over and I think that Red Star Robinson may qualify as a teen detective, despite the SF overtones in the series with Mr Thrice and their fantastic car that went anywhere.
Ooh, I dunno about Red Star, though. He was more of a crime fighting special agent, wasn't he, whereas detectives are all about investigating crimes and gathering information and evidence, rather than going out capturing baddies themselves.
colcool007 wrote:
There was also a story in the Victor where the children of Embassy staff in Berlin took it upon themselves to fight against the growing fervour of Nazism in Berlin and acted as Junior Detectives. I am sure that Kashgar or Phoenix will come to my rescue with the name of the series, as I just can't remember it at the moment.
Now that sounds like a very interesting variation (presuming they were detectives rather than spies?) Hope we come up with a name and dates...
The date for the story was 1936 IIRC and I am 99% positive that the story was published somewhere between issue 800 and 1000. The kids were not spies as they were dependents of the adults who had been sent to the Embassies as part of their job. So you had a mix of kids who had civil servants and military officers as fathers from their respective countries. But, due to the nature of the government in Germany at the time, they were considered as a subversive group. So, it just falls into the detective category as they had to figure out who were the worst culprits for spreading the Nazi creed and punishing them accordingly.
I started to say something sensible but my parents took over my brain!
Raven wrote: You never did get back to me on that, did you? I've been waiting about eight months now, sat by the computer all this time!
Don't exaggerate, Raven, it has only been six and a half. I can't imagine why you would have done anything so premature anyway, given that on November 1st 2009 at 10.02pm you said to me, I shall return in six years. I'm keeping my side of the bargain, why are you so precipitate? I still have five years five and a half months in hand.
Raven wrote: You never did get back to me on that, did you? I've been waiting about eight months now, sat by the computer all this time!
Don't exaggerate, Raven, it has only been six and a half. I can't imagine why you would have done anything so premature anyway, given that on November 1st 2009 at 10.02pm you said to me, I shall return in six years.
I'm sure you could give me one small opinion just to keep me going.
philcom55 wrote:Wouldn't the Bobbsey Twins Annuals published by World Distributors from the mid-1950s come under this category?
- Phil Rushton
Ideally, I was hoping for characters or series that originated in the comics or story papers. The Bobbsey Twins were essentially the stars of a long running series of novels, which had been running almost half a century by that point.
felneymike wrote:
Also in 1930 the school Nelson Lee worked at (st Franks) burned down when a Zeppelin crashed into it, and for several issues he started a detective school with select students from st Franks in London. These "cub detectives" solved several cases before st Frank's was rebuilt and they moved back.
Thanks, felneymike - that's the kind of thing I was hoping might crop up from the distant past; the school for cub detectives there sounds like an interesting variation on the genre. I'll see if I can find any more info on that.
To make things easier this series of stories started in Issue 1 of the new series, cover dated January 25th 1930. This issue also saw the paper renamed from "The Nelson Lee Library" to "The Nelson Lee" (though inside the paper the old title was retained on the tops of the pages). The story was called "Rogues of the Green Triangle" and concerned a large gang called The Green Triangle who seem to have been defeated by Nelson Lee before (i have scattered issues of the library so i don't know when these previous stories occured). In the story they return and attempt to assasinate him, then later steal the Zeppelin which crashes into the school.
Once he starts the detective acadaemy they continue to try and assasinate him before being eventually foiled. The "cub detectives" then take on a series of other cases before St Franks is finally rebuilt and things carry on as before.
Nb: The Nelson Lee stories in the library all carried directly on from each other, not unlike US comics. As opposed to something like the Sexton Blake stories in Union Jack, which more often stood alone or else formed limited 'serials' which were not published concurrently.
Ooh, I've found one myself in a 1938 Tiger Tim's Weekly I've bought. A weekly text story 'The Little Detectives.' Two boy detective twins, Laurie and Peter, run Clues Ltd and, in this instance, help a sobbing tot whose toy steamboat sank but has mysteriously vanished from the bottom of the pond. The thrills!
colcool007 wrote:
There was also a story in the Victor where the children of Embassy staff in Berlin took it upon themselves to fight against the growing fervour of Nazism in Berlin and acted as Junior Detectives. I am sure that Kashgar or Phoenix will come to my rescue with the name of the series, as I just can't remember it at the moment.
Now that sounds like a very interesting variation (presuming they were detectives rather than spies?) Hope we come up with a name and dates...
We have a name! It was Sandy's Secret War and it was the first episode was in issue 1057 dated 23 May 1981. Now you can tell how far ahead I have got in reading Victor! Less reading, more blogging! I was out with two items of information. The story was set in 1933 and I was out by a good year and a bit for the issue numbers. The artist is not one that has been named on the forum, as of yet, but he did draw Foster's Freedom Fighters which was a serial that I have still to discuss on the blog. I'll give more details as I read more. No! No! No! Must blog! Must blog...
I started to say something sensible but my parents took over my brain!
Thanks for that. More pro-boxing, stiff upper lip "I say, play the game, you cad!"-type stuff from D. C. Thomson there! No Detective activity at this early stage but there's obviously a strong concept with a lot of potential behind this serial, and it's quite intriguing. Nice to see.
