112-418: Major Eazy is a British comic character, appearing in strips published by IPC Magazines . Eazy featured British comic war stories published in the weekly anthology Battle Picture Weekly from 10 January 1976 to 10 June 1978, written by Alan Hebden and drawn by Carlos Ezquerra . Set during World War II , the strips follow Eazy, an unconventional British Army officer with a laidback attitude. After
224-529: A Spitfire he was ferrying to Russia, but is shot down by Yakob and Rudi Vorishkin. The squadron then returns to the defence of the renamed Stalingrad , and after a gruelling battle the Germans are forced back, with Johnny fighting another duel with von Jurgen. Redburn's increasing fame saw him given the highly important mission to fly diplomat Tokayev to a conference in Britain, with Yakob and Vorishkin joining him as
336-501: A Taran attack on a torpedo bomber after his guns jam. Arriving in Liverpool, he found his mother had been killed in another bombing, while ministry official Fisher holds charges of impersonating an officer over Johnny, ordering him to function as a troubleshooter, with Ratov as his assistant. Their first assignment was to find out what was behind the bad luck being suffered by No. 191 Squadron; he eventually traced it to damaged aerials on
448-806: A fanzine style publication, before, in 1989, becoming the biggest-selling comic in the country. Based upon bad taste, crude language, crude sexual innuendo, and the parodying of strips from The Dandy (among them Black Bag – the Faithful Border Bin Liner , a parody of The Dandy's Black Bob series about a Border Collie ), the popularity of Viz depended entirely upon a variant of Sixties counter-culture; and it promptly inspired similarly themed titles, including Smut , Spit! , Talking Turkey , Elephant Parts , Gas , Brain Damage , Poot! , UT and Zit , all of which failed to achieve Viz' s longevity and folded, while Viz remained one of
560-549: A flower girl planning to blow up Allied troops; seeing to the death of a murderous Polish captain; thrashing a black marketeer; clashing with the Mafia; and defeating an E-Boat after a chase through the canals of Venice . After the Rat Pack abandoned an injured Major Taggart to the mercies of the Gestapo , Eazy appointed himself the unit's commanding officer and badgered them into mounting
672-429: A 2018 interview Alan Hebden denied Coburn was the inspiration, telling Stephen Jewell "Other people might have said that but he never did, and I never did." Instead he has noted Clint Eastwood 's Man with No Name as an influence on Eazy. Hunt felt that Eazy's attitude reflected Hebden, who he recalled "was very laid-back himself", a sentiment echoed by Battle assistant editor Steve MacManus . The new story debuted in
784-424: A British Army unit receives an unorthodox commanding officer - the cheroot -smoking, shaggy-paired Major Eazy, driving an open-top Bentley scout car. Formerly a Long Range Desert Group soldier (where he had performed numerous actions against the Germans despite being partnered with Bedouin guide Tewfik, who made repeated attempts to kill him), Eazy soon proves to be a formidable shot with a high-velocity rifle, and
896-634: A British pilot leading the Falcon Squadron unit of the Soviet Air Forces on the Eastern Front. Written by Tom Tully and initially drawn by Joe Colquhoun , the strip was the longest-running in Battle 's history, only ending in 1987 when financial constraints saw it switched to reprints. Battle editor Dave Hunt commissioned the story as part of his attempt to balance the different services depicted in
1008-586: A blind eye to his savagery. While he lost his Typhoon he was able to take control of a new tank-busting Hurricane Mark IV. By 1944 the Russian Army was advancing West through Ukraine with Falcon Squadron at the fore, even briefly deploying on the ground to help a penal battalion capture a ridge. Redburn later joined an ultimately unsuccessful commando mission to rescue captured Soviet ace Dimitri Sigoriev. Johnny took leave in Moscow , but found his holiday disrupted by
1120-439: A book, except that they were somewhat shorter and that typically the story was serialised over many weekly issues in order to maintain sales. These serial stories could run to hundreds of instalments if they were popular. And to pad out a successful series, writers would insert quite extraneous material such as the geography of the country in which the action was occurring, so that the story would extend into more issues. Plagiarism
1232-411: A church steeple; singlehandedly wiping out a Wehrmacht flamethrower squad; using rats to take control of a castle; and saving an old friend from execution as he and his men advanced to Rome . Eazy's dislike of ceremony saw him arrange an artillery barrage so he could feign cowardice in front of a Brigadier to avoid being given a medal. As the unit continued to saunter across Italy, with Eazy shooting
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#17328631232491344-578: A comic for older boys, it also held appeal for teenage and even adult readers. In the 1960s IPC began to source comic art from Spain , mainly for financial reasons. This trend was continued through to the launch of 2000 AD . Carlos Ezquerra is the most notable Spanish artist to have worked in British comics, having worked on both Battle and 2000 AD , and is credited with the creation of the look of Judge Dredd . Star Wars Weekly , published by Marvel UK, launched in 1977, lasted until 1986. In 1982 Eagle
1456-404: A comic notably grimmer in style than its competitor. Battle's success led to IPC launching another, similarly styled title, Action , which became a success too but also became controversial, due to its violent content, such as a front cover illustration which appeared to show armed children beating up a helpless police officer. Complaints about its tone eventually led to questions being asked in
1568-563: A daring female Po-2 'sewing machine' biplane pilot, and he survived the bloody battle despite a loss of memory. A return to Murmansk initially failed to fully return his memory, though it returned in time to help Redburn defeat the Nazi ace known as the Black Butcher. However, further losses saw him begin a long quest to find more pilots to join the Falcons. Redburn then found himself in combat with
1680-428: A depot manager leaving the Falcons with a selection of MiG , Lavochkin and Yakolev fighters. Despite their inexperience with the aircraft, the Falcons soon make a big impact on the invading Germans while continuing to give Kraskin the slip. The Commissar planned to kill Johnny himself by staging a friendly fire incident, while Redburn also makes a German archenemy of Luftwaffe ace Lieutenant Erich von Jurgen. Some of
1792-408: A desperate Luftwaffe pilot creating a hostage situation. Johnny then led the Falcons to victory over Major Von Krull's Black Rain unit of Stuka dive-bombers. After a confrontation with Messerschmitt Me 262 jets in 1945 wiped out the other Falcons, Johnny crashed his Hurricane. He awakened with a broken leg in a British field hospital and was returned to Britain, where news of his exploits brought
1904-515: A five-issue series of Battle Action , with each issue featuring two complete stories. After World War II , the UK was intent on promoting homegrown publishers, and thus banned the direct importation of American periodicals, including comic books. As a result, U.S. comic books typically arrived in the UK as ballast on ships. Although the comics-reading public in the UK was not always able to get reliable supplies of American comics, it has always enjoyed
2016-490: A fortnightly or monthly schedule. The two most popular British comics , The Beano and The Dandy , were released by DC Thomson in the 1930s. By 1950 the weekly circulation of both reached two million. Explaining the enormous popularity of comics in British popular culture during this period, Anita O’Brien, director curator at London's Cartoon Museum , states: "When comics like The Beano and Dandy were invented back in
2128-418: A good professional relationship the production of the strip was not completely without difficulty; in 2018, Hebden would recall having to rewrite an episode where Eazy had been originally planned to kill an SS officer in cold blood due to objections from Hunt. The initial batch of episodes ran until the 27 March 1976, before the character returned for a second longer run from 15 May 1976. From 29 January 1977
2240-504: A limited range of football-based comic strips. In British comics history, there are some extremely long-running publications such as The Beano and The Dandy published by D. C. Thomson & Co. , a newspaper company based in Dundee , Scotland. The Dandy began in 1937 and The Beano in 1938. The Beano is still going today while The Dandy ceased print publication in 2012. The Boys' Own Paper , another long-running publication which
2352-738: A long history with "Roy of the Rovers", was available. At the time few comics had depicted the Eastern Front , let alone with a sympathetic view of the Soviet Union , due to the tensions of the Cold War . The initial episodes were inspired by Arthur Burr, an RAF pilot who used a Hurricat to protect an Arctic convoy before flying the fighter to a safe landing in Russia in September 1942. "Johnny Red" debuted in
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#17328631232492464-439: A nice style, but was a bugger for detail"), Cooper leapt at the chance and soon found a rhythm with the strip. Cooper and Tully would remain as the creative team for the next six years, and the artist would later claim "I can draw him while blindfolded. Nearly." While "Johnny Red" remained popular with readers, as the 1980s progressed sales of both Battle and comics began to decline, and new editor Terry Magee attempted to update
2576-535: A number of new publishers who are specifically targeting this area, including Classical Comics and Self Made Hero , the latter having an imprint focused on manga adaptations of the works of Shakespeare. This highlights another recent change, as there has been an increase in British original English-language manga . Self Made Hero's 'Manga Shakespeare' imprint draws on talent discovered in Tokyopop 's UK/Irish version of Rising Stars of Manga , including members of
2688-416: A professional comics writer. He included Johnny Red in his 2000 AD story " Time Flies ", one episode of which started with a pastiche Battle strip before protagonist Bertie Sharp appeared and stole Johnny's Hurricane, and later commissioned a drawing of the character from Cooper. In 2015, Ennis and artist Keith Burns produced a new eight-part limited series featuring the character for Titan. Since 2016,
2800-539: A promotion to Squadron Leader and a medal. He was joined by the sole surviving Falcon, the injured Helga Kaganovitch, and loyal mechanic Rodimitz, who are on leave from a diplomatic flight and soon find the exploits of Johnny Red have made him a stories hero. Like Ennis, Steve MacManus , Battle' s assistant editor at the time of the strip's creation and later long-time editor of 2000 AD , would highly praise "Johnny Red", believing it to be Tully's best work. He would later recall "what impressed me about Johnny Red were
2912-533: A range of weekly titles was being published by 1975. So much so that in 1976 the parent company briefly published a minimal amount of new material specifically for the UK market in Captain Britain . The American reprint material proved to be more successful and continued to appear into the 1980s, at which stage Marvel UK also began diversifying into home-produced original material, both UK-originated strips featuring American created characters such as Captain Britain,
3024-518: A recovered Rudi and Yakob conspire with Tokoyev to get him back as the Flying Gun's pilot, and feeling there is nothing left for him at home, he returns to Russia. The trio return to find the Falcons in Stalingrad under the temporary command of Michanek, the only experienced pilot left after losses and the transfer of other surviving original Falcons Krasov and Gragori to a Sturmovik squadron. Their job
3136-498: A repulsive or horrible nature; in such a way that the work as a whole would tend to corrupt a child or young person into whose hands it might fall." Although the act had a sunset clause , in 1969 the Act was made permanent, and continues to be in force today, represented, for example, in the Royal Mail prohibition against mailing horror comics and the matrices used to print them. During
3248-447: A rescue mission. MacManus would recall that "Major Eazy" was an instant hit with readers, "booting D-Day Dawson into touch fairly quickly", and praised the "relaxed, anti-authority attitude", while John Wagner would state the strip was where Ezquerra "really started to come into his own" Writing for The Guardian , John Plunkett also declared himself a fan of the character, and noted his resemblance to Coburn. Gordon Rennie would homage
3360-466: A slightly different focus, providing their girl readers with articles about, and photographs of, pop stars and television / film actors, plus more general articles about teenage life, whilst throwing in a few comic strips for good measure. For boys there were, historically, similar publications based upon soccer, such as Shoot! , which featured non-fiction picture articles about popular footballers, league clubs, and general football news, accompanied by
3472-421: A story to fit them. The pair went backwards and forwards over how to make the idea of a British pilot serving on the Eastern Front , and picked the doughty Hawker Hurricane as the character's plane of choice - a decision Garth Ennis would describe as "the perfect mount for the down-at-hell, working class Johnny Redburn". For an artist, Hunt was delighted to find that Joe Colquhoun , another veteran who also had
Major Eazy - Misplaced Pages Continue
3584-625: A trend which the introduction of colour television to Britain during 1969 set in stone. In an effort to counter the trend, many publishers switched the focus of their comics to television-related characters. The television shows of Gerry Anderson , such as Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons , had begun this in the mid-1960s with the launch of tie-in comics such as TV Century 21 and Lady Penelope , which included strips related to Anderson's TV shows (as well as other popular programs of
3696-463: Is a periodical published in the United Kingdom that contains comic strips . It is generally referred to as a comic or a comic magazine , and historically as a comic paper . As of 2014, the three longest-running comics of all time were all British. British comics are usually comics anthologies which are typically aimed at children, and are published weekly, although some are also published on
3808-648: Is further made harder by another NKVD commissar, the slimy Rastovitch. Tokoyev arranged for Johnny to take command of the Falcons, and Redburn once again clashed with the NKVD to prevent mistreatment of prisoners, once again helping von Jurgen escape in return for the German ace inadvertently saving him from execution. The fighting in Stalingrad continued, and Redburn - now nicknamed the 'Red Devil', and wracked by nightmares of his dead comrades - worked together with Captain Nina Petrova,
3920-508: Is serving in the galley of a merchant ship on an Arctic convoy to the Soviet Union in November 1941; he had previously joined the RAF but was thrown out in disgrace following a training accident that kills an instructor. The convoy comes under Luftwaffe attack; the vessel he is onboard is a CAM ship , but the pilot for the catapult-launched Hawker Hurricane is killed in an explosion. Johnny boards
4032-442: Is so laid back he takes a nap as soon as the first round of fighting is over. He soon wins the respect of his initially bemused Sergeant Daly and the rest of the men with a succession of laconic heroics - taking out a King Tiger with a well-placed rifle shot; coercing an SS officer into shaving him; shooting down a USAAF P-51 Mustang that misidentified their column as German; sniping Germans using children as human shields from
4144-612: The Judge Dredd Megazine have seen the release of more adaptations and trade paperbacks , including complete reprint collections of the entire runs of Judge Dredd , Strontium Dog and Nemesis the Warlock . Starting in 2006 the Megazine began a regular small press section which usually features an article on a title by Matthew Badham or David Baillie and a small press story. While British companies and creators have helped create
4256-471: The Children and Young Persons (Harmful Publications) Act 1955 . The act prohibited "any book, magazine or other like work which is of a kind likely to fall into the hands of children or young persons and consists wholly or mainly of stories told in pictures (with or without the addition of written matter), being stories portraying (a) the commission of crimes; or (b) acts of violence or cruelty; or (c) incidents of
4368-518: The Focke-Wulf Fw 190 on the Eastern Front, but nonetheless the unit takes shape. However, Johnny is recalled to England, with his Hurricane once again fitted to a catapult. Seeing little way out of it he goes along, arranging for Ratov to fly the Red Death to England as a potential escape route. He again takes off from the convoy when it comes under attack but this time is forced to ditch after conducting
4480-505: The House of Commons . As a result, and despite the comics' popularity, IPC decided to drastically tone down the content after 36 issues, and issue 37 was pulped. When it returned to newsstands it was far less violent, which neutered the comic's appeal. The title quickly declined and was merged with Battle . Action's position as the UK's most popular title was taken over by 2000 AD , a science-fiction comic launched in 1977 by IPC. Created as
4592-576: The Hulk and the Black Knight , and wholly original strips like Night Raven . They also began producing television-based material, initially with Doctor Who Weekly , launched in 1979. In the late 1960s and into the 1970s, the underground comics movement inspired two new comics in the UK: Oz and Nasty Tales were launched with the underground premise of counter-culture rebellion. Oz notoriously featured
Major Eazy - Misplaced Pages Continue
4704-615: The United States for Fiction House 's Jumbo Comics , thus exporting the character back to her country of origin. Beginning in the 1940s, the available American comics were supplemented by a variety of black-and-white reprints of Fawcett's Captain Marvel , characters such as Sheena, Mandrake the Magician , The Phantom , and Marvel Comics ' 1950s monster comics. Several reprint companies were involved in this repackaging American material for
4816-502: The ZX Spectrum , mainly used for gaming, became available from 1980). Although new comics titles were launched in this period, none seemed to find a sustainable audience. Notable comics of the period included Deadline , Toxic! , Crisis , and Revolver . Deadline was conceived by Steve Dillon and Brett Ewins , and mixed original strips with reprints of U.S. strips, notably Love & Rockets , and articles and interviews on
4928-438: The 10 January 1976 edition of Battle Picture Weekly , announced on the front cover with the slogan "Like him - hate him! You can't ignore... Major Eazy!". The strip consisted of three-page stories which were largely self-contained - a format Hebden enjoyed, later stating it "was very good to do if I was planning on going on a long journey because I could write a dozen or more of them in just two weeks". While Hebden and Ezquerra had
5040-503: The 1930s – and through really to the 1950s and 60s – these comics were almost the only entertainment available to children." In 1954, Tiger comics introduced Roy of the Rovers , the hugely popular football based strip recounting the life of Roy Race and the team he played for, Melchester Rovers . The stock media phrase "real 'Roy of the Rovers' stuff" is often used by football writers, commentators and fans when describing displays of great skill, or surprising results that go against
5152-516: The 1950s and 1960s, the most popular comic for older age-group boys was Eagle published by Hulton Press . Eagle was published in a more expensive format, and was a gravure-printed weekly, with regular sales of nearly one million. (This format was used originally by Mickey Mouse Weekly during the 1930s.) Eagle 's success saw a number of comics launched in a similar format — TV Century 21 , Look and Learn and TV Comic being notable examples. Comics published in this format were known in
5264-474: The 1960s continued in that format into the 1970s; and others, such as Diana and Judy , changed to become slicks. They found themselves in the same market as teenage titles for girls such as Boyfriend and Blue Jeans , which had changed their content and were featuring mainly product-related articles and photo comics . In 1972 , Marvel set up a publishing arm in the UK, Marvel UK , reprinting American superhero strips. These proved extremely popular, and
5376-405: The British independent music scene of the time. Tank Girl was its most notable strip. Crisis was published by Fleetway Publications , a company formed from IPC's comics holdings. It was aimed at readers who had outgrown 2000 AD , and featured first works by Garth Ennis and Sean Phillips amongst others. One publication of that period did find an audience. Viz began life in 1979 as
5488-480: The British market, notably L. Miller & Son , the Arnold Book Company , Alan Class Comics , and the importer/distributor/publisher Thorpe & Porter . Johnny Red "Johnny Red" is a British comic war story published in the weekly anthology Battle Picture Weekly from 29 January 1977 to 17 January 1987 by IPC Magazines . Set during World War II , the story follows Johnny 'Red' Redburn,
5600-542: The British postal service, the Royal Mail , released a set of stamps depicting characters and series from British comics. The collection featured The Beano , The Dandy , Eagle , The Topper , Roy of the Rovers , Bunty , Buster , Valiant , Twinkle and 2000 AD . In the 19th century, story papers (containing illustrated text stories), known as " penny dreadfuls " from their cover price, served as entertainment for British children. Full of close-printed text with few illustrations, they were essentially no different from
5712-825: The Crypt and The Vault of Horror were printed in London and Leicester (by companies like Arnold Book Company ) and sold in "small back-street newsagents." The ensuing outcry was heard in Parliament , and at the urging of the Most Reverend Geoffrey Fisher , the Archbishop of Canterbury , Major Gwilym Lloyd George , the Home Secretary and Minister of Welsh Affairs , and the National Union of Teachers , Parliament passed
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#17328631232495824-482: The Falcons, while making fast friends with bear-like fellow pilot Dimitry Yakob. However, the unit comes under the scrutiny of the NKVD , having been assigned to fight to the death - their continued survival being interpreted by Commissar Kraskin as evidence of cowardice. A Luftwaffe air raid interrupts the squadron's planned execution, and after landing elsewhere Johnny leads the squadron in extorting fresh, modern planes out of
5936-590: The Gang of Seven, a merciless group of pilots whose leader - a masked figure called the Bogeyman - was placed in charge of the Falcons. The Gang were gradually killed off, and Johnny eventually saved the Bogeyman even after he tried to turn him over to Nazi-sympathising partisans. Redburn was shaken by another encounter with von Jurgens, who had abandoned any veneer of chivalry. He was given a new customised blood-red De Havilland Mosquito and after mysterious dreams sets out to find
6048-400: The German artillery. However, Rudi and Krasov were both killed in the battle. Redburn briefly became nihilistic and plans a suicidal attack on German positions, but eventually resolves to recruit a new squadron of Falcons in tribute to his friends. He led the new outfit in his Hurricane, and was frequently haunted by visions of his old comrades. The new Falcons had to content with the arrival of
6160-485: The UK collective Sweatdrop Studios , who have also contributed to other British-based efforts like ILYA 's Mammoth Book of Best New Manga and MangaQuake . Creators involved in those collections who have gone on to do several manga style graphic novels include British based Japanese creators such as Chie Kutsuwada and Michiru Morikawa, as well as, conversely, a British writer based in Japan, Sean Michael Wilson. Released at
6272-477: The United Kingdom's top-selling magazines. Beginning in 2000, the British market arrested its long decline. However, there is no sign of any great growth in circulation for the few remaining titles, and no sign of any new launches from mainstream publishers into the comics arena. An ever-increasing number of small press and fanzine titles are being produced, such as Solar Wind or FutureQuake , aided by
6384-478: The Victorian and early 20th-century weeklies. Comic strips—stories told primarily in strip cartoon form, rather than as a written narrative with illustrations—emerged only slowly. Scottish-born newspaper proprietor James Henderson began publishing Funny Folks in 1874. Writer Denis Gifford considered Funny Folks to be the first British comic , though at first it tackled topical and political subjects along
6496-482: The bestselling comics in the UK have historically been native products, American comic books and Japanese manga are also popular. The description comics derived from the names of popular titles such as Comic Cuts , and from the fact that in the beginning all the titles presented only comical (i.e. humorous) content. British comics typically differ from the American comic book . Although historically they shared
6608-587: The character of Eazy in the " Cursed Earth Koburn " Judge Dredd story. In his book on the British Invasion , Jochen Ecke analysed Major Eazy as an early example of the movement's style, noting the conscious unreality of the comic and its protagonist, also noting the strip's structure as posing a situation which Eazy would then solve in an unconventional way, feeling it challenged readers to guess his actions in lieu of questioning his eventual triumph. British comics Modern ethnicities A British comic
6720-577: The cheapness and increasingly professional appearance of desktop publishing programs. It is from this scene that the UK's new talents now tend to emerge (e.g. Al Ewing , Henry Flint or Simon Spurrier ). The English musician Peter Gabriel issued in 2000 The Story of OVO which was released in a CD-booklet-shaped comic book as part of the CD edition with the title " OVO The Millennium Show ". The 2000 Millennium Dome Show based on it. After they were purchased by Rebellion Developments , both 2000 AD and
6832-584: The children's character Rupert the Bear performing sexual acts. Both magazines were tried at the Old Bailey under the Obscene Publications Act because of their content. The Oz defendants were convicted, although the conviction was overturned on appeal. The Nasty Tales defendants were cautioned. However, both these comics ceased publication soon after their trial, as much due to the social changes at
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#17328631232496944-449: The comic was revamped, and published its final issue on its 75th anniversary in 2012. The BeanoMAX (which also started in 2007) also borrowed some of Toxic' s features. That title was then replaced by The 100% Official Dennis the Menace and Gnasher Megazine , which was later renamed Epic before ending in 2019. The DFC launched at the end of May 2008 drawing together creators from
7056-478: The comic, which was lacking an enduring aerial serial. He spoke to Tom Tully , an experienced and prolific writer with long stints on " The Steel Claw ", " Mytek the Mighty " and " Roy of the Rovers " among his many credits, not to mention strips for Battle such as " The Team That Went To War ". Tully came up with the title "Johnny Red"; Hunt would later speculate that Tully came up with good titles first before inventing
7168-535: The convoy, Johnny is highly impressed by the bravery of the Russian pilots, despite their obsolescent Polikarpov I-15 and I-16 aircraft. Realising he can do more for the war effort fighting in Russia than potentially being imprisoned at home, he volunteers to join the Falcons, under the acting command of Captain Alex Semoyov after the squadron leader is killed. Johnny soon proves an invaluable fighter and helps motivate
7280-409: The crew of the 'Flying Gun' a B-25 bomber modified to mount a dozen machine guns. Despite a perilous journey where all three Falcons are injured they make it to England, where Johnny flees for Liverpool to avoid questions from military intelligence. However, he finds his home has been bombed out; his father is dead and his mother badly injured, while authorities believe Redburn is a deserter. However,
7392-538: The cruel Colonel Grigor Yaraslov, who drives the pilots relentlessly - leading to a drastic rise in casualties as the German Army advances on Leningrad . Semoyov is killed as the brutal fighting reaches the city, as is his replacement Lieutenant Zagorny. The Falcons are rotated out for a week's leave at Murmansk, but Johnny clashes with Coppel, brother of the RAF instructor he killed, in the port. Coppel attempted to kill him with
7504-626: The different approach to comics writing from the other side of the Atlantic . Sheena, Queen of the Jungle — a female version of Tarzan (with an element of H. Rider Haggard 's " She who must be obeyed" – She... Na!) — was licensed from the Eisner & Iger studio for a British/Australasian tabloid , Wags , in 1937. The success of this character led to the Sheena stories being repackaged for publication in
7616-463: The end of the arc in April 1977, the character took another break while Ezquerra worked on designing Judge Dredd for 2000 AD before working on American Civil War story " El Mestizo " with Hebden for Battle before returning for one final batch of episodes from 19 November 1977 to 10 June 1978 before ending when Ezquerra left to work on " Strontium Dog " for Starlord . In 2011 Titan Comics licensed
7728-421: The end of the counter-culture movement as any effect of the court cases. These were always adult magazines, not aimed at the mainstream children's market. In the mid-1970s, British comics became more action-oriented. The first such title to be launched was Warlord in 1974 . Published by DC Thomson , it proved to be a success, and led to its then-rival, IPC Magazines Ltd , producing Battle Picture Weekly ,
7840-562: The era). Polystyle Publications already published a TV-related comic for young children called TV Comic , and in 1971 moved into the older market with Countdown (later retitled TV Action ). The teenage market saw Look-in magazine feature strips solely based on popular television programs. Another strand of the reaction to television was the launch of comics focused entirely on association football (a sport as popular as television amongst boys), with titles such as Shoot and Scorcher and Score . Those comics that didn't compete with
7952-517: The few new features still running after the Action Force licence moved to Marvel UK at the end of 1986. However, sales of Battle were falling fast, with an ever-increasing amount of the comic was switched to reprints, and "Johnny Red" followed suit after the 17 January 1987 edition. Battle itself would only last a year longer before being merged with Eagle , where the reprints of "Johnny Red" would continue until 14 October 1989. The rights to
8064-466: The first British graphic novel. In 1982 Dez Skinn launched Warrior , possibly the most notable comic of the period, as it contained both the Marvelman and V for Vendetta strips, by Alan Moore . Warrior was a British equivalent of Heavy Metal magazine. Marvelman was a Captain Marvel clone that Skinn acquired, although the legality of that acquisition has been questioned. In Moore's hands,
8176-487: The hundredth issue of Battle Picture Weekly , cover-dated 29 January 1977 - a mini-relaunch that also saw the launch of " Joe Two Beans " and crossover " Major Eazy vs. Rat Pack ", with the long-running " D-Day Dawson " and two serials that had continued from the merged Valiant (" The Black Crow " and " Soldier Sharp: The Rat of the Rifles ") come to an end. The strip soon became a fast favourite with readers, and in 1979
8288-407: The injured Yakob at his hometown of Lubyan, which is in the centre of vicious fighting due to its strategic position overlooking Kursk . Johnny heads in, accompanied by cowardly co-pilot Ratov, as he tries to find Yakob. He shoots down von Jurgens and fights through the streets before finding Yakob's body, cremating his friend. In July 1943 the Falcons were assigned to Kursk, where they helped break
8400-493: The late 1930s, which thrived during the Second World War . Their successful mix of irreverence and slapstick led to many similar titles, notably Buster , Topper and Beezer . However, the originators of this format have outlasted all rivals, and The Beano is still published today. The problem which now faces society in the trade that has sprung up of presenting sadism, crime, lust, physical monstrosity, and horror to
8512-691: The less successful stories initially proved difficult, with new stories struggling to stick. A breakthrough came in January 1976. A veteran of World War II , Eric Hebden had been appointed Battle 's technical advisor at launch, and contributed many war stories to past IPC titles. As a result he received contributor copies of the titles he worked with, which were devoured by his son Alan. In 1971, Alan Hebden began working for DC Thomson at his father's suggestion, later also contributing to Fleetway 's War Picture Library . After Battle started he wrote scripts for "Rat Pack" before coming up with "Major Eazy". Drawing
8624-434: The man after he mistakenly landed in a prisoner-of-war camp. However, Pelham nevertheless framed him for murdering the crew of an RAF transport plane sent to collect him. He again found that Falcon Squadron was taken over by a group of brutal fliers led by Krupolev. Now personally equipped with a Typhoon, Johnny's job was made harder when Pelham was killed, with Krupolev offering to act as a witness in return for Redburn turning
8736-1025: The market for collected volumes there have, with a few exceptions like Raymond Briggs , been very few British original graphic novels published. Briggs himself has said "On the Continent, graphic novels have been as accepted as films or books for many years, but England has had a snobby attitude towards them. They've always been seen as something just for children". However, thanks to the strong sales for Briggs' Ethel and Ernest , and Jimmy Corrigan winning The Guardian ' s best first novel award, publishers have started expanding into this area. Random House UK's imprint Jonathan Cape has tripled its graphic novel output and Random House has also established Tanoshimi to publish manga. Other publishers have also been increasing their output, which, as well as producing original works like Alice in Sunderland , have also been included adaptations of works of literature. There are
8848-410: The odds, in reference to the dramatic storylines that were the strip's trademark. Other comics such as Eagle , Valiant , Warrior , Viz and 2000 AD also flourished. Some comics, such as Judge Dredd and other 2000 AD titles, have been published in a tabloid form. Underground comics and "small press" titles have also appeared in the UK, notably Oz and Escape Magazine . While
8960-492: The original material in Battle were among the IPC Youth Group properties consolidated into the resurrected Fleetway Publications and sold to Persimmon BPCC Publishing on 6 July 1987, and were later purchased by Egmont Publishing . From 1 April 2009, Egmont UK in conjunction with W H Smith announced 4 special reprint collections from their stable, including a collection of Battle strips. Two episodes of "Johnny Red"
9072-501: The plane, and despite his nervousness shoots down two of the German raiders and drives the rest off. Afraid that if he ditches near the fleet his unauthorised piloting will seem him court martialled and imprisoned, he instead flies to Russia and lands at a small airstrip on the Kola Peninsula , which turns out to be a forward airbase of the Soviet Air Forces 5th Air Brigade, known as the Falcons. Initially planning to link back up with
9184-415: The popularity of television began to close down, merging with the few survivors. In the 1970s very few boys' comics in the "slick" format were launched, although Polystyle's Countdown was one exception, launching in 1971 with content similar to TV21 (which had disappeared by then) and TV Comic . Vulcan , a reprint title, was another, in 1976. Girls' titles which had launched in the slick format in
9296-503: The pressure is relieved when Johnny saves the life of minister Nikita Lychenko, who nominates him for the Order of Lenin , and while he captures von Jurgen he refuses to have his rival killed in a cowardly fashion, allowing him to escape. In January 1942, the Falcons were deployed as a fighter-bomber unit at the Murmansk front. The squadron gets a new commanding officer with in the ample shape of
9408-475: The reader). Hence by the mid 20th Century it was being marketed exclusively towards children. Historically, strips were of one or two pages in length, with a single issue of a comic containing upwards of a dozen separate strips, featuring different characters. In more recent times, strips have become longer and have tended to continue over a number of issues and periods of time. Whilst some comics contained only strips, other publications such as Jackie have had
9520-432: The recurring character, was a working-class fellow who got up to various forms of mischief and often suffered for it. In 1890 two more comic magazines debuted before the British public, Comic Cuts and Illustrated Chips , both published by Amalgamated Press . These magazines notoriously reprinted British and American material, previously published in newspapers and magazines, without permission. The success of these comics
9632-422: The rights to the story have been owned by Rebellion Developments . In June 2022, Rebellion published a hardcover Battle Action Special with new stories featuring characters from both comics, written by Ennis and with various artists, including a new "Johnny Red" story by Ennis and Burns. The strip saw the character fight another Battle aviator, Otto Skreamer . 19-year old Liverpudlian Johnny "Red" Redburn
9744-430: The same format size, based on a sheet of 30 x 22 inch imperial paper , folded, British comics have moved away from this size, adopting a standard magazine size. Until that point, the British comic was also usually printed on newsprint, with black or a dark red used as the dark colour and the four colour process used on the cover. The Beano and The Dandy both switched to an all-colour format in 1993. Originally aimed at
9856-412: The same lines as Punch . The magazine was heavily illustrated, with cartoons by John Proctor , known as Puck, among others, and benefitted from innovations in the use of cheap paper and photographic printing. Ally Sloper's Half Holiday (1884) is regarded as the first comic strip magazine to feature a recurring character (Ally Sloper). This strip cost one penny and was designed for adults. Ally,
9968-400: The semi-literate working class (in that it replaced the text-based stories of the story papers with picture-based stories, which were less challenging for a poorly educated readership), the comic gradually came to be seen as childish (in part because, due to gradual improvements in public education, children were eventually the only remaining market for a format designed to be unchallenging for
10080-445: The small press and manga, as well as figures from mainstream British comics and other fields, including author Philip Pullman . As it transpired, it didn't make it to its first birthday, ending with issue 43. A new more successful comic, however, The Phoenix , began in January 2012, a successor to The DFC which has already reached 500 issues. Starting in May 2023, Rebellion published
10192-511: The squadron's Mosquitos allowing water ingress. Next he was seconded to the Ninth Air Force , flying as a gunner on a B-17 Flying Fortress during a bombing raid on Fleigsburg. After the pilot of his plane is killed, Redburn takes over and bombs a German fighter base - incurring the wrath of squadron leader Joe Staples. However, the pair worked together to mastermind a daring daylight bombing raid on German V-1 flying bomb bases, though Staples
10304-746: The start of the 21st century was Toxic , a comic which mixed comic strips alongside game reviews and other articles. Beginning in 2002, this comic proved very successful and is still running. Its influence can be felt on other comics as well most notably when The Dandy , Britain's longest-running comic at the time, became the Dandy Xtreme in August 2007; it borrowed many of the features prevalent in Toxic , mixing articles alongside comic strips. However, The Dandy eventually moved away with this strategy in October 2010, when
10416-444: The story. I didn't have a very refined style until I started doing Major Eazy, my style emerged from that. He was my kind of character, an anti-hero. It also suited me that he was scruffy. My art has never been very clean. Everything looks dirty with me, so Eazy fitted perfectly. Many have suggested he based Eazy on actor James Coburn , particularly his breakout role as Britt in the 1960 Western The Magnificent Seven . However, in
10528-641: The strip became an "adult" style superhero , and was later reprinted, with the story continued, in an American full-color comic, with the name changed from "Marvelman" to "Miracleman" to avoid any lawsuits that Marvel Comics may have considered. Eventually, Warrior succumbed to copyright issues. Adult comics also witnessed a slight resurgence with Pssst! , an attempt to market a French-style monthly bande dessinée , and Escape magazine, published by Paul Gravett , former Pssst! promotions man. Escape featured early work from Eddie Campbell and Paul Grist , amongst others. Neither comic managed to survive in
10640-537: The strip featured a crossover with Rat Pack and was renamed "Major Eazy versus Rat Pack" in reference to the antagonistic relationship between the characters; it was the first crossover between characters in Battle Picture Weekly - something which was rarely done in British anthologies at the time. Hunt would later admit the story was created as a solution to keep both popular characters in the comic while making room for new stories such as " Johnny Red ". Following
10752-659: The strip from then-current owners Egmont Publishing and issued the hardback collection Major Eazy: Heart of Iron (Volume 1) . Despite the name, no further volumes followed. The rights to IPC's post-1970 library were purchased from Egmont by Rebellion Developments in 2016. In 2020 they issued a collected version of Major Eazy vs. Rat Pack under the Treasury of British Comics label, with the character's initial run being compiled as Major Eazy Volume One: The Italian Campaign following in 2021. British troops land on Sicily in July 1943, and
10864-434: The strip was Carlos Ezquerra , who had been headhunted for the comic and contributed to "Rat Pack" part-time while balancing work for DC Thomson . Hunt and assistant editor Steve MacManus were able to persuade him to switch full-time for "Major Eazy", and Ezquerra designed the character. Normally when I design a new character I base it on some actor I really like. Then I can see them moving and acting when I am visualising
10976-520: The successful launch of Battle Picture Weekly in 1975 under the guiding hand of creators Pat Mills and John Wagner , editor Dave Hunt was left to manage the typical churn of a British anthology comic. This involved identifying stories that were unpopular with the readership (typically via reader correspondence, where children writing in were encouraged to rank the comic's contents) and commissioning replacements. While " D-Day Dawson ", " Rat Pack " and " The Bootneck Boy " swiftly proved popular, replacing
11088-438: The surviving titles published by IPC, Fleetway, and DC Thomson were merged into each other in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as the popularity of comics waned further in response to a surge in the popularity of television (a popularity which received another major boost from the late 1970s onward as domestic videocassette recorders became available), and due to the popularity of video games (as inexpensive home computers such as
11200-416: The title, including producing a set of licensed strips based on Palitoy 's Action Force toyline. From September 1984 Cooper was moved across to Action Force , with Spanish artist Carlos Pino taking over on "Johnny Red". During 1986, James Nicholas would contribute occasional scripts due to Tully's large number of other commitments. Nevertheless, the strip continued to be popular, and was left as one of
11312-441: The trade as "slicks." At the end of the 1960s, these comics moved away from gravure printing, preferring offset litho due to cost considerations arising from decreasing readership. However, the boys' adventure comic was still popular, and titles such as Valiant and Tiger , published by IPC Magazines , saw new adventure heroes become stars, including Roy of the Rovers who would eventually gain his own title. Odhams Press
11424-456: The vagaries of the comics market, Escape beset by lack of publisher interest. During this period a number of smaller publishers were formed to provide inventive publications appealing to niche markets. Congress Press was one of these companies, releasing titles such as Birthrite , Heaven & Hell and a graphic novel, Spookhouse . Other small publishers of the era included Harrier Comics (1984–1989) and Acme Press (1986–1995). Most of
11536-585: The young is an urgent and a grave one. In the early 1950s, "lurid American 'crime' and 'horror comics' reached Britain", prompting what in retrospect has been characterised as a moral panic . Copies of Tales from the Crypt and The Vault of Horror , which arrived as ballast in ships from the United States, were first only available in the "environs of the great ports of Liverpool , Manchester , Belfast and London", but by "using blocks made from imported American matrices ", British versions of Tales from
11648-426: Was a company that mainly printed (adventure-oriented) new material; it also reprinted American Marvel Comics material in its Power Comics line, which included the titles Smash! and Fantastic . By 1970 the British comics market was in a long-term decline, as comics lost popularity in the face of the rise of other popular pastimes for children. Initially, the challenge was the rising popularity of television ,
11760-469: Was aimed at boys in a slightly older age group, lasted from 1879 to 1967. There has been a continuous tradition, since the 1950s, of black and white comics, published in a smaller page size format, many of them war titles such as Air Ace , inspiring youngsters with tales of the exploits of the army , navy and Royal Air Force , mainly in the two world wars . There have also been some romance titles and some westerns in this format. On 19 March 2012,
11872-416: Was included in the magazine. Subsequently, Titan Comics began licensing various strips from Battle and issuing them in hardback compendiums. Collected editions of "Johnny Red" proved among the most popular, and four volumes were issued between 2010 and 2016. Avid Battle reader Garth Ennis was a fan of the character - describing it as his "favorite strip in Battle from the get-go - and later became
11984-493: Was killed during the operation. Johnny and Ratov were then assigned to train Fleet Air Arm pilots on the newly commissioned aircraft carrier HMS Titan . He once again rapidly made an enemy in the form of cowardly pilot Pelham. On arrival in Russia the unit were charged with ferrying Hurricanes and Typhoons to Russian units. Fearing disgrace, Pelham opts to fly into the Russian interior, with Redburn in pursuit. Johnny saved
12096-487: Was relaunched, this time including photo comics, but still with Dan Dare as the lead story. The comic moved it from the front page to the centre pages to allow a more magazine-style cover. In 1978 The Adventures of Luther Arkwright by Bryan Talbot began serialisation in Near Myths (and continued in other comics after that title folded). Luther Arkwright was later collected as a graphic novel , and has been called
12208-536: Was rife, with magazines profiting from competitors' successes under a few cosmetic name changes. Apart from action and historical stories, there was also a fashion for horror and the supernatural, with epics like Varney the Vampire running for years. Horror, in particular, contributed to the epithet "penny dreadful". Stories featuring criminals such as 'Spring-Heeled Jack', pirates, highwaymen (especially Dick Turpin), and detectives (including Sexton Blake) dominated decades of
12320-521: Was such that Amalgamated's owner, Alfred Harmsworth, was able to launch the Daily Mirror and the Daily Mail newspapers on the profits. Comics were also published as accompaniments to women's magazines at the end of the century. Jungle Jinks, which held the honor of being the longest running British comic until 1954, first appeared in 1898 as a supplement to Home Chat; drawn by Mabel F. Taylor , it
12432-503: Was the first anthropomorphic animal British comic. Over the next thirty years or so, comic publishers saw the juvenile market as the most profitable, and thus geared their publications accordingly, so that by 1914 most comics were standalone booklets aimed at eight- to twelve-year-olds. The interwar period is notable mainly for the publication of annuals by Eagle Press, and also the emergence of D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd . D. C. Thomson launched both The Beano and The Dandy in
12544-424: Was the most popular in the comic. Hunt then made the risky decision of moving Colquhoun off the strip to work on Pat Mills ' World War I epic " Charley's War ". Instead John Cooper , who had worked on John Wagner 's " One-Eyed Jack " and Action refugee " Dredger " as well as episodes of " Judge Dredd " and " M.A.C.H. 1 " for 2000 AD , took over. While briefly daunted at following Colquhoun (recalling he "had
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