41-429: 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 (in many languages) 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
82-660: A 1960s ITV television series . The first Sexton Blake story was "The Missing Millionaire". Written by Harry Blyth (using the pseudonym Hal Meredeth), it was published in The Halfpenny Marvel number 6, on 20 December 1893, a story paper owned by the Amalgamated Press. Blyth wrote six more Sexton Blake tales, three for the Marvel and three for The Union Jack a story paper launched in April 1894. The Amalgamated Press purchased
123-554: A bloodhound named Pedro. Typical of the TV show's sometimes-fantastic storylines (all of which lasted 2–6 episodes) was 1968's "The Invicta Ray" in which a villain dressed in a costume and hood of sackcloth-like material and, under the Invicta Ray, became invisible so that he could commit crimes without being seen. The show was originally produced by Ronald Marriott for Rediffusion, with Thames Television taking over production in 1968. Pedro
164-612: A Film" and "Paula" for the Daily Express , Elizabethan strip "An Age of Greatness" for the Daily Globe , and "Our Gang" for The Sunday Pictorial . He also drew "Tommy Walls", a series of adverts in comic strip form for Wall's ice cream in the Eagle , full colour political advertisements for the Conservative Party , and illustrations and covers for The Soldier , official magazine of
205-473: A cup of tea. Mrs Bardell even featured as the main character in stories such as: "The Mystery Of Mrs Bardell's Xmas Pudding" in 1925 and "Mrs Bardell's Xmas Eve" in 1926. In Union Jack number 100 (9 September 1905), a story entitled "The Dog Detective" introduced Blake's faithful, wise and ferocious bloodhound , Pedro . Pedro was originally owned by Rafael Calderon, ex-president of a South American state, but after performing various services for Calderon, Blake
246-491: A few attempts at bringing him back, but the last original Sexton Blake story was published in 1978. 1979–present: Revivals and Republications Sexton Blake bibliography part 4: 1979–present Various publishers issued Blake novels and anthologies, collections of some of his most popular adventures. As the years passed, Blake's character experienced various permutations. The first descriptions and illustrations of him showed him to be "a middle-aged Victorian gentleman dressed in
287-536: A landlady named Mrs Bardell. 1912–1945: The Master Criminals Era Sexton Blake bibliography part 2: 1912–1945 From 1913 onwards the master criminals reigned supreme, regularly matching with Blake. 1946–1978: The Post War Era Sexton Blake bibliography part 3: 1946–1978 The era of the New Order saw Blake become more of a James Bond type. It also saw the end of the Sexton Blake Library in 1963. There were
328-430: A large rogues gallery of supervillains from around the globe. Some of the most famous included: Sexton Blake (TV series) ITV aired Sexton Blake starring Laurence Payne as Sexton Blake and Roger Foss as Tinker from Monday 25 September 1967 to Wednesday 13 January 1971. In keeping with Sexton Blake's classic print adventures, Payne's Blake drove a white Rolls-Royce named "The Grey Panther" and owned
369-519: A number of times over the years, was relocated to a suite of plush offices in Berkeley Square (while retaining lodgings at Baker Street) and acquired a secretary, Paula Dane, who became a not-quite- love interest for Blake. Tinker was no longer a boy assistant, but a mature young man who went by his full name Edward Carter. Blake's office receptionist, Marion Lang, was introduced as his female counterpart. Covers, which had become rather staid during
410-425: A wiry street-wise orphan as an assistant who was known only as Tinker until the 1950s. With the popularity of school stories during the early 1900s, Tinker's schooldays were chronicled in issues 229 and 232. Over the years, Tinker changed from a boy and good fighter to a rugged and capable young man. As well as assisting the "guv'nor", as he called Blake, Tinker kept Blake's crime files up to date with clippings from
451-539: A woman who would eventually become his wife. His wife was referred to again in the Union Jack Christmas Number for 1901 then disappeared from the Blake canon forever. Blake remained a strict bachelor for the rest of his career. In 1904 Blake moved to Baker Street, acquired an assistant named Tinker, a landlady named Martha Bardell and a dog named Pedro. Blake began more and more to resemble Sherlock Holmes . Blake
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#1732854902402492-419: Is so extensive it has been divided into four sections. For a list of titles from the different Blake eras check out the links below. 1893–1911: The Victorian/Edwardian Era Sexton Blake bibliography In this era Blake works solo and with a variety of partners and detectives. In 1904 he acquires a sidekick, a young boy named Tinker. The following year he moved to Baker Street and acquired a dog named Pedro and
533-466: Is the Frenchman Jules Gervaise, who gives him the first recorded case. By issue No. 7 ("A Christmas Crime"), they initiate an investigative company together. In the third story of issue No. 11 ("A Golden Ghost"), Gervaise is not mentioned. In Union Jack number 53, in a story titled "Cunning Against Skill" (1904), (written by W. J. Lomax under the pen-name of Herbert Maxwell), Blake picked up
574-575: The Napoleonic Wars , for the former, and " Nelson ", a biographical strip of the Naval hero, and the adventures of highwayman Claude Duval , for the latter. During the 1950s he drew more westerns and historical adventures for Cowboy Comics Library and Thriller Comics , and in the early 1960s he drew "The Three Rollicking Rogues" for Buster . In the late 1940s and 50s he also drew five newspaper strips: "Pepys' Diary" for The Evening News , "Making
615-739: The Royal Buckinghamshire Hussars and in military intelligence MI 7b alongside Captain Bruce Bairnsfather, producing propaganda directed at the Home Front - See "MI 7b - the discovery of a lost propaganda archive from the Great War". After the war he became a freelance illustrator, contributing to periodicals including The Strand Magazine . He joined the Amalgamated Press as a staff artist in 1922, where Harold Twyman , editor of
656-545: The story paper Union Jack , was looking to give detective character Sexton Blake a new direction and a more identifiable look. Parker drew him as a tall, lean pipe-smoker with receding hair, an interpretation that became definitive. Throughout the 1930s he illustrated Blake's adventures in Union Jack (until it closed in 1933), Detective Weekly (from 1933 on) and the Sexton Blake Library , for which he painted all
697-670: The 1967–1971 television show) featured in IPC 's weekly boys' anthology Valiant , from January 1968 to May 1970. A seven-part Blake comic strip featured in IPC 's comic Tornado from March 1979 to May 1979. A contract dispute (subsequently resolved in IPC 's favour) caused the Tornado editorial team to rename Blake "Victor Drago" (and Tinker & Pedro "Spencer & Brutus") for the duration of this strip. A series of 160-page Sexton Blake annuals, featuring old stories and new material, began in 1938 and lasted till 1941. Four hardbacks designed for
738-573: The British Army. In 1960 Parker was appointed art director for educational magazine Look and Learn , which involved laying out comic strips for other artists to draw. He also contributed to Ranger , including a full colour feature called "Scrapbook of the British Soldier", which he wrote as well as illustrated based on his knowledge of military history, beginning in 1966. The "Scrapbook" moved to Look and Learn when Ranger merged into it, and
779-612: The Edwardian era, and he appeared in a number of different story papers. These appearances included serials in the tabloid sized Boys' Friend (1905), complete tales in the pocket-sized Penny Pictorial (from 1907 to 1913 (when that magazine ended), and short stories in Answers , (1908–1911) one of the Amalgamated Press' most popular papers. Writers from this era include: William Murray Graydon , Maxwell Scott , Norman Goddard, Cecil Hayter, D. H. Parry, E. W. Alais, W. J Lomax, and Michael Storm. In
820-555: The New Forest and the 1947 Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. film The Exile . Although Knockout featured Sexton Blake in comic strip adventures, it was only in 1949 that Parker drew a Sexton Blake comic strip serial, "The Secret of Monte Cristo". The same year he illustrated the prose adventures of Beau Brummell , who writer Frank S. Pepper imagined living a double life as a highwayman. After 1949 he also worked for two new AP comics, Sun and Comet , drawing "The Happy Hussar", set during
861-572: The casebook of Sexton Blake and Snowbooks published Sexton Blake Detective. In 2013, Obverse Books licensed the character and published The Silent Thunder Caper by Mark Hodder , the first book in a proposed sixth series of the Sexton Blake Library, The imprint had previously published a collection of short stories featuring Blake villain Zenith the Albino . 2018 saw an uptick in Sexton Blake reprints, with
SECTION 20
#1732854902402902-463: The copyright to Blake along with the first story Blyth had submitted and from 1895 onwards several authors began to pen Blake tales. From August 1905 Blake became the resident character in Union Jack , appearing in every issue until its transformation into the Detective Weekly in 1933. Blake continued as the main feature until Detective Weekly ended in 1940. Blake's popularity began to grow during
943-625: The covers until 1953, and continued illustrating the character until 1955 when a new editor decided on another revamp. At the same time, he was providing illustrations for Chums , The Strand Magazine , Pearson's , The Scout , The Wide World Magazine , Wild West Weekly and others. In 1939 AP launched a new comic, Knockout , for which Parker initially supplied spot illustrations for prose stories, later also drawing comic strips, mostly historical adventures, including westerns starring Buffalo Bill and Kit Carson , and adaptations of classic novels like Kidnapped and The Children of
984-521: The daily newspapers, in addition to assisting Blake in his fully equipped crime laboratory. The Edwardian British private detective Herbert Marshall was a friend of one of the Blake authors', Charles Henry St John Cooper (1869–1926), and stated that Cooper had based the character of Tinker on Marshall's own teenaged assistant Henry Drummond. Drummond sold newspapers in Northumberland Avenue in order to support his widowed mother until, aged just 14, he
1025-482: The early 1950s, became much more dynamic and a new group of authors was commissioned. Baker remained as editor until 1963 (his last story was "The Last Tiger") before becoming Blake's licensor/publisher and continuing to oversee Blake's print adventures until January 1970. There were a few reprints in anthologies in the 1970s and 1980s. The new millennium has seen an uptick in reprints. Blake's first associate from The Halfpenny Marvel No. 6 ("The Missing Millionaire")
1066-412: The first of what would become a long line of master criminals. He was followed by Count Ivor Carlac in 1912, then Professor Kew, Prince Wu Ling, Zenith the Albino and many others. The 1920s and early 1930s are considered Blake's Golden Age, a time when he matched wits with some of his greatest foes. By the mid 1940s most had disappeared. Many of Blake's writers had been men of adventure who had travelled
1107-482: The first print novels published by Stillwoods Publishing, a Canadian publisher out of Nova Scotia. In 2020 ROH Press began publishing Sexton Blake tales with Sexton Blake The Early Years , a collection of Blake's first cases. That same year British publishers Rebellion Developments released a Sexton Blake special under its Treasury of British Comics imprint. They also produced four anthologies in 2020-21, each introduced by Blakeologist Mark Hodder . The Sexton Blake
1148-574: The height of its popularity was published 5 times a month. It ran for just under 50 years. The majority of Sexton Blake Library covers (prior to editor William Howard Baker's 1956 revamp of the character) were painted by master Sexton Blake illustrator Eric Parker Writers who worked on Sexton Blake stories throughout this 53-year span included Charles Henry St. John Cooper, John Creasey , Jack Trevor Story , John G. Brandon Michael Moorcock , and (allegedly) Brian O'Nolan (aka Flann O'Brien and Myles Coppaleen.) In 1959 Fleetway Publications acquired
1189-591: The rights to Sexton Blake adventures and published The Sexton Blake Library until the title's demise. The final tale, The Last Tiger, was published in June 1963. In 1965, Blake editor William Howard Baker licensed the rights of the Sexton Blake character. He published the fifth series of The Sexton Blake Library independently via Mayflower-Dell Books, which ran until 1968. He then issued a final series of four Sexton Blake novels, using his Howard Baker Books imprint, in 1969. From 1968 to 1971 Valiant published new comic strips in
1230-538: The second decade of the 20th century, new writers joined the ranks and created the formidable master criminals that matched wits with Blake. These include Andrew Murray, Anthony Skene, Robert Murray Graydon , Edwy Searles Brooks and George Hamilton Teed . Longer tales of 60,000 words or so appeared in The Boys' Friend Library and the success of these led to the creation of The Sexton Blake Library in 1915. This digest-sized publication specialized in longer tales, and at
1271-821: The style of the Knockout strips from decades earlier. Blake's last original appearance was in Sexton Blake and the Demon God “a period thriller with ancient curses and cliff-hanger endings” in 1978. Blake comic strips featured in The Knock-Out Comic (later Knock-Out Comic & Magnet and, finally, simply Knockout ) from 1939 to 1960. The Blake strip was illustrated originally by artist Jos Walker and then by Alfred Taylor , who illustrated Blake's adventures for ten years. The undoubted highlight of Blake's 21-year run in Knockout
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1312-582: The typical clothing of the era and carrying a heavy walking stick". At the start of his career in 1893 he was partnered with Jules Gervaise a French detective who was also his mentor. By early in 1894 Blake was solving cases solo. During the remainder of the Victorian era he worked with various assistants Griff (half-man and beast) and a Chinese boy named We-Wee. He lived in a variety of places including Norfolk Street, Strand, New Inn Chambers, and Wych Street. In The Lamp of Death (1894) Sexton Blake met Muriel Lane
1353-596: The world. When World War II started, they enlisted, leaving just a small group of writers behind (with the addition of the occasional guest writer). Consequently, the standard of Blake's stories suffered. In November 1955, William Howard Baker became editor of the Sexton Blake Library and, during 1956, introduced a successful update of the Blake formula. The Sexton Blake Library found new popularity with faster-moving, more contemporary stories (often influenced by American pulp fiction ). Blake, who had been relocated
1394-594: The younger market were published by Dean & Son Ltd during 1968. The third of these, Raffles' Crime in Gibraltar , portrayed Blake contending with A. J. Raffles , E.W. Hornung 's amateur cracksman. There were a few anthologies and reprints in the 80s and 90s. In 2009, IPC 's information manager, David Abbott, signed licenses to publish two Blake omnibus archive editions: The Casebook of Sexton Blake , published by Wordsworth Editions, and Sexton Blake, Detective published by Snowbooks. In 2009 Wordsworth Books published
1435-411: Was a 14-part 1949 strip drawn by Blake's greatest illustrator Eric Parker , entitled The Secret of Monte Cristo . This was Parker's only contribution to Blake's comic strip adventures. There was one Super Detective Library story about Blake: issue 68 (published November 1955), featuring a comic strip entitled Sexton Blake's Diamond Hunt . A final Sexton Blake comic strip (initiated to tie in with
1476-584: Was a prolific British illustrator and comics artist best known for illustrating the adventures of Sexton Blake in various periodicals. Born at Stoke Newington , North London, on 7 September 1898, he was awarded a special scholarship to the Central School of Arts and Crafts at the age of 15. A photo of him appeared in the Boy's Own Paper celebrating his achievement. During the First World War he served with
1517-544: Was disclosed that he was a fully trained lawyer, in "The Tattooed Eye" (21 November 1908) he says he is a duly qualified medical man but has never practised medicine. Throughout his career Blake also visited many countries in North America, Africa, South America, the Middle East, Asia and Oceania. Blake spoke a variety of languages and often disguised himself as a local. In 1908 Blake matched wits with George Marsden Plummer,
1558-469: Was given Pedro by Calderon, using the guise of "Mr. Nemo". Pedro tracked many villains to their lairs in subsequent stories. Another notable non-human associate (and almost a character in itself) was Blake's bullet-proof Rolls-Royce, named The Grey Panther (introduced at a time when most other sleuths were still taking cabs). For a short while, Blake also flew a Moth monoplane (also called The Grey Panther and designed by Blake himself). Sexton Blake had
1599-456: Was offered a job by Marshall. Drummond died in around 1905 from tuberculosis, aged 19. In 1905, Blake's bustling housekeeper Mrs Bardell (created by William Murray Graydon , who also created Pedro the bloodhound), was introduced and remained until the end. Her misuse of the English language was legendary in stories – she was a gifted cook and would always be on hand if a client needed food or
1640-598: Was played by one or more bloodhounds (bitches), which doubled as 'Henry', for Chunky dog food adverts with Clement Freud , and were owned by the then secretary of the Bloodhound Club, Mrs Bobbie Edwards. During rehearsals for the show in 1968, Laurence Payne was blinded in his left eye by a rapier. Of 50 episodes, only the first episode is thought to still exist. This is available to watch on YouTube. Sexton Blake at IMDb Eric Parker (illustrator) Eric Robert Parker (7 September 1898 – 21 March 1974)
1681-413: Was tall, lean, strong limbed, with hair receding at the temples, and with a high intellectual forehead. When indoors at Baker Street he wore a red dressing gown, smoked a briar pipe and had a favourite chair. Throughout the Edwardian era he worked undercover at variety of jobs: reporter, cab driver, laundryman, sailor, cowboy all of which were reflected in the titles of his adventures. In Sexton Blake KC it