Hornet (DC Thomson)

This article is about the British comic. For the Marvel Comics characters, see Hornet (comics).

The Hornet was a British boys' comic published by D. C. Thomson & Co. for 648 issues[1] from 14 September 1963[2][3] to 7 February 1976, after which it was merged with The Hotspur.[4] The free gift with the first issue was a balsa wood "Kestral Glider".[4]

Notable strips and characters

  • The Blazing Ace of Spades - starring Richard Starr, a ruthless World War II fighter pilot
  • V for Vengeance (1965–75; 1976–80 The Hotspur) - starring the Deathless Men, masked concentration camp escapees who first appeared in prose format in The Wizard in 1942.[5]
  • William Wilson, first appeared in prose format in The Wizard in 1943, appeared in picture form in The Hornet starting on 12 September 1964.[6][7]

References

  1. ^ Paul Sassienie, The Comic Book: The One Essential Guide for Comic Book Fans Everywhere, Edison, New Jersey: Chartwell, 1994, p. 252.
  2. ^ Jeremy Briggs, "Calling Warlord Agents!" Archived 25 May 2011 at the Wayback Machine Interview with Bill Graham, Downthetubes.com: "August 5th, 1963. I remember it like it was yesterday. I was put on the staff of The Hornet on the day the first issue went to press".
  3. ^ Roger Sabin, Comics, Comix & Graphic Novels, London: Phaidon, 1996, repr. 2001, ISPN 0-7148-3993-0, p. 49: "DC Thomson hit back [after the launch of Eagle] . . . by launching new titles, the most famous of which were Victor (1961) and Hornet (1963)."
  4. ^ a b The Hornet at 26pigs.com.
  5. ^ Mike Conroy, War Stories: A Graphic History, New York: Ilex/Harper, 2009, ISBN 978-0-06-173112-9, p. 116.
  6. ^ Graham Kibble-White, The Ultimate Book of British Comics, London: Allison & Busby, 2005, ISBN 0-7490-8211-9, p. 218.
  7. ^ Paul Gravett and Peter Stanbury, Great British Comics: Celebrating a Century of Ripping Yarns and Wizard Wheezes, London: Aurum, 2006, ISBN 978-1-84513-170-8, p. 166.


Stub icon

This UK comics–related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.