| "The Bootneck Boy" | |
|---|---|
 The cover to the 10 April 1976 edition ofBattle Picture Weekly, featuring Danny Budd of "The Bootneck Boy". | |
| Publisher | IPC Magazines |
| Publication date | 8 March 1975 – 12 November 1977 |
| Genre | |
| Title(s) | Battle Picture Weekly 8 March 1975 to 12 November 1977 |
| Main character | Danny Budd |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Ian McDonald Gerry Finley-Day John Wagner |
| Artist | Juan Giralt |
| Editor | Dave Hunt |
"The Bootneck Boy" is aBritish comicwar story published in the weeklyanthologyBattle Picture Weekly from 8 March 1975 to 12 November 1977 byIPC Magazines. Set duringWorld War II, the story follows Danny Budd, a youth from the fictionalNorthern England town of Tynecastle as he strives to join theRoyal Marines.
Having been hired byIPC Magazines to create the newanthologyBattle Picture Weekly in 1974, freelancer writersPat Mills andJohn Wagner both had mixed feelings about writing a war comic, and as a result tried to take a more realistic approach withworking class heroes as protagonists.[1][2] They recruited fellow freelancerGerry Finley-Day, having had good experiences working with him on IPC's line ofgirls' comics.[1]Battle assistant editorSteve MacManus recalled Finley-Day being an important sounding board for Mills and Wagner.[3] All three had worked for rivalDC Thomson, and Finley-Day took inspiration fromAlf Tupper, the working class athlete who starred in sports strip "The Tough of the Track" in the Scottish company's long-runningVictor. Finley-Day would work with Ian McDonald on the story, while Spaniard Juan Giralt handled art duties.[1]
The first episode of "The Bootneck Boy" appeared in the debut issue ofBattle Picture Weekly, dated 8 March 1975. McDonald wrote the first two weekly episodes before Finley-Day took over as writer for two weeks before the next two episodes were written by Wagner, after which Finley-Day returned and remained on the strip until it finished.[4] He would later name "The Bootneck Boy" as his favourite strip to work on forBattle.[5]
The story was popular withBattle readers, and would run until the 12 November 1977 edition, when it finally made way to accommodate incoming stories from the comic's merger withAction.[6]
"The Bootneck Boy"'s first episode was reprinted byEgmont Publishing in a 2009Classic Comics special edition ofBattle Picture Weekly.[7] Since 2016, the rights to the story have been owned byRebellion Developments.[8][9]
Danny Budd is rejected by theRoyal Marines due to his lack of height. An orphan, he lives with his sneering Uncle Fred and oafish cousin Ron in Northern town Tynecastle. Danny works as an underappreciated role as assistant to Fred's coal delivery business, and longs to be aBootneck like his late father. After being spotted in a scuffle by a Marines recruiting officer, Danny is signed up. While his small stature makes him the butt of jokes his determination and courage soon shine through, especially when defending the barracks from aLuftwaffe raid.
Despite further clashes with Fred, Ron and a brash company ofRangers deployed to the town he successfully completes training, and is deployed to the 1942 landings in North Africa. Danny is later selected forSBS missions in theAegean Sea and fighting along partisans onCrete and in raids inYugoslavia. Later his unit were selected to work with Soviet marines in theBlack Sea, fighting in theCrimea over the winter of 1943. In 1944 he was assigned to special unit Striker Force for theAnzio landings; Danny was injured during the battle and sent on leave in Britain, ending up foiling an escape by German prisoners-of-war. He was later assigned to theNormandy landings force, coming ashore atJuno Beach. Danny fought in theLiberation of Paris and the push toAntwerp. Later in the year he was seconded to theUnited States Marine Corps, where he made fast friends with Moose Malloy, before being seriously injured fighting theJapanese inBurma in January 1945. AfterVJ Day, Danny and Moose set up aboxing gym inNew York.[10]
The Guardian humorously compared Budd's difficulties in making the grade as a Royal Maine with those ofPrince Edward,[11] whileGraham Kibble-White likened the story tokitchen sink realism.[12]