| Valiant | |
|---|---|
 The cover ofValiant, dated 9 July 1966. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | IPC Magazines |
| Schedule | Weekly |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Genre | |
| Publication date | 6 October 1962 – 16 October 1976 |
| No. of issues | 712 |
| Main character(s) | Captain Hurricane Billy Bunter Sexton Blake The Steel Claw The House of Dolmann One-Eyed Jack |
| Creative team | |
| Written by | Scott Goodall Tom Tully |
| Artist(s) | Reg Parlett Jesús Blasco Eric Bradbury John Cooper Mike Western |
| Editor(s) | Steve Barker Tony Power Stewart Wales John Wagner Steve MacManus (sub-editor) |
Valiant was a weeklyBritish comics periodical published byFleetway Publications and laterIPC Magazines from 4 October 1962 to 16 October 1976. A boys' adventure comic, it debuted numerous memorable characters, includingCaptain Hurricane,The Steel Claw andMytek the Mighty.Valiant lasted for 712 issues before being merged with stablemateBattle Picture Weekly.
Having taken overAmalgamated Press in 1959 to profit from their boys' comics sales, theMirror Group decided on the launch of a new title to join the likes ofLion,Tiger,Buster andKnockout in their portfolio, now under the name Fleetway Publications.Knockout was the elder statesman of the line, having been running since 1939; the venerable title had received a modernising makeover in 1960, and Fleetway were keen to apply the same principles used in the relaunch to a new title. At the direction of Fleetway executive Jack Le Grand, group editor Sid Bicknell assigned editors Steve Barker and Tony Power to the new comic,[1] designed to compete withDC Thomson's smash-hitThe Victor.[2]
Valiant launched on 6 October 1962, with aGeoff Campion cover depicting new headline starCaptain Hurricane and a free 'Pocket Rocket' and football League Ladders.[3] The new comic eschewed prose stories (by then largely gone from Fleetway's other titles) in favour of comic serials and strips, interspersed with factual pages and, in later issues, letters from readers.[4] The comic led strips based on the typical boys' adventure mix of the time - war, westerns, sport and fantasy.[5] "Captain Hurricane" was a light-hearted World War II series depicting the adventures ofRoyal Marines Captain Hercules Hurricane and his long-sufferingbatman 'Maggot' Malone. Already a towering heavyweight, Hurricane's short temper would see him pitched into "ragin' furies" that blessed him with the power to cut an unarmed swathe through German troops and tie tank barrels in knots. Hugely popular with readers,[2] Captain Hurricane would be a constant presence throughout the magazine's life.[1]
More straight-laced military history was provided by "To Glory We Steer", modified versions ofThe Comet'sHoratio Nelson biographical naval warfare story, and "Blade of the Frontier". Another reprint washighwayman actioner "Jack o' Justice", brought over fromRadio Fun and actually a modified version ofSun's "Dick Turpin".[4] Despite this cut-price origin, the feature proved popular enough with readers that when the Dick Turpin inventory ran dry in 1964, new Jack O'Justice adventures were commissioned, withTom Kerr among the artists. Meanwhile "Hawk Hunter and the Iron Horse" saw the former - raised by native Americans but "a white man at heart" - hired byUnion Pacific to protect the latter. "Paladin the Fearless" told the story of a young boy raised as a champion of the English againstViking invaders; the story was actually a loosely translated import ofAlbert Uderzo'sBelloy.[6] "Kid Gloves" meanwhile told the story of the titularNative American, an aspiring boxer.[4][2]
More fantastical was "The Steel Claw", created byKen Bulmer and telling the story of metal-handed and embittered laboratory assistant Louis Crandell. After an accident during one of boss Professor Barrington's experiments, Crandell develops the ability to turn invisible (aside from the eponymous appendage) and promptly went on the rampage to make the world pay for its perceived wrongs against him. The character proved an instant hit with readers and in February 1963 underwent a drastic change of outlook, putting his abilities into the fight for good, withTom Tully taking over as writer. One of the story's most memorable features was the dark, atmospheric art by political exile[2]Jesús Blasco,[7] which has been cited as an influence byBrian Bolland[8] andAlan Davis.[9] Light relief meanwhile was provided by no less than six cartoon strips - Angel Nadal's "The Nutts", "The Soppy H'Porths" by Arthur Martin, "Hey Presto" and a trio ofReg Parlett contributions in "Percy the Problem Child", "Shorty the Sheriff" and "The Crows". The 32-page, 6dValiant launched to strong sales, with the following three issues aiming for loyalty with further gifts - batches of cardboard tabs for the first issue's league ladders, aGiant Book of World War 2 and amagnifying glass.[4]
The line-up would stay stable until February 1963, whenValiant would undergo the first of what would be six mergers; the first victim wasKnockout, which had been comprehensively outsold byValiant since the new title launched. The merger brought four new stories toValiant. "Kelly's Eye" revolved around adventurer Tim Kelly, who discovered a gem called the Eye of Zoltec that made him indestructible. For reasons best known to himself, Kelly chose to keep the talisman around his neck on a thin chain. Drawn byArgentine artistFrancisco Solano López, "Kelly's Eye" would run until 1974.[4] Less enduring were the dinosaur-rearing schemes of Doctor Kraken, though the scientist would appear until September 1964.[4] The third addition was also relatively short-lived, the continued adventures of secret agent Nick Shadow in "The Man Called 39" lasting only three months.[4] More enduring were the cartoons. The perpetual travails of 'Heavyweight Chump of Greyfriars'Billy Bunter lasted as long asValiant did,[1] while Reg Wootton's "Sporty" - depicting the title character's multidisciplinary ambitions usually winning out of the caddish antics of friend Sidney - would make appearances until 1972.[4] The cover bore the moniker ofValiant and Knockout until 22 February 1964. Another new feature added in 1963 was "Little Fred and Big Ed". This was another Uderzo import, roughly translated versions ofAsterix, which ran inValiant until 1964.[4] Fleetway would subsequently try to gain further mileage from the Asterix strips inRanger andLook and Learn converting theGauls toBritons, beforeAnthea Bell andDerek Hockridge's faithful, definitiveEnglish translations began in 1970.
1963 had also seen an expansion of the use ofValiant as a brand. An ubiquitous annual for the title debuted in autumn 1963, while following year saw the debut of the digest-sizedValiant Picture Library. The latter rarely featured characters from the weekly, instead focusing on a steady diet of war action. Later spin-offs using the name included theValiant Story of the West,The Valiant Space Annual andThe Valiant Book of Pirates, while periodic specials (sometimes in conjunction with 'rival'Lion) were also issued. The Steel Claw meanwhile featured in another series of digests, alternating withThe Spider fromLion.[1] Initially titledFantastic Series before being retitledStupendous Series, it ran from January 1967 to January 1968.[10]
The following year would see three popular stories debut. The sport quota was topped up by "The Wild Wonders" - drawn byMike Western in an influential cartoon style,[11] and featuringHebrides brothers Rick and Charlie Wild using their privation-ridden upbringing to dominate the world of athletics - and "Legge's Eleven", which sawplayer-manager Ted Legge try to assemble a team forDivision Four strugglers Rockley Rovers. The third was another fantasy-tinged strip, "Mytek the Mighty". This concerned the construction of a huge robotic ape, built by Professor Arnold Boyce to communicate with the primitive Akabi tribe ofCentral Africa. However, Mytek was stolen by the scientist's assistant, the evil dwarf Gogra, and taken on a destructive tour around the world, pursued by Boyce and agent Dick Mason.[1] Drawn byEric Bradbury, the story would run until 1970.[4]
Valiant expanded to 40 pages in May 1964 - a format that saw the debut of "Twelve Guilty Men", which saw disgraced police officer Rod Marsden to clear his name by bringing underworld syndicate Crime Incorporated to justice.[4] Later that yearValiant's only prose story, "The Astounding Jason Hyde", first appeared.[1] The crimefighter with x-ray eyes was written by science fiction writerBarrington J. Bayley, with illustrations by Bradbury, and appeared inValiant until 1968. Bradbury would contribute to another popular fantasy-tinged strip in 1966; "The House of Dolmann" told of robotics genius Eric Dolmann, who fought crime with his squad of robot 'puppets', includingsumo wrestler Togo, miniatureCommando Raider andjester Giggler, and featured until 1970. Meanwhile Jack O'Justice received a revamp, switching to present day adventures featuring the character's grandson, Jack Justice.[1] The comic's circulation was around 500,000 copies.[12] While popular, it was not without critics; a 1965 journal published by theScottish Academic Press on the subject ofThe Use of English Language bemoaned the slang and shoddy grammar of characters from "brash" titles likeValiant[13] while the terms Captain Hurricane used for Axis Powers soldiers some twenty years after they ceased to be enemies has also been noted.[14][15] IPC's editorial director John Sanders would later defend the high amount of World War II content inValiant and other titles, arguing that readers' appetite for such material meant it was necessary to keep the comics profitable.[16]
In 1969, Fleetway were purchased byReed International and rebranded asIPC Magazines. Initially,Valiant was largely unaffected by the changes, which also brought former competitorOdhams Press brought under the same umbrella. The same year saw a revival of long-running pulp detectiveSexton Blake to take advantage of thesuccessful television show based on the character, starringLaurence Payne. Another new arrival was "Raven on the Wing", featuring a youngGypsy footballer and drawn by Solano López. 1970 would bring something of a sea change as "Sexton Blake", "Mytek the Mighty", "The House of Dolmann" and the long-serving "The Steel Claw" all ended. Replacements such as haunted house caper "The Ghostly Guardian", science fiction story "The Trouble-Seekers" and even Tully-Blasco collaboration "Slave of the Screamer" failed to catch on.[1]
The following year brought a second merger. This timeSmash! was subsumed; at the time it was the last of Odhams'Power Comics line, but even shedding the unpopularMarvel Comics reprints that led to its stablemates downfall had not been enough.[17]Valiant and Smash launched on 10 April 1971.[4] The combination sawValiant inherit the popular "The Incredible Adventures of Janus Stark", featuring tales of a rubber-bonedVictorianescapologist and crime-fighter. Another strip drawn by Solano López and primarily written by Tully, it would be a fixture for the next five years. The other strips from theSmash! intake - "His Sporting Lordship" and "Simon Test and the Islands of Peril" - were less long lived, not running past the end of the year. Louis Crandell however returned for sequel series "Return of the Claw" until 1973.[1]
Two weeks after abandoning theValiant and Smash title, the comic also absorbed the last remnants ofTV21. The latter's declining fortunes meant this merger only broughtAngus Allan andJohn Stokes' licensedStar Trekstrip and "Tuffs of Terror Island";[1] the title's Marvel reprints were again not continued.[18] The nameValiant and TV21 would last until April 1972, before the magazine reverted to plainValiant once more.[4]
This would last until 1974, whenLion's 22-year run ended and it folded intoValiant. The merge was not without controversy;Lion assistant editor Chris Lowder has stated it was outsellingValiant at the time, and that Le Grand – having advanced to managing director of Fleetway – ensured the comic he had helped devise survived. Lowder recalled he and fellow Lion editor Geoff Kemp took Le Grand to lunch to state their case, and were told they "just had tofacking [sic] deal with it". Arrivals fromLion included the popularAdam Eterno, as well as reprints of "Robot Archie" and "Spot the Clue with Zip Nolan", while theSteel Commando would guest-star in "Captain Hurricane".[19] The comic would run under the nameValiant and Lion until 22 March 1975, and sales were typically around 100,000 an issue. Future2000 AD creatorJohn Wagner took over from Stewart Wales as editor in 1975, withSteve MacManus as sub-editor; the team were given the task of updatingValiant for modern audiences, giving it a gritter tone.[2] Among the strips they commissioned were "Death Wish" (a World War II story, not to be confused with the laterSpeed/Tiger/Eagle strip of the same name) and hard-edged New York detective story "One-Eyed Jack" (both written by Wagner).[20] The latter character was heavily influenced byClint Eastwood's Dirty Harry, and has sometimes been considered a forebear ofJudge Dredd.[21]
However, the decision to mergeValiant andLion was a worrying sign of the shrinking market. Increasing competition from television led to a smaller market for boys' comics, as well as the market also having to deal withMarvel UK's anthologies gaining a foothold. The boys' adventure comic was becoming outdated in comparison.[22]Valiant would assimilate one more stablemate, however - the small-formatVulcan in April 1976. AsVulcan was a reprint title (including some strips that had previously ran inValiant) the change in content was minimal - for three weeks Valiant and Vulcan carried a double-folded mini-comic insert finishing off the storylines running whenVulcan was cancelled. Despite this, theValiant and Vulcan title would stick until 2 October 1976.[1]
While the comic reverted to simply onValiant on 9 October 1976 the change was short-lived.[4] The following issue provided "Important news for all readers" and announced the title would be consumed byBattle Picture Weekly the following week.[23][1]Battle revolved around war comics and so there was little room forValiant's contents, with only "One-Eyed Jack", "Soldier Sharp - The Rat of the Rifles" and "The Black Crow" were continued.[24] Captain Hurricane retired from frontline combat to host the letters page.[25] As with other cancelled weeklies, annuals would continue for some afterwards - the finalValiant Annual was dated 1984.[4]
Valiant characters have appeared prominently in several revivals of the AP/Fleetway/IPC characters. New episodes of "The Steel Claw", "Kelly's Eye", "Captain Hurricane" and "Janus Stark" appeared in the 1990Classic Action Holiday Special. Two years later reimagined versions of "Kelly's Eye", "The Steel Claw" and "Mytek the Mighty" were included in the2000 AD Action Special. In 2006 several played prominent roles in theWildStorm mini-seriesAlbion, which also used a fictional issue ofValiant as a key plot point.
In March 2012,Royal Mail launched a special stamp collection to celebrate Britain's rich comic book history.[26] The collection featuredValiant, along withThe Beano,The Dandy,Eagle,The Topper,Roy of the Rovers,Bunty,Buster,Twinkle and2000 AD. Several stories fromValiant have been collected byTitan Publishing Group, and as part of theTreasury of British Comics byRebellion Developments, who have owned the completeValiant library since 2018.[27]
