Captain Condor is a

British comic A British comic 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. British comics are usually Comics anthology, comics antho ...

character who has appeared in eponymous strips published by

Amalgamated Press The Amalgamated Press (AP) was a British newspaper and magazine publishing company founded by journalist and entrepreneur Alfred Harmsworth (1865–1922) in 1901, gathering his many publishing ventures together under one banner. At one point the ...

and

Fleetway Publications Fleetway Publications was a magazine publishing company based in London. It was founded in 1959 when the Mirror Group acquired the Amalgamated Press, then based at Fleetway House, Farringdon Street, London. It was one of the companies that merg ...

. The character, a space pilot, first appeared in the launch issue of weekly comic ''

Lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

'' on 23 February 1952 and was created by Frank S. Pepper.

Creation

As part of

' attempt to respond to the runaway success of ''

Eagle Eagle is the common name for many large birds of prey of the family Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of genera, some of which are closely related. Most of the 68 species of eagle are from Eurasia and Africa. Outside this area, just ...

'' by creating ''

'', management identified the need for a space hero to compete with the hugely popular

Dan Dare Dan Dare is a British science fiction comic hero, created by illustrator Frank Hampson who also wrote the first stories. Dare appeared in the ''Eagle'' comic story ''Dan Dare, Pilot of the Future'' from 1950 to 1967 (and subsequently in repri ...

. Despite disliking

science fiction Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...

, managing editor

Reg Eves Reginald Thompson Eves (12 December 1892 – 1972) was a British editor and writer of comics and story papers for the Amalgamated Press. He joined the company in 1908,Alan Clark, ''Dictionary of British Comic Artists, Writers and Editors'', The ...

commissioned writer Frank S. Pepper to devise such a character; Pepper created Captain Condor to headline the new comic. As a sign of gratitude from the publisher, Pepper was allowed to retain publishing rights to Captain, who would appear on the front cover of ''Lion'' – the only page of the comic to be printed in colour, with a second black-and-white page of "Captain Condor" being printed on the rear cover. Neither ''Lion'' nor its cover-star would match the popularity of ''Eagle'' and Dare, but were a commercial success regardless. Pepper, writer of the long-running

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

boxing pilot Rockfist Rogan for '' The Champion'', also had little experience or interest in science fiction. As such he fell on the familiar adventure story trope of a wrongly accused hero and simply relocated it to outer space. Pepper mapped out an initial story arc while ''Lion'' editor Bernard Smith searched for an artist; with the launch looming he recruited Ron Forbes.

Publishing history

Condor started out – in Pepper's words – as "a non-character" but gradually developed a following of his own, though never matching Dare's fame and popularity. As ''Lion'' had planned to undercut ''Eagle'' through cheap production values, Forbes was unable to follow the example of

Frank Hampson Frank Hampson (21 December 1918 – 8 July 1985) was a British illustrator. He is best known as the creator and artist of Dan Dare and other characters in the boys' comic, the ''Eagle'', to which he contributed from 1950 to 1961. Biogra ...

and use detailed models and photographs in his work, which was printed on cheap newsprint paper in four colours rather than the high-quality

photogravure Photogravure (in French ''héliogravure'') is a process for printing photographs, also sometimes used for reproductive intaglio printmaking. It is a photo-mechanical process whereby a copper plate is grained (adding a pattern to the plate) and ...

used for ''Eagle''. Nevertheless, Captain Condor was popular enough for Timex to license the character for a children's

wristwatch A watch is a portable timepiece intended to be carried or worn by a person. It is designed to keep a consistent movement despite the motions caused by the person's activities. A wristwatch is designed to be worn around the wrist, attached by ...

in 1956, something that earned Pepper a modest amount. Other merchandise included a set of

handkerchief A handkerchief (; also called a hankie or, historically, a handkercher or a ) is a form of a kerchief or bandanna, typically a hemmed square of thin fabric which can be carried in the pocket or handbag for personal hygiene purposes such as wi ...

s. The initial cycle of stories ran through to March 1955, featuring Captain Condor as an unjustly imprisoned hero leading a resistance against the Dictator of the Planets, later aided by sidekick Pete. Following the latter's defeat, the serial was reconfigured to a format closer to Dan Dare, with Captain Condor as a dashing commander in the heroic Space Patrol, with Pete replaced by Quartermaster Burke. A further shake-up came on 27 July 1957, when (midway through serial "Captain Condor and the SOS from the Stars") the feature was transferred to the black-and-white interiors, with

pilot Paddy Payne taking over the front cover. Forbes also left the strip, being replaced by Neville Wilson. The new artist redesigned the character, while Space Cadets Mike and Jason joined the strip in place of Burke. Amalgamated Press' decision to cancel ''

Comet A comet is an icy, small Solar System body that, when passing close to the Sun, warms and begins to release gases, a process that is called outgassing. This produces a visible atmosphere or coma, and sometimes also a tail. These phenomena ar ...

'' and '' Sun Weekly'' in October 1959 and merge them with ''

Tiger The tiger (''Panthera tigris'') is the largest living cat species and a member of the genus '' Panthera''. It is most recognisable for its dark vertical stripes on orange fur with a white underside. An apex predator, it primarily preys on u ...

'' (where ''Comets own space hero

Jet-Ace Logan Jet-Ace Logan was a British comic strip that appeared in '' The Comet'' (1956–1959) and ''Tiger'' (1959–1968),Denis Gifford, ''Encyclopedia of Comic Characters'', Longman, 1987, p. 111 '' Thriller Picture Library'', and the 1969 and ...

would continue) and ''Lion'' respectively led to a reorganisation of the strips and their creative teams, with

Geoff Campion Arthur Geoffrey Campion (19 November 1916 — 18 December 1997)Norman Wright and David Ashford, ''Masters of Fun and Thrills: The British Comic Artists Vol. 1'', Norman Wright (pub.), 2008, pp. 7-21 was a British comics artist who drew adventur ...

and

Reg Bunn Reginald "Reg" Bunn ( 1905–died 1971) was a British comic book artist, best known for his work on ''The Spider'' in ''Lion'', and work in other British comics during the 1960s. As a young man, Bunn produced commissioned portraits and caricatu ...

alternating for the rest of the year. Meanwhile,

Hulton Press Sir Edward George Warris Hulton (29 November 1906 – 8 October 1988) was a British magazine publisher and writer. Early life Hulton was born to Sir Edward Hulton, 1st Baronet, a newspaper publisher and racehorse owner originally from Mancheste ...

had sold ''Eagle'' to another rival publisher,

Odhams Press Odhams Press was a British publishing company, operating from 1920 to 1968. Originally a magazine publisher, Odhams later expanded into book publishing and then children's comics. The company was acquired by Fleetway Publications in 1961 and th ...

. They acrimoniously replaced Hampson's art studio with that of

Frank Bellamy Frank Bellamy (21 May 1917 Khoury, George. ''True Brit: Celebrating The Comic Book Artists Of England'' (TwoMorrows Publishing, 2004). – 5 July 1976) was a British comics artist, best known for his work on the ''Eagle'' comic, for which h ...

, leaving many of the "Dan Dare" art team out of work. As such both Keith Watson (1960 to 1961) and Brian Lewis (1961 to 1963) would be hired to work on "Captain Condor". Pepper would later identify the Watson-drawn "Captain Condor and the War in Space" as his favourite work on the character, modelling much of the story on the events of World War II; he would later recall "We had Quisling invasion techniques, plus the fall of Singapore and Pearl Harbour, plus a resistance movement and the culmination in a sort of D-Day". However, after Lewis' tenure the strip struggled to find a suitable artist – Spaniard Alfredo Sanchis Cortes was among those tried – and ended abruptly after 4 April 1964. The following month "Captain Condor" returned as a series of self-contained text stories, still written by Pepper (who was by now also writing "Jet-Ace Logan" in ''Tiger'') for a ten-week run, with a one-off return on 14 November 1964. Another small-scale comeback came in 1965, when the Watson-drawn serials "The Hole in Outer Space" and "Captain Condor and the Forbidden Planet" were reprinted across five months, with a second shorter reprint run consisting of Lewis' "Captain Condor and the Push-Button Planet" running from 1968 to 1969. Alongside the first reprint run, the Campion-drawn "Captain Condor and the Planet of Destruction" was modified and reprinted as the adventures of a 'new' character called Rip Solar in ''

Ranger A Ranger is typically someone in a military/paramilitary or law enforcement role specializing in patrolling a given territory, called “ranging”. The term most often refers to: * Park ranger or forest ranger, a person charged with protecting and ...

'' Meanwhile heavily edited versions two serials were issued in #6 and #8 of ''Lion Picture Library''. The Lewis reprints ended on 26 April 1969, marking the last appearance of Captain Condor in the pages of the weekly ''Lion''. The following edition saw the ailing ''Eagle'' – brought under the same roof when

(as Amalgamated Press had become in 1960) and Odhams had been merged into

IPC Magazines TI Media (formerly International Publishing Company, IPC Magazines Ltd, IPC Media and Time Inc. UK) was a consumer magazine and digital publisher in the United Kingdom, with a portfolio selling over 350 million copies each year. Most of its tit ...

– folded into ''Lion'', and reprints of Captain Condor were replaced by reprints of Dan Dare. Following this, the character largely remained out of print, though in 1979 a heavily edited version of "Captain Condor and the Forbidden Planet" was printed in '' Starlords first annual, and in 1980 a new text story – written by Pepper – published in the ''Lion Holiday Special''; the latter is the last known new material featuring the character. The character did however make a surprise reappearance on a decal used for a diecast model of the 'Lion Captain Condor Panel Bus', released by

Corgi Toys Corgi Toys (trademark) is the brand name of a range of die-cast toy vehicles created by Mettoy and currently owned by Hornby Railways, Hornby.Rebellion Developments Rebellion Developments Limited is a British video game developer based in Oxford, England. Founded by Jason and Chris Kingsley in December 1992, the company is best known for its ''Sniper Elite'' series and multiple games in the ''Alien vs. Pre ...

in 2018.

County Mayo County Mayo (; ga, Contae Mhaigh Eo, meaning "Plain of the Taxus baccata, yew trees") is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. In the West Region, Ireland, West of Ireland, in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Conn ...

publisher Hibernia Books, who had licensed various Fleetway/IPC properties before and after the deal with Rebellion, announced a collected edition in their Fleetway Files series featuring Captain Condor in 2022. The book compiled Brian Lewis' work on the character into a single volume for the first time.

Plot summary

In the year 3000, Inter-Planet Space-Lines pilot Captain Condor is banished to the

uranium Uranium is a chemical element with the symbol U and atomic number 92. It is a silvery-grey metal in the actinide series of the periodic table. A uranium atom has 92 protons and 92 electrons, of which 6 are valence electrons. Uranium is weak ...

mines of Titan, outlawed by the Dictator of the Planets after refusing to transport slaves from

Venus Venus is the second planet from the Sun. It is sometimes called Earth's "sister" or "twin" planet as it is almost as large and has a similar composition. As an interior planet to Earth, Venus (like Mercury) appears in Earth's sky never fa ...

. With the aid of fellow prisoner Pete he is able to escape and begin raising a rebel force against the Dictator. The growing rebel army was able to escape the Dictator's huge military and establish a base on Zor, an uncharted moon. Under Condor's command, the rebels prepared to strike back against the Dictator while avoiding discovery by enemy spies.

Collected edition

Reception

Generally reception to both the character and adventures of Captain Condor has been mixed, typically viewing it as a derivative version of Dan Dare. Writing for Australian fanzine ''The Mentor'' in 1992, Andrew Darlington considered much of the early work on the character uninspired but suggested the character may have made a more lasting impression had either of Watson or Lewis remained on the series longer than they did. The same year Lew Stringer wrote a brief history of Fleetway's classic boys' titles for inclusion in the '' 2000 AD Action Special'', criticising Captain Condor's clear lifting of Dan Dare's format, and feeling "Condor's universe was purely rooted in the

Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established ''Buck Rogers'' adve ...

serials of the 1930s, and must have looked antiquated even to the readers of the 1950s". Graham Kibble-White was similarly unmoved by the early adventures of Captain Condor, but echoed Darlington by stating the arrival of Keith Watson gave the character "a new lease of life". Reviewing the Hibernia collection for Slings & Arrows, Frank Plowright felt the stories had "period charm" and praised Lewis' art, while being pleasantly surprised by the quality of Pepper's plotting.

References

{{Buster Fleetway and IPC Comics characters Lion comic strips Fictional space pilots British comic strips British comics characters Comics set in the 31st century