''The Hotspur'' was a British boys' paper published by
D. C. Thomson & Co. From 1933 to 1959, it was a
boys' story paper; it was relaunched as a
comic in October 1959, initially called the ''New Hotspur'', and ceased publication in January 1981.
Story paper
''The Hotspur'' was launched on 2 September 1933 as a story paper, the last of the 'Big Five'. The first issue came with a black mask as a free gift and contained an offer for an electric shock machine:
Thomson's 'Big Five' papers were extremely successful; the name was used by both readers and the industry. In 1939 the company advertised combined weekly sales of over a million for the group; the first issue of ''The Hotspur'' sold over 350,000 copies. ''The Hotspur'' specialised in school stories; its ''Red Circle School'' stories replaced the
public school stories in rival publisher
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 ...
' ''
The Gem
''The Gem'' (1907–1939) was a story paper published in Great Britain by Amalgamated Press in the early 20th century, predominantly featuring the activities of boys at the fictional school St. Jim's. These stories were all written using the pe ...
'' and ''
The Magnet
''The Magnet'' was a British weekly boys' story paper published by Amalgamated Press. It ran from 1908 to 1940, publishing a total of 1,683 issues.
Each issue cost a halfpenny and contained a long school story about the boys of Greyfriars S ...
'' as reader favourites.
Like other British children's publications, ''The Hotspur'' was published weekly, except for the
Second World War
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 opposi ...
and its aftermath, when as a result of paper rationing it published fortnightly, alternating with ''The Wizard''. The original ''Hotspur'' story paper published 1197 issues, the last on 17 October 1959.
Notable characters and series
* ''Red Circle School'', a public school with pupils from all over the world.
* Bill Sampson, also known as
The Wolf of Kabul, an agent of the British Intelligence Corps, first introduced in ''
The Wizard
Wizard, the wizard, or wizards may refer to:
* Wizard (fantasy), a fictional practitioner of magic
* Wizard (supernatural), a practitioner of magic
Art, entertainment and media Fictional characters
* Wizard (Archie Comics), a comic book supe ...
'', appeared in illustrated format in ''The Hotspur''.
Comic book
It relaunched in comic format as the ''New Hotspur'' on 24 October 1959, a week after the original series ceased publication, and ran for another 1,110 issues until being incorporated into ''
The Victor'' on 24 January 1981.
[Vic Whittle]
Hotspur Page
at British Comics. The new format contained comic strips as opposed to the old text story format. The word "new" in the title was dropped with issue #174. There were several mergers during the 1970s: with ''
The Hornet
''The Hornet'' (''Stršljen'') is a 1998 Serbian drama film directed by Gorčin Stojanovic.
Cast
* Sergej Trifunović – Miljaim
* Mirjana Joković – Adrijana
* Dragan Jovanović – Inspektor Boban Đorđević
* Branimir Popović – Ab ...
'' in 1976, and with ''
The Crunch'' in 1980. In January 1981 ''The Hotspur'' finally merged with ''The Victor''.
[
]
Strips
* ''The Black Sapper'' (1971–1973, from ''Rover
Rover may refer to:
People
* Constance Rover (1910–2005), English historian
* Jolanda de Rover (born 1963), Dutch swimmer
* Rover Thomas (c. 1920–1998), Indigenous Australian artist
Places
* Rover, Arkansas, US
* Rover, Missouri, US
...
'' and then ''The Beezer
''The Beezer'' (called ''The Beezer and Topper'' for the last three years of publication) was a British comic that ran from (issues dates) 21 January 1956 to 21 August 1993, published by D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. Comic strips in ''The Beezer' ...
'') — a genius inventor who creates "The Earthworm," a giant drilling machine used to rob banks. Eventually, the character changed to become a good guy. Drawn by Terry Patrick.
*''Coral Island''
* ''Dozy Danny'' — eleven-year-old Danny Lorimer is constantly nodding off during the school day, as his stepfather forces him to get up at four o'clock in the morning every day to make coal briquettes.
*''Jonny Jett''
*''King Cobra'' — journalist Bill King transforms into the UK's very own high-tech superhero. Drawn by Ron Smith.
*''Spring Heeled Jackson'' (1977–1981) — John Jackson is a bumbling police clerk who fights crime with the aid of a fantastic costume.
* '' Union Jack Jackson'' (from 1962) — a British Royal Marine
The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...
serving with the US Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps (USMC), also referred to as the United States Marines, is the maritime land force service branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for conducting expeditionary and amphibious operations through com ...
in the Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contine ...
campaign during 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 opposing ...
, later in ''Warlord
A warlord is a person who exercises military, economic, and political control over a region in a country without a strong national government; largely because of coercive control over the armed forces. Warlords have existed throughout much of h ...
''.[Mike Conroy, ''War Stories: A Graphic History'', New York: Ilex/Harper, 2009, ]
p. 116
/ref>
*''X-Bow''
In Popular Culture
The magazine is mentioned in the BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC
Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
.
the ''Red Circle School'' story from ''The Hotspur'' issue number 1, at Vic Whittle's British Comics site
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