''Lion'' was a weekly

British comics 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 ...

periodical 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 ...

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 ...

from 23 February 1952 to 18 May 1974. A boys' adventure comic, ''Lion'' was originally designed to compete with ''

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 ...

'', the popular weekly comic published by

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 ...

that had introduced

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 ...

(ironically, ''Eagle'' was later merged into ''Lion''). ''Lion'' lasted for 1,156 issues. By the 1960s ''Lion'' had settled into being one of the most popular British weekly titles of the time. Editor Bernard Smith was always proud to say that he had the latest issue of ''Lion'' delivered to

Buckingham Palace Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...

every Friday, the young

Prince Charles Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

being an avid reader (in 1960, Prince Charles was 11 years old).

Publication history

In 1954, Amalgamated Press (AP) 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 ...

was named editor of ''Lion''. Despite having no interest in science fiction, Eves was under orders from management to have a space hero to compete with

, and commissioned ''Captain Condor'' from writer

Frank S. Pepper Frank Stuart Pepper (8 February 1910 – 11 December 1988) was a British writer of comics and story papers for Amalgamated Press, best known as the creator of ''Roy of the Rovers'' and '' Captain Condor''. Biography Born in Ilford, North East ...

. AP was acquired by

IPC IPC may refer to: Computing * Infrastructure protection centre or information security operations center * Instructions per cycle or instructions per clock, an aspect of central-processing performance * Inter-process communication, the sharin ...

/Fleetway in 1959 (with Eves retiring as editor); partly as a result, ''Lion'' merged with several other comics during its life, including ''

Sun The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared radi ...

'' in 1959, '' The Champion'' in 1960, ''

'' in 1969, and ''Thunder'' in 1971. By the early 1970s sales were slipping, and in 1974 ''Lion'' was merged with ''

Valiant Valiant may refer to: People * James Valiant (1884–1917), English cricketer * The Valiant Brothers, a professional wrestling tag team of storyline brothers ** Jerry Valiant, a ring name of professional wrestler John Hill (1941-2010) ** Jimmy ...

''. Several ''Lion'' strips continued in ''Valiant'', but that title merged with ''

Battle Picture Weekly ''Battle Picture Weekly'', at various times also known as ''Battle Action'', ''Battle Action Force'', ''Battle'' and ''Battle with Storm Force'', was a British war comic book magazine published by IPC Magazines from (issues dates) 8 March 1975 ...

'' in 1976. ''Lion Annual''s were published until 1983.

Content

''Lion'''s first issue contained a mix of text stories and comic strips. The flagship story in the original incarnation was ''Captain Condor – Space Ship Pilot'', a

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 ...

adventure in the

mould. The premiere issue also contained the first adventure of ''

Robot Archie Robot Archie is the name of a fictional comic book character from ''Lion'', a weekly British boys' adventure title. Publishing history ''Robot Archie'' appeared in ''Lion'' Issue #1 in February 1952; it was published by Amalgamated Press — at ...

'' (called ''The Jungle Robot'' in early adventures) who would go on to become one of the title's most popular characters. The most popular story was ''Paddy Payne — Warrior of the Skies'', written by Val Holding and drawn by

Joe Colquhoun Joe Colquhoun (7 November 1926 – 13 April 1987) was a British comics artist best known for his work on ''Charley's War'' in ''Battle Picture Weekly''. He was also the first artist to draw ''Roy of the Rovers''. Biography Born in Harrow, Middl ...

. ''Captain Condor'' was the cover feature from issue #1 to #283 (1952 to 1957); that spot was taken by ''Paddy Payne'' from 1957 to 1964. The military feature ''Badges of the Brave'' took over the cover from 1964 to early 1965. In the 1960s, ''Lion'' began to feature an increasing number of

anti-hero An antihero (sometimes spelled as anti-hero) or antiheroine is a main character in a story who may lack conventional heroic qualities and attributes, such as idealism, courage, and morality. Although antiheroes may sometimes perform actions ...

characters such as

The Spider The Spider is an American pulp-magazine hero of the 1930s and 1940s. The character was created by editor Harry Steeger and written by a variety of authors for 118 monthly issues of ''The Spider'' from 1933 to 1943. A 119th Spider novel manuscrip ...

and The Sludge (who would later battle Robot Archie in his own strip). ''Karl the Viking'', by

Ken Bulmer Henry Kenneth Bulmer (14 January 1921 – 16 December 2005) was a British author, primarily of science fiction. Life Born in London, he married Pamela Buckmaster on 7 March 1953. They had one son and two daughters, and they divorced in 1981. B ...

and

Don Lawrence Donald Southam Lawrence (17 November 1928 – 29 December 2003) was a British comic book artist and author. Lawrence is best known for his comic strips '' The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire'' in the British weeklies ''Ranger'' and ''Look ...

, set in the Dark Ages, featured battles against a weird but impressive collection of legendary and fantasy monsters. It ran from 29 October 1960 to 29 September 1964, as a set of 13 stories,Holland, Steve. ''Fleetway Companion'' (Colne, Lancs., A. & B. Whitworth, Feb. 1992), p. 108. and is well-remembered.Stringer, Lew
"This Week in 1970, Smash Goes on Hiatus"
Lew Stringer's blog (10 November 2012). It was reprinted in ''Lion'' from 1 October 1966 to 7 October 1967, retitled as ''Swords of the Sea Wolves'', with the lead character renamed Rolf the Viking. The strip was reprinted in the fellow IPC title '' Smash!'' from 15 Mar. 1969 to 3 April 1971, retitled ''Eric the Viking''. It would later be reprinted again, in the European version of ''

Vulcan Vulcan may refer to: Mythology * Vulcan (mythology), the god of fire, volcanoes, metalworking, and the forge in Roman mythology Arts, entertainment and media Film and television * Vulcan (''Star Trek''), name of a fictional race and their home p ...

'', on that occasion translated into German and retitled ''Kobra''.

Notable strips

* ''Adam Eterno'' (20 March 1971 – 18 May 1974) — a man who lives forever and can not be killed except by gold. He is transported through time each week. Strip inherited from ''Thunder'' (17 October 1970 – 13 March 1971); moved to ''

'' (25 May 1974 – 16 October 1976). * ''Badges of the Brave'' — military feature highlighting various famous regiments from world history. * ''The Bartoc Brothers'' — two-page text story. Bartoc, a scientist makes four duplicates of himself. One has strength, one speed, one courage, and one genius, and they fight crime. However, two doubles are finally killed because the courageous one wanted more excitement and betrayed them. He and the genius died, and the series ended. * ''Britain in Chains'' (later retitled ''The Battle for Britain'') (29 February 1964 – 28 May 1966; later reprinted in '' Smash!'') — Secret agent Vic Gunn (and his assistant Tubby) fights against Baron Rudolph, a usurper who has seized control of Britain using a secret weapon. The weapon emits a sound wave that paralyses anyone who isn't protected against it. Rudolph sets up a police state, similar in emblems and uniforms to medieval England at the time of King John, and Gunn leads the resistance against him. It was llustrated by

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 ...

. * ''Carson's Cubs'' * ''Captain Condor — Space Ship Pilot'' (1952–1964) — rival space hero of

(when that character was in ''

''). The comic was written by

, and drawn at various times by

and Brian Lewis. * ''

'' (from 1969) — stories from ''Eagle'' were reprinted in ''Lion'' after the comics merged. * ''Gadgetman'' (4 May 1968 – 26 October 1968) — gadget-powered superhero with teenage

sidekick A sidekick is a slang expression for a close companion or colleague (not necessarily in fiction) who is, or is generally regarded as, subordinate to the one they accompany. Some well-known fictional sidekicks are Don Quixote's Sancho Panza, ...

Gimmick-Kid, by

Jerry Siegel Jerome Siegel ( ; October 17, 1914 – January 28, 1996)Roger Stern. ''Superman: Sunday Classics: 1939–1943'' DC Comics/Kitchen Sink Press, Inc./ Sterling Publishing; 2006 was an American comic book writer. He is the co-creator of Superman, in ...

and

. * ''Karl the Viking'' (29 October 1960 – 29 September 1964; reprinted 1 October 1966 – 7 October 1967; later reprinted in ''Smash!''), by

and

. * ''Maroc the Mighty'' — a returning English crusader whose magic armlet ''The Hand of Zar'' gave superhuman strength. * ''Mowser'' — occupying the back cover, he was a cat who would always outwit his enemy, James the Butler. * ''Oddball Oates'' — about a botanist named Albert Oates who gains incredible athletism when he inhales the burnt fumes of a certain herb. He is opposed by the sinister foreigner Dr. Vulpex. * ''Paddy Payne'' — fighter ace. * ''Phantom Viking'' — donning a magic helmet, a professor transforms into a Viking with great strength and the ability to fly but can lose his powers when the wind blows from the wrong direction. * ''

'' (1952; 1957–1974) — a powerful robot under the control of two men. * ''Secrets of the Demon Dwarf'' * ''Sergeants Four'' * ''Spot the Clue'' * ''The Sludge'' * ''Turville’s Touchstone'' / ''The Spellbinder'' (3 May 1969 – 18 May 1974) — about Sylvester Turville, an ancient sorcerer in modern times (called ''Turville's Touchstone'' for the first nine months). It was illustrated by

. * ''

'' (1965–1969) — Part villain, part hero, he would fight master criminals using his skills and weapons. Created by writer

Ted Cowan TED may refer to: Economics and finance * TED spread between U.S. Treasuries and Eurodollar Education * ''Türk Eğitim Derneği'', the Turkish Education Association ** TED Ankara College Foundation Schools, Turkey ** Transvaal Education Depart ...

and artist Reg Bunn,

Superman Superman is a superhero who appears in American comic books published by DC Comics. The character was created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, and debuted in the comic book ''Action Comics'' #1 (cover-dated June 1938 and publi ...

co-creator

took over the writing of the character with his third adventure and would write the bulk of his stories. * ''Texas Jack'' — Wild West hero based on John Baker Omohundro, real-life partner of

Buffalo Bill Cody William Frederick Cody (February 26, 1846January 10, 1917), known as "Buffalo Bill", was an American soldier, bison hunter, and showman. He was born in Le Claire, Iowa Territory (now the U.S. state of Iowa), but he lived for several years in ...

. * ''Zip Nolan—Highway Patrol'' — also known as ''Spot the Clue with Zip Nolan'', a one-page strip about an American motorcycle police officer in which he would spot a clue and so catch a criminal.

''Albion''

In 2005–2006 many of IPC's characters, including several from ''Lion'' (such as

, and Zip Nolan), were featured in a six-issue

limited series Limited series may refer to: *Limited series, individual storylines within an anthology series *Limited series, a particular run of collectables, usually individually numbered *Limited series (comics), a comics series with a predetermined number of ...

, plotted by Alan Moore, called ''

Albion Albion is an alternative name for Great Britain. The oldest attestation of the toponym comes from the Greek language. It is sometimes used poetically and generally to refer to the island, but is less common than 'Britain' today. The name for Scot ...

'', published by the

WildStorm Wildstorm Productions, (stylized as WildStorm), is an American comic book imprint. Originally founded as an independent company established by Jim Lee under the name "Aegis Entertainment" and expanded in subsequent years by other creators, Wilds ...

imprint of

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

.''Albion'' #1-6 (WildStorm

C Comics C, or c, is the third letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''cee'' (pronounced ), plural ''cees''. History "C" ...

, Aug. 2005–Nov. 2006).

Staff

* Editor: Bernard Smith * Script Editor: Ken Mennell * Assistant Editor: David Gregory * Editorial: Peter Smith, Geoff Kemp, Roger Protz, Terence Magee, Pat Brookman, Chris Lowder *

Letters Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...

: Reg "Skipper" Clarke * Art: Royman Brown, Geoff Berwick, John Michael Burns, Ian Stead

References

Sources

* * * * * * * * *

External links

History of ''Lion'' at comicsuk26pigs.com-British comics website
{{Buster Comics magazines published in the United Kingdom 1952 comics debuts 1974 comics endings Weekly magazines published in the United Kingdom Defunct British comics Fleetway and IPC Comics titles Magazines established in 1952 Magazines disestablished in 1974 Magazines about comics