The Leopard from Lime Street

''The Leopard from Lime Street'' was a comic strip appearing in the British comic '' Buster'' from 1976 to 1985. Written by Tom Tully,Tully author page
Simon and Schuster website. Retrieved 12 May 2021. it was drawn in a 'realistic' comic style by Mike Western and Eric Bradbury,Ian Wheeler
Mike Western remembered
, Down The Tubes, 21 May 2008 much like Marvel Comics's Spider-Man comic (to which it bears numerous similarities), in direct contrast to the stylized cartoony style of the rest of ''Buster''.

Publishing history

Original run

The strip appeared regularly in '' Buster'' from 27th March 1976 to 18th May 1985, also appearing in annuals and specials span off from the title. The weekly instalments were typically three pages long, and printed in black and white. "The Leopard of Lime Street" briefly returned to the pages of ''Buster'' in 1990, with a selection of reprints being recoloured and ran between 14th April and 5th May. The strips were translated and published in French, in the comic '' Sunny Sun'' and in Greek in the ''Blek'' comics series (where it was translated as "Panther Kid"), mostly during the 80s. The origin of ''The Leopard from Lime Street'' was reprinted in the independent comic '' Starscape'', along with the final published adventure from the ''Buster Annual'' 1987.Starscape Comic
/ref>

Revivals

The Leopard of Lime Street was one of the superheroes assembled to fight the Lloigor in the '' 2000 AD'' strip ''Zenith''. After having his appearance openly mocked by the strip's title character he was sent to a parallel Earth known as Alternative-666. The group were ambushed at a London Underground by the Lloigor, and the Leopard was killed when the Lloigor-possessed Mr. Why snapped his neck (in the same frame as another ''Buster''-originated character, Fishboy, was also killed).

An adult version of the character referred to as simply "The Leopard" appeared in Rebellion Publishing's ''2000AD Presents: The Vigilant'' in 2018 as a member of a super team alongside the likes of Adam Eterno, Doctor Sin and the Steel Commando. This was written by Simon Furman, with art by Simon Coleby. A second one-shot by the same team, ''2000AD Presents: The Vigilant - Legacy'', followed in 2019.

A new story ''Totem'' (again written by Furman and illustrated by Laurent Lefeuvre) was published in Rebellion's ''Monster Fun Halloween Spooktacular'' in October 2021, and was in the re-launched Monster Fun in April 2022 (and every two months thereafter),

Story lines in ''Monster Fun''

* "Totem": Written by Simon Furman, Illustrated by Laurent Lefeuvre.
* "Birthright":
:* Part 1 was titled ''Birthright''; part 2 was titled ''Nocturne''; parts 3 onward were not individually titled.
::* Written by Simon Furman (all parts).
::* Illustrated by Laurent Lefeuvre (parts 1-3); Nicke Roche (parts 4-5), , P. J. Holden (part 6)
::* Colours by John-Paul Bove (parts 4 onwards).
::* Letters by Laurent Lefeuvre (parts 1-3); O.J. Sanchez (part 4); SquakeZz (parts 5 onwards).

Fictional character biography

Billy Farmer lived with his Aunt Joan and Uncle Charlie in the fictional town of Selbridge, where the 13-year old attended secondary school, where he was often bullied. Billy was also the sole writer and photographer for the school magazine, and as such was sent to take pictures for the publication at a nearby Zoological institute ran by Professor Jarman. There he was scratched by a radioactive leopard called Sheba, and after returning home found he had enhanced strength, speed, reflexes and agility after an altercation with his abusive uncle. Billy quickly realises he has been granted the abilities of a leopard as a result of the scratch, including a sixth "leopard sense". In order to hide his identity he reworks his costume from a school pantomime Puss-in-Boots costume and decides to use it to foil the dangerous burglar known as the Cat-Man. He not only captures the robber and delivers him to the police but is also able to snap pictures of the criminal in action, which he attempts to sell to the editor of the local ''Selbridge Sun'' editor, who believes he has faked the shot and refuses to buy it.

Thereafter Billy has to balance fighting crime with enduring the bullying of both his uncle and other pupils, realising that fighting back with his new powers could kill them. However, he does find various other ways to show them up. He also tries to carve out a career at the ''Selbridge Sun'', where editor Thaddeus Clegg frequently tries to exploit Billy while simultaneously trying to find out more about the mysterious crime-fighting Leopard of Lime Street. Much of the story and format bore a strong resemblance to Spider-Man, including the origin and nature of his powers, an orphan with a kindly but frail aunt, the distrust the Leopard suffers from both the police and the press, Farmer being the target of bullies but realising he can't use his powers against them, the unwitting editor searching to expose the hero while unaware his alter ego is in his employ and so forth. The main differences, beyond the small-town British slant, are that Billy's uncle not only lives but is an aggressive, antagonistic presence, and that while the Leopard occasionally fights costumed criminals such as Cat-Man, circus acrobat Vampello and thief Snow-Beast they were unpowered and mixed in with more mundane criminals such as arsonists and thieves.

Collected editions

The series has been republished in trade paperbacks by Rebellion Publishing as part of ''The Treasury of British Comics''.2000 AD to revive children's comics from the '70s and '80s , The Bookseller
/ref> The Llimited hardback editions were available exclusively from the ''2000 AD'' / ''Treasury of British Comics'' webstores (for Volume 1, this included a numbered bookplate and art print) - the hardback editions for volumes 1 and 2 used the same ISBN number as the TP versions, whereas volume 3 had different ISBNs for both HB and TP editions:

References

External links

at An International Catalogue of Superheroes

''Starscape Comic Magazine'' website

British comic strips
1976 comics debuts
Comics characters introduced in 1976
1985 comics endings
Superhero comics
British comics characters
Comics characters with superhuman strength
Fleetway and IPC Comics

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