''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 a medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, captions, and onomatopoeia can indicate ...

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'', 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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, 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

sitcom A sitcom, a portmanteau of situation comedy, or situational comedy, is a genre of comedy centered on a fixed set of characters who mostly carry over from episode to episode. Sitcoms can be contrasted with sketch comedy, where a troupe may use ...

Dad's Army ''Dad's Army'' is a British television sitcom about the United Kingdom's Home Guard during the Second World War. It was written by Jimmy Perry and David Croft, and originally broadcast on BBC1 from 31 July 1968 to 13 November 1977. It ran fo ...

'' in the

1975 It was also declared the ''International Women's Year'' by the United Nations and the European Architectural Heritage Year by the Council of Europe. Events January * January 1 - Watergate scandal (United States): John N. Mitchell, H. R. ...

Christmas special Christmas themes have long been an inspiration to artists and writers. A prominent aspect of Christian media, the topic first appeared in in literature and Christmas music. Filmmakers have picked up on this wealth of material, with both adaptatio ...

episode

Series 8 Series may refer to: People with the name * Caroline Series (born 1951), English mathematician, daughter of George Series * George Series (1920–1995), English physicist Arts, entertainment, and media Music * Series, the ordered sets used in ...

Episode 7 " My Brother and I"; a copy of ''The Hotspur'' owned by Private Pike is being read by

Sergeant Wilson Sergeant Arthur Wilson is a fictional Home Guard platoon sergeant and bank chief clerk, first portrayed by John Le Mesurier in the BBC television sitcom ''Dad's Army''. Background Wilson was born in 1887, and is carefree, cheerful and well ...

Notes

References

External links

*
The Hotspur
' at the

Grand Comics Database The Grand Comics Database (GCD) is an Internet-based project to build a database of comic book information through user contributions. The GCD project catalogues information on creator credits, story details, reprints, and other information useful ...

"Japers of the Red Circle"
the ''Red Circle School'' story from ''The Hotspur'' issue number 1, at Vic Whittle's British Comics site {{DEFAULTSORT:Hotspur DC Thomson Comics titles Defunct British comics British boys' story papers Comics magazines published in the United Kingdom 1933 establishments in the United Kingdom 1981 disestablishments in the United Kingdom Magazines established in 1933 Magazines disestablished in 1981 1959 comics debuts 1981 comics endings