DC Thompson was one of the major comics publishers back in the sixties and produced world famous titles like The Beano and The Dandy. They also published Boys adventure comics, the best known being The Hotspur and The Victor (the latter running until 1992). They also produced one, less well remembered adventure title The Hornet.
This was a comic that I'd almost forgotten about, having read just perhaps a handful of issues when I was a child. Although it lasted 648 issues between 1963 and 1976 The Hornet never seemed to be able to garner the attention it deserved.
I chose to pick up copies from the mid-sixties a period that I was most likely to have read. Whilst my memory isn't that good from that far back, there was one story that did stir the "little grey cells" as Poirot might have put it.
V for Vengeance.
This was a comic that I'd almost forgotten about, having read just perhaps a handful of issues when I was a child. Although it lasted 648 issues between 1963 and 1976 The Hornet never seemed to be able to garner the attention it deserved.
I chose to pick up copies from the mid-sixties a period that I was most likely to have read. Whilst my memory isn't that good from that far back, there was one story that did stir the "little grey cells" as Poirot might have put it.
V for Vengeance.
A group of masked men fighting the Nazi's known as the Deathless Men.
I wonder if this strip inspired a certain young Alan Moore later in life?
I wonder if this strip inspired a certain young Alan Moore later in life?
Most of the other stories are normal fare for a DC Thompson title and some like The Blitz Kid, The Blind Boxer and The Limping Man are worth a read, though you could give Ugg a miss. Like most titles the strips changed over the years and only in later was there a recognisable character Captain Hornet (yeah I know).
Some things don't change. All the issues I picked up contained anti-smoking ads. Pity I didn't listen then when I had the chance...
Still you won't be disappointed if you manage to pick up The Hornet. Sadly the comic never produce the usual Summer Specials and Annuals which suggest a lower sale than it's better known siblings.
The first issue contained a Free Gift of a "Magnificent balsa wood glider". I wonder what today's kids would make of that?
What's "balsa wood mum" do I hear.
Sad, but today's comics for the young ones are just packed with plastic. A sign of the times.
Still you won't be disappointed if you manage to pick up The Hornet. Sadly the comic never produce the usual Summer Specials and Annuals which suggest a lower sale than it's better known siblings.
The first issue contained a Free Gift of a "Magnificent balsa wood glider". I wonder what today's kids would make of that?
What's "balsa wood mum" do I hear.
Sad, but today's comics for the young ones are just packed with plastic. A sign of the times.
The "V" is so alike to the recent film that it uncanny...
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