In Memoriam: “Hot Shot Hamish” writer Fred Baker

Hot Shot Hamish Banner - 1975Comics writer and editor Barrie Tomlinson has been in touch with sad news that prolific British comic script writer Fred Baker died earlier this month.

He had been ill for some time with Alzheimer’s and died of pneumonia on 4th June.

“He was one of the most prolific writers we had on the comics,” Barrie recalls. “No matter how many scripts he was writing, the standard was always top class.”

He wrote some of the great classic stories that appeared in Tiger and Roy of the Rovers: “Billy’s Boots”, “Hot-Shot Hamish” (which has recently been appearing in Scotland’s The Sunday Mail), “Mighty Mouse”, “Skid Solo” and more.

“He really was one of the giants of boys’ scriptwriters, says Barrie.

As Steve Holland noted just a few days ago on Bear Alley, “Hot-Shot Hamish” remains one of British comics’ hidden gems, written by Fred and drawn by Julio Schiaffino for Scorcher & Score, and subsequently for Tiger, back in the early 1970s; Hot-Shot then teamed up with Mighty Mouse from Roy of the Rovers (wiki entry here), in which title the pair’s adventures continued until 1991.

Read Barrie’s full tribute to Fred here



Categories: British Comics, Comic Creator Spotlight, downthetubes Comics News, Obituaries

Tags: , , , , ,

Discover more from downthetubes.net

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading