Jeff Hawke Jnr. - Cover

“Jeff Hawke Junior” Collected At Last by Jeff Hawke Fan Club

Posted on by John Freeman

Jeff Hawke Jnr. - Cover

Just published by the Jeff Hawke Fan Club and available to members is this collection of Jeff Hawke Jnr., containing all the Jeff Hawke strips from Junior Express weekly.

The 128 page book is the same large format as the Club’s COSMOS magazine which features strips from the Express, but is full colour throughout. In addition to the four strips published in the comic – “Spacerider”, “Planet of Fire”, “The Space Frontier” and “Operation Danger” –  the book will include biographical information on the various artists and writers that created the strip, together with articles on the Jeff Hawke collector cards and club, with contributions from astronomer Duncan Lunan and our very own Jeremy Briggs, among others.

Although tangential to the main body of Jeff Hawke stories that featured in the Daily Express, once described as “the first adult science fiction strip in the UK”,  Jeff Hawke Jnr. was an alternative incarnation of Sydney Jordan’s space hero who appeared in the pages of Junior Express weekly, launched in February 1954, only seven months after Hawke’s first appearance in the Daily Express. The publishers considered that Jeff Hawke would also appeal to younger readers in stories that were tailored to their tastes.

Jeff Hawke as seen in Junior Express Issue One
Jeff Hawke as seen in Junior Express Issue One

The stories were not drawn or written by Sydney and featured a different cast of supporting characters (including a young schoolboy); but there are a number of similar elements, such as Hawke’s encounter with a flying saucer and the Shining Ones in Sydney’s first story “Spacerider”.

Junior Express Number 1 is cover dated 4th September 1954, but changed its title to Junior Express Weekly with No.39 (cover dated 18th June 1955), then simplified itself to Express Weekly with No.74, before finally settled upon being called TV Express from No.286 (Phew!).

Strips included “Wulf the Briton“, created by Jenny Butterworth and Ruggero Giovannini but best remembered for the strips by Ron Embleton (reprinted as Ron Embleton’s Wulf the Briton: The Complete Adventures by The Book Palace), “Lone Ranger”, drawn by Mike Noble, “Jeff Hawke” (based on Sydney Jordan’s newspaper strip for the Daily Express) and the “Battle Brothers” drawn by Harry Winslade.

• To join the Jeff Hawke Fan Club visit www.jeffhawkeclub.com| Follow their blog here | For ordering information contact jeffhawke@williamrudling.co.uk

Jeff Hawke © Daily Express

 

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John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, John describes himself as is a "freelance comics operative", working as an editor, as Creative Consultant on the Dan Dare audio adventures for B7 Media, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. John has worked in British comics publishing for over 30 years. His credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine at Marvel UK and Star Trek Magazine and Babylon 5 Magazine at Titan Magazines. He also edited STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics, including Team M.O.B.I.L.E. and The Beatles Story. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War and “Dan Dare” for Tian Books. He’s the writer of “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz, published on Tapastic; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood for digital comic 100% Biodegradable.

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