In Memoriam: “Hot Shot Hamish” writer Fred Baker

By John Freeman on June 16, 2008

Comics 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

John Freeman

The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.

Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.

He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.