Hibernia Comics – publishers of a range of classic British comic collections and books – have announced the return of DC Thomson’s King Cobra, who made his debut in the the fondly-remembered weekly adventure comic, Hotspur, in 1976.
Hibernia have secured a new licence with DC Thomson to reprint King Cobra’s earliest adventures from Hotspur, a character created by artist Ron Smith (1928 – 10th January 2019), who’s best known today for his work for 2000AD, particualry “Judge Dredd”.
1976 was a great year for superheroes in British comics, with Marvel UK launching Captain Britain, “The Leopard from Lime Street” making his debut in IPC’s Buster, and not to be outdone, DC Thomson launched “King Cobra”, in Hotspur and Hornet.
Fleet Street reporter Bill King, who moonlights as King Cobra, used a suit created by his renowned scientist father bringing all manner of thieves, crooks and super villains to justice.
King Cobra resurfaced in the Dandy Digital – the part animated continuation of the weekly comic after its physical counterpart ceased publication in 2012, appearing in a strip called “Retro Active“, which repackaged various long-forgotten superhero characters from the DC Thomson vault, including the Amazing Mr. X, first published in The Dandy in 1944!
(DC Thomson had previously developed such a concept for RENGA, an anthology proposal that made it to a dummy, developed by the late Tony Luke. Grant Morrison also wrote a strip for a second dummy, “Thunderhawks”, a more action-packed “Justice League” type strip).
A very short-lived new take on the character was launched in the newsstand edition of STRIP: The Adventure Comics Magazine in 2013, written by myself, John Freeman, with one published episode drawn by Wamberto Nicomedes, aka WamNick.
John Ross drew two unpublished episodes and Trevor von Eeden drew an also unpublished four-page strip, intended for a STRIP Summer Special, that was drawn, but remained unlettered. Trevor’s strip linked the original King Cobra with the events of the planned 48-page story.
Various artists created samples for the planned strip, including Ross Dearsley.
DC Thomson themselves last reprinted a “King Cobra” tale in a Best of Hotspur Annual, published in 2014, still available digitally via Amazon (Affiliate Link)
Back in 2021, DC Thomson’s media project, Emanata Studios, indicated a King Cobra drama series, based on The Hotspur superhero also drawn by Ron Smith, was in development.
“King Cobra enjoyed a long run in Hotspur, and we are proud to present his earliest adventures, all drawn by Ron,” says Hibernia Comics publisher David McDonald.
Hibernia’s collection will be titled Red Dagger presents – King Cobra, a nod to DC Thomson’s reprint title published by DC Thomson from 1979 to 1984, that published complete stories collected from their comics.
“Characters such as Alf Tupper, and Morgan The Mighty had their own issues, and if King Cobra is successful, we hope to continue in the same vein,” David explains.
Red Dagger presents – King Cobra will be available in 2026. Follow Hibernia Comics on Facebook for further details – and check out available Hibernia Comics collections on comicsy.co.uk
Head downthetubes for…
• downthetubes: Red Dagger: Graphic Novels by Any Other Name by Jeremy Briggs
Jeremy Briggs probes the mystery of DC Thomson’s little known title Red Dagger…
• downthetubes: Red Dagger: Issue By Issue by Jeremy Briggs
• downthetubes: Bunty, Topper, Hotspur revived with “Best of” Annuals
• downthetubes: In Memoriam – Ron Smith
Colin Noble’s three-part feature on Ron’s comics career
• Comic Creator Spotlight: The Art of Ron Smith Part One
• Comic Creator Spotlight: The Art of Ron Smith Part Two
• Comic Creator Spotlight: The Art of Ron Smith Part Three
• Sea Lion Press: Comics Of Infinite Earths: Renga!
By Charles EP Murphy
King Cobra and Red Dagger © DC Thomson
- About the Author
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as 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.
Categories: British Comics, British Comics - Collections, British Comics - Current British Publishers, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News
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