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Valiant’s “Sergeant Storm” back in action thanks to Hibernia

By John Freeman on April 18, 2023

Sergeant Strong, the fourth release in The Fleetway Files, a series of reprints from Hibernia, collecting hidden gems from the Fleetway and IPC archives, is available now.

Fleetway Files Volume Four - Sergeant Strong (Hibernia, 2023)

Written by Scott Goodall MBE (The Indestructible Man, Marney the Fox) and drawn by British comic powerhouse Eric Bradbury (Doomlord, Invasion 1984!), Sergeant Strong collects the complete amazing adventures of Britain’s first man in space.

As we previously noted, “Sergeant Strong” made his debut in a new look for Valiant, cover dated 29th March 1975, alongside two other new strips for the adventure weekly, “The Test Match Terrors” and “The Potters of Poole Street”. The new line up came as Valiant, by then often featuring a fair amount of reprint strips, dropped mention of Lion from its masthead, the two title merging back in May 1974.

*Sergeant Strong, drawn by Eric Bradbury, makes his debut in Valiant, cover dated 29th March 1975*

“What they’re trying to say, Simon, is that you’ve become a freak!”

While on a mission to the dark side of the moon, a brush with a “roving nebula” changes Strong forever. This close encounter leaves him unable to remain an astronaut, but with a new set of peculiar abilities: abilities that bring him to the attention of Inspector Zero and Ghost Squad!

Sergeant Strong exemplifies the fast-paced, ultra-compressed style of British adventure comics of the 1970s, and it’s a rip-roaring adventure that mixes sci-fi with shadowy secret agents, and straight action with an undercurrent of the bizarre.

Sergeant Strong is available now, here – comicsy.co.uk/hibernia. Be aware that these collections can sell out very quickly – Volumes One and Two are no longer available, and Hibernia tell us there’s only handful of Volume Three, Captain Condor, still available.

Sergeant Strong will be followed later this year by a collection of the Starlord strip, “Timequake“, as we previously reported.

• Sergeant Strong 88 Pages | Perfect bound | B&W | Only available 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.