# Hotspur, Adventure or Wizard??



## R651400 (Jun 18, 2005)

Go to sea as a Radio Officer.. 

Wonder how many can remember the adverts in DC Thomson's comics from the two principle advertisers and possibly suc***bed to same..

Colwyn Bay and Brooks Bar??


----------



## Ron Stringer (Mar 15, 2005)

R651400 said:


> Go to sea as a Radio Officer..
> 
> Wonder how many can remember the adverts in DC Thomson's comics from the two principle advertisers and possibly suc***bed to same..
> 
> Colwyn Bay and Brooks Bar??


Confess I went to Brook's Bar but only because it was just a couple of bus rides away from home.


----------



## mikeg (Aug 24, 2006)

Only read the Beano as a youngster, a DC Thompson comic but don't remember any such adverts.
It would be good to see a scan of one of their adverts.

Dennis the Menace (Jester)


----------



## JimC (Nov 8, 2007)

R651400 said:


> Go to sea as a Radio Officer..
> 
> Wonder how many can remember the adverts in DC Thomson's comics from the two principle advertisers and possibly suc***bed to same..
> 
> Colwyn Bay and Brooks Bar??


I was and Adventure man myself. Friday night was absolutely silent in out house. Think the main detective was Colwyn Dane or something. Did the Hotspur have a character named 'Ginger Nut - the Boy who took the biscuit'?
There was also a character named 'Wild Young Dirky' .. an incredible youth in a kilt carrying a shoulder belt bristling with wee daggers. There was also a young football star but can't remember much about him. Happy days indeed.
No telly or video games just the comics and the radio shows mentioned earlier in another thread.


----------



## Ron Stringer (Mar 15, 2005)

Admit to being a confirmed reader of those three magazines (plus the Rover) from about 1946 until 1952. Don't remember any adverts for radio schools, only for useful gadgets, like Seebackoscopes.


----------



## Pat Kennedy (Apr 14, 2007)

I remember nagging my mum for a ukelele advertised in one of those comics. When it came, it was plastic, and lasted about five minutes before falling to bits.
Pat


----------



## R651400 (Jun 18, 2005)

JimC said:


> There was also a young football star but can't remember much about him. Happy days indeed.


Does Limp-along Leslie come to mind?

I used to get the Wizard which had a wartime series called "V for Vengeance."
Swapped the Wizard for the Adventure which was then swapped for the Rover.
Radio Officer adverts were two liners and I think it was mainly Brooks Bar who advertised. I wouldn't have known BB existed otherwise.
Other gadgets were a siren for a bike and conjuring tricks from Prestatyn N.Wales.


----------



## Norm (Jun 21, 2006)

I read all 4 of these comics. Wizard, Rover, Hotspur and Adventure. It was a misnomer to call them comics as they only had stories composed with words !
If you couldnt read you had no chance ! LOL. Some of the yarns I recall were.: "I Flew With Braddock" narrated by Sgt Mat Bourne the navigator. Braddock was a flight sgt who contantly refused a commission to stay with the boys. "Roy of The Rovers" and "The Tough of the Track"..Alf Tupper, the working classs athlete who trained with the snooty athletics club, and could outrun them all.
Yes these 'comics' lasted you all week..great reading.


----------



## dom (Feb 10, 2006)

*dom*

and not forgetting Wilson in his one piece black running suit,lived in a cave if i remember


----------



## Keltic Star (Jan 21, 2006)

Can only remember one ad which was for a crystal radio. Pestered parent until they ordered one as a birthday present. It never worked and that was before cheap foreign imports. Killed my plans to listen to Radio Luxembourg under the bed sheets late at night.


----------



## R651400 (Jun 18, 2005)

....and still no one remembers the "Go to sea as a Radio Officer" adverts. 
Must be a figment of my imagination or possibly a visit to ebay to redeem my honour. 
Just had a look at "Wizard" and there are still plenty around.
Will advise further.....


----------



## Pat Kennedy (Apr 14, 2007)

Norm said:


> I read all 4 of these comics. Wizard, Rover, Hotspur and Adventure. It was a misnomer to call them comics as they only had stories composed with words !
> If you couldnt read you had no chance ! LOL. Some of the yarns I recall were.: "I Flew With Braddock" narrated by Sgt Mat Bourne the navigator. Braddock was a flight sgt who contantly refused a commission to stay with the boys. "Roy of The Rovers" and "The Tough of the Track"..Alf Tupper, the working classs athlete who trained with the snooty athletics club, and could outrun them all.
> Yes these 'comics' lasted you all week..great reading.


Norm, 
Me and my brother got all four of them on a Sunday morning. It was the only time my mother allowed us to read at the table, Sunday breakfast.
Every time I eat bacon and eggs with mushrooms, black pudding and fried bread, I am drawn back 50 odd years to those long leisurely breakfasts reading the "comics".
Pat


----------



## GWB (Jul 11, 2007)

I used to read the Wizard and Adventure but don't remember adds.

George


----------



## Tai Pan (Mar 24, 2006)

Brookes Bar was a comic in its own right. did 1st class there 3 monts. spent a lot of time in a pub across the road, was a higsons pub. good dart board


----------



## K urgess (Aug 14, 2006)

Our local barber used to have an excellent selection of the named publications for perusal while awaiting one's "short back and sides" when my Dad took me to the local Sweeney Todd.
This was the only time I got to see them and, since time was of an essence to read as much as possible, the adverts were largely ignored.
I seem to remember getting a "transistor" radio at one stage that was really a crystal set with something like an OA35 (?) diode as the "transistor".
Here's a place for nostalgia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_British_comic
I was an Eagle lad myself.[=P]

I've been trying to think where the idea came from to do a radio ticket and it may just have been a pointer from a careers officer that looked like a good skive before having to find a "real" job. (Jester)

Kris


----------



## Norm (Jun 21, 2006)

I dont remember any of the ads from these comics, but I do remember ads for the MN in the 'Boys Own Paper' I sent away for a 1 valve radio kit from an ad in that magazine, and when I built it it didnt work. I was very dissapointed. It was a few years later that I found out that the design was totally wrong.


----------



## andysk (Jun 16, 2005)

Marconi Sahib said:


> ....... I seem to remember getting a "transistor" radio at one stage that was really a crystal set with something like an OA35 (?) diode as the "transistor". ...... I was an Eagle lad myself.[=P] . ... where the idea came from to do a radio ticket .....


I think I had one of those as well, perhaps from Philips ? There was a pinhole board into which you fitted little pillars with springs on to hold the component legs. I think I did manage to get something working, eventually.

I would agree, the Eagle was definitely the best lad's comic at that time.

My inspiration came from my father, who had been an R/O in the Norwegian MN during the war, not that he said very much about it, but as Norwood Tech was just down the road, and I got a maintenance grant (£69 per term) but no accommodation grant it seemed sensible. As Kris says, until I could get a real job !


----------



## R651400 (Jun 18, 2005)

Norm said:


> but I do remember ads for the MN in the 'Boys Own Paper'


I did move from "Wizard" to Eagle and BOP, what a culture shock that was!
BOP seemed to be a Baden Powell style tome whose history has been resurrected under the title. "Take a cold tub. Sir!"
Eagle with Dan Dare and Digby, not forgetting Mekon, apart from it's glossy facade seemed more comic than Wizard & co.
Perhaps BOP is where I saw the advert...


----------



## JamesM (Feb 27, 2008)

Can remember reading all of those comics, the "Eagle" being my favorite, but can't remember any adverts for the MN.The only ones I can recall were body-building courses from Charles Atlas, " don't let the bad guys kick beach sand in your face" and Invisible Ink " send secret messages" LOL

"Kick beach sand in your face", they'd have a bloody hard job as I live in the centre of Glasgow!! The only chance would be if the family decided to spend the "Fair Fortnight" in a builders yard.

But I do remember entering a competion in one of them and being informed that I had won a prize. If memory serves me right the top prize was a trip to Hollywood. Boy, was I excited, could'nt wait for the postman each day.Then eventually the day came and through the letter-box came this big brown envelope. I ripped it open only to find that I had won a "Consolation Prize", which turned out to be an autographed photograph of Rory Calhoun.(Sad) 
Times were tough in Glasgow in those days!!
JamesM


----------



## JimC (Nov 8, 2007)

R651400 said:


> Does Limp-along Leslie come to mind?
> 
> I used to get the Wizard which had a wartime series called "V for Vengeance."
> Swapped the Wizard for the Adventure which was then swapped for the Rover.
> ...


Yes that lads rings a bell1 (make a good lookout!). The other lad I rememebr was probably the one mentioned eslewhere - the long skinny guy with the balk 'spike' haircut, bare feet and the black leotard with cut off legs and short sleeves (sounds a bit like a modern lager lout). I also rememebr Rockfist Rogan RAF.


----------



## K urgess (Aug 14, 2006)

Wilson, quite a way ahead of his time
http://www.illustrationartgallery.com/acatalog/Illustration_Art_Wizard_comic_96.html


----------



## mikeg (Aug 24, 2006)

Was it the Eagle that had an excellent centre page showing a exploded diagram of perhaps a ship/aircraft/tank/train etc.?


----------



## K urgess (Aug 14, 2006)

That's the one, Mike.
Plus plans for all sorts of great projects.
There went another afternoon when I should have been doing other things.[=P]
A pleasant couple of hours reading my Eagle Annuals. 
Cheers
Kris


----------



## Tmac1720 (Jun 24, 2005)

Anybody remember the Victor? came out on Thursdays along with the Hotspur.


----------



## K urgess (Aug 14, 2006)

Amazing what you find when you're not really looking. [=P]
http://www.victorhornetcomics.co.uk/index.html
Cheers
Kris


----------



## mikeg (Aug 24, 2006)

Marconi Sahib said:


> That's the one, Mike.
> Plus plans for all sorts of great projects.
> There went another afternoon when I should have been doing other things.[=P]
> A pleasant couple of hours reading my Eagle Annuals.
> ...


Thanks Kris, I've not seen one since my schooldays, the Eagle was the only comic allowed by the school regulations, good choice too!

Cheers,
Mike


----------



## Norm (Jun 21, 2006)

"A pleasant couple of hours reading my Eagle Annuals. 
Cheers Kris"

I've got a special edition Eagle Annual right here on my bookshelf. Its the "Best of Eagle" I bought it here in Australia a few years back. Couldnt believe my luck when i saw it, and bought it right away. Yes its got a lot of the cut away drawings. The ship ones are "The Worlds Largest Liner- The Queen Elizabeth" and "HMS Eagle.-The New Wonder Aircraft Carrier of the Royal Navy". Somebody posted recently on SN an Eagle cutaway drawing of Harrisons Adventurer. I dont remember her from the Eagle, but fitting that I did sail on her later.
I remember sending away a clip out coupon for the Royal Navy, and when the recruiting information came in the buff OHMS envelope with the forms to fill in, I thought that I'd actually joined. My dad kept me going for weeks telling me that the shore patroll would be coming for me. Ah, how young and green in those far away days.


----------



## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

JamesM said:


> Can remember reading all of those comics, the "Eagle" being my favorite, but can't remember any adverts for the MN.The only ones I can recall were body-building courses from Charles Atlas, " don't let the bad guys kick beach sand in your face" and Invisible Ink " send secret messages" LOL.....
> JamesM


I remember all those ads for Invisible Ink, Itching Powder, etc. I was always tempted by a "Seebackoscope" - fantasizing about watching girls get changed on the beach and suchlike. Sadly I never got one. I have met a few pathological liars who most probably sent away for Marvel Comics' G Man Badges though! I did get a lot of foreign stamps from the comics - they had giveaways with stamps sent on approval and I just kept the giveaways and sent the "approvals" back. I recall being fascinated by a load of German stamps with Hitler on them.

Charles Atlas never did it for me, but I did send for a Bullworker, probably after I'd moved on to "Health and Efficiency Magazine". I wasn't all that bothered about getting sand in my face on Cleethorpes beach, I actually thought I should do something about my fitness - was I ahead of my time?

I took it away to sea on a trawler and eventually got round to unpacking it in the radio room. I read the instructions and then started playing around with it to see what it was like. The Skipper stepped off the bridge into the chartroom and saw me with it - he raised his eyebrows, gave me a withering look and returned to the wheelhouse. I heard the bridge window slide open and he yelled out to the deckies: "The Operator's a f***ing ****!"

Until reading this thread, I had been repressing this memory. Could this be why I'm a fat git now?

John T.


----------



## Norm (Jun 21, 2006)

John, you worked on trawlers as a sparkie. Wondering if its worth starting a new thread about life on trawlers v deep sea, as fishing was an alternative to deep sea for sparkies. Dont want to diversify from R651400's starter about the Hotspur etc comics.


----------



## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

Norm, there is already a vast amount of info about fishing on the Grimsby Fishing Vessels, Hull Fishing Vessels and Lowestoft Fishing Vessels threads - much of it very interesting even to non-participants. Take a look and enjoy - the Grimsby thread is one of the most contributed to on SN.

Back to the Eagle and Dan Dare - am I imagining that Dan Dare was serialised on Radio Luxembourg? 

John T.


----------



## Peter4447 (Jan 26, 2006)

Seem to remember another advert was learn how to become a ventriliquist - had a picture of somebody looking shocked as they heard a voice coming out of a letter box! Then there was the adverts for Bowie Knives, Air Pistols and Mamod steam engines.
Another good comic of the era in question was the 'Lion'
Peter4447(Smoke)


----------



## R651400 (Jun 18, 2005)

Peter4447 said:


> Seem to remember another advert was learn how to become a ventriliquist - had a picture of somebody looking shocked as they heard a voice coming out of a letter box! Then there was the adverts for Bowie Knives, Air Pistols and Mamod steam engines.Another good comic of the era in question was the 'Lion'Peter4447(Smoke)


Mon Dieu! I've opened the floodgates of boyhood memories and nary a QSL on those R/O adverts. 
I'm trying to find a comic on ebay that would contemporise the original I was reading.
All donations gratefully received.


----------



## mikeg (Aug 24, 2006)

Peter4447 said:


> Seem to remember another advert was learn how to become a ventriliquist - had a picture of somebody looking shocked as they heard a voice coming out of a letter box! Then there was the adverts for Bowie Knives, Air Pistols and Mamod steam engines.
> Another good comic of the era in question was the 'Lion'
> Peter4447(Smoke)


Owned a Mamod steam engine in my youth, worked off methalated spirits - even added to it, with later birthday presents, to drive a generator which powered a single torch bulb (K)


----------



## Mimcoman (May 18, 2008)

trotterdotpom said:


> Norm, there is already a vast amount of info about fishing on the Grimsby Fishing Vessels, Hull Fishing Vessels and Lowestoft Fishing Vessels threads - much of it very interesting even to non-participants. Take a look and enjoy - the Grimsby thread is one of the most contributed to on SN.
> 
> Back to the Eagle and Dan Dare - am I imagining that Dan Dare was serialised on Radio Luxembourg?
> 
> John T.


You're Right - Dan Dare was on 208. I used to tune it on an old Eko radio which was handed down to me. On my first trip deepsea I was given a radio for my cabin by a cadet who was leaving - same radio!

I also liked Journey Into Space - which was serialised in one or other of these comics - can't remember which.

I used to read them all while delivering them on my paper round in the early 60s - saved money.


----------



## Mimcoman (May 18, 2008)

mikeg said:


> Owned a Mamod steam engine in my youth, worked off methalated spirits - even added to it, with later birthday presents, to drive a generator which powered a single torch bulb (K)


And the seebackroscope, and the xray specs,


----------



## charles henry (May 18, 2008)

JimC said:


> I was and Adventure man myself. Friday night was absolutely silent in out house. Think the main detective was Colwyn Dane or something. Did the Hotspur have a character named 'Ginger Nut - the Boy who took the biscuit'?
> There was also a character named 'Wild Young Dirky' .. an incredible youth in a kilt carrying a shoulder belt bristling with wee daggers. There was also a young football star but can't remember much about him. Happy days indeed.
> No telly or video games just the comics and the radio shows mentioned earlier in another thread.


Would appear they had more imagination at naming the characters in my bye gone day. Hero of one do or dare adventure regular carried and used a very deadly weapon named "kliky bah" with which he maimed, killed or dismembered the bad guys, it was a cricket bat.

Then again in "Comic Cuts" there was a loveable section reporting the adventures of, "Freddy the Fearless Fly" I would have been ashamned to admit following him at the time - anyone out there remember him?
de chas (Pint) (Shouldn't have put that on a thread meant for adolescents)


----------



## charles henry (May 18, 2008)

Ron Stringer said:


> Admit to being a confirmed reader of those three magazines (plus the Rover) from about 1946 until 1952. Don't remember any adverts for radio schools, only for useful gadgets, like Seebackoscopes.


The only adverts I remember (circa 1935) was for a a little leather gadget you put on your tongue which allowed you to throw your voice as an instant ventriloquist (Didn't work worth a damn) de chas henry (Pint)


----------



## mikeg (Aug 24, 2006)

Mimcoman said:


> And the seebackroscope, and the xray specs,


Nope, the only other things bought from the comics were foreign stamps, stink bombs and itching powder(H)


----------



## Mimcoman (May 18, 2008)

charles henry said:


> Would appear they had more imagination at naming the characters in my bye gone day. Hero of one do or dare adventure regular carried and used a very deadly weapon named "kliky bah" with which he maimed, killed or dismembered the bad guys, it was a cricket bat.
> 
> Then again in "Comic Cuts" there was a loveable section reporting the adventures of, "Freddy the Fearless Fly" I would have been ashamned to admit following him at the time - anyone out there remember him?
> de chas (Pint) (Shouldn't have put that on a thread meant for adolescents)


Yes - the Wolf of Kabul and Chung with his Clicky-bah. Anyone remember General Jumbo with his remote control army?


----------



## trotterdotpom (Apr 29, 2005)

I've just remembered the shrunken Jivaro heads that were also offered - I was dying to get one of those! According to Wikipedia, in order to accommodate tourists, there was a massive increase in killings amongst the Amazonian indians in the '30s, so the practice was nipped in the bud. What as bummer, that means the ones offered in the comics were probably fake. Glad I didn't get one now!

John T.


----------



## Norm (Jun 21, 2006)

trotterdotpom said:


> Norm, there is already a vast amount of info about fishing on the Grimsby Fishing Vessels, Hull Fishing Vessels and Lowestoft Fishing Vessels threads - much of it very interesting even to non-participants. Take a look and enjoy - the Grimsby thread is one of the most contributed to on SN.
> 
> Back to the Eagle and Dan Dare - am I imagining that Dan Dare was serialised on Radio Luxembourg?
> 
> John T.


Yeahhh I know there is a fishing forum, but as this is The Radio Room forum, I just wondered about a new thread about sparks who worked on trawlers and deep sea and what the differences were. 
Meanwhile I'm still enjoying the comics. There also used to be a Radio Luxembourg serial called Journey Into Space.


----------



## K urgess (Aug 14, 2006)

BBC, Norm.
Nostalgics try this
http://www.whirligig-tv.co.uk/radio/journeyintospace.htm
Also right up to date
http://www.jeton.themoon.co.uk/


----------



## Norm (Jun 21, 2006)

Yes BBC..I had a listen, great stuff. Another radio serial was Riders of The Range by Charles Chilton with Jeff Arnold, from the Eagle.
Other comics I remember were Radio Fun and Film Fun. Radio Fun had Ronald Shiner, Peter Brough and Archie Andrews etc.......I say, this thread has wandered out of the Radio Room and into the Mess Deck, and why not? Sparks needs a smoko break.


----------

