Garth (comic strip)

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Garth as drawn by Frank Bellamy
Garth as drawn by Frank Bellamy

Garth was a comic strip in the Daily Mirror British newspaper from July 24, 1943, to March 22, 1997. The strip belonged to the action-adventure genre and recounted the exploits of the title character, an immensely strong hero who battled various villains throughout the world and many different chronological eras. Garth was widely syndicated throughout English-speaking countries during its long run.

Contents

[edit] Description and authors

Garth's time-travelling adventures lasted for over 50 years and covered 167 stories. The backstory of the character was that Garth washed ashore in the Shetlands and was adopted by an elderly couple. Garth developed almost superhuman strength and eventually became a naval captain and all-round military genius. Garth travelled through many eras and confronted villains such as Madame Voss and Apollo. His true love was the ancient goddess-like figure, Astra. Garth's sidekick and mentor was Professor Lumiere, who psycho-analyzed the hero and recovered memories of his previous experiences. The strip was loosely based on the American Superman series.

Steve Dowling was the originator of the Garth character, and at the time, took on 15-year-old John Allard, who stayed with the strip for its entire lifetime. After 59 adventures Dowling retired and handed Garth over to Allard, which he carried on until 1971 when Eagle comics' Dan Dare artist, Frank Bellamy, took over the art with Allard writing the scripts. Garth's longevity had been established by Don Freeman, who created almost every basic Garth plot on which the saga was built. Peter O'Donnell, Jim Edgar and Angus Allan also wrote extensively for the strip during its decades-long existence. Philip Harbottle is a leading Garth expert and collector of the strips, and he wrote several of the stories during the 1990s. Martin Asbury became Garth's artist after Frank Bellamy's death, drawing the strip until its final episode.

In 1993 Bill Storrie produced perhaps a dozen or so sixty-page photocopied magazines titled The Gopherville Argus Special Edition No. 1 featuring Garth as a tribute to the writers and artists who had been involved with the strip. Most if not all Garth strips are now owned by King Features.

[edit] Episode list

  • "Garth"
  • "Children Of The Dawn"
  • "The Island Laboratory"
  • "The Seven Ages Of Garth"
  • "The Saga Of Garth"
  • "The Awakening Of Garth"
  • "The Quest Of The 'G' Ray"
  • "Garth vs The Brain"
  • "Into The Abyss"
  • "Olympic Champion"
  • "Wonder Women"
  • "Man Hunt"
  • "Selim The Slayer"
  • "Garth And The Glove Game"
  • "Journey To Jason"
  • "Space Time Traveller"
  • "The Phantom"
  • "Pharoah"
  • "Wings Of The Night"
  • "Space-Time Travels"
  • "Flight Into The Future"
  • "Invasion From Space"
  • "Warriors of Krull"
  • "Garth in Hollywood"
  • "The Return of Malveno"
  • "The Golden Sphere
  • "The 13th Man"
  • "The Stone Of Soloman"
  • "The Fantastic Doctor Quyn"
  • "The Hand of Attila"
  • "The Last Goddess"
  • "The Captive"
  • "The Sorcerer"
  • "The Mask of Chang Ku"
  • "Crystals of Camelot"
  • "The Big Game"
  • "The Living Mountain"
  • "The Long Sleep"
  • "Warrior World"
  • "The Static Zone"
  • "When Venus Was Born"
  • "The Hounds Of Skarn"
  • "The Islands Of Kaa"
  • "The Troll"
  • "The Golden Slayer"
  • "The Rebels"
  • "The Teenager"
  • "The Big Joker"
  • "The Time Couriers"
  • "The Invaders"
  • "The Brain"
  • "The Night of The Knives"
  • "Lord of The Computers"
  • "The Wakening"
  • "Wrath of Venus"
  • "The Gledig Miracle"
  • "The Time Lock"
  • "The Web Of Dionara"
  • "Mind Destroyers"
  • The Rohan Legend"
  • "Playboy of Space"
  • "These Men Are Mine"
  • "Exiles"
  • "Hell Ship"
  • "The Brain Voyagers"
  • "The Syndicate"
  • "Journey Into Fear"
  • "Sundance"
  • "The Cloud Of Balthus"
  • "The Orb Of Trimandias"
  • "The Wolf Man Of Ausensee"
  • "People of The Abyss"
  • "The Women of Galba"
  • "Ghost Town"
  • "The Mask of Atacama"
  • "The Wreckers"
  • "The Beast of Ultor"
  • "Freak Out To Fear"
  • "Bride of Jenghiz Khan"
  • "The Angels of Hell's Gap
  • "The Doomsmen"
  • "The Bubble Man"
  • "The Beautiful People"
  • "The Spanish Lady"
  • "The Man-Hunt"
  • "Ship of Secrets"
  • "Mr. Rubio Calls"
  • "Sapphire"
  • "Finality Factor"
  • "Power Game"
  • "The Long Sleep"
  • "Voyage Into Time"
  • "The Fisherman"
  • "Mind Stealers"
  • "Citizen Mundo 14500"
  • "The French Woman"
  • "The Forgotten"
  • "The Iron Maidens"
  • "Legion Of The Damned"
  • "Make Your Play"
  • "Day of Anger"
  • "The Space Mods"
  • "Seek and Destroy"
  • "The Bombers"
  • "Hunters"
  • "Merchants of Terror"
  • "Hammer of Thorwald"
  • "Sammy"
  • "La Belle Sauvage"
  • "Tell No Tales"
  • "Lords of Space"
  • "Winning Is All"
  • "Whose Finger on the Button?"
  • "This Land Is Mine"
  • "Tigress"
  • "Comet of Doom"
  • "Return to Thule"
  • "Sage of Eadon"
  • "Brotherhood of Blood"
  • "Vengeance of Venn"
  • "Outlaws"
  • "Super-Hero"
  • "The Great Beast"
  • "The Gallant and the Gray"
  • "The Don's Daughter"
  • "In the Beginning"
  • "Body Swap"
  • "Beyond The Dreamtime"
  • "Venus Trap"
  • "Takeover UK!"
  • "Scourge of God"
  • "The Doll Master"
  • "Swordsman Of Subucus"
  • "The Chiller Connection"
  • "Dancing Queen"
  • "Dark Side"
  • "Treasure at Colchis"
  • "Bedside Manor"
  • "Apache Moon"
  • "The Iceman Cometh"
  • "Hell-Fire"
  • "Blood Sport"
  • "Man on the Edge"
  • "The Killing of Rusty O'Roare"
  • "Twin Souls"
  • "Viva El Garto!"
  • "Return to the Static Zone"
  • "Warlord"
  • "Champions"
  • "Nightmare in Paris"
  • "Days of Doom"
  • "Twilight World"
  • "Stag Night"
  • "Devil Woman"
  • "Home Run"
  • "Sub Mission"
  • "Bigfoot"
  • "Railhead"
  • "Room 202"
  • "Mistress Orange"
  • "Nasuanna"
  • "Sal's Island"
  • "The Picture"
  • "Dam Drivers"
  • "Z File"
  • "Garth in Space"
  • "Double Diamonds"

[edit] Bibliography

Garth strips were reprinted in book form on a number of occasions:

  • Garth in "The Last Goddess" and "Romeo Brown", Daily Mirror c.1960
  • The Daily Mirror Book of Garth 1975, Fleetway Publications 1975
  • The Daily Mirror Book of Garth 1976, Fleetway Publications 1976
  • Garth Book One: "The Cloud of Balthus", Titan Books 1984 ISBN 0-907610-34-X
  • Garth Book Two: "The Women of Galba", Titan Books 1985 ISBN 0-907610-49-8

[edit] External links

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