Scorcher (magazine)

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For other uses, see Scorcher.

Scorcher was the name of a football-themed British comic magazine published by IPC between January 1970 and August 1980. In July 1971, it joined with another football-themed comic, Score, to form Scorcher and SCORE, before finally merging into Tiger in 1974 as a new publication, TIGER and Scorcher. The word Scorcher started with almost equal prominence to TIGER on the title page, but was reduced in size in November 1975, and again in February 1978 before finally being dropped from the title of the comic after the issue dated August 30, 1980, having appeared for over 10 years in its various guises. It featured various well-known comic strips, the most famous being Billy's Boots and Bobby of the Blues. In addition, the Nipper story was absorbed from Score comic and Hot Shot Hamish made its first appearance in the Scorcher and SCORE period. Some of these stories later found homes in Roy of the Rovers in addition to Tiger.

In total, 548 weekly comics were published with Scorcher in the title, with the following cover dates (the comic usually appeared for sale the week before its cover date):

14 editions of Scorcher Annual were published from 1971 to 1984, and Scorcher or Scorcher and SCORE Holiday Specials each summer from 1971.

Issue No.1 of Scorcher was dated January 10, 1970 and contained the following features and stories:

Contents

[edit] Picture Strip Stories

  • Royal's Rangers: the story of Caxford Rangers and their manager, Ben Royal.
  • Sub.: a comedy story about a perpetual reserve and his efforts to get a game.
  • Kangaroo Kid: Redstone Rovers' coach breaks down in the Australian Outback after a summer tour, and they discover a boy with amazing football abilities living wild.
  • Bobby of the Blues: Bobby Booth plays for Everpool City, nicknamed "The Blues" because of their colours.
  • Billy's Boots: long-running story about a boy who finds a pair of antique football boots in his gran's attic which seem to make him able to play better. He also found an old airgun up there. Although one or two of the other picture stories had some single colour in the drawings, this was the only multi-colour story, and had an excellent drawing of an old fashioned pair of football boots in the title banner.
  • Paxton's Powerhouse: Vince Paxton, the ruthless soccer dictator who vowed to build a team of world-beaters, using scientific methods.
  • Byrd of Paradise Hill: Richard Byrd prefers to take up a teaching post at Paradise Hill Secondary Modern School, rather than the offer of a trial for Hampton Orient reserves.
  • Lags Eleven: Willie Smith, known to his friends as "Brilliant Genius", was the greatest super-crook in Britain, having been the master-mind behind numerous bank-raids, jewel-robberies and wage-snatches. Unfortunately for him he'd been caught and was doing a ten-year stretch in Bankhurst Prison, where he decides to start a football team as part of a master plan to escape during the first away match.

[edit] Prose Story

  • The Goal Thief: 16 year-old Kenny Banks is taken on as an apprentice by 2nd division Tandridge Town. Then his father breaks into the ground to steal the trophies...

[edit] Football Features

[edit] Other Features

  • Scorcher Team of the Week: a different schoolboy team featured each week has their team photograph published and wins a Scorcher football.
  • Goal Post: Pete, "the office junior", answers readers' letters, and each one published wins £1 for the sender.
  • Know-All: Know-All, "Soccer's Mister Big-Head", makes 10 statements about football and the reader has to spot where he goes wrong.
  • Challenge Your Chum to quiz football: a quiz for readers to move a ball up and down the printed pitch into the goal by answering football questions.

This issue contained 32 pages, included a free-gift wallchart which allowed you to plot your favourite team's progress in the League over the last 20 years, and cost 7d. All photographs in the first issue were black and white.

More on Scorcher comic at Britishcomics.com[1]