Torkan is a heroic fantasy comic strip written and illustrated by Roger Fletcher. It first appeared in the Sunday Telegraph in 1976.
During the early 1970s, Fletcher began developing a comic strip about an Australian soldier-of-fortune, titled Nathan Cole - until he was introduced to the world of sword & sorcery by science-fiction writer Fritz Leiber that would have a profound impact on his future. In particular, the pair of characters called Fafhrd and the Gray Mouser influenced Fletcher greatly.
Fletcher worked on a fantasy comic strip called Orn the Eagle Warrior in 1974, but the strip received no attention from publishers. Fletcher subsequently started drawing Torkan.[1]
Torkan continues to win new generations of readers; something which Flectcher believes is attributable to the character’s enduring appeal. Fletcher claims; "the paradigm for heroic adventure was first written in the Bible, as David and Goliath. Whether it’s in Arthurian legend or Harry Potter, the paradigm itself doesn’t change much - but fashions do change."[2]
Levels of violence in the stories have dropped since the strip’s early years.