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 JACK TREVOR STORY .CO .UK

 Non - J.T.S. SEXTON BLAKE 

 The VALIANT BOOK OF TV'S SEXTON BLAKE 

 
Published in 1968 to tie in with the current TV series, this book contains comic strip stories with Blake and Tinker up against such historic villains as Zenith the Albino,  Waldo the Wonder Man and George Marsden Plummer. The strips are far from classic, but the book is a nice collection of representative material of the time. There are also some humorous strips, text features and text stories, including the "first Sexton Blake story ever published... from the Union Jack, 4th May 1894". This may be the first Blake story to appear in the Union Jack but is definitely not the first Blake story ever; that appeared in issue 6 of the Halfpenny Marvel in 1893.  Well done, Fleetway editorial team! Still, the accompanying Eric Parker illustrations are a treat (and they are definitely not from 1894!)

Laurence Payne played Blake and Roger Foss was Edward 'Tinker' Clark in the TV series, which ran from 1967 to 1969 with a brief revival in 1970. There may have been 30 or 60 episodes made, depending on where you get your "facts", but allegedly only one incomplete episode still exists in the archives. Blimey, guv'nor, that's worse than flippin' Doctor 'Oo!

 
above: front cover      below: back
 
above: TV tie-in strip      below: new Parker art for 1894 story

 

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