Jeff Hawke

Jeff Hawke was a British science fiction comic strip created by Sydney Jordan. It was published in the Daily Express from 15 February 1955 to 18 April 1974, by which point Jordan had "written or co-written and drawn 6,474 episodes."[1] Despite its obscurity in English-speaking countries, it is often regarded as one of the most important science fiction comics ever released, especially in Italy and Scandinavian countries.

Jeff Hawke
Jeff Hawke
Author(s)Sydney Jordan
Current status/scheduleFinished
Launch date15 February 1955
End date18 April 1974
Publisher(s)Daily Express
Genre(s)Science fiction

Publication history

Sydney Jordan was a graduate of the Aeronautical Technical School in Reading. He long sought to draw a fantastic comic where he could exploit his skills in drawing aeroplanes. In 1955 he met Eric Souster and Jim Gilbert in London, two friends with whom he had served in the R.A.F. Together they created the character of Jeff Hawke.

At first Jeff Hawke, presented as an ex-R.A.F. pilot (just like Jordan) was a rather ordinary, Flash Gordon-like heroic character. The plots were centred on ordinary adventure and science fiction themes common in pulp comics and fiction of the age, and at this stage the drawings were only of average quality. Nevertheless, the strip was good enough to be published daily in the Daily Express.

In 1956 William Patterson joined his childhood friend Jordan, at first writing only the dialogue. Prior to this he did work on the Children's Encyclopedia for Amalgamated Press, also doing stories for Dan Dare and war comics. However, after a few years he began to produce plot lines and stories as well. This led to a dramatic improvement in the quality of the comic. Patterson made Jeff Hawke the first science fiction comic strip for adults, not just children or adolescents. Jordan, now concentrating entirely on drawing, improved his style to a highly suggestive, realistic, contrasted black-and-white mark. The Patterson-Jordan period is considered the "true" Jeff Hawke by most.

There was also a Jeff Hawke series published drawn by Ferdinando Tacconi and published in the "Junior Express" comic book, aimed at children.

William Patterson, author of Jeff Hawke

In 1969, following a number of stresses and pressures, William Patterson's contract to write Jeff Hawke came to an end. He was not in good mental health and remained in London, separated from his family who stayed in Perth. Willie Patterson's physical health also was affected and he died in 1986, aged only 57 years old. He was laid to rest in Kensal Green cemetery, attended by his daughters Chrys Muirhead and Frances Patterson, and Sydney Jordan. The 1986 Titan Books republication of Jeff Hawke, Book Two, contains a testimonial to the life of Willie Patterson, by Sydney Jordan.

Jordan took back care of both stories and drawings, but without Patterson the quality of the strip declined again. Finally, on 18 April 1974 the Daily Express published its last Jeff Hawke strip.

In 1977, however, comics artist Brian Bolland was approached by Jordan to ghost some episodes, and remarked that by this point fellow artist - "active in the days of comic fandom" and soon to turn professional - Paul Neary had "already done quite a few."[1] Bolland drew 15 episodes, and "Syd touched up some of the faces, a few details here and there, to make them look a bit more like him."[1] By this point, "although the Express owned the rights to the strip, they were not printing it," but since it had a strong European following, these new episodes (Bolland believes) "got collected in anthologies in French and Spanish," but not in the UK except briefly in "the fanzine Eureka."[1]

Jordan later tried to revamp the character by publishing a similar strip called Lance McLane in the Scottish newspaper Daily Record. After this failed to catch on, Jordan came up with a plot hole in which McLane transformed himself into Hawke. However the resuscitated strip never recovered the original brilliance of the Patterson period: Jordan left more and more work to his unnamed helpers, and rapidly the strip fell into oblivion.

Story list

The Jeff Hawke stories
No.TitleWriterArtistStrip numbersDatesReprinted in
1(Space Rider)SJSJ1 - 1381954-02-15 - 1954-07-26Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 1 Number 1 and 2
2(The Martian Invasion)SJSJ139 - 3881954-07-27 - 1955-06-22Jeff Hawke's Cosmos: The Martian Quartet
3(The Search For Asteron)SJSJ389 - 5021955-06-23 - 1955-11-01Jeff Hawke's Cosmos: The Martian Quartet
4(The Threat Of The Past)SJSJ503 - 6421955-11-02 - 1956-04-16Jeff Hawke's Cosmos: The Martian Quartet
5Opposite PowerSJSJ643 - 7021956-04-17 - 1956-06-25Jeff Hawke's Cosmos: The Martian Quartet
6SanctuaryWP/SJSJ703 - 8091956-06-26 - 1956-10-27Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 2 Number 2
7Unquiet IslandWPSJ810 - 9271956-10-29 - 1957-03-16Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 6 Number 1
8The CastawaySJSJ928 - 10981957-03-18 - 1957-10-03Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 6 Number 2
9Out Of TouchHHSJ1099 - 12531957-10-04 - 1958-04-05Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 5 Number 2
10The Dream PedlarsSJSJ1254 - 13991958-04-07 - 1958-09-23Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 2 Number 3
11Poles ApartWP/SJSJ1400 - 15441958-09-24 - 1959-03-13Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 3 Number 2
12SacrificeSJSJ1545 - 17121959-03-14 - 1959-09-26Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 1 Number 3, Vol 2, Number 1
13Time Out Of MindSJSJ1713 - 18241959-09-28 - 1960-02-09Jeff Hawke's Cosmos: Lunar 10
14OverlordWPSJ1825 - 19391960-02-10 - 1960-06-20T1, Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 7 Number 3
15SurvivalWPSJ1940 - 20111960-06-21 - 1960-09-12T1, Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 7 Number 1
16Wondrous LampWPSJ2012 - 21631960-09-13 - 1961-03-11T1, Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 6 Number 2
17Counsel For The DefenseWPSJ2164 - 22851961-03-13 - 1961-08-02T1, Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 7 Number 2
18PastmasterWPSJ2286 - 23511961-08-03 - 1961-10-18T2, Jeff Hawke's Cosmos: Lunar 10
19Immortal ToysWPSJ2352 - 24941961-10-19 - 1962-04-05T2, Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 7 Number 3
20The AmbassadorsWPSJ2495 - 25781962-04-06 - 1962-07-13T2, Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 7 Number 3
21The GamesmanWPSJ2579 - 26391962-07-14 - 1962-09-23T2, Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 3 Number 3
22A Test CaseWPSJ2640 - 27241962-09-24 - 1963-01-02T2, Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 4 Number 1
23Pass The ParcelSJSJ2725 - 28161963-01-03 - 1963-04-20Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 3 Number 1
24The ChangelingWPSJ2817 - 28841963-04-21 - 1963-07-08Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 5 Number 2
25Rip Van HaddowWPSJ2885 - 29501963-07-09 - 1963-09-24Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 1 Number 1
26Prodigal SonWPSJ2951 - 30241963-09-25 - 1963-12-19Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 1 Number 2
27Uncanny DeepWPSJ3025 - 30821963-12-20 - 1964-01-27Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 5 Number 1
28Winner Loses AllSJSJ3083 - 31521964-01-28 - 1964-05-21Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 5 Number 1
29Faery Land ForlornWPSJ3153 - 32381964-05-22 - 1964-08-29Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 5 Number 3
30A Foreign BodyWPSJ3239 - 32831964-08-31 - 1964-10-22Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 3 Number 2
31MoonstruckSJSJ3284 - 33271964-10-23 - 1964-12-11Jeff Hawke's Cosmos: Lunar 10
32The Helping HandWPSJ3328 - 33951964-12-12 - 1965-03-03Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 4 Number 2
33Anti-gravity ManWPSJ3396 - 35041965-03-04 - 1965-07-09Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 2 Number 1
34Made In BirminghamWPSJ3505 - 35661965-07-10 - 1965-09-20Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 5 Number 2
35The Oil RigWPSJ3567 - 36231965-09-21 - 1965-11-25Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 7 Number 2
36IncognitoWPSJ3624 - 36441965-11-26 - 1965-12-20Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 4 Number 1
37The Great Atlantic CrossingWPSJ3645 - 37351965-12-21 - 1966-04-08Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 2 Number 3
38GetawayWPSJ3736 - 37531966-04-09 - 1966-04-29Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 7 Number 2
39Ghost ErrantWPSJ3754 - 38191966-04-30 - 1966-07-15Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 2 Number 2
40A Word Of AdviceWPSJ3820-38461966-07-16 - 1966-08-16Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 4 Number 1
41The Intelligent OnesWPSJ3847 - 38961966-08-17 - 1966-10-13Jeff Hawke's Cosmos: Hawke's Notes
42WildcatWPSJ3897 - 39511966-10-14 - 1966-12-16Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 4 Number 2
43OverlandWPSJ3952 - 40841966-12-17 - 1967-05-24Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 6 Number 3
44The Engine That Worked On GrassWPSJ4085 - 41731967-05-25 - 1967-09-05Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 5 Number 3
45The Hole In SpaceWPSJ4174 - 42611967-09-06 - 1967-12-16Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 7 Number 3
46The Venusian ClubWPSJ4262 - 43611967-12-18 - 1968-04-15Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 7 Number 1
47CataclysmWPSJ4362 - 44331968-04-16 - 1968-07-09Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 6 Number 3
48The PoltergeistWPSJ4434 - 45171968-07-10 - 1968-11-22Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 3 Number 2
49Rogue StarWPSJ4518 - 45951968-11-23 - 1969-02-24Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 5 Number 3
50The Day The Moon Nearly ExplodedWPSJ4596 - 46431969-02-25 - 1969-04-21Jeff Hawke's Cosmos: Lunar 10
51The Strange ShipWPSJ4644 - 47001969-04-22 - 1969-06-29Jeff Hawke's Cosmos: Lunar 10
52Daughter Of ErosSJSJ/NF4701 - 48391969-06-30 - 1969-12-08Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 7 Number 1
53S. O. S.SJSJ/NF4840 - 49161969-12-09 - 1970-03-10Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 4 Number 3
54Rescue PartySJSJ/NF4917 - 50081970-03-11 - 1970-07-01Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 4 Number 3
55Chacondar!SJSJ/NF5009 - 50741970-07-02 - 1970-09-16Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 1 Number 3
56The Book Of The WorldsSJSJ/NF5075 - 51721970-09-17 - 1971-01-10Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 6 Number 1
57Time Is Out Of JointSJSJ/NF5173 - 52541971-01-12 - 1971-04-20Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 6 Number 1
58Someday I'll Find YouSJSJ/NF5255 - 53301971-04-21 - 1971-07-17Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 7 Number 1
59The Bees On DaedalusSJSJ/NF5331 - 54001971-07-19 - 1971-10-07Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 6 Number 3
60Here Be TygersSJSJ/NF5401 - 54981971-10-08 - 1972-02-01Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 4 Number 3
61SelenaSJSJ/NF5499 - 56251972-02-02 - 1972-06-29Jeff Hawke's Cosmos: Lunar 10
62Sitting TenantsSJSJ/NF5626 - 57781972-06-30 - 1973-01-01Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 3 Number 3
63Shorty's SecretSJSJ/NF/MA5779 - 59041973-01-02 - 1973-05-31Jeff Hawke's Cosmos: Lunar 10
64On The RunSJSJ/NF5905 - 60011973-06-01 - 1973-09-21Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 4 Number 2
65The Comet's TaleSJSJ/NF6002 - 61181973-09-22 - 1974-02-09Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 6 Number 2
66The First Person PluralSJSJ/NF6119 - 61751974-02-11 - 1974-04-18Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 4 Number 1
67The Winds Of MarsSJSJ6176 - 62571975-11-04 - 1976-??-??Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 7 Number 2
68MoratorroSJSJ6258 - 64131975-05-05 - 1975-11-01Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, Vol 5 Number 1
69Heir ApparentSJSJ/BB/PN6414 - 6487Jeff Hawke's Cosmos: Lunar 10

Note - T1 and T2 refer to the two books published by Titan Books. Jeff Hawke's Cosmos is a publication of the Jeff Hawke Club. All the Jeff Hawke stories have been published in nine volumes by the club.

Themes

A typical Jeff Hawke strip.

Jeff Hawke started as a conventional hero-vs-aliens science fiction action comic, but under Patterson's direction it quickly developed its own individual style. The three frames format of the daily strip made it hard to create vivid action scenes, so the stories centred more on dialogue than on action and violence (although these do occur).

The Jeff Hawke character himself became more and more focused on reasoning, diplomacy and moral virtues instead of brute force and bravery, and he is frequently forced by circumstances to be the ambassador of mankind in front of alien species. There are many circumstances in which Jeff Hawke is more an observer than a participant. The real main characters in Jeff Hawke were the aliens. The universe of Jeff Hawke was highly populated with strange alien species that came in contact with humans for various reasons – accidental contact, commercial interests, and so on, but hardly ever for invasion. The plots of Jeff Hawke turned around the seemingly endless, baroque diversity of aliens and their worlds, their contacts with humans, and the ability of Hawke and his friends to manage relationships with so many different entities. The subtle wit of Patterson made the creatures and the plots revolving around them as fascinating as they were amusing, whereas the highly expressive Jordan drawing style fully captured the strangeness of the various worlds and creatures. The aliens were almost always much more technologically advanced and wise than humans, and often the plots were highly critical of various "primitive" aspects of the human race, like pollution.

Often in the plots of Jeff Hawke there was a connection between extraterrestrial entities, archaeological mysteries and even supernatural creatures. The god Pan and the devil, among others, appeared in Jeff Hawke strips.

There was also a softcore erotic flavour in some strips. For example, there were some instances in which alien creatures took the shape of beautiful young women.

Characters

Apart from Jeff Hawke himself, there are not many recurring characters in the comic, and almost no stable one. Here are listed the ones that recur the most.

  • Jeff Hawke: A well-educated ex-pilot, with an outstanding scientific and archaeological knowledge and a seraphic, ironic attitude. He usually wears a sober suit and a necktie, except when he's forced to use a spacesuit (which happens quite often).
  • Laura: The girlfriend of Jeff Hawke, almost disappears after the first stories.
  • Mac McLean: A Canadian air force pilot, he is Jeff Hawke's aid in many situations and one of the few human recurring characters.
  • Kolvorok: The First Official of the Intergalactic Police. A funny, one-eyed, jellyfish-shaped tentacled alien, it is as verbose as it is inept.
  • Chalcedon: A gigantic humanoid, and a mischievous, arrogant, clever interstellar criminal. He always manages to escape both Jeff Hawke and the Intergalactic Police.

Recognition

Despite being published in an English newspaper, Jeff Hawke is practically unknown in English-speaking countries. On the other hand, it gained considerable popularity in Italy, Sweden, Spain, ex-Yugoslavia and some other European countries.

In the United States, Jeff Hawke was printed in the Deseret News and was reprinted in Menomonee Falls Gazette.

Jeff Hawke and the Apollo Moon Landings

The final frame of the strip H1760.

In the strip H1760, published 21 November 1959, it is possible to see a stone that commemorates the first human landing on the Moon, noting that it happened on 4 August 1969. Thus, Sydney Jordan and William Patterson forecast the real date of this event with an error of only two weeks, ten years before Neil Armstrong made the first descent to the Moon surface on July 21.[2]

Original model

In the introduction to The Jeff Hawke Book Two: Counsel for the Defence (Titan Books, 1986), Sydney Jordan states:

The discerning may recognise from my drawings of Hawke, that I used Hans Meyer as a model.

South African actor Hans Meyer later went on to feature in a number of TV shows including BBC TV's Colditz as Hauptmann Ullmann.

Collected editions

In 1985, Nick Landau of Titan Books was finding considerable success with Judge Dredd and other 2000AD collections, and obtained the rights to publish some Jeff Hawke collections, and with them "[n]early 7,000 [copies of] episodes in a huge ungainly pile" from the Express offices.[3] He approached artist and fan Brian Bolland, who suggested "Overlord" as the first story to be collected, and duly produced a cover for the collection.[3] A second collection followed soon after, subtitled "Counsel for the Defence," also under a newly commissioned cover from the popular Dredd and Camelot 3000 artist, Bolland.[3] Bolland notes, though, that "[s]ales of the Jeff Hawke collections were obviously disappointing, so there were only two."[4] Plans were already afoot for a third collection, and the shelved book, Bolland reports, would have "contained another great story "The Ambassadors"."[4]

In 2008, Titan Books resurrected the Patterson-era comic strip collections in a hardback archival - 'collector's' - format, issued alongside their similar hardback Dan Dare and Charley's War collections, and in tandem with other collections of Daily Express strip favourites Modesty Blaise and James Bond.

The first book covered the same contents as the two volumes from nearly twenty-five-years previously; the second volume echoes Bolland's recollection of the mooted contents of the unpublished original third volume. The books are:

  • Overlord (collects "Overlord", "Survival", "Wondrous Lamp" and "Counsel for the Defence", 128 pages, February 2008, ISBN 1-84576-597-4)
  • The Ambassadors (collects "The Ambassadors", "Pastmaster", "The Immortal Toys", "The Gamesman" and "A Test Case", 128 pages, July 2008, ISBN 1-84576-598-2)

The British Jeff Hawke Club began reprinting Jeff Hawke in its journal, Jeff Hawke's Cosmos, in 2003. Each issue includes story notes on the science featured in the story, and commentary on the origins of the tales from creator Sydney Jordan. In addition to the regular magazine, three special editions - The Martian Quartet, Lunar 10 and Hawke's Notes have also been published.

References

  1. Bolland, Brian, "The 1970's – Jeff Hawke" in Joe Pruett (ed.) The Art of Brian Bolland, (Image Comics, 2006), ISBN 1-58240-603-0, pp. 52-53
  2. The Courier
  3. Bolland, "The 1980's – Jeff Hawke Titan Collections" in The Art of Brian Bolland, p. 174
  4. Bolland, "The 1980's – Jeff Hawke Volume 3 Prelim" in The Art of Brian Bolland, p. 174
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