Yesterday's Papers - The Lion

Lion was another long running British comic - a bit before my time really - it ran from 1952 until 1974 though I can remember reading it from time to time in its latter years. It was originally produced to compete with The Eagle. It did this well and readers were attracted to its grittier style though it's Dan Dare clone Captain Condor was something of a failure. Dare himself would appear in the comic when the Eagle was merged into the title.

The issue pictured is from August 1969 (I was heading for my third birthday then) and, as always, the letters page offers a snapshot of the time. One reader claimed to be the comic's oldest reader and at 62 , Thos Adams of Ayreshire had no-one ready to dispute his claim. Reader Christopher Herman wrote to the comic with something that had been troubling him - "I was cycling up a hill one day, with the sun shining, when I saw some puddles in the road. But as I got nearer they vanished! Is there any explanation for this?" The editor answered, "Yes they were mirages."  Whew, glad they cleared that one up! There was a voucher that would entitle the lucky ready to a free day in a Butlins Camp (think prisoner of war camps with red coats) of their choice. The reader snipped the voucher and sent it to the address given and then free tickets would be said for the reader and their mother and father. Ahh such different times, when Butlins seemed exotic.

Lion, like many British comics, was made up of mixed genres - adventure, horror, sci-fi and humour. And the comic's closing strip was Mowser the Priceless Puss which ran for the length of the comic's life and was popular enough to survive Lion's eventual merger into Valient.

Ahh, those were the days!

LION 21ST Feb 1970

I only vaguely remember Lion comic - it were a bit before me time, you see - and I was surprised when I checked Wiki to see that it ran from 1952 - 1974. At it's demise it was, as was the tradition with ailing British comics, merged with a stronger selling title. This it merged with Valiant which itself was swallowed up by Battle a couple of years later.






This issue is from 1970 and features a cover story starring wrestlers, Stringbean and Hambone. The first story inside the covers is Carson's Cubs which is a football story about a team managed by Joe Carson. Next we have Spellbinder and that is followed by our cover stars Stringbean and Hambone. Sports strips were always popular in British comics but I can't think of another story with wrestling as it sport - no doubt someone out there will know of a few.















Zip Nolan of the Highway Patrol follows and then we are back in Saxon England for a story entitled, Flame of the Forest.













Then from the past into the future for a SF strip entitled, The Fugitive from Planet Scor - it seems to deal with a plot to destroy the Earth. Ahh such great times.










General Johnny is up next and this is followed by Paddy Payne warrior of the seas. Robot Archie is next and I remember Archie from the Valiant which I used to read from time to time. Another sports story follows with Oddball Oates and then we have Dan Dare. I was surprised to find Dare here as I thought he'd only ever appeared in The Eagle and 2000AD before getting his own comic years later, but then I discovered that the Eagle had merged with Lion a few months previous of this issue. The Eagle is mentioned nowhere on the cover of this issue so obviously the title had been faded out. I suspect that Dan Dare was the only character to survive thus far.




The comic ends with Mowser the Cat which again I remember reading from various