Air Hawk and the Flying Doctor was an Australian comic strip

Comic strip

A comic strip is a sequence of drawings arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions....

 created by John Dixon

John Dixon (cartoonist)

John Dixon is an Australian comic book artist and writer, best known for his creation, Air Hawk and the Flying Doctors.-Biography:John Dangar Dixon was born in Newcastle on 20 February 1929, the son of a school principal. After completing his education at Cook Hill Intermediate High he became a...

. The strip began publication on 30 May 1959, premiering in the Saturday issue of Perth

Perth, Western Australia

Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia and the fourth most populous city in Australia. The Perth metropolitan area has an estimated population of almost 1,700,000....

's Weekend Mail. It was subsequently published by other Australian Sunday newspapers, Sydney Sun Herald

The Sun-Herald

The Sun-Herald is an Australian tabloid newspaper published on Sundays in Sydney by Fairfax Media. It is the Sunday counterpart of The Sydney Morning Herald. In the 6 months to September 2005, The Sun-Herald had a circulation of 515,000...

 (14 June 1959), the The Sunday Mail (Brisbane)

The Sunday Mail (Brisbane)

The Sunday Mail is Brisbane's only Sunday newspaper. The Sunday Mail is published in tabloid format, comprising several sections that can be extracted and read separately.-Publishing:...

 and the Sunday Mail (Adelaide)

Sunday Mail (Adelaide)

The Sunday mail was founded in 1912 by Clarence Moody. Moody initially set up three newspapers - the Sporting mail, Saturday mail and the Mail. The first two titles lasted only two years and five years respectively...

. In May 1963, 'Air Hawk' also became a daily strip and unlike most US adventure strips, the Sunday and daily continuity on 'Air Hawk' were separate stories with Dixon writing them both. By 1967 the strip was appearing not only in every Australian state, but also in Britain, New Zealand, South Africa, France and both North and South America. Dixon continued the strip until 1986. Dixon was assisted over the years by Mike Tabrett, Hart Amos (March 1970 - June 1977) and Keith Chatto

Keith Chatto

Ronald Keith Chatto was an Australian comic book artist and writer. Chatto was the first Australian artist to illustrate a full-length comic episode of The Phantom.-Biography:...

 (1977-onwards).

In 1962 a series of Air Hawk and the Flying Doctors comics were published by Howitz Publications, the series however only ran for three issues. This was followed by another series of comics by Page Publications, reprinting episodes of the strip, with covers by Chatto. The Page series debuted in 1966, also only running for three issues, began with issue #20, but the title was altered to The Hawk and the Flying Doctors on the third issue. Although Dixon ceased the strip in 1986, the strip continued to be reprinted in the Sydney Morning Herald until the early 1990s.

The strip is set in the Australian outback

Outback

The Outback is the vast, remote, arid area of Australia, term colloquially can refer to any lands outside the main urban areas. The term "the outback" is generally used to refer to locations that are comparatively more remote than those areas named "the bush".-Overview:The outback is home to a...

, and follows the adventures of Jim Hawk, a former Royal Australian Air Force

Royal Australian Air Force

The Royal Australian Air Force is the air force branch of the Australian Defence Force. The RAAF was formed in March 1921. It continues the traditions of the Australian Flying Corps , which was formed on 22 October 1912. The RAAF has taken part in many of the 20th century's major conflicts...

 pilot flying and intelligent agent, who operates the Air Hawk Charter service from Alice Springs. The charter service worked in conjunction with the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS). Dr Hal Mathews was a close friend of Jim Hawk who worked for the RFDS and Sister Janet Grant belonged to the Australian Inland Mission, whose medical clinic adjoined the air strip. In the mid-seventies, Jim Hawk was granted a franchise to supply a special Emergency Relief Unit. The Unit's function is to relieve any Flying Doctor base in need of assistance and to be available for special emergencies. Hal Mathews had been seconded to work with the Unit and Janet Grant was now his full time assistant, with the change in responsibilities, the 'Doctors' part of the title was reverted to the singular. Routine charter operations were continuously disrupted by Jim Hawk's involvement in conflict with local and international villains.

Reprints

In the 1980s Queensland comic enthusiast, Nat Karmichael, published John Dixon's Air Hawk Magazine. While the first few issues had small print runs of just 500 copies, later issues were being sold through newsagents. One issue was co-published with Cyclone!

Cyclone!

Cyclone! was an Australian superhero anthology comic book originally published in 1985.The title featured four ongoing stories:* The Dark Nebula a cosmic superhero by Tad Pietrzykowski...

Comics, who released it as one of their 'Summer Specials'.

Selected storylines were reprinted in the book, John Dixon, Air Hawk and the Flying Doctor Volume 1, published by ComicOz in 2011.