Ranger magazine
Encyclopedia
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
weekly comic
Comics
Comics denotes a hybrid medium having verbal side of its vocabulary tightly tied to its visual side in order to convey narrative or information only, the latter in case of non-fiction comics, seeking synergy by using both visual and verbal side in...
/text magazine published by Fleetway Publications
Fleetway
Fleetway, also known as Fleetway Publications and Fleetway Editions, was a UK publishing company which mainly produced comic magazines. For a time owned by IPC Media, they are now a division of Egmont Publishing....
which debuted on 18 September 1965 and ran for 40 un-numbered issues until 18 June 1966. The title was then incorporated into Look and Learn
Look and Learn
Look and Learn was a British weekly educational magazine for children published by Fleetway Publications Ltd from 1962 until 1982. It contained educational text articles that covered a wide variety of topics from volcanoes to the Loch Ness Monster; a long running science fiction comic strip, The...
from issue 232, dated 25 June 1966.
The title was created by Leonard Matthews but edited by John Sanders, with Ken Roscoe as assistant editor and Colin Parker as art editor. The first issue included a free booklet featuring information on the then recently introduced BOAC VC10
Vickers VC10
The Vickers VC10 is a long-range British airliner designed and built by Vickers-Armstrongs Ltd, and first flown in 1962. The airliner was designed to operate on long-distance routes with a high subsonic speed and also be capable of hot and high operations from African airports...
.
Content
The content was a mixture of factual articles, photo features and comic strips designed to appeal to boys.Nowadays it is best remembered as the birthplace of the science fiction strip The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire
Trigan Empire
The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire, later called simply The Trigan Empire was a science fiction comic series written mainly by Mike Butterworth and most notably drawn by Don Lawrence...
originally drawn by Don Lawrence
Don Lawrence
Donald Southam Lawrence was a British comic book artist and author.Lawrence is best known for his comic strips The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire in the British weeklies Ranger and Look and Learn and the Storm series, first published in the Dutch weekly Eppo...
which ran continuously from issue 1 of Ranger until the final issue of Look and Learn in 1982.
Other notable strips include:
- Rob Riley, drawn by Jesus BlascoJesús BlascoJesús Blasco was a Spanish author and artist of comic books, whose career covered most of the conventional history of comic strips. He worked extensively in British comics in the 1960s and 1970s.-Career:...
(a school story set in Westhaven-on-Sea) - Dan Dakota, drawn by Arturo Del Castillo (a WesternWestern (genre)The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
) - Britons Never Never Never Shall Be Slaves (a translation of AsterixAsterixAsterix or The Adventures of Asterix is a series of French comic books written by René Goscinny and illustrated by Albert Uderzo . The series first appeared in French in the magazine Pilote on October 29, 1959...
from the French magazine Pilote with Asterix renamed Beric and the action moved to Great BritainGreat BritainGreat Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
. In this version (never reprinted), Obelix became the son of Boadicea. - Treasure IslandTreasure IslandTreasure Island is an adventure novel by Scottish author Robert Louis Stevenson, narrating a tale of "pirates and buried gold". First published as a book on May 23, 1883, it was originally serialized in the children's magazine Young Folks between 1881–82 under the title Treasure Island; or, the...
, drawn by John Millar WattJohn Millar WattJohn Millar Watt was a British painter, illustrator and comics artist who created the comic strip, Pop.-Life:...
(based on the novel by Robert Louis StevensonRobert Louis StevensonRobert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
) - Space Cadet, drawn by Geoff CampionGeoff CampionArthur Geoffrey Campion was a British comics artist who drew adventure strips for Amalgamated Press/IPC....
(space adventure) - King Solomon's MinesKing Solomon's MinesKing Solomon's Mines is a popular novel by the Victorian adventure writer and fabulist Sir H. Rider Haggard. It tells of a search of an unexplored region of Africa by a group of adventurers led by Allan Quatermain for the missing brother of one of the party...
, drawn by Michael Hubbard (based on the novel by H. Rider HaggardH. Rider HaggardSir Henry Rider Haggard, KBE was an English writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a founder of the Lost World literary genre. He was also involved in agricultural reform around the British Empire...
) - Blood on the Prairie, drawn by Alberto Giolitti (a WesternWestern (genre)The Western is a genre of various visual arts, such as film, television, radio, literature, painting and others. Westerns are devoted to telling stories set primarily in the latter half of the 19th century in the American Old West, hence the name. Some Westerns are set as early as the Battle of...
based on the novel by Paul WellmanPaul WellmanPaul Iselin Wellman was an American journalist, popular history and novel writer, and screenwriter, known for his books of the Wild West: Kansas, Oklahoma, Great Plains.-Bibliography:*Death on the Prairie, 1934...
) - Moby-DickMoby-DickMoby-Dick; or, The Whale, was written by American author Herman Melville and first published in 1851. It is considered by some to be a Great American Novel and a treasure of world literature. The story tells the adventures of wandering sailor Ishmael, and his voyage on the whaleship Pequod,...
, drawn by Franco Caprioli (based on the novel by Herman MelvilleHerman MelvilleHerman Melville was an American novelist, short story writer, essayist, and poet. He is best known for his novel Moby-Dick and the posthumous novella Billy Budd....
) - Allan Quartermain, drawn by Michael Hubbard (based on the novel by H. Rider HaggardH. Rider HaggardSir Henry Rider Haggard, KBE was an English writer of adventure novels set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a founder of the Lost World literary genre. He was also involved in agricultural reform around the British Empire...
) - Rodney Stone, drawn by Carlos V. Roume (based on the novel by Sir Arthur Conan DoyleArthur Conan DoyleSir Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle DL was a Scottish physician and writer, most noted for his stories about the detective Sherlock Holmes, generally considered a milestone in the field of crime fiction, and for the adventures of Professor Challenger...
)
Text serials included Sea Change
Sea Change (Armstrong novel)
Sea Change is a children's novel by Richard Armstrong. A contemporary seafaring adventure set on a cargo ship, it was the winner of the Carnegie Medal for 1948.- Plot introduction :...
, reprinting Richard Armstrong
Richard Armstrong (author)
Richard Armstrong was an English author who wrote for both adults and children. He was the winner of the Carnegie Medal in 1948 for his book Sea Change. He is also known for a biography of Grace Darling in which he challenges the conventional story: Grace Darling: Maid and Myth...
's Carnegie Medal
Carnegie Medal
The Carnegie Medal is a literary award established in 1936 in honour of Scottish philanthropist Andrew Carnegie and given annually to an outstanding book for children and young adults. It is awarded by the Chartered Institute of Library and Information Professionals...
-winning novel, and Champion of the Spanish Main, which reprinted a serial by Capt. W. E. Johns
W. E. Johns
William Earl Johns was an English pilot and writer of adventure stories, usually written under the name Captain W. E. Johns. He is best remembered as the creator of the ace pilot and adventurer Biggles.-Early life:...
from the pages of Modern Boy
The Modern Boy
The Modern Boy was a British Boys magazine published between 1928 and 1939 by the Amalgamated Press and ran to some 610 issues. First launched on 11 February 1928 and always costing just 2d , the magazine ran initially to 523 weekly issues until 12 February 1938...
.
Johns was also represented with a series of articles on pirates reprinted from the book The Biggles Book of Treasure Hunting (1962).
In November 2004, most of the content of Ranger was purchased from IPC Media by Look and Learn Magazines Ltd.