*Boys’ Adventure & War Comics: Launched in 1963 in the wake of the success of Victor, Hornet followed its elder brother’s formula of sport, war and adventure stories, with a lot of ‘true life’ tales of heroism, and had a respectable run up until early 1976, when it merged with its stablemate Hotspur. Popular strips include ageless athlete ‘Wilson’; sporting polymath ‘Bouncing’ Bernard Briggs’; and ‘The Swamp Rat’, a muscular tattooed gentleman who ran around the jungle in a pair of cut-off shorts terrorising the invading Japanese with his mongoose. As you would. This selection of Hornet issues with free gifts hails from the years 1971 and 1973. Issue #419 is in GD, with the Free Gift Hi-Flyer Boomerang in VG -; the Boomerang itself is immaculate, but at some point the paper surrounding it (check the illo., you’ll see what I mean) has become slightly marked. The following issue, #420, contains a booklet, ‘How to be a Super Boy’ – curiously, being rocketed from the doomed planet Krypton is not one of the options explored! Comic is FN, with Free Gift VF. And finally, from 1973, #529 offers 2 Super Model Fighting Planes of World War II. The comic is good, the Free Gift still sealed in slightly grubby envelope, so VG.
PICTURED: HORNET
#419 GD GIFT VG £20 SOLD
#420 FN GIFT VF £20 SOLD
#529 GD GIFT VG £20 SOLD