''Alf Tupper'' is the protagonist of a British comic strip, ''The Tough of the Track'' (or ''Alf Tupper: The Tough of the Track''), created by Bill Blaine (probably a pseudonym for William Blaine, head of DC Thomson comics), written by Gilbert Lawford Dalton. He is a working class, "hard as nails" runner, whose adventures appeared in '' The Rover'' from 1949 and then '' The Victor'' British boys'

comics a Media (communication), medium used to express ideas with images, often combined with text or other visual information. It typically the form of a sequence of Panel (comics), panels of images. Textual devices such as speech balloons, Glo ...

from D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. (Some of the comic strips in The Victor were visualisations of the stories that had appeared in The Rover.) His adventures appeared over almost a 40-year period, until 1992. Many artists have written and drawn his stories, including Pete Sutherland, during his run in ''The Victor''. In April 2014, Alf Tupper returned in a monthly one-page comic-strip feature in the international athletics magazine ''

Athletics Weekly ''AW'' (formerly ''Athletics Weekly'') is a monthly track and field magazine published in the United Kingdom by Athletics Weekly Limited. The magazine covers news, results, fixtures, coaching and product advice for all aspects of track and field ...

''.

Alf Tupper's storyline and character

Whatever his job and wherever it was located, Alf was the eternal underdog. Regarded as a "guttersnipe" by the posh blokes from the

Amateur Athletic Association The Amateur Athletic Association of England or AAA (pronounced 'three As') is the oldest national governing body for athletics in the world, having been established on 24 April 1880. Historically it effectively oversaw athletics throughout Brita ...

, he was at his best the day after a night on late shift, lifting heavy objects and getting little sleep. His journey to the track (often White City) almost invariably involved falling asleep on the train and missing his stop. Sometimes his tardiness was caused by skullduggery of the worst kind by "stuck-up" rich boys from a university somewhere, but usually it was because he could not stop himself from rescuing people in distress or just generally being a selfless chap. Regardless of this, he always got there in the nick of time and, having just finished his fish and chips, went on to win the championships or even, in "end of series" stories, break the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organizatio ...

for the mile and utter his famous catchphrase "I ran 'em all!” Vic Whittle writes:

Alf Tupper was 18 years of age when he first appeared in ''Rover'' in 1949 and he continued his adventures in ''Victor'' in the early 1960s. He lived with his Aunt Meg in Anchor Alley, Greystone. The house had one room upstairs and one room downstairs; Alf's bed was a
mattress A mattress is a large, usually rectangular pad for supporting a person Lying (position), lying down, especially for sleeping. It is designed to be used as a bed, or on a bed frame as part of a bed. Mattresses may consist of a Quilting, quilted o ...
on the kitchen floor. He was employed as a
welder A welder is a person or equipment that fuses materials together. The term welder refers to the operator, the machine is referred to as the welding power supply. The materials to be joined can be metals (such as steel, aluminum, brass, stainles ...
working in Ike Smith's welding shop which was located under a railway arch. His wages were £1 5s (£1.25p) per week of which he paid his Aunt £1.2s.6d (£1.12½p) for rent. This meant he had 2/6d (12½p) for himself. Following a bust up with his Aunt Meg, he moved into Ike Smith's
welding Welding is a fabrication (metal), fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, primarily by using high temperature to melting, melt the parts together and allow them to cool, causing Fusion welding, fusion. Co ...
shop, sleeping on a mattress by his workbench. Alf joined the Greystone Harriers paying a subscription fee of half a
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; he was only a member of the Harriers for three weeks and was instructed to return his membership card by Bob Richards the Honorary Secretary, following an ontrack fight with Vic Mason in the 440 yards at the Greystone Harriers Sports meeting. Alf's staple diet was
fish and chips Fish and chips is a hot dish consisting of batter (cooking), battered and fried fish, served with French fries, chips. Often considered the national dish of the United Kingdom, fish and chips originated in England in the 19th century. Today, ...
wrapped in newspaper.

Appearances

The 1950s version of Alf was variously a

millwright A millwright is a craftsman or skilled tradesman who installs, dismantles, maintains, repairs, reassembles, and moves machinery in factories, power plants, and construction sites. The term ''millwright'' (also known as ''industrial mechanic'') ...

at Greystone Aviation Factory (''The Rover'' – No. 1303) or a

plumber A plumber is a tradesperson who specializes in installing and maintaining systems used for potable (drinking) water, hot-water production, sewage and drainage in plumbing systems.

in the employ of Charlie Chipping of Gas Street, Graystone (''The Rover'' – No. 1338). The 1968 version of Alf (in ''The Victor Book for Boys'') is a self-employed welder – "Welding done here" – and is still located under the railway arches in fictional Greystone, a drab town with cobbled streets, where

heavy industry Heavy industry is an industry that involves one or more characteristics such as large and heavy products; large and heavy equipment and facilities (such as heavy equipment, large machine tools, huge buildings and large-scale infrastructure); o ...

employs thousands of manual workers. By the 1970s, some of the early 1950s storylines were being re-introduced to a new generation. There was even a 'prequel' series about Alf's "rough tough boyhood" and his struggle with the authorities as an orphan (began in ''The Victor'' 0626 dated 17 February 1973). Alf's last published appearance came in the Scottish newspaper, ''

The Sunday Post ''The Sunday Post'' is a weekly newspaper published in Dundee, Scotland, by DC Thomson, and characterised by a mix of news, human interest stories and short features. The paper was founded in 1914 and has a wide circulation across Scotland, U ...

'', in 1992, and featured Alf in training for the

Barcelona Olympic games The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

In popular culture

UK punk rock band The Boys referred to their producer as "Alf Tupper", as a tribute to their hero. They used the name on records and in adverts in the music press as a top producer who could do anything.

References

External links

Tough of the Track
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tupper, Alf

Alf Tupper ''Alf Tupper'' is the protagonist of a British comic strip, ''The Tough of the Track'' (or ''Alf Tupper: The Tough of the Track''), created by Bill Blaine (probably a pseudonym for William Blaine, head of DC Thomson comics), written by Gilbert La ...

British comics characters Fictional track and field athletes Comics characters introduced in 1949

Male characters in comics Olympic Games in fiction