''Ranger'' was a British comic book magazine, with occasional printed stories, published by

Fleetway Publications Fleetway Publications was a magazine publishing company based in London. It was founded in 1959 when the Mirror Group acquired the Amalgamated Press, then based at Fleetway House, Farringdon Street, London. It was one of the companies that mer ...

for 40 un-numbered issues between 18 September 1965 and 18 June 1966. The title was then incorporated into '' Look and Learn'' 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 sub-editor was Terry Magee.

Content

The content was a mixture of factual articles, photo features and

comic strips A comic strip is a Comics, sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often Serial (literature), serialized, with text in Speech balloon, balloons and Glossary of comics ter ...

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 ''The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire'', later called simply ''The Trigan Empire'', is a science fiction comic series written mainly by Mike Butterworth with artwork (initially watercolours, later gouache) by Don Lawrence, among others. It t ...

'' originally drawn by Don Lawrence which ran continuously from issue 1 of ''Ranger'' until the final issue of ''Look and Learn'' in 1982.

Other notable comic strips published in the magazine

* '' Rob Riley'', drawn by

Jesus Blasco Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

(a school story set in Westhaven-on-Sea) * ''Dan Dakota'', drawn by Arturo Del Castillo (a

Western Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US * Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that i ...

) * ''Britons Never Never Never Shall Be Slaves'' (a comic strip using ''

Asterix ''Asterix'' or ''The Adventures of Asterix'' (french: Astérix or , "Asterix the Gaul") is a '' bande dessinée'' comic book series about a village of indomitable Gaulish warriors who adventure around the world and fight the Roman Repub ...

'' artwork from the French magazine ''Pilote'' with Asterix renamed Beric and the action moved to

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

. In this version (never reprinted), Obelix became the son of

Boadicea Boudica or Boudicca (, known in Latin chronicles as Boadicea or Boudicea, and in Welsh as ()), was a queen of the ancient British Iceni tribe, who led a failed uprising against the conquering forces of the Roman Empire in AD 60 or 61. She ...

. * ''Treasure Island'', drawn by

John Millar Watt John Millar Watt (14 October 1895 – 13 December 1975) was a British painter, illustrator and comics artist who created the comic strip ''Pop''. Early life Born in Greenock on the River Clyde, Scotland, the son of James H. Watt, an engineer, an ...

(based on the novel by

Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as '' Treasure Island'', '' Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...

) * ''Space Cadet'', drawn by Geoff Campion and written by Mike Butterworth. It tells the adventures of Jason January of the Royal Space Force Academy. * ''

King Solomon's Mines ''King Solomon's Mines'' (1885) is a popular novel by the English 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 ...

'', drawn by Michael Hubbard (based on the novel by

H. Rider Haggard Sir Henry Rider Haggard (; 22 June 1856 – 14 May 1925) was an English writer of adventure fiction romances set in exotic locations, predominantly Africa, and a pioneer of the lost world literary genre. He was also involved in land reform ...

) * ''Blood on the Prairie'', drawn by Alberto Giolitti (a

based on the novel by

Paul Wellman Paul Iselin Wellman (October 15, 1895 — September 17, 1966) was an American journalist, popular history and novel writer, and screenwriter, known for his books of the Wild West: Kansas, Oklahoma, Great Plains. Hollywood movies ''Cheyenn ...

) * ''

Moby-Dick ''Moby-Dick; or, The Whale'' is an 1851 novel by American writer Herman Melville. The book is the sailor Ishmael's narrative of the obsessive quest of Ahab, captain of the whaling ship ''Pequod'', for revenge against Moby Dick, the giant white ...

'', drawn by Franco Caprioli (based on the novel by

Herman Melville Herman Melville (born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works are ''Moby-Dick'' (1851); '' Typee'' (1846), a r ...

) * ''

Allan Quatermain Allan Quatermain is the protagonist of H. Rider Haggard's 1885 novel '' King Solomon's Mines'', its one sequel '' Allan Quatermain'' (1887), twelve prequel novels and four prequel short stories, totalling eighteen works. An English professional ...

'', drawn by Michael Hubbard (based on the novel by

) * ''Rodney Stone'', drawn by Carlos V. Roume (based on the novel by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Text serials

The magazine also published serial stories. Among the most well known titles were '' Sea Change'', reprinting Richard Armstrong's Carnegie Medal-winning novel, and ''Champion of the Spanish Main'', which reprinted a serial by Capt. W. E. Johns from the pages of '' Modern Boy''. Johns was also represented with a series of articles on pirates reprinted from the book ''The Biggles Book of Treasure Hunting'' (1962).

Legacy

In November 2004, most of the content of ''Ranger'' was purchased from IPC Media by Look and Learn Magazines Ltd.

External links

''Look and Learn'' official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ranger Fleetway and IPC Comics titles Comics magazines published in the United Kingdom Children's magazines published in the United Kingdom British boys' story papers 1965 comics debuts 1966 comics endings Magazines established in 1965 Magazines disestablished in 1966 Defunct British comics