Red Dagger Dating Corrections
The state of DC Thomson publishing history, known books, and indexes of Pocket Libraries.
The longer I've spent looking through websites to see what is known, the more disappointed I have become in there being a certain base level of information. The bottom of the barrel, as far as documenting a title goes, has to be Red Dagger. Red Dagger is not a particularly outstanding title in it's poor handling - there are many titles which have been badly documented - although it does have the distinction of all it's on-sale dates having been known for a very long time now. I published a guide to the series, with information to original dates, when the website was active, and the copy of the file which I've pulled the dates below from was saved 12 years ago, and hasn’t been touched since.
For those wondering where these dates come from, it was remarkably simple to compile these - they were published in contemporaneous titles. All that really remains required is the identification of an editor's name, and then that title can be considered a known entity. I'm not sure why nobody has bothered to correct any misinformation surrounding the release of this comic, when so many publications of a similar vintage have had significant research undertaken. Anyway, here's one of the adverts which provided dates.
Now that this has been posted - again - can everyone please stop using the incorrectly guessed dates which are out by an entire year?
It would be nice to know, definitively, where this title's origin lies. I've located a story entitled Braddock and the Red Daggers, which uses the term "Red Dagger" for a German air fighter squadron (and I hazard that I would likely find more uses if my story paper collection was more robust), and it seems a term used at D.C. Thomson for a long time. Whatever reason this name was chosen, it's a little closer to having a little tick mark beside the title, indicating that everything has been figured out...
On to all of the things which this week has uncovered:
Beano Puzzle Book #19 was published 31 Jan 1989.
Beano Summer Special (1977) was published 17 Jun 1977.
Beezer Summer Special (1981) was published 15 May 1981.
Warlord Summer Special for 1975 was published 20 Jun 1975.
Warlord Summer Special for 1977 was published 17 Jun 1977.
Warlord Summer Special for 1978 was published 23 Jun 1978.
Warlord Summer Special for 1985 was published 14 Jun 1985.
I’m hoping that someone with a GCD account sees this, saving me having to mess around with that site as well, as I would much rather be collecting new information rather than rehashing what I’ve posted in a number of places.
If someone was to spend a significant amount of time simply going through titles, looking for adverts for things soon to appear, then I am certain that it would provide hundreds of such dates, for all manner of titles. I have been working on a list of D.C. Thomson books during this search, and this has been just as frustrating as I had expected - every time I think I have something understood, another little fact changes what I had in mind. For the longest time I had believed that their books were extremely spread out, a couple of titles in the fifties, then the early eighties, then... Well, it's not as clear as I imagined, and I have had to rethink what might be available.
Morgyn the Mighty by Dudley D. Watkins? (uncredited), illustrated by Dudley D. Watkins. (D.C. Thomson & Co. and John Leng, Ltd.; 1951) hardback, dust-jacket.
I Flew with Braddock by 'George Bourne' [Gilbert Lawford Dalton?]. (D.C. Thomson & Co., Ltd. and John Leng; 1959) hardback, dust-jacket (artist unknown).
Braddock and the Flying Tigers by 'George Bourne' [Gilbert Lawford Dalton?]. (A Red Lion book / D.C. Thomson & Co., Ltd. and John Leng; 1962) hardback, dust jacket (artist unknown).
Three novels which I had previously considered the sum total of D.C. Thomson's books (before I went digging) were all pulled from material written for the boy's papers, although I'm not sure which of the titles were responsible for the stories which were collected - the origins of these need correctly identifying, which means extra work... The question of how many other titles might be lurking on shelves, and in boxes, without being properly identified, continues to torment me. The Weekly News had been running since 1855, and Adventure, the first of the boy's story papers, began on the seventeenth of September 1921, so by the early fifties D.C. Thomson was sitting on a massive trove of prose material - had they wished to, the company could have released a novel each week for the duration. That only three titles are known is utterly perplexing.
Although I state that only three books are known, I do not offer any commentary on states of these books. It may yet transpire that there are variations out in the world - different end papers, or editions containing alterations to their end matter - so take this initial analysis of the books for what it is. When I have more information I will, of course, add that to what is known.
In this project there needs to be concrete goals, otherwise it becomes difficult to see if any progress has been made, so I humbly suggest the following five tasks that will significantly push forward what is already known:
1. Obtain all titles for Pocket Libraries.
2. ...and document all price increases where possible.
2. Obtain all possible on-sale dates for Pocket Libraries.
3. Documentation of weekly titles and contents.
5. A dated index of specials, collections, and annuals.
That's going to be a decent start, and I've already managed to find a fair amount already.
I've been finding a great deal of information about simmering, not-quite actively worked-on projects as well, adding to the number of known Robin Hood stories, and locating a fair amount of hitherto-undocumented titles for the main project, which was to be expected. What I didn't realise, and what is becoming somewhat important to deal with, is obtaining these undocumented titles so that at least someone has a little written about their existence. Headway has also been made - albeit in incredibly small steps - in understanding the extent of Barbie's texts in the eighties. A second sticker album has been positively identified, also from Figurine Panini, which fixes one dating problem. The rest remains an unfathomable mess still.
Onto the DCT pocket libraries, where I have had some small marked improvement:
Beano Comic Library. 13 Apr 1982 - ## Jul 1997; 368 issues.
The Beano Superstars. ## ### 1992 - 25 Jan 2001; 121 issues.
Bunty Picture Story Library for Girls. ## ### 1963 - ## ### 19##; 455 issues.
Dandy Comic Library. ## Apr 1983 - 29 Jul 1997; 344 issues.
Football Picture Story Monthly. ## Jun 1986 - ## Oct 2003; 418 issues.
Judy Picture Story Library for Girls. ## May 1963 - ## ### 19##; 375 issues.
Mandy Picture Story Library for Girls. ## Apr 1978 - ## ### 19##; 277 issues.
Starblazer. 24 Apr 1979 - ## Jan 1991; 281 issues.
Things haven't been going as smoothly as I anticipated, the computer crashing when tasked with bringing up the Starblazer list. I've had to redo most of it (and am still working my way through that material), which is why that isn't appearing as yet, despite it having perhaps the most information available of any title. The first nine issues have been dated precisely as of the moment, and when I can find the sheet which I worked from previously I should be able to add in three or four random dates in addition to that.
Additional information has come to light regarding the Beano and Dandy Comic Libraries (hidden away in a link within a post, on a comic forum, from donkeys ago) which was pointed out to me after posting my initial listing of that title. That will be updated and reposted when I have the time to go through the additional information, along with other sources.
That is everything I can post openly, the remainder requiring a touch of discretion due to standing policies of the company in question regarding things being published online. The last thing I need is to be told off for posting things. I’m honestly not sure if “don’t post things online” extends to their advertising content, but D.C. Thomson have made clear that they do not want their comics republished online to any extent, and I don’t wish to bring down their ire on me when I am attempting to clear up a great deal of misinformation which has been circulated in the past.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Gary’s Substack to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.