Frank Stuart Pepper (b. Romford, Essex, 8 February 1910, d. Truro, Cornwall, 13 September 1988) wrote for story papers and comics for many years, under his own name and the pseudonym Hal Wilton.
He started out as an office boy working for Arthur Mee on The Children's Newspaper and The Children's Encyclopedia from 1926 to 1931. By 1930 he was freelancing articles for other papers, and soon after that started writing fiction serials, including the weekly adventures of twins "Bill and Jill" for The Children's Newspaper. Other serials he created include "Rockfist Rogan", an RAF pilot and champion boxer (1938-60), and football star "Danny of the Dazzlers", both for The Champion, and "Peter Farrell" for Triumph.
In comics, he co-created space hero "Captain Condor", with artist Ronald Forbes, for Lion in 1952, and football hero "Roy of the Rovers", with Joe Colquhoun, for Tiger in 1953, but only wrote the first four episodes. After that, Colquhoun wrote it, under the name Stewart Colwyn, from Pepper's outline.
Comics bibliography[]
- "Captain Condor", drawn by Ronald Forbes, Brian Lewis, Keith Watson, John Gillat, Lion, 1952-
- "Roy of the Rovers", drawn by Joe Colquhoun, Tiger, 1953
- Sgt. Ron Noble in "The Great Invasion Mystery", drawn by Terry Patrick, Lion, 1955
- "Secret Mission to Norway", Lion, 1955-56
- "Gunsmoke Smith, Lion, 1956-57
- "Olac the Gladiator", with Don Lawrence, for Tiger, 1959-1960
- "Jet Ace Logan" for Tiger, 1959-
- "The Day the World Drowned", Valiant, 1968-69
- Episodes "The Spellbinder" in Lion, 1969-74
- "The Steel Commando", drawn by Alex Henderson, Thunder, Lion, Valiant 1971-74
- "The Jigsaw Journey", drawn by Massimo Belardinelli, Thunder, 1971-
- "Zip Nolan", Valiant, 1972-76
- "Noah's Ark", drawn by Sam Fair, Lion, 1972-73
- "The Flying Fortress", drawn by Giorgio Trevisari, Lion, 1973
- "The Team Terry Kept in a Box", drawn by Mike White, Lion, 1973-74
- "Sark the Sleeper", drawn by José Muñoz, Lion, 1973-74
References[]
- Steve Holland, "Look and Learn: a History of the Classic Children's Magazine", 2006
- Andrew Darlington, "Captain Condor: Space Hero in Search of an Artist", The Mentor 84, October 1994