Johnny Red
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29 January 1977 to 17 January 1987
| "Johnny Red" | |
|---|---|
 Johnny Red on the cover of the 28 April 1986 edition of Battle, art by Carlos Pino. | |
| Publisher | IPC Magazines |
| Publication date | 29 January 1977 – 17 January 1987 |
| Genre | |
| Title(s) | Battle 29 January 1977 to 17 January 1987 |
| Main character(s) | Johnny 'Red' Redburn |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Tom Tully James Nicholas |
| Artist(s) | Joe Colquhoun John Cooper Carlos Pino |
| Editor(s) | Dave Hunt Terry Magee Richard Burton |
"Johnny Red" is a British comic war story published in the weekly anthology Battle Picture Weekly from 29 January 1977 to 17 January 1987 by IPC Magazines. Set during World War II, the story follows Johnny 'Red' Redburn, a British pilot leading the Falcon Squadron unit of the Soviet Air Forces on the Eastern Front. Written by Tom Tully and initially drawn by Joe Colquhoun, the strip was the longest-running in Battle's history, only ending in 1987 when financial constraints saw it switched to reprints.
Battle editor Dave Hunt commissioned the story as part of his attempt to balance the different services depicted in the comic, which was lacking an enduring aerial serial. He spoke to Tom Tully, an experienced and prolific writer with long stints on "The Steel Claw", "Mytek the Mighty" and "Roy of the Rovers" among his many credits, not to mention strips for Battle such as "The Team That Went To War". Tully came up with the title "Johnny Red"; Hunt would later speculate that Tully came up with good titles first before inventing a story to fit them. The pair went backwards and forwards over how to make the idea of a British pilot serving on the Eastern Front, and picked the doughty Hawker Hurricane as the character's plane of choice – a decision Garth Ennis would describe as "the perfect mount for the down-at-heel, working class Johnny Redburn". For an artist, Hunt was delighted to find that Joe Colquhoun, another veteran who also had a long history with "Roy of the Rovers", was available.[1]
At the time few comics had depicted the Eastern Front, let alone with a sympathetic view of the Soviet Union, due to the tensions of the Cold War. The initial episodes were inspired by Arthur Burr, an RAF pilot who used a Hurricat to protect an Arctic convoy before flying the fighter to a safe landing in Russia in September 1942.[2]
Publishing history
"Johnny Red" debuted in the hundredth issue of Battle Picture Weekly, cover-dated 29 January 1977 – a mini-relaunch that also saw the launch of "Joe Two Beans" and crossover "Major Eazy vs. Rat Pack".[3]
The strip soon became a fast favourite with readers, and in 1979 was the most popular in the comic. Hunt then made the risky decision of moving Colquhoun off the strip to work on Pat Mills' World War I epic "Charley's War". Instead John Cooper, who had worked on John Wagner's "One-Eyed Jack" and also "Dredger" (as well as episodes of "Judge Dredd" and "M.A.C.H. 1" for 2000 AD), took over. While briefly daunted at following Colquhoun (recalling he "had a nice style, but was a bugger for detail"), Cooper leapt at the chance and soon found a rhythm with the strip. Cooper and Tully would remain as the creative team for the next six years, and the artist would later claim "I can draw him while blindfolded. Nearly."[4]
While "Johnny Red" remained popular with readers, as the 1980s progressed sales of both Battle and comics began to decline, and new editor Terry Magee attempted to update the title, including producing a set of licensed strips based on Palitoy's Action Force toyline.[5] From September 1984 Cooper was moved across to Action Force, with Spanish artist Carlos Pino taking over on "Johnny Red". During 1986, James Nicholas would contribute occasional scripts due to Tully's large number of other commitments.[6] Nevertheless, the strip continued to be popular, and was left as one of the few new features still running after the Action Force licence moved to Marvel UK at the end of 1986. However, sales of Battle were falling fast; an ever-increasing amount of the comic was switched to reprints, and "Johnny Red" followed suit after the 17 January 1987 edition.[5] Battle itself would only last a year longer before being merged with Eagle, where the reprints of "Johnny Red" would continue until 14 October 1989.[6]
Steve MacManus, Battle's assistant editor at the time of the strip's creation and later long-time editor of 2000 AD, would later highly praise "Johnny Red", believing it to be Tully's best work. He would later recall "what impressed me about Johnny Red were the incredible scenes of the Russians as heroes".[3]
The rights to the original material in Battle were among the IPC Youth Group properties consolidated into the resurrected Fleetway Publications and sold to Persimmon BPCC Publishing on 6 July 1987, and were later purchased by Egmont Publishing.[7] From 1 April 2009, Egmont UK in conjunction with W H Smith announced 4 special reprint collections from their stable, including a collection of Battle strips.[8] Two episodes of "Johnny Red" was included in the magazine.[9]
Titan Comics
Subsequently, Titan Comics began licensing various strips from Battle and issuing them in hardback compendiums. Collected editions of "Johnny Red" proved among the most popular, and four volumes were issued between 2010 and 2016.
Avid Battle reader Garth Ennis was a fan of the character – describing it as his "favorite strip in Battle from the get-go" - and he later became a professional comics writer.[10] He included Johnny Red in his 2000 AD story "Time Flies", one episode of which started with a pastiche Battle strip before protagonist Bertie Sharp appeared and stole Johnny's Hurricane, and Ennis later commissioned a drawing of the character from Cooper.[4] In 2015, Ennis and artist Keith Burns produced a new eight-part limited series featuring the character for Titan.[10]
Rebellion Developments
Since 2016, the rights to the story have been owned by Rebellion Developments.[11][12] In June 2022, Rebellion published a hardcover Battle Action Special with new stories featuring characters from both comics, written by Ennis and with various artists, including a new "Johnny Red" story by Ennis and Burns. The strip saw the character fight another Battle aviator, Otto Skreamer.[13] Subsequently, multi-episode stories by Ennis and Burns were published in new issues of Battle Action.