The Seekers (comics)

The Seekers is a British comic strip drawn by John M. Burns, written by Les Lilley, succeeded by Phillip Douglas and Dick O'Neil. The strip ran from 1966 to 1971 in The Daily Sketch.

Synopsis

The main characters, Susanne Dove and Jacob Benedick, are two preferred secret agents employed by Una Frost, director of "The Seekers", an elite agency of missing persons retrieval. Their investigations frequently lead to adventures connected to the sex industry, exploiting the attractiveness of both detectives, and usually leading to the downfall of sexual predators and oppressors.[1]

Publication history

The Seekers began publication on 2 May 1966 in The Daily Sketch.[1][2] The concept of the strip bears some resemblance to another strip Burns later drew for a brief period, Modesty Blaise. The female characters were consistently drawn in an enticing manner, indicating Burns' evident intent to challenge the limits of the daily British newspaper strip conventions of the times.[1] The initial writer Les Lilley was succeeded by Phillip Douglas starting with episode 14, The Missing Golfers, occasionally aided by Dick O'Neil, who wrote one story, The Curse of the One-Eyed Sailor.

The strip ended on 10 May 1971, abandoned due to its lack of lasting success.[1] It enjoyed some popularity in Italy where it was known as I Segugi, and the Scandinavian countries, serialised as Spårhundarna in Sweden, Sporhundene in Norway and Denmark, and Vainukoirat in Finland, and as Tragači it was serialized in Yugoslavia in at least three different magazines during the 1970s and 1980s. The name, Seekers, translates to Bloodhounds in Swedish, Norwegian, Danish and Finnish publications of the strip.

Story list

Exposition panels from the first story, The Boneyard Club (1966)
№ Title Author Strips
 1 The Boneyard Club Les Lilley M103–M180
 2 The Missing Groom M181–M252
 3 Red Elibank M253–N12
 4 The Bookman Vanishes N13–N84
 5 The Collection N85–N155
 6 The Irish Caper N156–N233
 7 Jamaican Joyride N234–N309, P1-P2
 8 John Silver P3–P83
 9 The Highest Bidder P84–P169
10  The Missing Star P170–P254
11 Lost Monastery P255–P278, Q1-Q60
12 The Off-Beat Case Q61–Q120
13 Art Theft Q121–Q198
14 The Missing Golfers Phillip
Douglas		 Q199–Q276
15 A Matter of Life and Death Q277–Q309, R1-R45
16 Where’s Una? R46–R117
17 The Man Who Died Twice R118–R178
18 The Boy With the Golden Boots R179–R239
19 Hoop of Fire R240–R305, T1-T8
20 The Day the Birds Dropped Dead T9–T68
21 The Curse of the One-Eyed Sailor  Dick O'Neil  T69–T107
22 Title missing Phillip
Douglas		 T109–T125
23 Wheels of Fate T126–T185
24 The Tracy Madison Affair T186–T245
25 Goddess of the Seven Moons T246–T317
26 Legs on Broadway T318–T365
27 Dead Girls Tell T366–T413

Sources

Footnotes
  1. ^ a b c d Filippini, Henri (1997). Encyclopédie de la bande dessinée érotique (in French). La Musardine. p. 73. ISBN 2-84271-082-7.
  2. ^ Lambiek Comiclopedia. "John M. Burns".