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. The name, Seekers, translates as 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

• The Seekers - Spårhundarna (in Swedish)
• John M. Burns bio FFF (in Italian)

Footnotes

1. 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".

External links

• The Seekers archives on Thrilling Adventures!