Sexton Blake Bibliography: 1944
Publishing: John Drummond, whose real name was John Newton Chance, arrives on the scene. He was born in 1911, the son of the man in charge of popular comics COMIC CUTS and CHIPS (among others). After writing some of the most acclaimed Sexton Blake stories of this period, he went on to publish a number of novels, one of which was made into the science fiction film THE NIGHT OF THE BIG HEAT. He died in 1983, aged 72.
KNOCK-OUT COMIC AND MAGNET · Issue 253 · 01/01/1944 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
Illustrator: Anon. (Alfred Taylor)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: In Anna Lee's secret hideaway, Hoo Sung reports to Sexton Blake that the Rolling Sphere has been repaired. Tinker sees the Japanese prisoner escaping and he and Blake set off in pursuit. The prisoner is aided by other Japanese, and the detective realises that the secret base has been discovered. Attempting to escape in the sphere, they travel along a gulch. Their enemies detonate explosives, damming the escape route and trapping the vehicle. Hoo Sung, though, seems to have something up his sleeve.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
KNOCK-OUT COMIC AND MAGNET · Issue 255 · 15/01/1944 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
Illustrator: Anon. (Alfred Taylor)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: Blake and Tinker have been captured, thanks to the Japanese Army's giant electro-magnet. The enemy commandant demands to know the location of the Rolling Sphere. When Blake refuses to answer, he and his assistant are sent out to be shot. When Hoo Sung arrives, the Rolling Sphere falls into the magnet's grip and is drawn toward the ground. Blake and Tinker attack their captors and set off toward the dynamos, intending to blow them up.
Rating: ★★★★☆
KNOCK-OUT COMIC AND MAGNET · Issue 268 · 15/04/1944 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
Illustrator: Anon. (Alfred Taylor)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: As the Japanese diver attacks Blake, Tinker disarms him. However, when more of the enemy appear, the detectives are forced to flee. After hiding in weeds, they stumble upon an underwater A. A. gun being operated by the Japanese soldiers. As it takes aim at a ship floating overhead, Blake and his assistant pounce upon the crew, overpower them, and blow up the gun. The explosion attracts more enemy troops. As they close in on the two Britishers, Blake instructs Tinker to shoot a nearby shark.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
KNOCK-OUT COMIC AND MAGNET · Issue 271 · 06/05/1944 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
Illustrator: Anon. (Alfred Taylor)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: Leading a submarine filled with commandos, Sexton Blake and Tinker, with Hoo Sung in The Rolling Sphere, travel out to the danger zone where the Japanese undersea fort has been attacking shipping. They submerge to the seabed where the commandos, Blake and Tinker don diving suits and exit the sphere. They cross to where an enemy convoy is crawling across the sand and the commandos distract the enemy trrops while Blake stows away aboard one of the Japanese transports.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
KNOCK-OUT COMIC AND MAGNET · Issue 275 · 03/06/1944 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
Illustrator: Anon. (Alfred Taylor)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: After sinking the Japanese supply ship, Sexton Blake and his friends watch as the crew swim to a waiting submarine. The Rolling Sphere attacks the vessel which then surrenders. An allied cruise ship arrives to take care of the prisoners. The Sphere dives to tackle the sea fort, which is bringing its guns to bear on the cruiser. With commandos from the British submarine, Sexton Blake leads the attack and a battle commences on the sea bed.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
KNOCK-OUT COMIC AND MAGNET · Issue 277 · 17/06/1944 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
Illustrator: Anon. (Alfred Taylor)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: The undersea fort can only be destroyed by dropping a grenade down its central air shaft. Blake suggests that Hoo Sung and The Rolling Sphere should attack from one side to create a diversion. While it does that, Blake and a small group of commandos will use ladders to scale the fort from the other side. However, when they reach it, the ladders slide from the edifice's smooth sides. The detective boards the submarine and asks its captain to take him over the fort. From there, the detective descends towards the air shaft using an underwater parachute.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
KNOCK-OUT COMIC AND MAGNET · Issue 281 · 15/07/1944 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
Illustrator: Anon. (Alfred Taylor)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: Sexton Blake lands his captured plane on the huge aircraft-carrying flying machine within the cloud. He is captured and shown around. The machine is held aloft by giant gas bags. A powerful magnet pulls planes down onto the craft's deck. Blake is held captive in a cabin, where he finds a British airman; a fellow prisoner. Together, they make a bid for freedom.
Rating: ★★★☆☆
KNOCK-OUT COMIC AND MAGNET · Issue 284 · 05/08/1944 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
Illustrator: Anon. (Alfred Taylor)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: Having hurtled over the cliff, Blake and Tinker have survived the crash. Blake believes the shot that was fired at them came from Luke Rankin, who will be the next Lord Wessleton if the rightful heir isn't located. Rankin is now on his way to Wessleton Hall to search for the Golden Lion, whatever that may be. Blake and Tinker acquire a motorcycle and race to the hall. Rankin gets there first and finds that it's burning. The police and fire brigade have rescued a few items, including a foot-high gold statuette of a lion.
Rating: ★★★★☆
KNOCK-OUT COMIC AND MAGNET · Issue 290 · 16/09/1944 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
Illustrator: Anon. (Alfred Taylor)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: Having thrown the golden lion into the river, Luke Rankin believes that his claim to the title and estates of Lord Wessleton are secure. He heads for Gibraltar, unaware that a peasant boy recovered the artefact. Blake discovers that it was sold to an antique dealer, Barnasch, who is also heading for Gibraltar. When Rankin meets this man, he pays him to delay the detective. Blake and Tinker thus find themselves attacked by a band of deserados.
Rating: ★★★★☆
KNOCK-OUT COMIC AND MAGNET · Issue 292 · 30/09/1944 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
Illustrator: Anon. (Alfred Taylor)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: Thanks to an opportune meeting with Group-Captain Henderson, Blake and Tinker are able to race Luke Rankin to Benzaquen's antique shop in Tangier. Rankin arrives first only to find that Benzaquen is out. He leaves instructions with the man's son to keep the golden lion for him. Later, when Blake arrives, Benzaquen is present and confesses that he has sold the lion to the Kaid of Kelelin, who has a deep hatred of white men. the detectives go to Kelelin, nevertheless, but are told in no uncertain terms that the Kaid will not sell the lion to them. With their lives threatened, they make a rapid exit.
Rating: ★★★★☆
KNOCK-OUT COMIC AND MAGNET · Issue 293 · 07/10/1944 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
Illustrator: Anon. (Alfred Taylor)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: Fleeing from the Kaid of Kelelin, Blake and Tinker head to Tetuan to see the Basha, the sultan's representative. The Basha gathers a small army to help the detective. Meanwhile, Rankin cosults an Arab sorcerer and is advised to seek out the Kaid's brother, Achmed, at the French embassy. He does, and the latter agrees, after a hefty payment, to help him. He takes Rankin to the Kaid, who is hiding from the Basha's soldiers. Unfortunately for him, the soldier swoop, accompanied by Blake and Tinker.
Rating: ★★★★☆
KNOCK-OUT COMIC AND MAGNET · Issue 295 · 21/10/1944 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
Illustrator: Anon. (Alfred Taylor)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: Luke Rankin seeks Mr. Howard, the wife of a tea-planter at Ulapane, Ceylon. He takes a train to the town and is then introduced to Rawana, a native who was once Howard's foreman. Having been dismissed for drunkeness, Rawana now hates his former employer. Rankin offers him a hundred rupees if he'll help steal the golden lion statuette. Rawana agrees and assists the villain as he proceeds to break into the Howard house while they are away. Meanwhile, Sexton Blake has survived Rankin's murder attempt and is on his way to Ulapane.
Rating: ★★★★☆
KNOCK-OUT COMIC AND MAGNET · Issue 299 · 18/11/1944 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
Illustrator: Anon. (Alfred Taylor)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: In Sydney, Sexton Blake rushes to the offices of the Sinclair Detective Agency to discover the whereabouts of Richard Seymour, the missing heir. A lorry smashes into his car — a desperate attempt to stop him. It fails, and Blake enters the agency only to discover that his rival, Lukin Rankin, has already been there and learned that Seymour was last seen on the Garoo Downs, 300 miles away. Rankin has departed on a track repair train — and Blake is told that this is the only train going there! He commissions a special and steams off in pursuit, hoping to stop the villain from murdering Seymour ... but Rankin switches the points on the track, causing Blake's train to derail!
Rating: ★★★☆☆
KNOCK-OUT COMIC AND MAGNET · Issue 300 · 25/11/1944 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
Illustrator: Anon. (Alfred Taylor)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: Blake and Tinker hire horses and continue onward, taking a shortcut in order to arrive at Garoo Downs ahead of Rankin. However, en route, they encounter a group of ruffians who are about to flog a black boy named Dargan. After riding to the rescue, Blake is overpowered but Tinker and the boy escape and go to fetch help. The villains, led by Black Pete, set out to torture the detective but Dargan downs Pete with a boomerang before his tribe then arrives to drive the rest of the thugs away.
Rating: ★★★★☆
KNOCK-OUT COMIC AND MAGNET · Issue 301 · 02/12/1944 · Amalgamated Press · 3d
Illustrator: Anon. (Alfred Taylor)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: Blake and Tinker ride on, leaving their new friend, Dargan, with his tribe. They see Luke Rankin riding ahead of them. The crook, discovering that he's being followed, sets fire to the tinder-dry grass. The detectives try to ride through it but Tinker's horse shies and the young 'un is thrown to the ground.
Rating: ★★★★☆
KNOCK-OUT FUN BOOK 1944 · Date unknown · Amalgamated Press · 7/6
Illustrator: Anon. (Alfred Taylor)
Other content: Various strips and text stories.
Notes: Sexton Blake and Tinker are asked to investigate a series of robberies at stores, shops and warehouses. They receive a note warning them off. It is signed by The Toad. Suddenly, nearby, a smash and grab raid occurs. An item of loot is dropped and on it Blake finds a clear set of fingerprints which turn out to belong to a well-known crook named Slim Jim. When this man is spotted with a colleague, he is arrested, though the other man runs away. Tinker shadows him but is led into a trap, knocked out and thrown into a canal. He revives in time to see the crook get away... and also notices that a nearby barge is named Toad. Later, Sexton Blake finds a clue that leads him and Tinker to Conley Castle, home of the hermit-like Lord Conley. Here they notice that lorries are arriving at the castle empty but leaving full. Chartering a plane so that he can get a bird's eye view, Blake notes that the canal runs under the castle. That afternoon, he hides aboard a barge. As it floats under the castle, part of the tunnel wall slides open and stolen property is unloaded into the building. The vessel then emerges into the open and Blake pounces, overpowering its crew before summoning the police. Meanwhile, Tinker scales the castle wall and enters through a window ... but he doesn't realise that he's been spotted. Inside, he finds Lord Conley tied up but, before he can free him, he is captured by crooks and dragged before The Toad. At that moment, Blake and the police raid the castle via the secret entrance in the tunnel and round up the gang.
Rating: ★★★★☆
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 3rd series · Issue 73 · Jun. 1944 · Amalgamated Press · 7d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: Not a Sound was Heard (article); Liver Pills and Diamonds (article).
Notes: After a drunken spree encouraged by recent acquaintance named Ted Trevett, Tom Marshall is banned from entering London's West End for two years. He discovers that this strict sentence has been arranged by his father, Digby, who appears to be withholding a secret in connection with the district. Weeks later, Tom finds a man dying from a stab wound. The man gasps his father's name and also that of Trevett. Tom runs for help but when he returns to the spot the man has vanished. Fearing that his father is in trouble, he calls Sexton Blake. In the guise of a petty criminal named "Brookie", the detective haunts the West End until he makes contact with Trevett. He befriends him and is introduced to a pick-pocket named Dol Kesney and the latter's fiance, Clare. Later, Blake meets Clare alone and learns that the two men are working up a scheme with a crooked lawyer named Jessamy. Meanwhile Tinker discovers that the knife victim was Lemuel Forster — Kesney's uncle. Mrs Forster, unaware of her husband's death, moves into the Marshall manor and seems to have a hold over Digby Marshall. Now, thanks to misinformation spread by Tinker, the criminals start to suspect each other; Stevens tries to shoot Dol but misses and kills Clare; Jessamy realises that "Brookie" is very dangerous; and Trevett just wants to get out of the game. All the parties head towards a showdown at the Marshall manor. There, Mrs. Forster has been living in comfort at Digby's expense but now has a change of heart and tells him that she will no longer use the hold she has over him and will return to her simple life. She goes to meet Stevens, the killer of her husband, and finds him hanging by the neck in a barn. Dol turns up and agrees with her that it's time to get out. He returns to London and is immediately arrested by the police for picking pockets. Blake, Mrs. Forster and Jessamy arrive at the place where Digby Marshall's secret is buried. Blake defeats Jessamy's plans and runs him out of town; Mrs. Foster atones for her sins and is left to rebuild her life; and Digby faces up to his past and comes clean.
Trivia: When Tinker uses a false identity he gives his name as James Carter. Under questioning, he insists that 'Carter' is his real name.
Rating: ★★★★★
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 3rd series · Issue 77 · Aug. 1944 · Amalgamated Press · 7d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: The Man From Italy (article)
Notes: None at present.
Trivia: According to this story, Tinker's real surname is Smith.
Unrated
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 3rd series · Issue 84 · Nov. 1944 · Amalgamated Press · 7d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: The Silk Shawl Clue (article)
Notes: This story marks the final appearance of Gilbert and Eileen Hale.
Unrated
THE SEXTON BLAKE LIBRARY · 3rd series · Issue 85 · Dec. 1944 · Amalgamated Press · 7d
Illustrator: Eric Parker
Other content: Just Asking For It (article)
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
Notes: None at present.
Unrated
