Fleetway published this weekly boys’ adventure comic for 711 issues from October 1962 to October 1976.
During that time, it absorbed Knock-Out (1963), Smash! (1971), TV21(1972), Lion (1974) and Vulcan (1976), before merging into Battle Picture Weekly in October 1976.
Valiant was a classic example of a sampler comic, designed to include a wide range of genres so as to have a broad appeal: a comic containing a football strip, a war story, some science fiction, a western, and a story set at a boys’ boarding school would have something for everyone.
Popular strips included:
Adam Eterno – a time traveller who was thousands of years old and could only be slain if he was “struck a fatal blow by a weapon made of gold”. Originally appeared in Lion
Billy Bunter
Captain Hurricane – a massive ex-sea skipper who became a Captain in the Royal Marines during WWII, and who could be provoked into berserker rages which gave him great strength. He was accompanied by a diminutive companion called Maggot Malone
Danny Doom – the assistant of a 13th-century alchemist who was transported to the 1970s after a lab accident
Death Wish
The House of Dolmann – a master puppeteer called Eric Dolmann constructed a small army of remote-controlled puppets to help him in his fight against crime
Janus Stark – tales of a Victorian-era escapologist, inherited from Smash!
Jason Hyde – a text-only story about a character whose eyes emitted blue rays that allowed him to see through things and read minds
Kelly’s Eye – adventurer Tim Kelly wore a jewel called the Eye of Zoltec (obtained from a Mayan idol) around his neck, which protected him from all harm, making him invulnerable
The Last Boy in the World
The Lurking Menace
The Midgets of Migas
The Mystery of Fulgor
Mytek the Mighty – a giant solar-powered robot ape who started out as a villain in the hands of a criminal, but eventually became a hero who battled other robots and giant creatures
The Steel Claw – Louis Crandell had the power of invisibility and the capability to electrocute his enemies, due to his steel claw and his body’s ability to store electric current
Stryker
Wee Red
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