Thunderbolt and Smokey!
Encyclopedia
Thunderbolt and Smokey! was a photographic comic series published in the British
comic book
Eagle
, from issue
1 (dated March 27, 1982) until issue 27 (dated September 25, 1983). It was written by Tom Tully
, with photography by John Powell. The uncredited actors in the leading roles were Richard Cray (Thunderbolt) and Ian Green (Smokey), and the strip was largely shot at the Magna Carta School in Egham Hythe
, Surrey
.
for their school, Dedfield School. The previous team had been withdrawn by the school's games master, Mr. Ferris, after a string of disastrous losses, earning the school the nickname "Dead-loss".
As one of Eagle's early photographic strips, Thunderbolt and Smokey! achieved levels of realism rarely seen in drawn strips, in that most of the football action shots were taken either during real 15-minute matches or dedicated set plays, both against pupils attending the school where the strip was shot.
With the help of their friend "Wimpey" Jones, they assembled a team from the school's naturally gifted pupils, and used tactics such as playing in front of the headmaster to win support. Apart from other teams, their main obstacles proved to be Mr. Ferris, who was surprisingly uncooperative for a teacher of physical education
, and various bullies from Dedfield, including Brian "Jaws" Jenner.
The strip largely stuck to the stock formula
of football-related boy's fiction - that of a makeshift team of amateur
s narrowly winning match after match against more experienced teams (and in this strip's case, teams of older boys) by a combination of luck and raw talent. By the strip's end, Dedfield had reached the final of the Collyer cup. However, over-confidence proved to be their undoing, and they narrowly lost. The strip ended with Mr. Ferris congratulating Thunderbolt and Smokey on reversing Dedfield's reputation, something that he had tried to do and failed.
West Ham United goalkeeper Phil Parkes
guested in one issue. Dedfield's goalkeeper Johnny Stringer had been beaten up by Jenner and was unable to play in the semi-final due to a shoulder injury, so Dexter had to play in goal, being the only player in the team to have played in goal before. Dexter's father had a friend who knew Parkes and organized a day of training with him at West Ham's training ground. The training paid off and Dedfield won the semi-final despite sabotage efforts from Jenner.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
comic book
Comic book
A comic book or comicbook is a magazine made up of comics, narrative artwork in the form of separate panels that represent individual scenes, often accompanied by dialog as well as including...
Eagle
Eagle (comic)
Eagle was a seminal British children's comic, first published from 1950 to 1969, and then in a relaunched format from 1982 to 1994. It was founded by Marcus Morris, an Anglican vicar from Lancashire. Morris edited a parish magazine called The Anvil, but felt that the church was not communicating...
, from issue
Issue
Issue may refer to:* Issue , a monthly Korean comics anthology magazine* Issues, a Jewish magazine published by the American Council for Judaism* Issue , a unit of work to accomplish an improvement in a data system...
1 (dated March 27, 1982) until issue 27 (dated September 25, 1983). It was written by Tom Tully
Tom Tully (comic writer)
Tom Tully is a noted British comic writer mostly of sports and action stories. He is probably most famous as the longest-running writer of the popular football-themed strip Roy of the Rovers, which he wrote for much of Roy Race's playing career until the weekly comic closed in 1993.-Biography:From...
, with photography by John Powell. The uncredited actors in the leading roles were Richard Cray (Thunderbolt) and Ian Green (Smokey), and the strip was largely shot at the Magna Carta School in Egham Hythe
Egham Hythe
Egham Hythe is a place between Egham and Staines in Surrey, England, extending south of the River Thames towards Thorpe Lea , and includes the area surrounding Pooley Green...
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
.
Plot
The strip followed the attempts of two pupils, Colin "Thunderbolt" Dexter and Leo "Smokey" Beckles, to create an effective under-14s football teamFootball team
A football team is the collective name given to a group of players selected together in the various team sports known as football.Such teams could be selected to play in an against an opposing team, to represent a football club, group, state or nation, an All-star team or even selected as a...
for their school, Dedfield School. The previous team had been withdrawn by the school's games master, Mr. Ferris, after a string of disastrous losses, earning the school the nickname "Dead-loss".
As one of Eagle's early photographic strips, Thunderbolt and Smokey! achieved levels of realism rarely seen in drawn strips, in that most of the football action shots were taken either during real 15-minute matches or dedicated set plays, both against pupils attending the school where the strip was shot.
With the help of their friend "Wimpey" Jones, they assembled a team from the school's naturally gifted pupils, and used tactics such as playing in front of the headmaster to win support. Apart from other teams, their main obstacles proved to be Mr. Ferris, who was surprisingly uncooperative for a teacher of physical education
Physical education
Physical education or gymnastics is a course taken during primary and secondary education that encourages psychomotor learning in a play or movement exploration setting....
, and various bullies from Dedfield, including Brian "Jaws" Jenner.
The strip largely stuck to the stock formula
Stereotype
A stereotype is a popular belief about specific social groups or types of individuals. The concepts of "stereotype" and "prejudice" are often confused with many other different meanings...
of football-related boy's fiction - that of a makeshift team of amateur
Amateur
An amateur is generally considered a person attached to a particular pursuit, study, or science, without pay and often without formal training....
s narrowly winning match after match against more experienced teams (and in this strip's case, teams of older boys) by a combination of luck and raw talent. By the strip's end, Dedfield had reached the final of the Collyer cup. However, over-confidence proved to be their undoing, and they narrowly lost. The strip ended with Mr. Ferris congratulating Thunderbolt and Smokey on reversing Dedfield's reputation, something that he had tried to do and failed.
West Ham United goalkeeper Phil Parkes
Phil Parkes
Philip Benjamin Neil Frederick "Phil" Parkes is a former football goalkeeper.He was a pupil at Dormston School from September 1961 to December 1965....
guested in one issue. Dedfield's goalkeeper Johnny Stringer had been beaten up by Jenner and was unable to play in the semi-final due to a shoulder injury, so Dexter had to play in goal, being the only player in the team to have played in goal before. Dexter's father had a friend who knew Parkes and organized a day of training with him at West Ham's training ground. The training paid off and Dedfield won the semi-final despite sabotage efforts from Jenner.