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.

Publication history

The Seekers began publication on 2 May 1966 in The Daily Sketch. 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. 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. It enjoyed some popularity in Italy where it was known as I Segugi, and the Scandinavian countries, serialised as Spårhundarna in Sweden and Sporhundene in Norway and Denmark.

Story list

TitleAuthorStrips
1The Boneyard ClubLes LilleyM103–M180
2The Missing GroomLes LilleyM181–M252
3Red ElibankLes LilleyM253–N12
4The Bookman VanishesLes LilleyN13–N64
5The CollectionLes LilleyN85–N155
6The Irish CaperLes LilleyN156–N233
7Jamaican JoyrideLes LilleyN234–P2
8John SilverLes LilleyP3–P83
9The Highest BidderLes LilleyP84–P169
10 The Missing StarLes LilleyP170–P254
11Lost MonasteryLes LilleyP255–Q60
12The Off-Beat CaseLes LilleyQ61–Q120
13Art TheftLes LilleyQ121–Q198
14The Missing GolfersPhillip
Douglas
Q199–Q276
15A Matter of Life and DeathPhillip
Douglas
Q277–R45
16Where’s Una?Phillip
Douglas
R46–R117
17The Man Who Died TwicePhillip
Douglas
R118–R178
18The Boy With the Golden BootsPhillip
Douglas
R179–R239
19Hoop of FirePhillip
Douglas
R240–T8
20The Day the Birds Dropped DeadPhillip
Douglas
T9–T68
21The Curse of the One-Eyed Sailor Dick O'Neil T69–T107
22Title missingPhillip
Douglas
T109–T125
23Wheels of FatePhillip
Douglas
T126–T185
24The Tracy Madison AffairPhillip
Douglas
T186–T245
25Goddess of the Seven MoonsPhillip
Douglas
T246–T317
26Legs on BroadwayPhillip
Douglas
T318–T365
27Dead Girls TellPhillip
Douglas
T366–T413