Great Britain’s classy answer to Superman debuted in a 1943 newspaper comic strip.
“Created by Steve Dowling for Britain’s Daily Mirror, the eponymous star of Garth was a time-traveling giant of a man,” wrote Mike Conroy in 500 Great Comic Book Action Heroes. “Highly intelligent, he also had abnormal strength.
Initially, the science fantasy newspaper strip crossed the boundaries of time and space as it featured constant battles against demonic forces. It was discontinued in the late 1990s. Over the years, its contributors included Peter O’Donnell — creator and writer of Modesty Blaise — and artists Frank Bellamy and Martin Asbury. Bellamy’s 1971-1976 run is considered a high point of British strips.”
Beginning July 24, 1943, and continuing over 54 years through 165 stories, the strip featured both time travel and multiple incarnations of its protagonist. These elements anticipated Doctor Who, the BBC science fiction serial that would begin in 1963. “The amnesiac hero was frankly created as a British answer to Superman, but beyond his abnormal strength, Garth quickly evolved along more original lines (although for one story he did don a cloak to fly in the sky),” wrote Denis Gifford, noting that Garth became the longest-running newspaper serial in Britain. “The opening Garth adventure was set in a mythical Lost Horizon type of world,” recalled Philip Harbottle. “Dowling was an admirer of Milton Caniff’s Terry and the Pirates, and its mysterious Far Eastern setting.
“Lashed to a raft, after days adrift, delirious and suffering from partial amnesia, Garth is washed up on a strange shore. Here he is found by an attractive native girl, Gala, who administers the kiss of life.”After helping Gala overthrow a tyrannical high priest, Garth leaves by balloon, hoping to reach civilization and restore his memory. He was prone to accidents at sea, as it turned out. In another parallel with Superman, Garth was originally pulled from the water as a small child by an elderly couple who adopted him.
In the 1944 story The Seven Ages of Garth, readers learn that Garth can relive his past incarnations, effectively traveling through time.
“Garth’s earthbound controller through his far-ranging adventures is Professor Lumiere, the scientific genius of Carter Island,” wrote Gifford. “Garth’s keyword for a safe return during a crisis is ‘Karma.’ In 1948, en route to the Olympic Games, he found himself running in the original games in the lost land of Olympia. In 1957, an encounter with Dr. Baal and his black magic brought Garth true love in the shape of Lady Astra, who turned out to be the goddess Venus!”
And in the 1970s story Journey into Fear, readers discovered that Garth, like Superman, had extraterrestrial origins. His great-grandfather, Space Exploration Commander Wolfen of the planet Saturnis, had fallen in love with an Earth woman.
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