Victor Drago
This story was in TORNADO. Originally it was going to be called Sexton Blake, a private investigator who first appeared back in the 1930s. There was some problem about copyright so all the names of the characters were changed.
The original illustrator was Eric Parker, an artist whom Mike greatly admires, so he tried to have something of Parker’s style about the way he drew the stories. Mike’s personal collection includes many of Parker’s Sexton Blake stories.
‘Victor Drago and the Terror of Troll Island’ was the first Drago story, published on 24 March 1979 and set in London on a cold February morning in 1929.
Victor Drago and his Browning Pistol
Mike based Victor Drago’s classic look on the actor David Farrar, who had played Sexton Blake in two films in 1945, ‘Meet Sexton Blake!’ and ‘The Echo Murders’.
After the first epic 7-part story, Mike went on to draw the tough detective in another 5 stories, each in three parts:
VICTOR DRAGO AND THE FLASK OF DOOM
VICTOR DRAGO AND THE HORROR OF THE MUMMY'S CURSE
VICTOR DRAGO AND THE CHINA-TOWN TERROR
VICTOR DRAGO AND THE KILLER FROM GOBLIN LOCH
VICTOR DRAGO AND SCARLIP THE GANGSTER
You can see many more drawings of Victor Drago in Mike’s shop. Here’s a sneak peek: