Today's letter for the A-Z Challenge is S for Sexton Blake. Like many pieces of literature, sometimes the characters outlast the stories. Take Sherlock Holmes for instance, there have been countless detective stories created from his original character. He's been a household name for over a century, but he's not the only one from this era. Like Sherlock Holmes, Sexton Blake was a famous fictional detective and he was created during the penny dreadful Victorian era. Sexton Blake was extremely popular and since then, his character has also been reinvented in numerous works.
"About Sexton Blake"
Sexton Blake first appeared in the Half Penny Marvel in 1983, a publication created by Alfred Harmsworth. The character detective was dubbed the "poor man's Sherlock Holmes" and grew so wildly popular that the character grew into a veritable comic icon. There were thousands of versions stemming from the original which continued well into the 1970's. Beside penny dreadfuls, he appeared in dime novels, slicks, novels, movies, plays, radio shows, TV shows, and comic books. The first penny dreadful was called "The Missing Millionaire" and was written by Harry Blyth. If you're interested in learning more about this fictional character, visit ReoCities and the ComicVine. Unfortunately, there were no original copies of the penny dreadful version. There were, however, dozens of authored variations about this character on Amazon.
Are you familiar with this English legend? I had heard of him, but never knew he was so popular or that he originated from the penny dreadful era.
Mina Burrows
