One Page Thrillers (mostly)

Stories from The Victor

PAGE NOW UPDATED - DECEMBER 2020

Please refer to The Victor index for a complete listing of these stories.

Writer:- The Victor editorial team. Artist:- Jim Bleach (mainly); Ted Rawlings; Alonso and other unknown artists.

Main cast:- none. This is an anthology series of quick fire stories.

Time periods:- various.

I've always been fascinated by short stories since I first encountered them at school. There is nowhere to hide in a short story. A writer has to get into the meat of the tale, quickly and with brevity. Only a few characters are required, with a single storyline. Quite a challenge.

But what are the challenges for a creator comic team producing a one page thriller? Space is obviously a problem. The tale has to be told in eight or nine panels. But 'if a picture paints a thousand words' (as the song's lyrics goes), then the writer as far as the words on the page are concerned can dispense with setting the scene. For example, location, appearance of characters, clothes, scenery and so on. Leaving that to the artist to create from the writers notes.

The writer can then concentrate on the plot, introducing a few characters quickly, create a situation and resolve it, with preferably a twist in the final panel. The artist meanwhile, has to make the story visually entertaining. Quite a tall order and as mentioned at the beginning, a challenge. The stories below, show how telling a one page thriller should be done.

The following one page thrillers are from issues 1288; 1299; 1303; 1307; 1319; 1335; 1337; 1342; 1349; 1389; 1398; 1402; 1393; 1397; 1425; 1654; 1655; 1656.

***Please note that I am using a standard thumbnail image for all the full size pictures on this page. This is purely being done to save myself sometime.***

Artist Bleach. © D.C. Thomson Co. Ltd
Issue 1288
Issue 1299
Issue1303
Issue 1307 Artist Ted Rawlings. © D.C. Thomson Co. Ltd
Issue 1319

Artist Ted Rawlings. © D.C. Thomson Co. Ltd
Issue 1335 Artist Alonso. © D.C. Thomson Co. Ltd
Issue 1337 Artist not known. © D.C. Thomson Co. Ltd
Issue 1342
Issue 1349

Below are a few longer stand alone stories from the Victor comic.

And finally one of my favourite complete short stories from The Victor, issue 1425. The script is a bit stilted in places, but you get the idea.