Roger Harris Presents

In due course, this web page will display the covers of all 610 issues of “The Modern Boy” – At present the site is

Displaying 540 issues and Missing 70 issues

ISSUES 1 – 50	ISSUES 50 – 100	ISSUES 100 – 150	ISSUES 150 – 200	ISSUES 200 – 250
From 11^th Feb 1928 to 19^thJan 1929 (Missing 12 issues)	From 19^th Jan 1929 to 4^th Jan 1930 (Missing 18 issues)	From 4^th Jan 1930 to 20^th Dec 1930 (Missing no issues)	From 20^th Dec 1930 to 5^th Dec 1931 (Missing 10 issues)	From 5^th Dec 1931 to 19^th Nov 1932 (Missing 14 issues)
ISSUES 250 – 300	ISSUES 300 – 350	ISSUES 350 – 400	ISSUES 400 – 450	ISSUES 450 – 500
From 19^th Nov 1932 to 4^th Nov 1933 (Missing no issues)	From 4^th Nov 1933 to 20^th Oct 1934 (Missing no issues)	From 20^th Oct 1934 to 5^th Oct 1935 (Missing 3 issues)	From 5^th Oct 1935 to 19^th Sep 1936 (Missing 2 issues)	From 19^th Sep 1936 to 4^th Sep 1937 (Missing 2 issues)

Issue 324

ISSUES 500 – 523 From 4^th Sep 1937 to 12^th Feb 1938 (Missing 4 issues) Issues 1 – 87 (of the “NEW” series) From 19^th Feb 1938 to 14^th Oct 1939 (Missing 5 issues) Now with newer and better magazine images! Click here to see my spares – available to sell or to swap – e-mail me with your wants

Issue 356

First launched on 11^th February 1928 and always costing just 2d - two old pence (click here for information about issues costing 4d!) - the magazine ran initially for 523 weekly issues until 12^th February 1938. The following week, 19^th February 1938 it was re-launched in a new size and this new “Modern Boy” was re-numbered from issue one again. It ran until issue 87 was published on 14^th October 1939. Production then ceased due to wartime paper shortages.

The beauty of “The Modern Boy” to W. E. Johns fans is the amount of work he did for it.

Initially submitting artwork – Johns first painted the cover for the 21^st December 1929 issue – issue 98.

His first signed article was published in the 6^th December 1930 issue (called ‘The Plane Smashers’) – in issue 148

- but it is believed that he wrote articles prior to that as “Our Air Expert”.

He then contributed various articles until issue 257 when his “Biggles” stories commenced publication in serialised form. Firstly, all the individual stories from ‘The Camels are Coming’ until eventually his new books were first published in “The Modern Boy” in episodic format. The true first editions!

It is very interesting to note the changes in the text on publication in book form.

The Modern Boy was also the place where new and original Biggles stories were published, later collected in the two “Boy’s Friend Library” books –

BIGGLES LEARNS TO FLY and BIGGLES IN FRANCE. All five of the original John Hamilton first published Biggles books were serialised in the Modern Boy

and then the first twelve Oxford published Biggles books - up to ‘Biggles – Secret Agent’

(published in ‘The Modern Boy’ as “Castle Sinister” - a number of these story titles were changed as books).

I have been collecting issues of Modern Boy for some time in order to build this site and I am adding issues all the time.

If you have any issues of “The Modern Boy” you are interested in selling – contact me at

rogerharris@biggles.info

Thanks!

MODERN BOY ANNUALS RAN FROM 1931 TO 1941 INCLUSIVE – Here are the covers of all except the last

1931	1932	1933	1934	1935
1936	1937	1938	1939	1940

VISIT MY W.E. JOHNS WEB SITES AT

www.wejohns.com

www.biggles.com

www.popularflying.com

Acknowledgments to “W.E. Johns & Modern Boy – An Index” published in 1994

By Norman Wright – which inspired me to collect “The Modern Boy”

THIS WEB SITE WAS BUILT DURING APRIL, MAY AND JUNE 2010 AND COMPLETED ON 21^st JUNE 2010 – THE 42^nd ANNIVERSARY OF THE DEATH OF W.E. JOHNS

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