A strip from The Victor

A work in progess page. Last updated February 2012.

The Red Macgregor and his friends enjoying one of their very few quiet moments. Artwork by Ted Rawlings.

See The Victor -

Red MacGregor, The (series character; Scottish outlaw; artist Rawlings; featuring various friends in different series - see notes below).

Note - character appeared in picture and text stories).
S1969, col. first page only (featuring Laughing John, Hal O'Heath); S1970, col. (featuring Laughing John, Hal O'Heath); 1971.
Text Stories (published in the Victor).
104 - 111 (text; searching for eight swords; artist not known).
398 - 404 (text stories about the Red MacGregor fighting against the tyrants of his time; artist not known; featuring Laughing John, Hal O'Heath who appear in issue 404 only).
Picture Stories
424 - 440? He Wears the Outlaw Tartan (featuring Laughing John, Hal O'Heath).
491 - ? RP?
Original Red MacGregor text stories appeared in the The Wizard text comic.

Writer:- The Victor editorial team. Artist:-Ted Rawlings.

Main cast:- The Red MacGregor; Hal-O-the-Heath; Laughing John.

Time period:- early 18th century.

The Red MacGregor is his name suggests is a Scottish character with red hair, great strength and courage, who roams 18th Century Scotland righting wrongs (usually dealing with Scottish traitors or enemies of the MacGregor clan) or more usually on the run from the English Redcoats. His war cry of Gregalach!, Gregalach!, was shouted out just before his charge into a fight. Macgregor maintained that this was the war cry of the Macgregors (although whether this is true or not I don't know).

Though he was an outlaw, some English Redcoats regarded him as an honourable man. His adventures appeared as text (The Rover and Wizard comic) and picture stories. There was even one occasion where a text and picture series entitled, The Seven Dirks was re-printed with the original hero replaced by The Red MacGregor.

MacGregor's two friends who appeared with him for one picture series and roamed around Scotland with him were the Englishman Hal-O-The-Heath and Laughing John, a Frenchman.

The Red MacGregor and Laughing John meet for the first time Europe, where both men were renting out their swords as mercenaries. Each admired the other's skill with their own sword. The big, burly Scotsman using his broadsword (called Long Angus) and brute strength to slice a log in two and the Frenchman's lighter, but more flexible rapier sword (called Madelon), spearing an apple. Both men are recruited by a mysterious stranger to assist another (the Englishman, Hal-O-The-Heath) in Scotland. Thus the three friends are united in many an adventure.

The reader doesn't learn much about Laughing John, but one episode does spotlight Hal-O-The-Heath briefly, where the reader learns that the Englishman might have had a naval or sea-faring background.

The Victor series was drawn by Ted Rawlings who in my view was the best artist for these type of adventures as can be seen by the three wonderful colour front covers from the Rover and Wizard text comic. From issues (left to right) 29th January, 1966; 12th February, 1966 and 28th May, 1966.

The following adventures of the Red MacGregor are from the Wizard (text) comic issue 1326 (apologies for the slight fuzziness of the first page, this is how the image was published in the comic. The Victor issues 398 (text), 424, 426, 428, 430, 432, 433 and 438.