The Big Palooka.

featuring Detective Sergeant (later Inspector) Jim Ransom, of Scotland Yard.

Please note this is a work in progress page. Page last updated July 2012, two new episodes added.

See The Hornet issues -

120 – 130 (2nd series; Chicago, USA; title - The Big Palooka in Chicago; featuring Serg. Sam Morgan, Captain Guthry; artist Sutherland.)
210 - ? (3rd series; London, UK; featuring Sergeant Bill Dunn; artist Sutherland.)
267 – 284 (4th series; Mexico; title - Big Palooka at the Olympics Games; featuring Sergeant Bill Dunn; artist Sutherland.)
380 – 390 (5th series; USA; title - The Big Palooka and the Killers of Kelmira; featuring Nevil Deans, District Attorney; artist Sutherland).
456 – 464 (6th series, New York ; artist Joan Giralt; featuring Detective Lew Maxi).
498 - ? (7th series; Interpol, artist?; featuring ?).
? - ? (8th series, a young Ransom during WW2, training sergeant; artist unknown)
Note also appeared in The Hotspur
Hotspur 852 – 865 (Ransom as a Commando during WW2. Note, story originally started in The Hornet issue ?).
Hotspur 905 – 913 (How Ransom became a member of SIDAP (Special Investigation Dept Allied Powers, during WW2; artist unknown).
Hotspur 968 – 978 (RP of ?)
Hotspur 988 – 1000 (WW2 Commando; artist Ripol, imitating Peter Sutherland’s work?)
Hotspur 1071 – 1084 (Spin-off series, ‘Son of the Big Palooka’; police series; artist unknown).
Hotspur annual 1986 (title - Sword of Shibo; artist not known; story set two months after end of WW2 in the Far East, fighting last pocket of Japanese troops).

Note - the Big Palooka originally appeared as text stories in the D.C. Thomson Adventure comic.

Writer:- The Hornet editorial team. Artists:- Peter Sutherland, Joan Giralt and others?

Main cast:- Inspector Jim Ransom; Sergeant Joe Rooney (New York Police Dept.); Sergeant Sam Morgan (Chicago Police Dept.); Sergeant Bill Dunn (Central London Police, England); Detective Lew Maxi, (New York Police Dept.).

Time period:- 1960's.

Palooka is an American slang word for someone who is a stupid or clumsy person. 'Because of his deceptively awkward appearance, Jim's American colleagues had nicknamed him "The Big Palooka" '. (From the introduction to issue 121). And that is how Jim Ransom is viewed by friends and enemies, who meet him for the first time. But Ransom is no palooka. He's a tough, astute and fearless, but fair policeman. And it doesn't take long for people to see the real Ransom. We meet the Scotland Yard detective for the first time while he is on attachment with the New York Police Department and he is soon involved in various dangerous cases. Fists fly, guns crash and action ensures. Read the first picture story featuring the Big Palooka below. This story is from issue 75.

The second series sees Ransom still in the U.S., but this time in the city of Chicago.

By the third series Ransom has been promoted to Detective Inspector, charged with stopping vicious American gangsters operating in London.

Never one to let the grass grow under his feet, each series sees Ransom either in a different country or city.

The following Inspector Ransom adventures are from issues 121; 210; 212; 217, 267, 269, 273, 381, 385 and 388. My apologies for the state of some of the scans below. One story is taken from a photocopy supplied by the British Library.

The Palooka stories set against the backdrop of the Olympic Games in Mexico in 1968 can be found further down this page.

The following three stories are an example of some of Ransom's adventures at the Olympic Games in Mexico.

The next three Palooka episodes are from the Killers of Kelmira series.

Before Ransom became a police officer he served in the British Army as an Army Sergeant, liaising with American troops. The three episodes below are taken from a series that started in The Hornet, but finished in The Hotspur after the former comic was merged with the latter comic. Stories from the Hotspur issues 908, 912 and 913 respectively. Artist Sutherland.

Finally, I have added the first installment of the series that starred Jim Ransom's son, Dave Ransom. This (original) series was published in The Hotspur comic, issue 1071. Artist not known.