Biggles
| Fandom | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Biggles |
| Abbreviation(s): | |
| Creator: | Captain W.E. Johns |
| Date(s): | 1932-1970 (but see below) |
| Medium: | Books, Radio, TV, Comics, Film, Computer Game |
| Country of Origin: | United Kingdom |
| External Links: | Wikipedia |
| Click here for related articles on Fanlore. | |
Biggles is a pilot, the titular hero of a series of nearly a hundred novels and short story collections for boys by Captain W.E. Johns (1893-1968),[1] beginning with The Camels Are Coming (1932) and ending with Biggles Sees Too Much (1970). Two subsequent books, Biggles Does Some Homework (1997) and Biggles Air Ace: The Uncollected Stories (1999) were respectively an unfinished novel published in that state in a limited edition, and short stories published much earlier that had been omitted from earlier collections. There were also an Australian radio series The Air Adventures Of Biggles (1949-1954); a British 44-episode TV series (1960); numerous comics; and a film, Biggles: Adventures in Time (1986), generally felt to be unfaithful to its source material, with a computer game based on it.
Canon
Early stories feature James Bigglesworth (nicknamed "Biggles") as a teenager in the First World War. Having lied about his age, he enlists in the Royal Flying Corps at the age of 17 and is assigned to a fighter squadron, where he quickly becomes a flying ace and flight leader. He also often takes part in intelligence missions, such as flying spies behind enemy lines. The regular supporting cast in the WWI stories includes the squadron commander, Major Mullen, and the other flight leaders, Mahoney and MacLaren; but, except for Biggles' wingman and cousin, Algernon ('Algy') Lacey, other pilots tend to be killed or otherwise leave the series fairly quickly. Another long-term character is Major Raymond (later Colonel, then Wing Commander and ultimately Air Commander after the formation of the Royal Air Force), who is Biggles' mentor and often responsible for his intelligence missions. This period also introduces the German intelligence officer Erich von Stalhein, who reappears as a recurring antagonist through to the Cold War era.
Between the wars, Biggles continues to work with Algy, along with their mechanic, Flight Sergeant Smyth. Besides operating an amphibious aircraft for charter flights around the world, they are often recruited by Major Raymond for British Secret Service operations. An early addition to the team is Ginger Hebblethwaite, a teenager who acts as sidekick in subsequent stories.
In World War Two, Biggles commands 666 Squadron, a "special duties" fighter unit that serves around the world in a variety of roles. As usual Algy and Ginger accompany him. The cast is rounded out with the rest of the pilots in the squadron, many of whom are stereotypes, either for regions in the UK or Allied nationalities. One of these, Lord Bertram 'Bertie' Lissie, becomes a new member of the core team.
Post WW2 Raymond recruits Biggles and his friends to a new Scotland Yard department, the Special Air Police, which investigates crimes involving aircraft and again is often assigned to intelligence missions. These frequently pit them against Erich von Stalhein, now usually working with the East German secret police. Eventually he falls foul of his employers; and, after Biggles rescues him from prison in the Soviet Union, they end as friends. The team is still with the Special Air Police in the last books of the series.
Because of their nature and period, and because they were often edited to conform to "boy's adventure story" expectations, these books contained period racism and to an extent sexism, though Johns was considerably better in this respect than many other authors; in particular, he also wrote the Worrals series about a female WW2 pilot.
Fandom
Like many series intended for boys, these books mostly have an all-male cast (occasional female romantic interests appear but never last) and it has long been open to slash interpretations; interpretations reinforced by several references to the series in Monty Python's Flying Circus.
Much of the fanfiction posted on Fanfiction.net is gen, with a considerable percentage being novella-length casefic similar to canon. On LJ and AO3, on the other hand, slash predominates. The most common pairing has historically been Biggles/Algy, but Biggles/von Stalhein and Algy/Ginger are also popular. The most common het pairing is Biggles/Marie Janis.
Fanworks
Communities
- https://bigglesforum.net/
- https://biggles-slash.livejournal.com/
- https://bigglesevents.dreamwidth.org/
Archives
- Biggles Series - W.E. Johns on AO3
- Biggles stories (search for Biggles stories on Fanfiction.net)
- Finished Fics on The Biggles Forum
Resources
- The Biggles Information Web Site
- Biggles Wiki
- Biggles Flies Uncensored: More Whisky, Less Jingoism; article about editorial censorship of the Biggles books.
- Captain W.E. Johns en français (archived, French site)
References
- ^ Johns was a prolific author of more than 160 books, most of them about the armed forces. The main series were Biggles; the "Steeley" books (1936–1939), a World War 1 pilot turned crime-fighter; "Worrals" (1941–1950), the adventures of a female pilot in WW2; "Gimlet" (1943–1954), commando adventures, and the "'Tiger' Clinton" books (1954–1963), science fiction with a background in part derived from flying saucer literature. There were occasional canon crossovers between the Biggles, Worrals, and Gimlet series, mostly in the short stories.