Alf Tupper

Alf Tupper is a British comic strip, created by Bill Blaine (probably a pseudonym for William Blaine, head of DC Thomson comics), written by Gilbert Lawford Dalton. It stars a working class, "hard as nails" runner, whose adventures appeared in The Rover from 1949 and then The Victor, British boys' comics from D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd. His adventures appeared over almost a 40-year period, until 1992, under the title The Tough of the Track. Many artists have written and drawn his stories, including Pete Sutherland, during his run in The Victor.

In April 2014 Alf Tupper was set to return in a monthly one page comic strip which will feature in the international athletics magazine Athletics Weekly.

Alf Tupper's storyline and character

Whatever his job and wherever it was located, Alf was the eternal underdog. Regarded as a "guttersnipe" by the posh blokes from the Amateur Athletic Association, he was at his best the day after a night on late shift, lifting heavy objects and getting little sleep. His journey to the track (often White City) almost invariably involved falling asleep on the train and missing his stop.