Captain Universe

On my dig around looking for information on the newspaper strips I've been running recently, I came across a couple of examples of a science fiction strip that appeared in the Daily Herald back in 1952. Judging by the numbering (it ran in issues Monday through Saturday), it began on 28 January 1952. I've no idea how long it ran for.

The artist was Terry Maloney who, sadly, died earlier this year. The anonymous author was Herbert James Campbell, who was at that time editing the science fiction magazine Authentic Science Fiction. Bert Campbell has proven somewhat elusive despite the wealth of information I've gathered on him over the years. He was born in London on 18 November 1925... but there doesn't seem to be a record of his birth. He was the son of Arthur Colin Campbell and his wife Lily Elizabeth (nee Hope)... but I can find no record of a marriage. The earliest record I can find for him is his marriage in 1949 to Eileen H. Lane in Lambeth (and there the official records list him as Herbert T. Campbell). In the 1950s he was living at 4 Harden Street, Woolwich SE18.

I'm sure there's a simple explanation why he is proving so elusive.