Tom Brown (character) boy, and falls afoul of the school bully, Flashman. Over the course of the novel, Brown changes from a timid boy to a brave young man who has overcome his initial fear of Flashman and his ilk. In the 2005 television adaption, he was played by Alex Pettyfer. In the sequel novel, "Tom Brown at Oxford", Brown is now attending Oxford University as his adventures continue, albeit without Scud East, who has since joined the army. Tom Brown later appears in the historical novel "Flashman's Lady" (1977) by George MacDonald Fraser, in which he is reunited with his former rival,
Tom Thug Tom at school, the strip underwent a title change to Tom Thug's Skooldayz (a spoof in name only of "Tom Brown's Schooldays"). There, Tom Thug continued to run until December 1999 ("Buster"'s final issue), although the last couple of years were reprints of earlier stories due to budget cutbacks by the publisher. However, during its run, "Tom Thug" had become one of the comic's most popular strips and even replaced the lead character "Buster" on the cover on occasion. In the final issue of the comic at the beginning of 2000 in a segment written and drawn by Jack Oliver,