Commando!!

The latest four issues of Commando (no's #4259-4262) are now on sale, including reprints of the first two of four classic Ian Kennedy issues. No. 4261 features the first Commando cover Kennedy drew, and 4262 the first complete book. Meanwhile, Desperate Despatches (in 4259) brings to a close the adventures of the Headline Heroes (created by Norman Adams and Keith Page) as the popular newsmen fight what may be their last battle (though there are already cries for their return). And Ghost Front (4260), the third of three stories based around the Battle of the Bulge, features the last contribution to Commando of the late Ricardo Garijo.

Coming on the 28th Jan are two more contributions from Ian Kennedy, plus stories from Alan Hebden and Keith Page and Sean Blair and Jose Maria Jorge.

I thought Ferret, Charles Black & co were certain to be caught in the Russo Japanese war of 1904, especially since a Japanese character in a previous story said "maybe we will meet again". Oh well.

felneymike wrote:I thought Ferret, Charles Black & co were certain to be caught in the Russo Japanese war of 1904, especially since a Japanese character in a previous story said "maybe we will meet again". Oh well.

Well, looks as though they may return yet, if there's enough support for it. They seem to have gone down rather well with the readership (I think they're great characters).

Those covers are just amazing - the best of british art has arguably appeared on the Commando covers over the years...

GBF wrote:Those covers are just amazing - the best of british art has arguably appeared on the Commando covers over the years...

And continues to do so, I'd say. Long may it continue to reign!

Of course not all of the covers or interior art is made in Britain. An Argentinian called Jose Maria Jorge is a personal favourite...

felneymike wrote:Of course not all of the covers or interior art is made in Britain. An Argentinian called Jose Maria Jorge is a personal favourite...

More of him coming up later this month...

Very sorry to hear of Garijo's passing, though. He was one of the greats.

You are correct, of course - but you know what I mean!!

The latest four issues of Commando are issues #4263-4266, and they'll be hitting newsagents shelves shortly. 'Fury Strike' by Alan Hemus and Ian Kennedy (complete with a full wraparound cover) pits a Hawker Sea Fury against a MiG15 in a dogfight with surprising results, in a story first seen in 1997. 'Jack's Private War', meanwhile, is the talented Mr Kennedy's first full outing for Commando, first seen in #813 (1974) and concerns Flight Lieutenant Jack Hammond, who declares a private war on the Nazis after learning that he has a splinter of metal in his heart which could kill him at any time (hmm, can we say 'D-Day Dawson', children? And yet, Dawson didn't appear until 1975...).

We're bang up to date with 'Blast From the Past' by Alan Hebden and Keith Page, as Lieutenant Johnny Stafford of the Royal Engineers finds himself confronted by a 25 year old cache of explosives in France in 1940, and in 'Battle Over Britain' by Sean Blair and Jose Maria Jorge, the RAF are protecting Britain's skies. More superior wartime action from the last outpost of boys adventure comics...

The latest four are out now-issues #4267-4270, and an odd assortment they are, too. 'Desert Vengeance' by Mike Knowles and Carlos Pino sees a couple of revenge seeking Aussies travelling in a British mobile canteen, while in 'Nightmare in the Forest' (art by Olivera, story by Ferg Handley, cover by Nicholas Forder) a German squad and their Russian prisoners find themselves united against a common foe somewhere on the Eastern front. 'Vampire Hunt' (art by Denis McLoughlin, story by Ian Clark)finds SAS Corporal Mike King trapped in an enemy stronghold, about to be killed by his own side as the RAF attack, and in 'Too Late for Glory' (also by Ian Clark, with art by Jose Maria Jorge and a cover by Ian Kennedy), the end of the war hasn't stopped a group of fanatical Japanese pilots from battling on! Something for everyone in that lot...

Commando #4271-4274 are currently in the shops, as I've just been reminded. 4271 reprints 'An Inch from Death' from 1992, featuring some more very nice Ricardo Garijo art and a classic Ian Kennedy cover, while 4272 reprints 'The Shadow war', also from '92, by Mike Knowles and Denis McLoughlin. 4273 and 4274 bring us bang up to date with new stories 'The Raven and the Renegade' by Ferg Handley and John Ridgway, and 'Rifleman from Rio' by Alan Hebden with art provided by a welcome returnee to Commando's pages, Mike White.

Another four issues of Commando are launching into action this week, #4279-4282 (don't ask me what happened to #4275-4278; I suspect an email went adrift). Our reprinted stories this time around are 'Too Many Heroes' in #4279, previously from issue #2590 (1992) and 'Plum's War' (issue #4280) which was first seen in #2546 in 1990 (the story of the devious, decidedly un-officer like Captain Albert 'Plum' Duff is an old favourite of mine, in fact!). Meanwhile, our two all new stories in #4281 and #4282 respectively are 'Battle of the Blue Nile' by Alan Hebden and Keith Page, and 'V-Bomber Down' by that same Alan Hebden and Carlos Pino. Gets around, that Mr Hebden...

Commando #4287-4290 went on sale last week (apologies for the delay), and three of the four feature cover art by Ian Kennedy (who also provides interior art for #4288, 'Bombs on Target'). No scans this time though, as Calum appears not to have sent them...

...and #4291-4294 are available now, featuring a quartet of VE-Day stories! 'Fight for the Eagle' (by Ferg Handley and Vila), in #4291 tells the story of a patriotic Brit, Pete Curtiz, whose surname leads to his being ordered to join a Polish unit hehas nothing in common with, while 'To the Last Man' in #4292 (by Handley and Morahin) sees a British commando unit sent on one final mission in 1945. The reprint stories 'I Want to Fight' and 'Slogger's War' in #4293 and #4294 were originally commissioned for the fiftieth anniversary in 1995.

How many issues did Ian Kennedy do the interior art for?

THEDRUNKENMASTERTWO wrote:How many issues did Ian Kennedy do the interior art for?

I shall have to ask Calum Laird at DCT...

Ian Kennedy did inside artwork for five Commando's, three of which were reprinted early this year, a fourth last month, and the fifth of which is now available as a web comic (thanks, Calum).

tony ingram wrote:Ian Kennedy did inside artwork for five Commando's, three of which were reprinted early this year, a fourth last month, and the fifth of which is now available as a web comic (thanks, Calum).

thanks, and i have one of them, where would i find the web comic? thanks

The latest four...#4295-4298!









The first two continue the VE Day series first issued for the 50th anniversary 15 years ago. Issue #4298 is written by relative newcomer Steve Coombs, with art by Commando veteran Jose Maria Jorge

Commando #4299-4302 are out now! A little variety this time round, as #4300 takes us back to the American Civil War, where an Austrian artillery battalion find themselves somewhat improbably fighting on the side of the South! Issues #4301 and #4302 continue the seven part series originally presented in 1995, celebrating the end of the war in Europe, including a personal favourite-'Code of Honour', from issue #2856, which looks at events through the eyes of a German officer!

I'm not massively into war comics so I tend not to pick up Commando very often as it generally goes for WWI and WWII stories.

I do pick up the odd modern day or pre 20th century based story that they put out though so I picked up "Fire!" while I was out today.

The pre-WWI stories are always a bit of a treat, I agree. But they do turn up more often than you might think.

can someone give me the issue numbers for the Ian Kennedy Commando's please

thanks

Steve

Commando #4315-4318 are on sale from 5th August (hey, that's today!) and it takes us back 65 years to the war in the Pacific! 'Heights of Fear (4315) finds flying officer Steve Long and flight Sgt Dave Trimble in a sticky situation when they have to bale out while flying supplies between India and China (story by Alan Hebden, art Carlos Pino) while 'Unlikely Ace' (4316) by Ferg Handley and Olivera (with a cover by Ian Kennedy) finds flight Sgt Griffin and his RAF platoon staging a fighting retreat from the Japanese in Burma, hampered rather than helped by the arrogant Lt Peter Clarke, a pilot who won't pick up a gun. 'Operation Breakout' (4317), reprinted from issue #2879 (1995) tells the story of Canadian army doctor Harry Murray, trapped by those dastardly Japs on a nameless island (story by Ian Clark, art Gordon Livingstone, cover by Kennedy again) and rounding it off, 'Three Angry Men' (4318) originally from issue #2880 (1995) follows a British infantryman, a Gurkha and a Sikh on a private mission at the end of the war to hunt down the Japanese killers who wiped out an ambulance train and with it their friends and relatives. Again, the story is by Ian Clark, the cover by Kennedy, and interior art is by Benet. These stories mark the 65 years since the war ended, with the two reprints having been commissioned by George Low to mark the fiftieth anniversary in 1995. The next four issues will contain the remaining two 1995 stories and another two new ones set in the same era.

Heh, i took the last four Commando's to read on a German airline to Japan. "Flying Musketeers" is particularly good (and has German heroes!).

Reading all four one after the other did make me notice the high number of "unlikely miraculous last minute rescue" situations, though. Oh well, even Saving Private Ryan, the total opposite of the Boys' Own war story, did it! (Early issues of War Picture Library often didn't, mind you. In those the heroe just died).

I've been reading some War Picture Library lately, funnily enough-they're quite brutal at times...

Commando issues #4335-4338 are on sale now, and well worth a look. The two reprints in this latest batch are 'Bad Blood' (4335), first published in 1993 as issue #2649, the tale of a long running blood feud between a French village and a German family, which is reignited by the arrival of the second World War, and 'Radar Raiders' (4336), about the crew of a German U-Boat accused of being enemy spies by their allies, the Japanese (originally published in 1993 as issue #2689). As far as original stories go, there's more seagoing action but this time in the first World War in 'Sea Clash' (4338), but my personal top pick is 'Hammond's War' (4337), an amusing little tale about Ed Hammond, a would-be newspaperman and frankly useless soldier who is put in charge of the regimental newspaper to keep him out of trouble, with unexpected results...

The great air artist, Jose Maria Jorge, died earlier this month. I put a tribute to him on my blog:
http://blog.crystal-knights.co.uk/2010/10/15/farewell-jose-maria-jorge/
There's a much better one on the proper Commando website:
http://www.commandomag.com/index.php?id=1452

I heard. A damn shame, his attention to detail was amazing.

Looks like Commando will be celebrating it's 50th anniversary in style, starting with reprints of some of the earliest issues, with accompanying introductions from the editor to put them into context.

Fifty years. That's pretty impressive, particularly these days-let's just hope sales stay strong enough for it to reach its 75th.

They're going to start from issue 12 and then count down by reprinting 1 per month until the 50th anniversary, with a reprint of issue 1.

Mind you, issue 10 has an, ahem, "problematic" blurb on the back and doubtless it's contents reflect that. You used to be able to read that blurb on the Commando site but not any more.
Mind you, issue 11 has a heroic black character, so one of the reasons they are counting backwards may be in an attempt to offset that. I doubt the extreme left and sensation-seeking tabloids will see it that way though.
75th anniversary? Unless they do the sadly-nessescary thing and chicken out, reprinting some other random low-numbered issue instead of 10, i expect they might not even reach the intended 50th.

Didn't DCT face a similar controversy over a certain collectors edition annual a few years back? Stuck to their guns on that occasion, as I recall...

If there's "problematic content" maybe they will publish an edited version.

Like Huckleberry Finn !

I didn't know Huck had gone into publishing. I guess he had no choice after his second book failed to appear...

Looks like a digital only subscription to Commando will soon be available :

http://downthetubescomics.blogspot.com/2011/01/commando-is-50-editor-calum-laird.html

I wonder if DCT might consider reviving Classics From The Comics in a similar way ?

MLP* wrote:Looks like a digital only subscription to Commando will soon be available :

http://downthetubescomics.blogspot.com/2011/01/commando-is-50-editor-calum-laird.html

I wonder if DCT might consider reviving Classics From The Comics in a similar way ?

It might be worth asking them...hmm...

Well, Commando #4367-4370 are now on sale-but more to the point, Commando iss also now available in digital format for ipad and iphone, and there are four free issues to ttry before you buy! Go to the brand new website at http://www.commandocomics.com to learn more!

tony ingram wrote:Well, Commando #4367-4370 are now on sale-but more to the point, Commando iss also now available in digital format for ipad and iphone, and there are four free issues to ttry before you buy! Go to the brand new website at http://www.commandocomics.com to learn more!

One of the new issues is an early Cam Kennedy I believe, so I might keep an eye out for that.

I've already got mine...

Picked up Commando #4376.
If I had a nasty suspicious mind I might think this was an unpublished Starblazer issue repackaged.

MLP* wrote:Picked up Commando #4376.
If I had a nasty suspicious mind I might think this was an unpublished Starblazer issue repackaged.

I actually like the fact that there's a bit of variety in Commando, these days. We live in interesting times, it needs to stay fresh...

tony ingram wrote:

MLP* wrote:Picked up Commando #4376.
If I had a nasty suspicious mind I might think this was an unpublished Starblazer issue repackaged.

I actually like the fact that there's a bit of variety in Commando, these days. We live in interesting times, it needs to stay fresh...

Well it certainly caught my eye.
Seems a strange fit for Commando but I'll give it a read later.

Space Watch isn't a Starblazer leftover, when it originally appeared it was part of a series of stories that all (except for Space Watch!) had "Challenge" in their title, some were "set" in the past and some in modern times. By that I mean the virtual reality battles were, the framing story of the "G-Tex" was in the future.

BUT I personally think Space Watch is crap, and would have been much better as "just" a story set in the far future

Issues #4379-4382 now on sale, and astoundingly, my local newsagent has them in! Has Commando extended its market penetration?

felneymike wrote:Space Watch isn't a Starblazer leftover, when it originally appeared it was part of a series of stories that all (except for Space Watch!) had "Challenge" in their title, some were "set" in the past and some in modern times. By that I mean the virtual reality battles were, the framing story of the "G-Tex" was in the future.

BUT I personally think Space Watch is crap, and would have been much better as "just" a story set in the far future

You're not wrong. I guess "virtual reality" must've been all the rage at the time but it just makes the story convoluted.
It seems really out of place in Commando.

Commando #4383-4386 are on sale from today, and they're a bit of an eclectic mix. #4383 gives us the 'International Squadron', composed of British in Hurricanes, French in Dewoitine fighters, South Africans in Catalina's...and, unfortunately, a rather unwelcome German saboteur (originally from Commando #216, June 1966), while #4384 finds Bert Morris 'Dressed to Kill', considered a hero by the British but branded a coward by the French Foreign Legion in a tale from April 1970 (originally seen in Commando #470). Then we have two new stories, 'Deserter' (#4385) by Matt Badham and Macabich, about a soldier in the American Civil War who is forced to desert in order to avenge his brother's death, and 'Fire & Water' by Mac Macdonald and Keith Page, in which John James joins the RAF but finds that his family's proud Naval tradition doesn't want to let him go...

Rather pleasingly, Calum reports from the Commando office that digital subscriptions have doubled in the last month since the app has been improved, and paper subscriptions are up by 30% this year! Commando: still unbeatable after all these years...

The smith's I usually go to seems to have only put out two of the four issues. I'll have to look for the others. They seem to have the same "amount" of issues, though, maybe a delivery error!

Pleased to see the digital version introducing it to (what is probably) a new audience (iTwats and Commando aren't the sort of thing you'd expect to have a crossover audience!). VERY pleased to see the proper version also on the up though!

Just goes to show, sometimes quality does sell...

Picked up #4388 the latest in the Headline Heroes series.

A pretty run of the mill offering TBH but I liked the "birthday" angle which I suspect was a tip of the hat to Commando's own anniversay.