Commando book free to new subscribers

Although it's been running for fifty years, Commando isn't always easy to find in shops these days. As an incentive to new subscribers, D.C. Thomson is offering the latest Commando Collection, Rogue Raiders as a gift.

The issues included in the mammoth paperback are:

526 Operation Firebrand!
225 Half-Pint Commando
1159 Terror Team
639 The Iron Sergeant
544 Time of Terror
1435 The Mad Major
1864 Spring the Trap
1750 A Born Leader
1628 Marked Man
2116 Ten Tough Paratroopers

Whether you're a subscriber or whether you buy them from your newsagent/supermarket, here's details of the latest four issues that are out today. (They're also available on digital from the official Commando website at http://www.commandocomics.com/ )


Commando No 4391: BATTLING BRADLEY

It didn’t matter very much what you gave Ken Bradley, boxer turned paratrooper, to fight with. His bare fists made him a match for a handful of Germans any day.
But give him a gun, especially a Tommy gun, and he’d take on anything that had a swastika painted on it. Even a tank…or a pill-box! What a man to have a your side.


Introduction by Calum Laird, Commando Editor

A story packed with action centred round a man determined to settle a debt of honour is archetypal Commando fare, isn’t it? If it wasn’t for the sting in the tail this would be a good action story. The twist makes it a great one. One which has stuck in my mind for the years since 1967.
Cortes’ artwork has a darkness about it which lends depth to the story and the cover really sums up what the whole thing’s about. I like to think that Commando’s still about the story values you see here and that someone reading a new tale today will remember it for as long.

Battling Bradley, originally Commando No 252 (March 1967), re-issued as No 923 (April 1975)

Story: Lester
Art: Cortes
Cover Art: Hall



Commando No 4392: COSSACK

For centuries the Cossack horsemen rode to war over the mighty steppes, their sabres red with blood, their savage battle-cries chilling their enemies with fear. But their greatest battles came in the Second World War when they pitted horse and sabre against Nazi tanks and machine guns.
I was a hard, tough war, even for the Cossacks — so you can guess what it was like for an RAF air-gunner who escaped from a German prison camp and rode with them!


Introduction by George Low, former Commando Editor

An RAF air gunner, just escaped from a German prison camp and riding with a distrustful band of sabre-wielding Cossack warriors, should be enough to get any keen Commando reader reaching for a copy.
A challenging cover from Penalva and inside artwork from the incomparable Victor de la Fuente will more than satisfy the most demanding of fans. Peter Newark wrote the script and he was a master at this type of story which was the sixth to go on sale in 1970.

Cossack, originally Commando No 454 (January 1970), re-issued as No 1275 (December 1978)

Story: Peter Newark
Art: Victor de la Fuente
Cover Art: Penalva



Commando No 4393: Operation Leviathan

When the German onslaught forced France to capitulate in 1940, Frenchmen were forced to choose between co-existing with the invaders by serving the Vichy government or fighting on with the Allies. When Allied ships bombarded the French fleet to prevent it falling into German hands, killing many French sailors in the process, French loyalties were further divided.
Which way would the crew of the mighty French submarine Leviathan — with her twin eight-inch guns and ability to disappear below the waves — go?

Story: Sean Blair
Art: John Ridgway
Cover Art: John Ridgway



Commando No 4394: FLAK ALLEY

In 1943, Pilot Officer Chris Buckley completed his photo-reconnaissance course and was delighted to be out of a stuffy classroom. Finally he was at the controls of a P51 Mustang.
As expected, he soon found himself dodging flak in the skies above German-occupied Europe. What he didn’t expect was to be dodging even more flak from his CO who was convinced that Chris wasn’t up to the job!

Story: Ferg Handley
Art: Vila
Cover Art: Ian Kennedy