Commando No.1 reprinted for 50th anniversary

Throughout the year publishers DC Thomson have been reissuing the first 12 editions of Commando comics to mark its 50th anniversary. Every month, one of the eight titles published contained a reprint from 1961, starting with issue 12 and counting down. This week we've reached the first issue, and a full reprint of Commando No.1, Walk or Die is in the shops now, reissued as No.4453.

Now over to Commando's editor Calum Laird with more information about the latest four editions...

Here we have it, the second from last Commando raid of our 50th year, 2011.

By a curious coincidence, and one I think he’d have enjoyed, the quartet includes the second from last story created by Norman Adams who sadly died in August this year. Norman was well known to Commando fans for his creation of the Headline Heroes, The Phantom (with Keith Page) and a whole army of others.

Norman is sadly missed by everyone on the Commando Team, past and present, an I’m sure that goes for commando’s readers too.

You can find out more about Norman and his work here…

http://www.commandocomics.com/search?q=adams&page=1

http://www.scotsman.com/news/obituaries/obituary_norman_adams_author_and_journalist_1_1803417


Now the details of the current issues:


Commando No 4451: Chuck Ballard Goes To War

December, 7th, 1941 — America is left reeling from Japan’s sneak attack on Pearl Harbor. For the Japanese crew of a Nakajima B5N2 “Kate” torpedo bomber, however, the success is short-lived. After crash-landing on a supposedly deserted island, they are dismayed to find that it is in fact home to a village full of civilians.
Though the three Japanese airmen do not wish to take innocent lives, their fellow countrymen, responding to their mayday signal, are not so honourable. This may turn out to be their undoing, thanks to the presence of an ex-Marine who is an expert with a hunting rifle…

Script: Norman Adams
Art: Olivera
Cover: Ian Kennedy



Commando No 4452: Operation “Loco”

James Bailey was a railwayman like his father before him. In charge of the most powerful steam locomotives he could drive anything, anywhere, any time.
He was the obvious choice when a special job came in to his depot. Would it be a VIP run to London? Or maybe a vital troop train to the coast?
How about a Commando raid behind enemy lines?

Script: Mac MacDonald
Art: Keith Page
Cover: Keith Page



Commando No 4453: Walk — Or Die!

THE CORPORAL AND THE COLONEL

CORPORAL TOM GERRARD of the Royal Tank Corps was just an ordinary bolke, easy-going and cheerful.

COLONEL KARL OBERTH of the SS Panzer Corps was a typical Nazi officer, brutal and merciless.

SOMEWHERE on the limitless, scorching inferno of the Western Desert, Fate decided their tank tracks should cross.

HERE THEN is the story of the epic fight put up by Corporal Gerrard and his tank, Matilda, against the might and power of the Panzers and their swaggering Colonel, who thought he could sweep the British off the face of the desert.

Introduction by Calum Laird, Commando Editor

This is where it started, a little over 59 years ago — in the fiery dawn of a desert sunrise and the fertile minds of the team that put the first ever Commando together. We’ve often joked about how they anticipated the dawn of the iPad by making Commando pages just the right size to fit on its screen but reading page 14 I realised they’d anticipated the advent of social media too. Check out what Tom Gerrard has to say about the radio.
Joking apart, it’s not hard to see why Commando was a success from Day One. With a punchy story from the pen of Eric Castle, strong artwork inside the comic from Garcia and that intriguing cover from the brushes of Ken Barr those first issues fairly leapt from the shelves. The format was right from the very first and endures to this day.
Probably you weren’t born when this first came out so this is an ideal chance to find out what it was like to one of commando’s first readers. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.

Walk — Or Die!, originally Commando No 1 (June 1961), re-issued as No 2523 (December 1991)

Script: Eric Castle
Art: Garcia
Cover: Ken Barr



Commando No 4454: Riley’s Rifle

It was a rifle like countless others, standard issue to thousands upon thousands of men in the British Army in two World Wars — a Lee-Enfield No.1 Mark III. Millions of them were made. Some are still in use today.
But there was something special about this particular rifle — it was as if it had a life of its own, a will of its own. It seemed to want to do things by itself…and what it wanted most was vengeance!

Introduction by George Low, former Commando Editor

No apologies for presenting another story from the fertile mind of Cyril Walker. He just couldn’t stop turning out classic tales to enthral and delight.
This 1975 story is really quite simple, the account of a Lee Enfield rifle with a will of its own and a gipsy curse woven into the fabric of the tale. It’s enthralling and a good example of Cyril at his best. Ian Kennedy did the arresting cover and Galindo drew the exciting black and white illustrations.

Riley’s Rifle, originally Commando No 994 (December 1975), re-issued as No 2347 (February 1990)

Script: Cyril Walker
Art: Galindo
Cover: Ian Kennedy