Commando
issues 4943-49446 – On Sale 25 August 2016
Commando
No 4943 – Ice-Cold Combat
When their
Handley Page Hampden bomber was shot down, Pilot Officer Drew Grange and
Sergeant Adam Weir were stranded on the icy border between Norway and Russia.
Helped by a couple of civilian
hunters, the R.A.F. men were soon embroiled in a fight for survival. Finding an
unarmed, abandoned Tiger Moth skiplane, they took to the skies above the
remote, frozen frontier in a desperate attempt to get warn their allies of an
imminent Nazi threat.
Story:
George Low
Art:
Manuel Benet
Cover:
Manuel Benet
Commando
No 4944 – Ghost Squadron
Flak,
machine-guns, searchlights, enemy fighters — these the Nazi pilots knew and
could handle. These things were dangerous, all right — but they didn’t turn a
man’s blood to ice water in his veins, they didn’t paralyse his hands on the
controls in utter, freezing terror…
But the new weapon used by the
R.A.F. night-fighters — The “Ghost Squadron” — put the fear of death into every
Nazi pilot unlucky enough to come within its range.
Introduction
In this
book there are several worthy ingredients which make for a satisfying Commando
yarn: We have a glory-hunting pilot — Flight Lieutenant Buck Lee, determined to
notch up as many kills as possible in his Mosquito bomber; the story title
hints at supernatural activity; and we soon discover that some kind of shadowy,
top secret, experimental weapon is also involved.
This is a great adventure, with
Boutland’s script brought vividly to life by Quesada’s art and Buccheri’s eerie
cover.
Scott
Montgomery, Deputy Editor
Ghost
Squadron, originally Commando No 247 (February 1967), re-issued as No 895
(December 1974)
Story:
Boutland
Art:
Quesada
Cover:
Buccheri
Commando
No 4945 – Undefeated
Troubled
by a past encounter early in his career, Royal Navy Lieutenant Commander Alec
Weston soon became a respected, if intense, skipper. He was determined that his
submarine, H.M.S. Undefeated, would live up to her name — therefore he pushed
his crew and the vessel hard.
When ferrying a Special Boat
Section assault team on a secret mission in the Mediterranean, Alec was faced
with a tough decision that affected the lives of that Special Forces unit. Such
was the burden of command…
Story:
Steve Taylor
Art:
Olivera/Rodriguez
Cover:
Janek Matysiak
Commando
No 4946 – Coward in Khaki
Men’s
characters don’t often change. If a man’s a crook in civilian life, he’ll
probably be a crook in the army. That’s how it was with Vic Wardley.
Everyone knew him to be a crook —
and a coward as well. So why would an Intelligence Corps major single him out
for a vital job in contact with the enemy?
Introduction
Very
generally speaking, Commando usually deals in “heroes” and “villains”, with the
battle lines clearly drawn. However, I’d venture that “Coward In Kahaki” is an
intriguing glimpse into what it might have been like if Commando had veered
towards the anti-heroes prevalent in rival war comics like Battle and Action in
their mid-1970s prime.
The story title is unscrupulous in its
assessment of the eponymous character, Private Vic Wardley — we’re left in no
doubt that he is an unsavoury type, to say the least — but perhaps he might
change his ways by the time we reach the last page…?
Scott
Montgomery, Deputy Editor
Coward In
Khaki, originally Commando No 1125 (May 1977), re-issued as No 2451 (March
1991)
Story:
Mike Knowles
Art: Mones
Cover: Ian
Kennedy
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