This week's COMMANDO comics

Here's the info on the latest four Commando comics. All out today! My thanks to D.C. Thomson for sending the press release.

Commando Issues 4959-4962 - On Sale 6th October 2016

Commando - 4955 - Midnight Mission

Flight Sergeant Nick Nolan was a reliable, thoughtful type. He yearned to fly a fighter like a Spitfire or Hurricane but his superiors reckoned he “didn’t have enough fire in his belly”.

Nonetheless, he undoubtedly had skills so Nick was selected to transport secret agents and supplies into German-held France. Aboard his Westland Lysander, the pilot never knew what dangers might spring from the darkness - dangers like a marauding Junkers 88 Night-fighter out for the kill!

Story: George Low

Art: Vicente Alcazar

Cover: Ian Kennedy

Commando - 4956 - Fortress Of Fear

 "Subito! Quickly! Across the road, no noise, no lights — the German lorries come. In them are the captured British Commandos sent to blow up the secret arsenal beneath Castello Santuzzo.

"These men are trained to do what we can never hope to. They must be freed and aided. Who knows, it might be that in return they will make sure that at least one Commando knife slips into the black heart of Kommandant Von Schneider.

"He has tortured and killed too many of us. His time has come. We, the mountain men of the Italian resistance, will make it so.

"So quickly, quietly…”

Story: Spence

Art: Quesada

Cover: Segrelles

Introduction -

In order to fight a Nazi threat, a squad of British Commandos form an uneasy alliance with a ragged resistance group hiding in the Italian hills.

What’s different about this book is that the back cover blurb is written in the first person - from the point of view of one of the resistance men. It’s quite a rare occurrence but is certainly effective in conveying immediate drama - and I’m surprised that Commando hasn’t done this kind of thing more often.

Scott Montgomery, Deputy Editor

Fortress Of Fear, originally Commando No 261 (May 1967), re-issued as No 931 (May 1977)

Commando - 4957 - Yuri's Return

 Yuri Muryavev, a retired “Shock Force” Spetznaz Commando, had settled in the UK but, after the collapse of communism, he returned to his Russian homeland. Wishing to do honest work, he took on a job offer to provide security for an aid agency operating in South America.

However, Yuri did not realise that he was in the employ of Anatoly Speck, a sinister Russian billionaire who had plans to wreak havoc upon the world.

Now the former soldier faced a danger even greater than ever before and only he could stop it…

Story: Stephen Walsh

Art: Manuel Benet

Cover: Manuel Benet

Commando - 4958 - The Pony Soldiers

 Horses against tanks and aircraft? Not a recipe for success, you’d think. But that was the best that was available for a gallant band of guerrillas - men and boys - battling against the Japanese in the Philippine Islands… as they waited for the Americans to return and set them free.

Story: Ian Clark

Art: C.T. Rigby

Cover: Phil Gascoine

Introduction -

We’ve been very fortunate throughout Commando’s 55-year history that our versatile artists can draw anything - from tanks to battleships, aircraft to infantry. But, unlikely as it sounds, a few artists have told us that horses are a challenge to draw well.

As a non-artist myself, I’m not sure why this might be - presumably the amount of detail required to render each beast must be very time-consuming. So I can only imagine how an illustrator might shudder when they read scripts with words like: “A horde of cavalry riders storm across a crowded

battlefield…”

However, as you will see, veteran Commando stalwarts C. T. Rigby and Phil Gascoine have risen to the occasion.

Scott Montgomery, Deputy Editor

The Pony Soldiers, originally Commando No 2457 (March 1991)