Issues 5011-5014 deliver a hotpot
of unique wartime adventures, ranging from WWII Home Front detectives to
grizzled Yankees in the Vietnamese jungle. While Flight of Fancy and Killer
Commando tackle different genres, delivering time honoured Commando themes and
stories with a Science Fiction twist and Film Noir flair, Launch the Wildcats! offers
a different perspective on the Germans in WWII, and The Hill, with its Vietnam
setting, tackles notions of duty and pacifism. There’s certainly something for
everyone in these issues!
5011: Home of Heroes:
Flight of Fancy
“No, it can’t
be? A flying saucer! It’s right here in front of me…just like in those comics!”
In a singular George Low story,
Commando dips its toe into the realms of Science Fiction as WWII Private Roger
Brown, general knowledge mastermind, encounters a flying saucer! Roger’s squad
immediately dismiss him, thinking he’s gone mad. But was the aircraft only a
figment of his imagination, or could it possibly be one of the Nazis’
experimental “Vengeance Weapons”?
The otherworldly ideas of this
issues are highlighted by the stand out greens and reds of Ian Kennedy’s cover,
contrasting the alien nature of the aircraft against the natural forest
backdrop. However, Rezzonico’s interior art keeps Commando’s military realism
intact, featuring detailed illustrations of Tiger Tanks, Panzers, PIATs and
Flugkreisels.
Story | George
Low | Art | Rezzonico & Vila | Cover | Ian Kennedy
5012: Gold:
Launch the Wildcats!
Giving the rare perspective of a
British subject raised in Germany, McOwan’s story shows that there is prejudice
on both sides, and emphasises a varied view of the Germans, many of whom hated
the Nazis. These blurred enemy divides are highlighted in Gordon C.
Livingstone’s action packed cove, as deep blues bleed into reds and purples
across the page.
Franz Braun, really Frank Brown,
attended school in Germany, cared for by his loving aunt and uncle. But as he
grew, Nazism tightened its grip on his adopted homeland and Franz was forced to
return to Britain. Then, when the war started, Franz fought against the country
that had raised him in order to free it from its oppressive government.
Story | McOwan | Art | Gordon C
Livingstone | Cover | Gordon C Livingstone
Originally issue 332 (May 1968) and
1039 (June 1976)
5013: Action and Adventure:
The Hill
It’s January, 1968. Rookie troops
are stationed on Hill 466, A.K.A. Little Round Top. There’s booby-traps, deadly
wildlife, sweltering heat - and the North Vietnamese Army is closing in, but
the men must defend that hill with their lives. This tension is felt from page
one as Janek Matsiak’s cover puts you right in the action, seating you inside a
helicopter looking out at a fight of armed choppers hovering over the tangled
green mass of the Vietnamese jungle. However, what makes this story unique is
the characters’ view that, unlike the two world wars, this fight may have no
reason…
An ensemble of characters,
different motives and reservations are voiced against and in for the Vietnamese
war, but thanks to Rodriguez’s detailed illustrations, each character is
distinctive.
Story | Ferg
Handley | Art | Rodriguez | Cover | Janek Matysiak
5014: Silver:
Killer Commando
Ian Kennedy’s second cover in the
collection, the close-ups of the hero and villain, complete with a fedora,
trench coat and silencer pistol are all reminiscent of the Film Noir style it
pays homage to, which C T Rigby takes full advantage of in the interior art.
Mike Knowles’s story is a tale of
old versus young, when a rogue Commando, trained as an expert assassin, can no
longer see the line between right and wrong. After killing his ex-smuggling partner
during an air raid, decorated Dunkirk veteran Kenneth Bagnall thinks he has
gotten away with murder – but hot on his tail is veteran civilian policeman
Ernest Hallows.
But who will
win this deadly game of cat and mouse…?
Story | Mike
Knowles | Art | C T Rigby | Cover | Ian Kennedy
Originally 2545 (February 1992)
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