COMMANDO Nos.5091 to 5094 out this week

Thanks to D.C. Thomson for the latest info on Commando comics. All four issues are out this week.

5091: Home of Heroes: Highland Games

Patrolling the Scottish Highlands in 1942, seventeen-year-old Rory MacLean was armed only with his BSA air rifle, but at least he had World War One Veterans Sergeant Donald Forbes and Corporal High MacFee for company. Together they may not look a formidable trio, but they were all that stood in the way of an attacking squad of Fallschirmjager!

Proving age is just a number, George Low’s charming tale of tartan-toting-toerags will appeal to young and old alive. Combining this light-hearted but perilous romp is interior and cover artwork by the great Carlos Pino, bringing the care and attention to the affable characters that only he could.

|Story | George Low | Art | Carlos Pino | Cover | Carlos Pino |

5092: Gold Collection: Frightened Hero

It took guts to surrender!

When Corporal Bob Tracy waved the white flag to the Germans, he thought he’d saved his team – but he’d only betrayed them, dooming them with his ‘cowardice’. Marched to a POW camp, Tracy was a pariah, but when his team managed to escape, he was the only chance they had if they wanted to survive! But will Tracy be able to prove himself a capable leader once again? And more importantly, can he prove that he’s no coward? Find out in ‘Frightened Hero’!

Writing the characters who he knows best, Allan masterfully deals with the notion of cowardice in war, as well as leadership and redemption. Bob Tracy starts far from your average Commando hero, but waving the white flag on Penalva’s cover, he looks anything but a coward; the thick oil strokes only adding to the grit and determination of Allan’s titular character.

|Story | Allan | Art | V. Fuente | Cover | Penalva |

Originally Commando No. 436 (November 1969). Reprinted No. 1251 (September 1978).

5093: Action and Adventure: Forgotten Hero

In 1945, two friends began their Commando training at Achnacarry Castle. Only one left alive, and not as a Commando. He was exiled from his training, forced to leave his friends and return to his original squadron. In September, when the war ended, that man chose the solitary life of a gamekeeper.

Then, in the 1970s, an international robbery gang set its sights on a wealthy estate in the Highlands. But in such a desolate place, who would dare to stop them? Armed with only his hunting rifle, that man would be ex-corporal Jim Main, and he would prove that he was not a man to be forgotten!

In his second cover for Commando, Neil Roberts shines again! Proving he is just as adept at drawing aircraft as faces, this time we see three Royal Marines, their crashed Westland Sea King engulfed in flames behind them, as look past us to the unseen threat beyond!

|Story | Colin Watson | Art | Jaime Forns | Cover | Neil Roberts |

5094: Silver Collection: A Tale of Two Wars

Two wars a generation apart.

For the fathers, it began in Gallipoli, 1915, as the Allied forces battled against the Turkish defenders. There, Ted Burns met Ali Kadri, a man he would never forget.

In 1950, North Korea, their sons would meet on the battlefield – this time on the same side. They had no idea of the bizarre connection they shared, but that did not stop them from sharing a bond of their own.

Ian Clark’s story places our heroes right at the centre of their conflicts, and proves that war is timeless as each generation has its own battles to fight, and like the characters who represent them, national enemies can become allies. Meanwhile, complimenting this story is Keith Shone’s distinctive interiors, detailing the backdrops of each battle from the rocky outcrops of the trenches in Western Turkey to ruinous temples in Korea.

|Story | Ian Clark | Art | Keith Shone | Cover | Ian Kennedy |

Originally Commando No. 2687 (August 1993).