Direct from D.C. Thomson, here's the news on the four issues of Commando that will be in the shops this week.
Brand new Commando issues #5115-5118 are coming soon! Storm
Jerry lines at Messines Ridge, blast Bettys in a Buffalo, tunnel under the
trenches with Maori Miners, and defend a Scottish island from an infiltrating
U-Boat! It’s all in a day’s work for our Commandos!
5115: Home of Heroes: To Win Just Once
On the 7th of June, 1917, at Messines Ridge, the
largest explosion the world had ever seen was detonated. After battering Jerry with
artillery fire through the night, the shells stopped just before dawn and the
birdsong began. At 3:10am, over 450 tons of explosives went off under the
German line. They could hear it in Paris, and they felt it in London. But the
battle had only just begun…
Andrew Knighton’s debut issue of Commando treats the First
World War with gravitas, perfectly balancing developed characters and
white-knuckle action. Accompanied by meticulous interiors from Vicente Alcazar,
the intensity of the trenches is felt on every page, especially the prodigious
wrap-around cover from Neil Roberts.
| Story | Andrew Knighton | Art | Vicente Alcazar | Cover | Neil
Roberts |
5116: Gold Collection: Buffalo Patrol
Dave Kerr just wanted to be an RAF pilot but, even though he
was a skilled flyer, he failed every exam. Sent to Singapore along with his
pilot friend Patrick Elliot, Dave ran to Patrick’s tent to wake him when the
Squadron Leader called in a scramble but found him asleep, pushed to
exhaustion. Dave knew what he had to do — he grabbed Patrick’s flying helmet
and goggles and ran for his Buffalo!
An unusually vibrant background for an Ian Kennedy cover,
the burning orange sets an explosive backdrop for the duelling Buffalo and
Betty, preparing us for the aerial onslaught Mira skilfully provides inside.
| Story | Staff | Art | Mira | Cover | Ian Kennedy |
Originally Commando No. 519 (December 1970).
5117: Action and Adventure: Tunnels of Arras
Digging the Medieval tunnels deep beneath Arras in France,
the New Zealand infantrymen thought they were tunnelling into Hell itself. With
the ground above them frosted, the caverns underneath were icy, but the
soldiers made it their own. They knew that after the losses at Verdun and the
Somme, their only chance of defeating the Germans above was to dig beneath
them. But what if the Germans had the same plan?
First time Commando writer Jason Cobley’s refreshing focus
on the New Zealand Tunnellers and the Maori Pioneer Battalion in the First
World War is compelling in its detail, including the graffiti and place names
marked in the eponymous Arras tunnels, which Carlos Pino details in his
claustrophobic, yet homely interiors.
| Story | Jason Colby | Art | Carlos Pino | Cover | Carlos
Pino |
5118: Silver Collection: In Trouble Again
When a U-Boat surfaces offshore from a remote Scottish
island with nothing but a radio station run by the Royal Signals on it, Charlie
Potter of the Intelligence Corps knew their only chance was to fight back. The
invading SS waved the white flag, telling the Britishers that if they
surrendered they would be spared, but Charlie knew that the Nazis would never take
prisoners on to a submarine.
With cover art from Mike Dorey of DC Thomson, IPC and 2000AD
fame, the hazy fog and choppy waves surrounding the Scottish island are like
something straight from ‘When Eight Bells Toll’. This combined with Mike
Knowles tale of trouble seeking anti-hero Charlie Potter and veteran Commando
artist CT Rigby’s interiors makes this a classic boys’ adventure comic for any
age.
| Story | Mike Knowles | Art | CT Rigby | Cover | Mike Dorey
|
Originally Commando No. 2741 (March 1994).
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