BATTLE's variety of covers

Last year I showed a selection of dynamic Battle Picture Weekly covers (see here) and, as there were so many great covers over the years, I thought I'd quickly scan a few more to show you today. These are selected from the years 1978 to 1980, by which time the comic's title had become Battle Action due to Action merging into it. Unlike most mergers, where the subsumed comic quickly sees its logo diminished, Battle made the Action title a fixture for a few years and actually incorporated it into a new masthead design as the name suited the comic so well. 

Battle Action had some great covers full of tension and explosive drive. The one above is by Joe Colquhoun.

Carlos Ezquerra was a natural artist to depict gritty war scenes, as this cover demonstrates...

Issue 200 of Battle Action is significant in that it featured the first episode of Charley's War by Pat Mills and Joe Colquhoun. However, the cover of the issue was by Mike Western (with a vignette of Glory Rider by Geoff Campion.)

Battle Action experimented with its cover design more than any other IPC comic of the 1970s. I'm not sure this one using previews of interior strips worked, but it was an interesting attempt!

The best comic covers were the ones where text and illustration worked together for dynamic effect, as with this superb one drawn by John Cooper...

A good cover also grabs attention, such as this one by Cam Kennedy...

Prior to Battle Action, most comics kept the masthead in the same place every week, but this comic shook things up a bit. A logo in the centre of a cover? Certainly eye-catching, and that's what it's all about...

Another terrific cover by Joe Colquhoun...

Mike Western was one of IPC's top artists, having illustrated covers for Valiant for most of its 14 year run. A versatile artist who could turn his hand to a slightly lighter style (eg: Buster's Leopard from Lime Street) or to darker, more dramatic material suited to Battle Action...

With all the fuss made about how violent Action was in 1976, people tend to forget that Battle was equally as grim at times. No publisher today would approve a cover for a kids' comic showing a knife at a throat, even if the subject was a Nazi. Art by Carlos Ezquerra...

Another dramatic Mike Western scene, showing that even a dog could look deadly on the cover of this comic!

In 1980, Battle Action had a revamp, swiftly diminishing the Action part of the logo and bringing back the original Battle masthead. Its major change though was that strips now started on the cover (Charley's War and Johnny Red alternating week by week). Although this meant the comic suddenly looked very old school in its design, I must admit it was this issue that caught my eye and started me buying the comic. That said, I was 21, older than its target audience, so I've no idea what kids thought of this rather old fashioned looking cover revamp. I suspect many were not impressed, because this was the start of many changes for Battle that would eventually lead to its demise.

That said, how could anyone resist such a great illustration by joe Colquhoun?

Battle Action and the cover images in this post are Copyright ©Rebellion Publishing Ltd. 

25 Mega Years

For some reason known best to them, British publishers seem to have a predilection for celebrating the anniversaries of their comic based on cover date, rather than date of publication. The first issue of Judge Dredd the Megazine was published in September 1990 but it's celebrating this week instead. (Issue 2 was published on October 20th 1990.)

Anyway, I'm tired of pointing things like that out. Publishers will carry on doing it long after I'm gone so let's roll with it...

The main thing is that a British comic is celebrating 25 years of continuous publication. That's not something that happens often these days. There have been hundreds, maybe thousands, of comic titles published in the UK over the last 130 years or so but very few make it this far. Judge Dredd the Megazine No.1 was cover dated October 1990, was priced £1.50, and had 52 pages in full colour, with cover art by Glenn Fabry. 

Judge Dredd had been a popular character in 2000AD since his first story in issue 2 in 1977. He was awarded his own annual in 1980 but I remember some editors at IPC / Fleetway were apprehensive about putting him in his own comic. Anyway, they finally did it in 1990 and it's still around today, albeit with a slight name change to Judge Dredd Megazine. He also still appears every week in 2000AD of course, and it'd be unthinkable for him not to. 

Let's take a quick look at the contents of that first issue from 25 years ago...

The lead strip was naturally a Judge Dredd thriller. Midnite's Children was written by Alan Grant and illustrated by Jim Baikie (9 pages)...

Chopper had proved to be a reader's favourite when he appeared in a Dredd serial in 2000AD so here he was awarded his own series. Story by Garth Ennis, art by John McCrea (10 pages)...

Next up was a four page newspaper spoof, Mega City News. Ah the early days of computer design...

The third strip in issue 1 was Young Death; the boyhood of Judge Death! Script by Brian Skuter, art by Peter Doherty (6 pages)...

Next, another Dredd story (well, it's his comic). A saga destined to become a popular classic: America, by John Wagner and Colin MacNeill (10 pages)...

Finally, another Dredd supporting character with his own series. Kenny Who? in Beyond Our Kenny, by John Wagner and Cam Kennedy (9 pages)...

All in all, a strong line up of talent and a good first issue. Marred only slightly by the matt paper stock used then which reproduced some pages too darkly. (I've tried to adjust it a bit in these scans.) 

Twenty five years later, here's the cover to today's issue of Judge Dredd Megazine (No.365) by Barry Kitson. Apart from a mention of the anniversary on the cover, and in the editorial, the celebrations are low key. 

These days the comic has 64 pages, is printed on better paper, plus it's bagged with a 64 page reprint collection, all for £5.80. The main comic features four strips including the start of a new 10 page Judge Dredd serial, Terror Rising, by John Wagner and Colin MacNeill. (Both still doing great work after all these years.)

The other strips are: 

Demon Nic by Paul Grist (15 pages)

Storm Warning by Leah Moore, John Reppion, and Tom Foster (9 pages)

Lawless by Dan Abnett and Phil Winslade (9 pages)

There's also a three page text story, Hunting With Missiles, by Karl Stock, plus features on comics. The bonus comic is a reprint of Faces by Mindy Newell and John Higgins.

The Judge Dredd Megazine has had various format changes and ups and downs over the years but personally I think it's as strong at the moment as it's ever been. I like the mixture of all new strips and comics features, and the bagged reprint comic often has some forgotten treasures. Congratulations to all concerned for 25 years of Mega magnificence. May there be many more to come!