Thoughts on Charley's War

I hated war comic strips when I was a kid in the 1960s and early '70s. So much so that I'd skip strips such as Captain Hurricane in Valiant and Paddy Payne in Lion and would avoid comics such as Victor and Hornet as they seemed to feature so many stories of armed conflict. Commando? Not a chance.

Why did I dislike them so much? Perhaps it was because unlike most people of my age, I didn't grow up hearing anecdotes about life in the military. In World War 2 my dad had failed his medical due to ill health, so he couldn't enlist, and my grandad was in the A.R.P. (During WW1 my grandad had worked on farms and the railway.) However, my family and their friends had often talked about the nightly horrors of the bombing raids. Therefore I knew that real war wasn't a jolly adventure as depicted in Captain Hurricane and I think I resented war comics for not being more honest.

Perhaps it was also because my parents let me watch the evening news and I often read the Daily Mirror where it was clearly evident that war (then raging in Viet Nam) was a grim affair. Admittedly I was well into sci-fi comics and superheroes, so perhaps war strips were too grounded for me, but it wasn't just that. It was the gung-ho attitude that really put me off. 

When Battle Picture Weekly came along in 1975 I was 16, so I was "growing out of kids' comics" as I considered them. I had the first issue because it was a first issue, read it quickly, stored it away in my collection, then didn't bother again. What changed things was years later noticing Charley's War on the cover on the latest issue whilst browsing the comic racks in a newsagents. The issue dated 12th July 1980 (shown below). I recognised the artist as being that of the guy who'd drawn Football Family Robinson for Jag and Kid Chameleon for Cor!! so I bought the comic out of curiosity.

My perceptions of war comics changed immediately. Charley's War didn't glorify war as so many of its predecessors had. Here was an anti-war strip, right in the heart of a boys' war comic! It felt radical, it felt real, and I was hooked! The other strips had some merit too, but the only reason I started buying Battle was for Charley's War, which I'd cut out and save. The writer was Pat Mills, and the artist was Joe Colquhoun.

I know now of course that I'd done the early issues of Battle Picture Weekly a disservice by ignoring them. The comic was superb, part of an important new direction for UK comics, and didn't pull its punches. I've since collected the first five years of the comic so I can enjoy the tightly-written and grittily illustrated stories at my leisure.

All that is a long preamble to give another promotion to Rebellion's superb Charley's War books, but, heck, it's my blog so I'll waffle if I want to. Plus, as we reach the 100th anniversary of the WW1 armistice I wanted to put my thoughts about war comics out there. War has always appalled me, and I still dislike the unrealistic types of war comics, but Charley's War is the antithesis of that and an essential read!

In Charley's War, we see the story from the perspective of a young lad, Charley Bourne, who enlists with the optimism to serve his country in the Great War. His naivety is soon shaken by the harshness of his environment, and the tragedies and hardships that he encounters. Unlike many war comics that had officers as the main hero, Charley Bourne is a tommy, a working class hero.

Although the depictions of warfare are well researched and realistic, some artistic license had to be employed because one soldier could not possibly experience all that befalls Charley throughout the saga. In that respect, Charley Bourne represents the everyman. In other situations that would be too far removed for a soldier in the trenches the story shifts to depict the stories of Charley's brother Wilf, or the French deserter, Blue. 

I consider Charley's War to be the greatest war story in comics. Perhaps the greatest adventure story in any British comic. The three books published by Rebellion collect the entire saga which runs to almost 1,000 pages in total. To me, it's the best work of Pat and Joe's long careers. They clearly both felt very passionate about the subject matter and they succeeded in treating it with respect for ordinary soldiers caught up in the conflict, and a contempt for those that put them through it.

At the moment, Rebellion are doing a special offer of all three books for £39.99. A good deal considering that each book is over 300 pages. Go to the publisher's website here:
https://treasuryofbritishcomics.com/catalogue/B0001

The motto "Lest We Forget" is used in remembrance ceremonies but, sadly, politicians did forget, or didn't care, and there have been multiple conflicts since. Books like Charley's War are essential reading for all ages as a reminder that war is not to be taken lightly.

All artwork in this post is Copyright © Rebellion Publishing Limited.

Preview: Charley's War, The Definitive Collection Volume 2

The next book in Rebellion's Treasury of British Comics line will be the second volume of Charley's War: The Definitive Collection. Hot on the heels of Vol.1 which was released last week, Volume 2 will be published on May 17th.

Volume 2, subtitled Brothers In Arms, will be another chunky softback of over 330 pages, reprinting the classic WW1 story by Pat Mills and Joe Colquhoun. This edition covers the stories from Battle Action from late 1980 to mid 1982. The horrors of the war continue, and this time we're given the story of a deserter, the British mutiny, and Charlie's encounters with the sadistic British officer Captain Snell. 

When these stories first appeared in Battle-Action, the comic was sadly past its best, but Charley's War was a true gem. Indeed, it would even have stood head and shoulders above the contents of any comic, such was the high standard of the creative team. Pat Mills' dedicated research into the subject matter, combined with his skills of writing a gripping adventure story, made the strip unmissable, and Joe Colquhoun's powerful, detailed, and emotive artwork was the perfect match. 

Back in the day, I was buying Battle-Action solely for Charley's War, and would carefully cut out those pages in order to staple each story arc together into makeshift books. Now that we have these Definitive Collections, better printed than the original comics, I'll be replacing my yellowing old pages with these handsome books.

In short, not to be missed! Here's a preview of the first chapter in Volume 2...

CREATIVE TEAM: Pat Mills, (w) Joe Colquhoun (a) John Aldrich, Mike Peters, Peter Knight (l)
REGIONS: UK, worldwide digital
RELEASE DATE: 17th May 2018
PAPERBACK, 320 pages
PRICE: £19.99 (UK) TBC (US)
ISBN: 9781781086209
DIAMOND: TBC

Injured in The Battle of the Somme, Charley returns to wartime London and meets a deserter from the French Foreign Legion, Blue, who tells of his brutal experiences of the Battle of Verdun. All too soon Charley returns to the front line at Ypres where the threat from the German army is matched only by the inhumanity of his superiors! In the face of suffering and injustice, seeds of mutiny begin to grow among the ranks… This second volume of Pat Mills and Joe Colquhoun’s masterpiece continues to tell the story of an ordinary soldier’s experiences in World War One, including the vibrant re-mastered colour pages from the original comic. Available in print from: book stores, Amazon, and comic book stores via Diamond Available in digital from: 2000 AD webshop, 2000 AD iPad app, 2000 AD Android app, 2000 AD Windows 10 app

Charley's War re-collected in 2018

One of the greatest British comic strips of all time, Charley's War, by Pat Mills and Joe Colquhoun, is to be reprinted again in three chunky books next year. Previously collected by Titan Books, the rights are now with Rebellion who will be representing the stories in brand new Definitive Editions, and presenting the full colour pages in colour as they were originally in Battle Picture Weekly. (The Titan books reprinted them in monochrome.) 

More information over on the Boys Adventure Comics blog that broke this welcome news:
https://boysadventurecomics.blogspot.co.uk/2017/12/charleys-war-re-collected-in-3-new.html

Charley's War republished in huge omnibus edition

Next to Frank Bellamy's Thunderbirds strips, Charley's War must rank up there as one of the most often reprinted British comics strips. Deservedly so, for not only is the saga one of the most superbly written and illustrated stories to have appeared in UK comics it also carries important messages about war that resonate to this day.

Now, Titan Books have packaged together the early years of the strip in a huge 320 page softback entitled Charley's War: A Boy Soldier in The Great War. Many of the pages have even been sourced from the original artwork, and the reproduction is excellent, on good quality paper, making this an essential collection.

Charley's War began in the pages of weekly war comic Battle-Action back in 1979. Written by Pat Mills and illustrated by Joe Colquhoun it tackled the drama of trench warfare in World War One. A series set in the trenches was not an easy subject to turn into a gripping war story for boys, but the creators produced the most remarkable strip of its time. Thanks to Pat Mills' diligent research and Joe Colquhoun's gritty, detailed artwork Charley's War looked authentic and engrossing, but the most important aspect was that this was an anti-war strip, published by the same company that had churned out ridiculous gung-ho stuff such as Captain Hurricane. Quite a coup for the creators. 

Naturally, as Charley's War was appearing in a comic for young boys the extent of the horrors of trench warfare couldn't be fully shown, but even with such restraint, the strip contained tough stuff and pushed the boundaries further than any British war comic had before. Actually, saying the strip was aimed at boys does it a disservice. The level of the writing and artwork is high and allows Charley's War to be enjoyed by readers of any age or either gender. 

To show the tragedy and futility of the war, the strip didn't shirk on its body count, with some supporting characters suddenly meeting untimely ends. The villains of the story ranged from a particular nasty German sniper to the loathsomely sadistic British officer Lieutenant Snell. Charley is the likable everyman of the strip who suffers countless hardship. In this regard the story is written very much like a strip in a girls comic or even a Dickensian novel, playing on the emotions rather than the simplistic cliffhangers of other UK boys serials of the day such as The Steel Claw or Adam Eterno. This element made Charley a more sympathetic and rounded character which undoubtedly added to the popularity of the strip. The scope broadened even more when the story began to show the home life of Charley's family as well, including his spirited younger brother Wilf and his shifty cousin Olly. 

If the classic strips themselves were not incentive enough to buy this mighty tome (and they certainly are) the book has a few extras too. Up front, there's Neil Emery's ten page chronology of the series, which is superbly informative but is perhaps best read after the strips as it's full of spoilers. (It also covers the stories that go beyond this volume, so if you haven't already read the whole series, be aware that this reveals everything.) There's a four page article by Steve White on the evolution of the tank, and extracts from an interview that Stephen Oldman did with Joe Colquhoun back in the early 1980s for my fanzine Fantasy Express. (A note says that I granted permission for it to be used in the book but as I've always maintained, the copyright of the interview rests with Stephen Oldman. I merely published it.) 

In the back of the book, Pat Mills has written an eight page commentary on the stories. This gives a great insight into the creation of the strip and shows Pat's huge respect for the incredible drawing skills of the late Joe Colquhoun. 

Big as this omnibus is, it only covers less than half of the full Charley's War saga. Titan have previously published the entire series in 10 hardback books, and this collects the first four volumes. Personally I prefer this format to the hardbacks and their easily damaged dust-jackets, and I hope the whole series is collected in more giant softbacks such as this. 

Charley's War: A Boy Soldier in The Great War is a bargain at £19.99 for 320 pages. It's stitched, not glued, which is a bonus as the pages can be opened wide with no fear of splitting the spine. If you've never read the strip before, this is definitely the book to get. And if you have read it before, this chunky, durable book is a great accessible format to read and read again. 

ISBN: 9781781169148

Egmont classics now available as digital comics

  
Some of the most fondly remembered adventure strips of the 1970s and 1980s are now available as digital downloads from the iTunes store. Egmont's Classic Comics imprint (using the old 1970 Fleetway "fireball" design for its logo) is re-presenting stories from Battle Picture Weekly, Roy of the Rovers, Misty, and Scream for readers with iPhone or iPad devices at very reasonable prices. 

Here's the official press release:

EGMONT EXPANDS DIGITAL CLASSIC COMICS OFFERING

A collection of fondly-remembered classic comics is now available digitally

London 13th November 2012 - Egmont UK’s Classic Comics imprint was created to re-publish the wealth of classic comics in their archive.

Four volumes of Roy the Rovers kicked off our e-comic publishing in June this year and now we are excited to announce the launch of further classics on popular comic series from the 70s and 80s.

A fifth Roy of the Rovers has been made available along with publications from Misty and The Thirteenth Floor.  From Battle Picture Weekly we will be publishing various strips including Johnny Red, Major Eazy and the ground- breaking Charley’s War.  Some of the biggest names in British comics were involved in the creation of these stories, including Pat Mills and John Wagner.

David Riley, Managing Director of Egmont Publishing Group, said: “Roy, Battle, Misty…these are iconic magazines which still have a place in the national consciousness. They deserve to be brought back; their appeal also has the potential to transcend the generation gap and reach an entirely new, younger audience. With the limitless possibilities offered up by digital publishing, there has never been a better time to bring these comics to the fore.”

Follow these links to obtain your digital downloads:

MISTY: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/misty-comic-tales-from-mist/id573167123?mt=11

MAJOR EAZY: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/major-eazy-comic/id575022887?mt=11

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/major-eazy-comic-part-2/id575022909?mt=11

CHARLEY'S WAR: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/charleys-war/id575535490?mt=11

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/charleys-war-comic-part-two/id575567566?mt=11

ROY OF THE ROVERS: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/roy-rovers-comic-volume-5/id568395894?mt=11

THE THIRTEENTH FLOOR: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/thirteenth-floor-comic-part/id573170121?mt=11

https://itunes.apple.com/gb/book/thirteenth-floor-comic-part/id573174728?mt=11 

Pat Mills interview on FPI blog

A true giant in the British comics industry, Pat Mills, creator of 2000AD, Charley's War, Requiem, and much more is interviewed over at the Forbidden Planet International blog. The two-part interview goes into depth on Pat's opinions on comics, including the reasons for his well-known dislike for superheroes. "Superman, for instance, is a symbol of US military power. It is also a Biblical thing, which makes it odious to me." says Pat, who later continues "Superheroes blind us to real heroes, e.g. ordinary soldiers in Charley’s War. Battle readers saw that clearly which is why the story was so popular."

Pat also talks about 2000AD, the difference between attitudes to comics in France and Britain, his opinions on people taking over his strips, and lots more. Some may dislike Pat's outspoken views, and I'm sure he would expect that, but his opinions are always worth reading. Personally I usually find myself agreeing with him, so his views are always interesting and welcome as far as I'm concerned. You can see the interviews here:

http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/2011/pat-mills-unwrapped-part-1-the-godfather-of-brit-comics-talks-with-matt-badham/

http://forbiddenplanet.co.uk/blog/2011/pat-mills-unwrapped-part-2/

The interview has appeared at an appropriate time because Pat's in the news this week due to him revealing that Marshal Law, by himself and Kevin O'Neill, is to be reprinted by DC Comics. The strip has had several publishers over the years, from Epic (Marvel), Dark Horse, to the original Toxic in the UK. If you've never read it before you're in for a treat!

Finally, next week's issue of 2000AD brings back Flesh for a new series written by Pat Mills and illustrated by newcomer James McKay. Don't miss it, Earthlets!