Out Now: COMMANDO Nos.5291 to 5294

This has been a great year for Commando comics under the editorship of Georgia Battle. The surprise revivals of classic D.C. Thomson characters such as Code Name: Warlord and Braddock in new stories, and other great issues such as Commandos vs Zombies. This week, new characters A-Force return in another story. Here's the info on all four issues that are out now!

5291: Home of Heroes: A-Force: Aftershock

A-Force returns in part two of the raucous romp written by Ferg Handley! In Aftershock, Jack Ramsey — grandson of the infamous Ramsey Raider, has just gotten back from his first mission and is shook by the loss of one of his squaddies — Joe Bones! But when they’re sent back to Sarovia on another mission, there’s a surprising waiting!

| Story | Ferg Handley | Art | Carlos Pino | Cover | Carlos Pino |

5292: Gold Collection: One Moment of Glory

Jeff Bevan’s fourth ever Commando cover is laid bare on Gold reprint issue One Moment of Glory. An early cover for him but still a goodie — especially when it’s on this issue! A classic Commando tale of a posh boy versus a working-class lad, and the class rivalry comes to a head in the deserts of Libya! But will they each get their one moment of glory? Well you’ll have to read it, won’t you?

| Story | CG Walker | Art | Wright | Cover | Jeff Bevan |

Originally Commando No. 801 (1973).

5293: Action and Adventure: The Peregrine Falcons

As the tide of the war turned against Germany, they turned to dirty tactics and revenge weapons like the V-1 rocket. Britain, and London in particular, was besieged by the diabolical doodlebug bombs which actively sought to kill citizens and sow destruction. But one RAF squadron called The Peregrine Falcons, led by Henry Abercrombie, wasn’t going to let the buzz bombs get through. They were the best defence Britain had — and for Henry it was a personal battle! 

| Story | Brent Towns | Art | Jaume Forns | Cover | Ian Kennedy|

  

5294: Silver Collection: Outcast!

Ian Clark’s expansive plot of Outcast!takes you from Pre-war French Foreign Legion, all the way to World War Two Germany on the Eastern Front, then to Communist East Germany and even further on to the First Indochina War — all in the story of one man! Plus, with art from Denis McLoughlin and a stunning Phil Gascoine cover, this isn’t one to miss! 

| Story | Ian Clark | Art | Denis McLoughlin | Cover | Phil Gascoine |

Originally Commando No. 2471 (1991).

This will be the last time I'll preview Commando, because Blimey! blog ends in a few days, but don't forget you'll still be able to see previews of future issues if you follow the blogs Down the Tubes and Bear Alley. 

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New for 2020: REJECTED

A New Year is coming so what better than a new comic? Rejected is a compilation of stories written by Baden James Mellonie and illustrated by a variety of great artists. Why call it Rejected? Well, all the strips "ended up in development hell or I gave up on" says Baden, but now you have a chance to see them. A far better fate for them than languishing in some drawer. 

It's a Kickstarter project and here's Baden with all the details...

Rejected. 
Pre-orders available now. 
So what is it?
It's a compilation or worst of. Or its a book of stuff that hasn't worked out yet. Frame it how you will. 

Rejected features my Tharg's future shock submissions, submissions for Strip magazine, (that unfortunately folded) as well as other strips that for one reason or another have ended up in development hell, or i gave up on.
It features a cover by the incredible Stephen Sampson and art by Karl Richardson, Patrick Goddard, Steven Austin, David Millgate, David Hitchcock, letters by Bolt-1 and articles by John Freeman and myself. 
It features scripts, abandoned projects, character designs, letters of rejection and tales of what might have been.

So what do i need? Simple.
£1500. 
So 100 of you to fund it at £15 a head.

What do you get? 
A copy of the graphic novel,American format, signed by myself and possibly others. It is, at least 64 pages, ( but it might be up to 80 pages long)
A thank-you in the list of contributors
A print of the cover
A book mark
A badge set. 
Postage and packing. 
An invite to the launch signing.
My gratitude. 
All you have to do is go to Paypal, badenmellonie@hotmail.com and Pay. 
Friends and family is nice. 
Or you can do a bank transfer. Message me for details. 
I've a printer ready to go and reckon this will be nailed by the end of February 2020. 

So if it sounds like something you'll enjoy (and the preview pages here show there's some great stuff it'll contain) then there you go. Also, share this post if you will to spread the word.

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Review: THE BEANO BOOK 1956 (Facsimile)

Cover art by James Crighton.

One of the books I treated myself to for Christmas was this facsimile of The Beano Book 1956 (originally published in 1955). As the original was published four years before I was born I'd never read it before so it was all new to me.

As most of you already know, you can order a facsimile of any Beano annual from 1940 to 2013 from D.C. Thomson and they're printed on demand:
https://shop.beano.com/awesome-gifts/classic-beano-gifts/personalised-beano-annual-from-your-year

I've bought a few of them before but this one intrigued me because it contains work by all the greats who were involved with the Beano at a high point in its history. The strips in this book would have been drawn in late 1954 so we have work by Leo Baxendale at the start of his career when his style was still developing...

Fascinating to see The Bash Street Kids when it was still called When The Bell Rings...

Ken Reid is well represented too. His style was more restrained on these early Roger the Dodger strips, and far from the manic outrageousness it would display ten years later on Frankie Stein for Wham!,  but it still displayed perfect craftsmanship...

Davy Law's Dennis the Menace is already in his full glory here, leading the charge for what would become the distinctive "mischievous kids" approach the Beano is famous for...

Other great artists are well represented too. Dudley Watkins on Lord Snooty, Ken Hunter on Wee Davie, and early work by Bill Holroyd on Nobby the Enchanted Bobby for example...

...and Jack Glass giving us a darker, more sinister look to The Iron Fish than the lighter approach that Sandy Calder brought to it in the late sixties. (I prefer Jack Glass' more dangerous looking version seen here to be honest.)

There are things here that wouldn't sit well in a comic of today. Bird Boy helping whale hunters to kill their prey isn't something you'd see in a modern Beano annual. Art by Paddy Brennan...

A new character for me was Hookey's Bust'em Book drawn by Charles Grigg before he developed more of his own distinctive style. The story is about a magic book that can spring its characters to life. (An idea re-used years later in Smash! with Charlie's Choice, but with a TV set instead of a book.)

It's interesting how many of the Beano adventure strips of the period had gimmicks simply explained as magic. Nobby the Enchanted Bobby had magic boots that could transform him, Hookey had his book, Jimmy's Magic Patch had a patch on his trousers that sent him back in time. Even the characters using science, such as The Iron Fish and General Jumbo, were using technology not yet invented. It all added to a fantastic sense of wonder that comics of the period contained and kids never questioned things like that because they knew that the impossible is great entertainment. 

These Beano annual facsimiles are excellent value and very well produced. Admittedly the binding is very tight so I couldn't lie the pages flat to scan (so you'll have to do with these camera snaps) but as they're print-on-demand it's necessary to have glued binding as stitched would be far too costly. The books are all scanned from the original annuals which means they also pick up any tanning from the old pages, but I'd much rather have that than over-saturated remastered pages that knock out half the fine lines. 

You're required to have the books personalised when you order them as they're intended as gifts, but you can type in any message you like. So rather than add a name you can just put "for collectors" or something. Or dedicate it to yourself if you like. (Update: I've been told you can just type 'none' and it'll be left blank.)

The books are produced by Signature Books under licence from D.C. Thomson, so I don't know how long that contract runs for. I'd like to see them do other old D.C. Thomson annuals too. The Dandy Book especially. Ideally, I'd like to see them do facsimiles on demand of any old D.C. Thomson comic, although in regards to comics post-1960s the production costs would probably make it cheaper to buy the actual back issues from eBay.

Anyway, I recommend these facsimile Beano annuals so catch a few while you can!
https://shop.beano.com/awesome-gifts/classic-beano-gifts/personalised-beano-annual-from-your-year

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The Christmas CHIPS (1939)

Here's my final Christmas choice for this season, and indeed forever, as Blimey! will end on December 31st so there'll be no festive covers from me next year. Therefore I thought I'd make sure this last choice is a good 'un! We travel back in time 80 years to this week in 1939 where this wonderful edition of Chips was in newsagents across the UK. 

We all have our favourite eras for comics but there's no denying that the 1930s were a fantastic period for beautifully drawn Christmas logos. Percy Cocking has put everything into this title design; Father Christmas, decorations, stockings, holly, crackers, Christmas pud, the traditional slap-up feed, and even an appearance by the editor, Fred Cordwell, in the top left there hosting the event. And yes, characters were frequently shown smoking and drinking in kids' comics back then!

Percy Cocking was also the artist on the Weary Willie and Tired Tim strip. Two of the very earliest comics characters who'd been around since Tom Browne created them in 1896. They appeared on the front cover of Chips until its final issue in 1953. 

Tucked away on page two was the editorial, and a sad reminder of the era this comic was published in. It was 1939, war had begun, and the editor makes references to evacuees, and those in the forces...

Chips was in its usual 8 page tabloid format on pink paper and the centre pages had an array of tightly packed humour strips. Here's a sample...

Ivor Klue the Great Detective, drawn by Albert Pease...

Casey Court, also by Albert Pease (he was very good wasn't he)...

Pa Perkins and his son Percy, by Bertie Brown...

Homeless Hector... often by Bertie Brown but I'm not sure who drew this one...

There was also a small advert for that year's Radio Fun Annual. The price of half a crown (12 and a half pence) would have been quite expensive back then...

By the way, I don't know how many of you noticed, but I put Weary Willie and Tired Tim, and Homeless Hector, into the Cor!! Buster Humour Special as little cameos. I'm intending to do the same again in the Buster strip I'm drawing for next year's Cor!! Buster Easter Special. Gotta keep those old characters alive!

Copyright Rebellion Publishing Ltd.

I hope you've enjoyed this festive selection. I'll be doing a handful of posts after Christmas but the blog will cease to be updated after 31st December. See you soon and may I wish you a Happy Christmas!

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The Christmas BEANO (1971)

As you can tell from the name written above the logo, I was having The Beano reserved for me at the local newsagents every week back in 1971. In fact I'd had it saved for me since 1966. These days it's easier (and cheaper) to take out a subscription than ask shops to reserve comics, as they sometimes claim they can only stock what suppliers send them.

The interesting thing about The Beano at that time was that all of the original artists on their top characters had either left or passed away by then. Other artists had been assigned to imitate the original styles as best they could... and they not only did a exceptional job at it but made those styles their own. More importantly, the characters continued to be as popular as ever, and still are to this day. 

The Christmas Beano often delivered some nicely designed covers and this 1971 edition is no exception. The Biffo the Bear strip is by the very versatile David Sutherland. 

Grandpa had been a Ken Reid character from the 1950s but had been revived in 1971 under the artistry of Robert Nixon...

The Bash Street Kids story in this issue is absolutely superb, with great artwork by David Sutherland and a brilliant ending...

The Belles of St.Lemons is a Beano strip that's largely forgotten now. Perhaps the exploits of a St.Trinians style school became too dated, or perhaps it was always going to be in the shadow of Bash Street, but it didn't last too long. Nice artwork by Gordon Bell though...

Back then, Dennis the Menace was still a single page strip on the back page. Contrary to what some might think, the back page position was highly valued as it closed out the comic, leaving readers wanting to come back next week for more laughs. The artwork is by David Sutherland (told you he was versatile... and prolific too) inspired by Davy Law's style and mastering it...

The final comic in my Christmas selection will appear here soon!

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