Commando evades blizzards, heads for newsagents

Here are the latest issues of DC Thomson's Commando to fight their way through the snowdrifts to the newsagents’ shelves. Just in time for Christmas, too.

If anyone is having difficulty getting copies in the seasonal weather, Commando editor Calum Laird suggest you email shop@dcthomson.co.uk, and the team there will do their best to help out. Plus, a subscription might be a wise investment as missed copies of our upcoming 50th year’s output may cause some wailing and gnashing of teeth!

Commando fans may have noticed the official website (www.commandocomics.com) has had an update. DC Thomson are trailing the launch of digital editions of Commando, launching next year, on the site, and there's now better links to an extensive guide to the title's back issues list and behind the scenes features.

Commando 4351: Death Camp
Story: Ian Clark Art: Olivera Cover Art: Alan Burrows
Previously No 2637 from 1993

Barbed wire, watchtowers and searchlights — the camp looked like any other POW cage… from the outside. But hidden behind the perimeter fence was a nightmare world where starved prisoners were forced to act as guinea pigs for the sadistic doctors of death!

Commando 4352: Hunger for Glory
Story: Ian Clark Art: Josè Maria Jorge Cover Art: Josè Maria Jorge
Previously No 2663 from 1993

Colonel John Devlin, USAF, had chased glory in three wars…but it had always passed him by. Now, in the savage air battles over war-torn Vietnam, he saw his final chance to grab it when a new pilot arrived — a real hotshot, a born ace.
There and then Devlin decided that this top gun was going to be his ticket to glory…regardless of the cost of men and machines!

This is a re-issued story which reminds us of just what a talented artist the late Josè Maria Jorge was… especially when it came to aircraft. His very first Commando story will be appearing in late January 2011.

Commando 4353: Ham-Fisted Hero
Story: Alan Hebden Art: Carlos Pino Cover Art: Carlos Pino

Young Wally Clegg was a nice lad but a bit of a clumsy clot. As soon as he got near a ham radio set, however, there was a veritable transformation and he became a communications wizard.

And although he was bounced out of the Royal Signals Corps, if there was radio work to be done, Wally was there to do it. Now the Japs were poised to invade India and it looked like only Wally could send the message that would stop them. With the pressure on would he be a wireless wonder or a Ham-Fisted Hero?

Commando 4354: Company of Pals
Story: Alan Hebden Art: Vila Cover Art: Ian Kennedy

They marched of to war together, the young men of the town. Proud to serve their country and happy to fighting alongside their mates. But the Western Front in the First World War was a place of nightmares and the town’s nightmare came true when the company of pals was wiped out.

When the evil of war once more engulfed Europe, the military authorities made sure that, whatever casualties they had to suffer, never again would one town lose all its young men at once. It seemed, though, that fate hadn’t got the message...

• Official Commando web site: www.commandocomics.com

• Click here for subscription information or write to: D.C. Thomson & Co Ltd, The Subscribers Department, Commando Library, 80 Kingsway East, Dundee DD4 8SL or Freephone (UK only) 0800 318846

• You can read interviews with former Commando editor George Low, current editor Calum Laird on the downthetubes main site.

Moore and Reppion back to Raise the Dead

US publisher Dynamite's hit series Raise the Dead returns with an all-new tale of undead debauchery, plotted by British creators Leah Moore & John Reppion, scripted by Mike Raicht, and with art by Guiu Vilanova.

Raise the Dead 2 #1, which will arrive in comic shops this December, also features a cover by the amazing Lucio Parrillo, with a 1-in-10 incentive cover by Vilanova.

In issue #1, the zombie infestation continues unchecked and only a handful of survivors fight for their lives against the rising tide of un-dead mayhem. Will these poor souls find hope in the small coastal town of Alfredo Bay or has that world died along with most everything else in this post apocalyptic nightmare?

"I'm so excited to be working with Leah Moore, John Reppion, Guiu Vilanova and everyone else at Dynamite on the follow-up to Raise the Dead," says scripter Mike Raicht. "I loved picking up the first volume with all of the twists and turns it provided.

"As most people might guess, I'm a huge zombie fan. Working on this book with John and Leah has been an awesome experience! As for the new volume… our heroes have made it to the small coastal town of Alfredo Bay hoping that it provides them a bit of a respite from the zombie onslaught. Does it?

"Well if it did, that might make for a pretty boring book. In this new volume, we introduce some new characters, catch up with some old ones and, of course, have a bucket load of zombies and gore to throw at you.

"And just wait until you see what Guiu Vilanova has been cooking up for the art. I've seen the pages for the first issue and a half and I'm even a little skeeved out by the whole thing!"

•  Raise the Dead 2 Preview pages here on Comic Book Resources

• Raise the Dead (Original Series Information on Moore and Reppion's web site)

• Follow Mike Raicht on Twitter

• Guiu Vilanova's official blog