Raid yourself some new Commandos!

Keeping up the pressure on potential fans to subscribe to the war digest title, the Commando team are currently offering a copy of the latest  collection to those who take up the offer.

Selected by current Commando editor Calum Laird, to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the comic, Rogue Raiders, the latest in this bestselling series of anthologies presents the ten greatest-ever commando raids stories.

Raiding is what Second World War commandos were trained for, and these thrilling comic-strip yarns show true-Brit heroes assaulting all kinds of enemy targets from the land, sea and air.

Stealthy, resourceful, daring and hard as nails, the commandos succeed against all odds in accomplishing their missions, whether against fanatical Nazi storm troopers or ruthless Japanese jungle-fighters.

Rogue Raiders includes the following stories: Operation Firebrand! (from Issue 526); Half-Pint Commando (225); Terror Team (1159); The Iron Sergeant (639); Time of Terror (544); The Mad Major (1435); Spring the Trap (1864); A Born Leader (1750); Marked Man (1628); and Ten Tough Paratroopers (2116).

Rogue Raiders is also available in all good bookshops: meanwhile, you might want to check out the latest issues of the comic, on sale now in all good newsagents...

Commando No 4391: Battling Bradley
Originally Commando No 252 (March 1967), re-issued as No 923 (April 1975)
Story: Lester Art: Alfredo Sanchez Cortes Cover Art: Hall

It didn’t matter very much what you gave Ken Bradley, boxer turned paratrooper, to fight with. His bare fists made him a match for a handful of Germans any day.

But give him a gun, especially a Tommy gun, and he’d take on anything that had a swastika painted on it. Even a tank… or a pill-box! What a man to have a your side.

"A story packed with action centred round a man determined to settle a debt of honour is archetypal Commando fare, isn’t it? If it wasn’t for the sting in the tail this would be a good action story," ," notes Commando Editor Calum Laird in a special introduction to this reprint. "The twist makes it a great one. One which has stuck in my mind for the years since 1967.

"Cortes’ artwork has a darkness about it which lends depth to the story and the cover really sums up what the whole thing’s about. I like to think that Commando’s still about the story values you see here and that someone reading a new tale today will remember it for as long."

Commando No 4392: Cossack
Originally Commando No 454 (January 1970), re-issued as No 1275 (December 1978)
Story: Peter Newark Art: Victor de la Fuente Cover Art: Penalva

For centuries the Cossack horsemen rode to war over the mighty steppes, their sabres red with blood, their savage battle-cries chilling their enemies with fear. But their greatest battles came in the Second World War when they pitted horse and sabre against Nazi tanks and machine guns.

It was a hard, tough war, even for the Cossacks — so you can guess what it was like for an RAF air-gunner who escaped from a German prison camp and rode with them!

"An RAF air gunner, just escaped from a German prison camp and riding with a distrustful band of sabre-wielding Cossack warriors, should be enough to get any keen Commando reader reaching for a copy.," says former editor George Low of this classic. "A challenging cover from Penalva and inside artwork from the incomparable Victor de la Fuente will more than satisfy the most demanding of fans. Peter Newark wrote the script and he was a master at this type of story which was the sixth to go on sale in 1970."

Commando No 4393: Operation Leviathan
Story: Sean Blair Art: John Ridgway Cover Art: John Ridgway

When the German onslaught forced France to capitulate in 1940, Frenchmen were forced to choose between co-existing with the invaders by serving the Vichy government or fighting on with the Allies. When Allied ships bombarded the French fleet to prevent it falling into German hands, killing many French sailors in the process, French loyalties were further divided.

Which way would the crew of the mighty French submarine Leviathan - with her twin eight-inch guns and ability to disappear below the waves - go?

Commando No 4394: Flak Alley
Story: Ferg Handley Art: Vila Cover Art: Ian Kennedy

In 1943, Pilot Officer Chris Buckley completed his photo-reconnaissance course and was delighted to be out of a stuffy classroom. Finally he was at the controls of a P51 Mustang.
As expected, he soon found himself dodging flak in the skies above German-occupied Europe. What he didn’t expect was to be dodging even more flak from his CO - who was convinced that Chris wasn’t up to the job!

• Official Commando web site: http://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  

• Commando is also available for iPad and iPhone. The apps are free to download through the Apple iTunes App Store and a digital subscription is priced at £4.99 per month, compared to a £99 annual print subscription. For those not sure there are four free issues to download prior to making a purchase.  

• Commando Comics iPhone App on iTunes

• Commando Comics iPad App on iTunes

Aces High! Commando celebrates the Battle of Britain

The latest batch of titles from DC Thomson features the first three books in Commando’s six-book 'Aces High' salute to the RAF on the 70th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.

Editor Calum Laird commissioned two brand new stories and also scoured the Commando archives for four cracking air stories which haven’t seen the light of day for decades.

Included in the reprints is Mustang Ace, John Ridgway’s first ever Commando book, first published in 1971. At the time he had a day job and it took about four months of evening and weekend work to complete. He used very think board back then and the stack of art stands about six inches high! John has gone on to establish himself as a fixture in the British comics world and the Commando team like to think that DC Thomson gave him a helping hand in the beginning.

The remaining three books in the 'Aces High' series will be released on the 16th September.

Commando 4323: Island Ambush
Story: Sean Blair Art and cover: Mike White

The SOS came through weak and distorted by static. An American survivor of one of the many battles of the Pacific war, calling for help from a lonely island.

Radio operator Eric Aburto aboard PT Boat 1101 heard the message and knew he had to go to the man’s aid -- not only was he a fellow US serviceman…Eric was sure he recognised a voice from his past!

Commando 4324: One-Eyed Ace ('Aces High' story)
Story: Alan Hebden Art and Cover: Keith Page

Newly-commissioned Pilot Officer Johnny Dangerfield dreamed of racking up the five kills needed to call himself an ace -- and was determined to face anything the Nazis threw at him to do it.
However, it was to be the actions of one of his own squadron’s pilots that would cause him to lose an eye and Johnny’s dreams of being an ace would be over... Or were they?

Commando 4325: Mustang Ace ('Aces High' story)
Story: Mac Macdonald Art: John Ridgway Cover: Ken Barr
Originally No 546 from 1971

An ace... that’s what Joe Jennings was, one of the few gifted pilots who could make his kite do anything but talk. Nobody believed there was a Jerry alive who could match Joe in combat.

Yet the day did dawn when Joe was shot down in flames. And how it came about makes a fantastic story.

Commando 4326: Clash of Aces ('Aces High' story)
Story: Peter Newark Art: Amador Cover: Ian Kennedy
Originally No 465 from 1970

When Squadron-Leader Alec Scott in his old, lumbering Gloster Gladiator was set about by a flashing Messerchmitt 109, it was David and Goliath all over again.

This time David needed more than a sling to down Goliath -- but the big ’un was cut down to size just the same!

• Official Commando web site: www.commandomag.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 and writer Ferg Handley on the downthetubes main site.