Leaping Leopards! It's the new Commandos

Here's the latest intel from Commando HQ on the latest issues on sale now in all good newsagents and online...

Commando No 4527 - The Leopard Commander
Story: Alan Hebden Art: Keith Page Cover: Keith Page

It sounded almost cute and cuddly, an Italian commander named for a big cat. But his British adversaries in East African were under no illusions. They knew that, like his namesake, he was fast, agile... and deadly!

Commando No 4528 - The Doomed Legionnaires
Story: Steve Coombs Art: Benet Cover: Benet

Men from all over the world, men with secret shameful pasts, men who had no place in their home countries. Here they were, gathered together to fight an implacable enemy, for a flag that was not their own.

And because they were foreigners, they had been handed a suicide mission. They were indeed... The Doomed Legionnaires!

Commando No 4529 - Take No Prisoners!
Originally Commando No 25 (June 1962)
Story: Eric Hebden Art: Casarubio Cover: Ken Barr

SKULL and CROSSBONES...

Ten British prisoners lay dead - shot down in cold blood. And there were no witnesses to the terrible crime.

The only clue to the killers lay there in the blood-stained dust - a German helmet bearing a skull and crossbones emblem...an emblem which from that day on was to be a death warrant to every Nazi who wore it.

"Ask most people about Commando and they'll tell you about nasty Nazis and clean-cut fair-playing British," suggests editor Calum Laird. "Yet this story from 1962 shows that those assumptions, like all generalisations, don't stand up to scrutiny. Sure there are nasty Nazis but after that things become a bit more hazy and there's a moral ambivalence amongst the British.

"But don't let that put you off! As ever, Eric Hebden crafts a great story behind Ken Barr's intimidating cover, and Casarubio's strong and confident black linework complements the atmosphere very well.

"All in all, this commando takes no prisoners. Sorry."

Commando No 4530 - The Deadly Deal
Originally Commando No 2145 (December 1987)
Story: Allan Chalmers Art: Cecil Rigby Cover: Jeff Bevan

There are good deals, bad deals and deals like the one Jan de Groot made. He agreed that he would work as an agent in enemy-held territory where the slightest slip-up would lead to arrest, torture and probably death.

It was going to take all his courage to keep... THE DEADLY DEAL.

"Our main character, tough-as-nails Dutchman Jan de Groot is a hot-headed hero, which also makes him a flawed hero," says Deputy Editor Scott Montgomery of this story "...and this twisty-turny yarn is an excellent example of a Commando espionage story done well.

"It's complemented by veteran interior illustrator Cecil Rigby's artwork, which is chock full of icy black waters and moody nightscapes.

• downthetubes is pleased to offer an exclusive discount on a subscription to DC Thomson's Commando comic, entitling readers to save 50% by ordering using our special discount code! Follow this link to DC Thomson's subscription page. When prompted, enter this unique code COMDT - then make your payment and your subscription will be up and running! 

• Official Commando web site: http://www.commandocomics.com/

• Commando Official Facebook page

• 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

• Steadfast! the Commando artwork exhibition at The Gordon Highlanders Museum in Aberdeen runs until 30th November 2012. There are more details about the exhibition on the museum website.

VE Day Anniversary marked in new Commandos

The first two stories of the latest Commandos from DC Thomson, on sale this week, continue the VE-Day series first issued for the 50th anniversary 15 years ago. Denis McLoughlin handles the tank story with Commando regular, Ibanez, take care of our paratrooper story. Covers, with portraits on the back, are by Ian Kennedy.

Commando No 4298 is written by relative newcomer Steve Coombs with art by the veteran José Maria Jorge. "We think the combination has worked well," editor Calum Laird says.

If you haven't picked up a Commando recently, you might want to at least check these out. To the Last Man, released earlier this month, proved an entertaining story from Ferg Handley, covering a period of the Second World War era that has had little coverage in war comics, revealing that even after the surrender of Germany in 1945 life was not plain sailing for occupying forces.

The Commando format of two frame pages and lengthy caption boxes as well as balloons to drive the story doesn't suit all tastes - but its now unique position on the UK news stand as an adventure digest affords it some respect, and its continued publication is evidence enough that it works as a storytelling medium. The stories continue to be well crafted, often offering new insight into wartime conflict and the soldiers that fought in those wars.

Commando 4295: Death Ride
Story: Ian Clark Inside art: Denis McLoughlin Cover Art: Ian Kennedy

From the first day of war in 1939, the soldiers, sailors and airmen of the countries opposed to Hitler's Germany knew that it would be a long, bloody struggle before the Nazis were toppled to defeat.

They couldn't know then that the day of victory would come in May, 1945. For Sergei Baltor, Soviet tank commander, it would finally end in the burning centre of Berlin, dead comrades and shattered tanks marking every mile of the road to victory.

Commando 4296: Strike in Silence
Story: Ian Clark Inside art: Ibanez Cover Art: Ian Kennedy

For Sergeant Bill Copeland of the US paratroopers there would be plenty of trouble to face before VE Day — both from the enemy and from within his own ranks...

Commando 4297: The Strangest Allies
Story: Ferg Handley Inside art: Carlos Pino Cover Art: Carlos Pino

Germans in tanks are Panzer men, aren’t they? Crews of Panthers, Mark IVs or maybe even Tigers.

But not Churchill tanks.

And yet, that’s what happened. A group of Germans and Austrians, each with their own reasons to hate the Nazis, volunteered to serve in British tanks fighting their own countrymen. They were determined to help the Allied cause, even if some Allied soldiers didn’t want them to.

Commando 4298: Crossed Sword Squadron
Story: Steve Coombs Inside art: José Maria Jorge Cover Art: José Maria Jorge
• View a work in progress page for Crossed Sword Squadron on the Commando web site

Veteran pilot Pavel Sobotka was the sole survivor of the 9th Escadre — a much-feared Polish fighter squadron that had been whittled away, pilot by fighting pilot, through the long, hard-fought years of World War II.

Then, as Pavel's Hawker Typhoon hunted for the enemy over the D-Day beachhead, he encountered an figure from his past, dragging up memories. Memories best left forgotten...

• 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