All change for look and feel of Commando comic

With news on the latest issues of DC Thomson's war comic Commando comes news of a another change to its format - this time, not just in its branding, but actual look and feel.

For the first time in the title's 51-year history, a significant change has been made to its final appearance with a change to thicker, whiter paper for its story pages and increased to the weight and rigidity of the cover for better quality and durability. (Readers will recall explorers snapped reading Commando in recent related posts, so it's probably going to be well received by them!)

"This has resulted in a thicker weightier Commando which we feel (and initial feedback reinforces) better suits a product of Commando's quality" says editor Calum Laird.

"We hope that our fans will like the change. They can let us know what they think through our Facebook page."

Commando No 4491: Hero In A Heli
Story: Steve Taylor Art: Keith Page Cover: Keith Page

The second in Commando's mini-series of Falklands tales 30 years on.

It takes nerve and skill to hold a bucking, weaving Sea King in position over a casualty while one of your crewmates is winched down to try to pluck him to safety. Lieutenant Jamie Price had both these qualities which helped make his crew one of the best in the business.

Yet his brother Owen, a Sea Harrier pilot, ranked him only as a glorified bus driver, never missing a chance to sneer.

He never dreamt that he'd have to trust his life to that bus driver in the hostile skies over the Falklands Islands.

Commando No 4492: The Blood Feud
Story: Mac MacDonald Art: Vila Cover: Ian Kennedy

So how did it come to pass that Warrant Officer Greg Blake was about to take on a menacing German Zeppelin during the First World War, armed with only a Martini-Henry rifle?
It's a thrilling tale - one which stretches back to the Boer War, and tells of a bitter blood feud that spanned a generation…

Commando No 4493: Glider Pilot
Originally Commando No 32 (April 1962)
Story: Eric Hebden Art: Bonato Cover: Ken Barr

Like great birds of prey the gliders swoop into enemy territory, defying the might of the Luftwaffe and the savage assault of the flak batteries.

Once on the ground their bellies open to spill out bands of fighting men who strike terror into German hearts - the famous airborne Commandos. They give no mercy - and ask none, these men who have been taught to kill…

Spoiler alert! "In 1962, when this gold nugget was first unearthed, the plot device of the trainee who couldn't quite cut it was new to Commando," says editor Calum Laird, of this reprint isssue . "We've used it many times since, because it's still an excellent premise for a story. Eric Hebden makes fine use of it here.

"The inside art by Bonato has a clean, clear line to help the story-telling. He's sparing in his backgrounds, keeping the emphasis where it should be, on the characters who are taking the fight to the enemy on his own ground.

"You can't fault Ken Barr's cover composition or execution for drama and colour - no wonder the original title was so small, no-one wanted to cover any of it up."

Commando No 4494 - Don't Give Up!
Originally Commando No 2105 (April 1987)
Story: R.A. Montague Art: Cecil Rigby Cover: Ian Kennedy

As a Japanese dive-bomber roared in to destroy their trucks, a group of British soldiers scattered for cover. Every man knew they now faced a long trek through the Burmese jungle, trying desperately to stay ahead of the enemy advance.
It wouldn't be easy, buy they must never give up.

"Commando stories are fictional, of course. However, our tales do not shy away from the grimness of war, while still providing solid action yarns," says Deputy Editor Scott Montgomery.

"As a young Commando reader - many years ago - I always found jungle stories to be especially hard-hitting. I could just imagine being immersed in that all-encompassing, claustrophobic atmosphere, where the enemy could strike out of nowhere at any time…
This story reflects all of the above, as a motley crew of heroes - including one man who, in reality, isn't particularly heroic - strive against the odds to blow up a bridge while all the time ensuring that they “Don't Give Up!”

• The Draw Your Weapons exhibition featuring art from Commando continues at the National Army Museum in London closes  in a couple of days, on 30th April 2012. For the latest information visit: www.nam.ac.uk/exhibitions/special-displays/draw-your-weapons-art-commando-comics


• 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


• Commando Comics iPad App on iTunes

Classic Commandos re-released

Another four Commandos will be out this Thursday and as it’s November, thoughts turn towards the Armistice at the end of the Great War. So it's no surprise there's a pair of World War 1 stories in this set of release, one with a light-hearted feel.

There’s also the second from last in DC Thomson's first dozen re-issue series. Number 2 is seen for the first time in 20 years. Number 1 will re-appear on the 8th of December — just in time for Christmas.

Commando No 4443: Killer In No-Man’s-Land
Story: Mac MacDonald Art: Vila Cover Art: Ian Kennedy

As a soldier in the no-man’s-land between your own trenches and the enemy’s in World War One, you expected to get shot at. British soldier Alan Roux and his mates certainly did.

What they didn’t expect was to have to dodge bullets fired from their own side.

Commando No 4444: Kings of the Castle
Story: Mac MacDonald Art: Keith Page Cover Art: Keith Page

Many strange battles were fought during the 1914-18 war but surely the strangest involved a pair of French regimental policemen, a squad of Australian infantrymen, a bunch of escaped German POWs…and a mediaeval stone tower.

Commando No 4445: They Called Him Coward!
Story: Castle Art: Bonato Cover Art: Ken Barr
Originally Commando No 2 (June 1961), re-issued as No 2531 (January 1992)

“BANZAI!”

The powerful Japanese Army was island-hopping its ruthless way down through the South Seas towards Australia. Many a brave Aussie soldier, standing his ground in the green hell of the island jungles, was bulldozed into eternity by the sheer weight of the Nipponese army.

And one Englishman in the Australian army was caught up in the desperate battle. Bob Palmer he was christened, but COWARD was the name they branded him with. Coward, the word that turns a man into the loneliest being on earth, for what soldier seeks a coward for company?

But there was no craven blood in Bob Palmer’s veins — and he proved he was ready to spill every drop as he blasted Jap after Jap into kingdom come.

"This is a classic Commando tale," says Calum Laird, Commando Editor, of this reprint story. "A man who's the victim of a misunderstanding who has to prove his accuser wrong. And with plenty of action along the way to add some spice. That the two men are on the same side but different nationalities hardly matters nor that there’s a third character trying to be a peacemaker between them.

"What does matter is the use of the emotive word Coward in the title and through out the story. It’s one of those loaded words that can’t be spoken except without venom — as amply demonstrated here by Sergeant Fettis.

"Note to the 1961 Commando editor…the word Coward in the title is far too small, make it bigger."

Commando No 4446: Mystery in the Desert
Originally Commando No 1370 (November 1979)
Story: Ken Gentry Art: Cecil Rigby Cover Art: Ian Kennedy

It was going to be Captain David Poole’s toughest mission yet. Posing as a German spy he was to feed the Nazis with false information which would lead their forces into a trap.

Everything was going like clockwork until David met up with a certain Australian pilot — and then everything started to go terribly wrong.

"As I recall, Ken Gentry who penned this tale, was a South African newspaperman with a sideline in Commando stories," says Calum Laird. "I worked on a few of his over the years. Here he weaves a web of deceit with a double-crossing British agent, a straightforward Aussie pilot and a luckless German commander.

"Cecil Rigby who provided the inside art for the story had also worked on newspapers, as a very good caricaturist and he wasn’t bad at Commando either, having been in at the start. "Ian Kennedy, who provided the cover, puts himself in the cockpit of every plane he draws. I hope he made an exception with this one — that looks like a painful crash."

• The Draw Your Weapons exhibition featuring art from Commando continues at the National Army Museum in London this month and runs until 30th April 2012. For the latest information visit: www.nam.ac.uk/exhibitions/special-displays/draw-your-weapons-art-commando-comics


• 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


• Commando Comics iPad App on iTunes