Darkie's Mob joins Titan's 'Battle' line-up

After a long wait, Titan Books has published a full, uncensored collection of Darkie's Mob, John Wagner and Mike Western's hard-hitting Far East World War 2 adventure, first published in Battle Picture Weekly.

In the hellish, humid jungles of Burma, renegade Captain Joe Darkie leads a rag-tag squad of British soldiers behind Japanese lines, transforming them into the brutal 'Darkies Mob'. Narrated in diary form by hapless Private Richard Shortland, Darkie's squad face hardship, horror and vicious combat at every turn, as their Captain's mania threatens to engulf them all.

But what is Darkie's terrible secret, and how many will have to die before his bloodlust is finally sated?

Darkie's Mob was created by John Wagner (perhaps best known for his work on 2000AD's 'Judge Dredd' and his graphic novel, A History of Violence) and legendary British artist Mike Western (The Sarge) and ran in Battle and Valiant between 14th August 1976 and 18th June 1977.

"Darkie’s Mob was about as grim as Battle could get," notes Moose Harris, who provided scans for the new collection. "John Wagner had just turned freelance when he began writing it, and needed to get a good, strong story under his belt. He researched the Burma campaign extensively, and Darkie’s Mob reflected his findings. The scenes where Darkie is nailed to a roof to bake in the sun, where Meeker’s arm is amputated with a hunting knife, and where one of the mob is crucified and left to die, were all based on actual events.

"This didn’t save the Battle editorial team from the attentions of Parliament at the time of the investigations into Action. When the strip was reprinted by Battle in the post-Action era, five episodes were dropped because of their content. Mike Western, a veteran of many years and many stories, found certain elements of the narrative disturbing, but still regarded it as his favourite collaboration."

This is the first time the strip has appeared in its full uncensored form since its first publication in Battle, and Titan Books have been understandably careful in their presentation, warning on the cover of 'strong language' - a reference to the jingoistic parlance of the characters. But the hard-hitting story, when read as a whole, hides a grim secret that puts Darkie's hatred for his enemy in grim perspective once revealed.

Asked in 2002 if there was ever the threat of censorship during the strip's original run, John Wagner said: "Surprisingly, no. It was one of the things that made the story readable. No plastic soldiers like 'Captain Hurricane', this was an attempt to portray the reality of war and the strong emotions and sometimes desperate condition of the men who fought it."

Speaking about the strip in 2007 to David Bishop, John felt the strip was "a wee bit repetitive" when read in one sitting. "I’m surprised that we got away with some of the stuff we did," he said. "Most of it is based on real incidents."

The story is a grim adventure tale, exposing the jungle war as a savage setting - for both sides in the conflict. Joe Darkie is an unforgiving anti hero, and it's no wonder the tale influenced stories such as Bad Company in 2000AD later.

Moose Harris has done a sterling job on scans for the book - often no easy task given the original printing - and deserves praise for his graft.

Overall, Darkie's Mob is a powerful tale that some will no doubt find offensive - but could it be any more offensive than glossing over the realities of war, and all it brings, as some comic stories have done?

• Buy Darkie's Mob from amazon.co.uk

• Buy Darkie's Mob: The Secret War of Joe Darkie from amazon.com

Further Reading

• Colonel Marbles John Wagner Interview
2002 interview

• Vicious Imagery: John Wagner talks about Battle Picture Weekly Part 1
David Bishop talks to John about how he came on board at IPC


• Vicious Imagery: John Wagner on Battle Picture Weekly Part 2
The origins of Darkie's Mob discussed

Mike Western: 1925 - 2008

Following the death of British comics artist Mike Western, reported earlier this week, we've published two new features on the main downthetubes site to celebrate his life and work.

In Mike Western Remembered, Ian Wheeler pays tribute to the late, great comics artist. Included is a selected stripography, with additional information courtesy of Steve Holland, who is currently working on an updated edition of his book, The Mike Western Story.

Tributes to Mike Western have come in from many comics creators including John Wagner, writer of one of Mike's best known strips Darkie's Mob, Tiger and Eagle editor Barrie Tomlinson, former IPC editor Dez Skinn, artists Rufus Dayglo and Chris Weston and many others.

"Mike was one of a dwindling band of true comic heroes, old school in the very best sense of the words," recalls Wagner. "The complete professional - gifted, totally reliable, a terrific artist and a genuinely decent man. He will be missed."

"I always wanted to see how Mike would have handled modern or mainstream comic strip stories," says Chris Weston. "It would have been nice to see him draw an episode of Bad Company or Rogue Trooper. Imagine him working on Batman or Superman!

Alas, all these un-drawn strips are now dispatched to the "What If" drawers. But I tell you something, they would have been great. Really, really great!"

Mike Western: A Personal Tribute

For a little over five years, John Freeman and I produced Eagle Flies Again, a fanzine dedicated to British boy’s comics with a bias towards 1980s Eagle and other comics of that era.

John and I were blessed to have support from many artists and writers from the great days of British comics. But there were perhaps two men who supported EFA more than anyone else - one was Barrie Tomlinson, the former Editor and Group Editor of New Eagle. The other was Mike Western.

If there was one word to describe Mike it would be 'gentleman'. The word is perhaps overused but Mike was one of the old school - politeness, kindness and generosity were the qualities I will remember him for. I never met him but during the time EFA was in production, we maintained regular contact by letter.

When I first contacted Mike, I was delighted to receive a letter back from him written in the sort of precise, immaculate handwriting that only an artist can produce. We interviewed Mike about his Battle work in issue 3 of EFA and when he saw the finished result he commented ‘It makes a splendid article.’

Mike followed up the Battle interview by writing an article on his work for New Eagle. When we reprinted the Battle and Eagle pieces in a compilation of EFA material, he wrote to me to say 'Many thanks for the Best of Eagle Flies Again compilation copies - I was delighted and my sons will appreciate getting to see the old man getting so many pages to himself!'

When artist Martin Baines lent me a copy of a European comic reprinting Mike’s work, I sent Mike a photocopy and he was fascinated to see his artwork with foreign words. Then, for his 80th birthday, we compiled a birthday special tribute issue of EFA. The special was my idea but largely down to the efforts of John Freeman who commissioned written and artwork tributes from some of the biggest names in the comics industry - all of who were happy to work for free to pay tribute to Mike! Mike said of this issue 'Very many thanks for the copies of EFA carrying your birthday greetings on my 80th, which I found very moving - and heart warming to read the messages from the people who contributed to the issue.'

Mike’s generosity is perhaps best illustrated by the fact that he drew two original pictures for EFA, one of which featured The Sarge from Battle (my favourite Mike Western character) and which I used as the cover of our sixth issue.

Mike and I exchanged Christmas cards, his hand-painted efforts (illustrated) far outshining the mass-produced cards I sent him! Last year, I did not receive a card and I worried that it might be because his health was failing him.

Mike, I never met you but you were a pleasure to communicate with.

Mike Western interviews at: http://fanboy.frothersunite.com/DarkiesMob_western.html

In Memoriam: Mike Western

Sad news via Steve Holland's Bear Alley: one of the giants of British comics, Mike Western, has laid down his pen for the last time.

Mike, who suffered a heart attack in 2007 and was laid low by it for several months, died late on Tuesday, 13 May, at the age of 83.

His credits included The Wild Wonders for Valiant, HMS Nightshade and The Sarge for Battle and many, many more fantastic strips.

It's no secret that Steve Holland was a huge fan of Mike's work and over the last few months had begun putting together a new edition of The Mike Western Story. Read his tribute in full here.

"I'm sure you'll all join me in sending his family your best wishes," Steve writes. "Mike still has a lot of fans and, whether he realised it or not -- and I hope he did -- he brought a lot of laughter and thrills into our lives through his work."

For my part, Mike was one of many British comic creator who enthusiastically supported the fanzine Eagle Flies Again edited by downthetubes contributor Ian Wheeler and sent us wonderful notes thanking us for mentioning him.

The fanzine paid a special tribute to him in 2005 and as soon as I can, I'll post articles from that on the main downthetubes site. Tributes and memories from downthetubes readers would be welcomed: we'll pass these on to Mike's family.