Magic Merlins and a danger-prone 'Duck' just part of latest Commando line-up

Commando No 4539 - The Magic Merlin
Story: Alan Hebden Art: Morahin Cover: Ian Kennedy

As the Battle of Britain reached its climax, RAF Flying Officer Toby Mortimer was assigned a brand new MkII Hurricane. Toby's flying suddenly improved, and he got more kills in his new Hurri. But why?

Toby put it down to his new plane's Rolls-Royce Merlin XX - because its serial number exactly matched his date of birth! That engine became his good luck charm. He was sure that his life and the Merlin's were inexplicably linked.

Which was not such a good thing when another pilot had to take over his kite!

Commando No 4540 - The Duck That Went to War
Story: Alan Hebden Art: Jaime Forns Cover: Janek Matysiak

The DUKW, better known as the Duck, might not be as well-known as the Jeep but this amphibious truck was just as vital to winning the Second World War. Able to take supplies from ship to shore without needing a harbour it kept the fighting men supplied with bullets, bandages and bully beef.

This is the story of one such Duck and its crew of two. Together they got far closer to the action than you would expect for a floating lorry.

Question was, would they be able to get away again in one piece?

Commando No 4541 - Massacre In The Sun
Originally Commando No 28 (June 1962)
Story: Eric Castle Art: Gordon Livingstone Cover: Ken Barr

When the Japanese attacked, Corporal John Reynolds dived into the bushes. When he crawled out his two stripes had gone and on his shoulder he wore a Major's crown.

Always he had wanted to be an officer and now he was.

He might deceive the Japs, but could he fool the Chindit battalion he was called upon to lead?

Here is the strange story of the bogus major

"There are various themes which have featured in Commando more than once and here, Eric Castle weaves two of them together," notes editor Calum Laird of this reprint issue. "Talk about value for money! He has the soldier who just needs a chance to show his worth, and the private soldier who adopts an officer's rank. And they are one and the same man.

"If shades of John Wagner and Mike Western's Darkie's Mob abound in plot they also echo in the art - Gordon Livingstone's jungle is hot enough to feel, his Chindits have real stubble, while Ken Barr's cover captures fear and claustrophobia in the same instant."

Commando No 4542 - And Now Strike Back!
Originally Commando No 2106 (July 1987)
Story: Bill Fear Art: Ruiz Cover: Jeff Bevan

Ready to board their new ship, seamen Len Garret and Tom Brooks were stunned to discover that Chief Petty Officer Alf Edwards was on their crew. Having clashed with him many years before, they knew that life under his command would be far from easy.

However, in the following weeks they changed their minds. No longer did they think Alf was going to make things difficult - now they suspected he was trying to kill them!

"Conventional wisdom - as well as reader feedback - has it that of Commando's air, land and sea adventures, maritime stories are the least popular," reveals Deputy Editor Scott Montgomery. "Perhaps this is because the pace of a sea story is slower than those containing aerial dogfights or tank battles.

"However, this tale could belie all that - as it truly is action-packed from start to finish, with some great characters and memorable set-pieces.

"And staff artist Jeff Bevan excels once again with a wonderful cover. Look at that ship lurching in the water. It almost makes one a little seasick just looking at it!"

• 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.

Brunel University's Screen Media Research Centre announces comics events

The Screen Media Research Centre at Brunel University has announced two upcoming seminars about comics

Il giallo a fumetti: Diabolik, fumetti neri and the 'Fantomas gene'
Presented by Leon Hunt, Wednesday 24th October, 4.00pm

The creation of Italian comic book character Diabolik in 1962 both looked back to one of the founding pulp supervillains Fantomas (enjoying a revival at the time) and spawned a wave of fumetti neri (dark comics) featuring masked characters whose names invariably featured the letter K (Kriminal, Sadik etc.) 50 years later, three editions of Diabolik (two of them reprints) appear every month on Italian newsstands as well as two Il Grande specials per year - with enviable market penetration, it remains a huge cultural phenomenon. 

Mario Bava's Diabolik/Danger: Diabolik (Italy/France 1967) adapted the comic into a much-loved cult film that outside Italy and France is probably the best known incarnation of the character. But in some ways the film, with its counter cultural hero, pronounced eroticism and pop art opulence, provides a misleading impression of the comic.   

Diabolik is a comparatively conservative and formulaic comic, mostly aesthetically unadventurous, its titular character never having undergone the kind of overhaul that American comic book heroes like Batman and Spider-Man have enjoyed.  Nevertheless, the character proliferates both as a comic and across different media - a triumph of the iconic and the formulaic.  This paper from Leon Hunt examines Diabolik as a continuation of the 'Fantomas gene' (pulp media's mystery-villain archetype), as Italian cultural phenomenon and as popular icon whose 50th anniversary is being celebrated this year.

Leon Hunt is a Senior Lecturer in Screen Media at Brunel University.  His most recent publications include Cult British TV Comedy (Manchester University Press 2013 forthcoming) and co-editor of East Asian Cinemas: Exploring Transnational Connections on Film (I.B. Tauris 2008) and Screening the Undead: Vampires and Zombies On Film (I.B. Tauris forthcoming 2013). 

The Superhero City: Film, Comics and Urban Imagery 
Presented by Federico Pagello, Wednesday 21st November, 4.00pm

For the last 15 years film adaptations of superhero fiction have been one of the most successful trends in Hollywood cinema. Influenced by features of the original comic books such as their peculiar approach to visual narrative, their work on time and space and their typical serial structures, superhero films reveal key characteristics of contemporary popular cinema. Thought the analysis of the varied and contradictory uses of the urban imagery of superhero fiction in films such as Superman (1979), Batman (1989), Spider-Man (2002) and The Dark Knight (2008), it is therefore possible to address the aesthetic and cultural meaning of the genre, to examine the connection between film and comics and to highlight the way in which influential directors such as Richard Donner, Tim Burton, Sam Raimi and Christopher Nolan have used superhero stories to express their personal take on contemporary American cinema and society.

Federico Pagello was awarded his PhD from the University of Bologna in 2009 and is currently a visiting scholar in film studies at King's College, London. His dissertation, focusing on the image of the city in the film adaptations of superhero comics, was published as a book in 2010 (Grattacieli e superuomini: L'immagine della città tra cinema e fumetto, Genoa: Le Mani). He was a post-doctoral researcher at the University of Bologna (2009-2010) and Limoges (2010-2011).

• For more details of venue, please contact: Geoff King, Director, Screen Media Research Centre, School of Arts, Brunel University, geoff.kingATbrunel.ac.uk

Comicsy, British small press marketplace launched

A brand new website designed to help UK small press creators sell their wares has just been launched by Tim West, co-editor and and writer for the horror anthology Hallowscream.

Tim tells us Comicsy - already being used by creators such as Malcolm Kirk, Jim Cameron and the Midlands Comics Collective - is suitable for those looking to get their goods online, in an easy to manage web store, and for folk who have already set up their own sales site but want the benefits of being part of a small press shopping network.

"Think of it as a permanently open, online comic expo," he says.

Whatever you're looking to sell - comics, artwork, books, posters, sketches, graphic novels, or anything, with Comicsy, you can be up and running in no time," he continues. "Simply open your own 'Comicsy Shop', add your products, and start receiving orders.

"I've been looking at doing something like this for a long time but couldn't find any software that did exactly what I needed," Tim explains. "I'd given up for a while but some positive feedback about such a site like this on the spcomics.org forum sparked my interest again and I continued my search for something suitable and found it.

"After messing around in small press comics for a few years previously,  I went to the 2012 Bristol Comics Expo. I met a load of really nice people and was surprised at the skills, passion and commitment of all the exhibitors. There are so many talented folk, producing great stuff, yet they’re unknown outside of the scene.

"It seemed a shame that small press creators only had expos and conventions where they could come together and sell their products.

"Most of these comics creators and artists had their own websites but finding other related stuff involved trawling through the internet, not really knowing what to search for.

"I thought -  why not have a permanently online comic expo where goods are for sale 24/7? Strength in numbers and cross selling galore.

"There are some useful buyers and sellers guides on the site that explain the site’s functions but, in a nutshell, sellers can sell physical goods and post them out, offer digital downloads of their products, or link back to other websites if they sell directly from their own site or use a print on demand service like Lulu.

"Hopefully these three options means there’s something for everyone.

"If the site gets popular I have plans to develop it further, with extra services and better design.

"The advantage of being a member of the Comicsy network is that your goods will sit alongside other UK small press creator's work," he enthuses. "Buyers will be able to browse all items on the site, hopefully resulting in more sales for everyone.

"I hope this sounds an appealing idea to comic creators. Marketplace style websites have proven themselves to be a successful way to engage a target audience and generate sales. The small press industry here in the UK produces some amazing work.

"If this site can raise the profile of creators and the spread the goodness of self publishing, then it's got to be worth it."

• For more info on selling via Comicsy take a look at their sellers guide.

Ghost Chef stalks the Sunday Times

Ace comic creator Sarah McIntyre reports that her character Ghost Chef features in today's Sunday Times in one of their occasional Funday Tmes supplements.

"The Funday Times supplement used to come out weekly, but now only comes out every so often," she explains, "this time to celebrate the release of Tim Burton's latest animation, Frankenweenie. I came up with a new Ghost Chef character just for the occasion.

"It usually has a Scooby-Doo strip, but I'm hoping their latest commission might mean they're interested in having home-grown comics on a more regular basis. Fingers crossed!


The half-page comics strip was commissioned by Sunday Times Supplements Editor Karen Robinson.


Ever busy, Sarah also reports she is appearing at a London event with Booktrust and their comics-artist-in-residence Hannah Berry on 19th November at the Word Centre. Tickets are £6 and there are details here on the Booktrust web site.