When Commando Gets Creepy: Krampusnacht

 Hello and welcome back. 

This is an early start on something I've been meaning to do for a while.

Commando has been published since  1961 and as the name suggests, it's a war comic.

There are certain themes it tends to rely on: mild-mannered milksops discovering their inner badass,

 enemies forced to work together,  destroying secret bases  and a big dose of old-school heroism. 

Then there are the times thing get weird. 

This particular issue is currently in the shops and not surprisingly it is Christmas themed.

 Although given that it's a Commando comic it's a wartime Christmas comic. 

It is also legitimate nightmare fuel. 

Seriously.

I'm a grown man and this one disturbed me. 

Christ knows what it would to an unsuspecting kid.

Then again, anyone who sees this cover and buys it anyway deserves anything they get.

For those of you who don't know, Krampus is the German Anti-Santa.

Instead of delivering presents, he snatches up naughty children.

You already know where is going, don't you? 

To sum up the story,  a detachment of Waffen SS arrive in a small,

isolated German village deep in the forest and proceed to act like

utter wankers.  The locals warn them to stop being utter wankers or 

else Krampus will get them. The SS ignore them so one

 of the village elders delivers one of Commando's trademarks: 

The flashback to set up the backstory. 

To sum up: "Back when I were a little girl, a bunch of

utter wankers showed up and Krampus got them."

As an aside, this where we find out what happens to the 

children Krampus snatches.  Basically they become his

eternally damned servants to help him hunt the naughty. 

I don't know if is this is accurate to German tradition 

but since the whole idea of Krampus disturbs me, 

this is just an extra level of "What the actual fuck?"

Anyway, this goes down as well as expected.

The SS Commander laughs it off right up until 

his men start screaming...

So yeah, that was a bit dark. 

I particularly liked the image of  Krampus's sack.

A black void with clutching hands reaching out to seize

a horrified soldier and drag him into eternal imprisonment.

Oh, that one's going to pop up in a super-fun dream, 

I just know it. 
 

Here's some screenshots.

  Don't worry, his comeuppance is on the way with big, pointy teeth. 

 Here's a useful tip.

When a local tells you all about the scary legend...

TAKE IT SERIOUSLY

Seriously Germany,  what is wrong with you? 

Merry Xmas Everybody

Book Review: Django Wexler: How To Become The Dark Lord And Die Trying (2024)

 "Davi has done this all before. She's tried to be the hero and take down the all-powerful Dark Lord. A hundred times she's rallied humanity and made the final charge. But the time loop always gets her in the end. Sometimes she's killed quickly. Sometimes it takes a while. But she's been defeated every time.

This time? She's done being the hero and done being stuck in this endless time loop. If the Dark Lord always wins, then maybe that's who she needs to be. It's Davi's turn to play on the winning side."

  I picked this one up purely because of the title, The author happily admits that it is inspired by the current wave of Isekai manga.

  To explain Isekai for those who have no bloody idea - ordinary dude from our world gets dumped into a fantasy world where he ends up being the hero needed to stop the Big Bad. It's nearly always a dude too. 

Well in this case, our "hero" is a heroine with a good line in snarky inner monologue, a tendency to throw footnotes about with cheerful abandon and a healthy libido.

  Davi is also really, really sick of  her efforts to save the realm ending in a messy death and yet another rebirth/reset. Hence the whole "Fuck this hero shit, let's go down the Sith route instead."

 Despite this, Davi is actually very easy to like and less of a jerkass than most heroes these days.  Big plus point, believe me. 

  I can't honestly describe this as the sort of book that makes you go "Wow." Not quite on that plateau but not far underneath. 

What you do get is  a story that moves along with a nice mix of action, flashes of humour and some interesting takes on what it really means to lead people. I was entertained the whole way through and will be keeping an eye out for book #2.