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.
When a local tells you all about the scary legend...
TAKE IT SERIOUSLY
Seriously Germany, what is wrong with you?
