Hello and welcome back to another post about some of Commando's weirder stories.
Revenge is a theme that Commando absolutely loves, whether it is a good guy wanting to avenge his fallen comrades or a bad guy looking to get even after a humiliating defeat. There's that old saying about "Revenge is dish best served cold" which I've always interpreted as "The best time to get revenge is after you've had time to really give it some thought and quite possibly long after the other person forgot all about it."
That doesn't make me sound like a psycho does it? It's not like I have an ongoing list of people I want to stuff into a woodchipper or anything...
Anyway, revenge is a powerful motivation and in the comics below, it's so strong that certain characters come back from the afterlife just to get even.
Commando 2647: Dead Men's Revenge (1993)
1940. During the Battle Of France Corporal Nick Gray's unit are getting hammered by the Germans when a shellburst knocks him out cold. When he comes to, the rest of his platoon are gone. But then 4 men in outdated uniforms walk out of the mist.
In 1917 they had been falsely accused of cowardice and executed. They are not happy about this and would like Nick to clear their names.
Like a lot of Commando stories a flashback delivers important background. There's also that other Commando favourite: an officer who is a complete wanker.
I feel the ghosts in this story are the least proactive here. Aside from popping up a couple of times to remind Nick that they require his help, they play little part. As we shall see, other restless spirits are happy to get stuck in.
On the whole, not a bad tale.
Commando 3428: Ghost Of Evil (1986 republished 2001)
A century later, an RAF officer has a freak accident at the site of Mortimer's death and begins acting like a bloody lunatic. As his crew begin wondering if he's trying to get them all killed, one man realises that "Black Mortimer" is back. Since the man in question is descended from Mortimer's killer, that is going to cause some issues.
A rare case of a villain making a comeback, and a proper, bastard he is too. As long as you're Ok with Commando's spooky side, this is a fun read.
Commando 3996: The Lost Legion (2007)
3rd Century AD . A Roman legion is betrayed and wiped out when their German "Allies" lure them into a trap and drown every last one of them by cracking open a dam
As the Roman leader dies, he curses the Germans.
Well you would, wouldn't you.
Afterwards a forest grows up at the site of the defeat, suspiciously fast. Supernaturally fast.
Fast forward to 1944 and Captain Blake Farley is due to join his unit in Germany but before he does, his uncle - a veteran of WW1 - warns him "Beware of the Hunzberg Forest. Scary shit happens there."
Cue the traditional Commando flashback and a horror story that Captain Farley ignores -at first. Who would believe in a forest that hates Germans anyway?
Certainly not the ruthless SS officer who has a fiendish plan to lure British troops into the valley and blow the new dam, drowning all of them.
The forest has other ideas...
I loved this one. It has all the classic elements: History repeating itself, Nazis getting their comeuppance and the supernatural coming to the aid of the Allies. Worth a read.
Commando 4160: Back From The Dead (1991 republished 2008)
The police officer investigating is left with a mystery: what the bloody hell just happened?
That's when a ghost pops up to deliver a flashback. In the final days of the Reich a young panzer crew is betrayed by one of their own and murdered. This pissed them off.
Wonder how the copper put that down in the report?
I must admit this has to be one of Commando's wackier stories but still works. I could have put this in with the "Haunted" post ( SEE HERE) but felt it was better suited under "Revenge". It's interesting that the good guys and villain are all Germans.
