When Commando Gets Creepy: Judgement

So we've been looking at some of the times when British boys' war comic Commando decided to add a little supernatural into the mix. Well, for this final post we have two comics which apparently take their inspiration from Vault Of Horror. 

Each issue uses a framing device before going into individual stories, all of deal with bad people doing bad things.  Interestingly, the miscreants are all on the Allied side. 

Suffice it to say, at the end the hammer of judgement comes down hard.

Commando 5693: Nightmare Express (2023)

Four men are detailed to guard a train compartment. Strangely, for such an important the door isn't locked.  Temptation quickly proves too much and all four men step inside to find something terrifying.

Two airmen murder a comrade and all seems well until he comes back to fly with them one last time. 

A soldier robs the wrong shop. 

A shipwrecked sailor is rescued by a lifeboat from a civilian liner. A liner that sank decades ago. 

(My personal favourite out of the three0

I am confident that there is no way this would have been published in the 1970s because bloody hell, this is straight out of one of the darker Twilight Zone episodes. 

Like a lot of Commando stories, it ends with the bad guys getting their karmic reward; but in most stories, the villain dies and that's it. Here it looks like that's only the start.  

  

Commando 5795:  Strange Frequencies (2024)

 Three members of a medical team are sent out into the desert to check on an observation post. They arrive to find a collection of graves and a single dead body.  What happened; disease or something worse?

 Struggling to get the radio to work, a signal finally comes through from somewhere and for each of the three, the voice on the radio reveals secrets that nobody should even know, sparking visions of a grim end.

Bullying RSM Curtis meets a soldier he tormented one final time. 

 Nurse Mary Barclay hatches a plan to "acquire" a valuable necklace. Shame she also acquires the curse that goes with it.  

Captain Marlowe had a little help to get promoted to an officer. Now he has to face the consequences.  

I loved "Strange frequencies" and the way the threads tie together right at the end. The atmosphere is spooky and, I think, easily one of the best Creepy stories Commando ever did. 

   Like "Nightmare Express" this is a tale of ghastly people running into something unearthly before revealing that everybody is trapped in something darker still. 

  

 Interestingly, considering that Commando is a war comic, the war itself is only vaguely in the background. 

Anyway, that's enough Commando posts for the time being.  

That's All Folks

When Commando Gets Creepy: Ancient Nightmares.

 Hello and welcome to another post about British war comic Commando and the times it got all Weird War Tales.

 (Probably not that often but when you've racked up nearly 6000 issues,  eventually  you end up with enough material for a clutch of blog posts)

 So far we've covered ghosts, haunted artefacts, tanks with a mind of their own, lethal curses and that time a forest started eating people. (See previous posts for more details) 

 I was originally going to finish this series off with one last post but had a bit of a think and really, I would be better off splitting things up.  Makes it easier to write if nothing else. 

Commando 5589: Night of the Gorgons (2022)

1943 A fighter sweep over one of the Dodecanese Islands ends in a nightmare when the Spitfires return to base  and one of the pilots has, somehow, turned to stone. His friend decides to join a commando team investigating the island, expecting some sort of Nazi super weapon. What he finds is an awful lot of statues and a mysterious woman...

 You will be relieved to hear that yes, there is a mid-air fight between a winged Gorgon and a Spitfire. I think we can all agree that this is awesome. 

  The rest is also a good read that takes an out-there idea and runs with it. The way the commandos are gradually picked off is pure horror-film territory. The malevolent Melania Mandrapilias is a memorable villainess and makes a nice change from the usual Nazi brutes. 

Somebody on the editorial team must have liked her as well because, for what may be the first time ever, a Commando villain made a second appearance. 

Commando 5689: Dawn of the Gorgons (published 2023)

 

 A British carrier on the way to participate in the Suez operation runs into -  you guessed it, a deserted ship filled with really good statues. Soon commandos start dying horribly as a pissed off Gorgon gets revenge on the world.  

 What I like about both these stories is that they are set during military campaigns well outside the norm. The ill-fated Dodecanese operation for the first, the Suez crisis in the second. 

 (Hmm, I wonder if the writers deliberately picked operations that were massive failures. )

Also, commandos vs gorgons is a cool idea that somebody needs to make a film about.  Preferably not the Asylum because we all know how that's gonna go. 

I think I preferred the artwork for "Night.." but that's a minor quibble. "Dawn..." is a worthy sequel and I wouldn't mind seeing a third installment. 

Moving eastward and somewhere much, much colder and we get...

  

Commando 5729: Baba Yaga (Published 2024)

 After a Russian T-34 is destroyed by a King Tiger Ivan, the lone, injured survivor meets a beautiful woman. After some reluctance, she agrees to take him to the cabin in the forest where she lives with her sisters. In exchange for performing 3 tasks, they will heal him and then help him fight the Germans. 

  Initially alarmed by the cabin having a whole load of skulls on stakes outside, Ivan takes on the tasks, even if he can't quite understand the reasoning.  There's also something a little odd about the 3 sisters...

Another interesting issue. It's deliberately set up to follow the structure of old folk tales, especially Russian folklore. The 3 sisters, the 3 tasks, the way it all pays off at the end when our hero uses what he learned.  I also think Baba Yaga is aimed at an older readership, who are aware of the old myths about a forest dwelling witch and also why a King Tiger is a big deal.

So to sum up, 3 Commando issues that are worth checking out if you want your war stories with a healthy does of weird shit. 

I have maybe one more post to go so see you next time.

That's All Folks. 

When Commando Gets Creepy: Revenge

 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)

   Mortimer "Black Mortimer" Somerville terrorised the people of his estate until they finally had enough of him and somebody jammed a sabre into his chest.  Pausing long enough to promise he'd be back for revenge, Mortimer expired. And there was much rejoicing.

 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) 

Lightning strikes a museum, scoring a direct hit on the Pz IV on display.  The dummies crewing the tank come to life - well, four of them do at any rate - and the Panzer roars into life and rolls off into the night.  Meanwhile one of Germany's richest wankers is speeding down the autobahn in his Mercedes. When the two collide there could only be one result. 

 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. 

 And that will do for now but I think I'll make at least one more Creepy Commando post so I'll see you soon. 

That's All Folks

When Commando Gets Creepy: Cursed.

 Hello and welcome back

 This is the third post in this series looking at long-running British comic Commando, and more specifically issues where things get supernatural.

 

 So far we've covered stories where characters deal with something that may or may not be paranormal but is (usually) helpful.

 This is about the other side.

 Literally.

The characters are Axis pilots and assholes to boot.  Since Commando is old-fashioned about such things and has never liked anti-heroes, this is not going to end well.  

   

Commando 1559: Squadron Of Doom (1981)

 I am 90% sure I read this one when I was a kid.

The Story:  Occupied France 1941ish.  Members of an elite Luftwaffe fighter unit decide to jazz up their BF109s with personal markings. A local artist does the work but then gets stiffed on his money. And humiliated. And his pet bird gets killed. 

 I suspect it's that last one that really pushed him into Vengeance is mine territory. One good cursing later and the Nazi wankers start meeting unfortunate and improbable deaths, each being directly related to the design they chose. The guy with a lightning bolt hits electric pylons, the guy with the hammer design gets a hammer dropped on his head. You get the picture. 

 The pilots quickly work out what's going on and start freaking out. Or rather, some do, others scoff.  It's a bit Final destination, really.

This is a theme Commando used several times, with slight variations, and it does work quite well.  The artwork (uncredited) is neat and if you look at the cover the expression on the pilot's face is marvellous. Commando cover artists  really need more appreciation. 

 

Commando 3427 : Strike Them Down (1986. Reprinted 2001)

 Another Axis squadron gets Voodoo-ed. Don't feel bad for them 

  The Story: Burma 1944-ish. With the Allies dominating the skies, an elite Zero unit is moved into a hidden airstrip to cause some mayhem. But first, some of them take a break to desecrate a local shrine. The priest warns them that the gods of Air, earth, fire and water will not be happy. 

  The Japanese promptly use the shrine statues for target practice and swagger off. 

You know what's coming next. 

The four pilots die horribly but with a definite karmic justice. Serves them right.  

If this was written today I wonder if they would make the pilots British instead. I guess that would depend on the writer. Maybe Garth Ennis needs to take a crack at something like this.  

 Can I remind you all that this is a children's comic.  Bloody hell, kids in the 1970s and 80s were bloodthirsty little sods. 

Anyway, that's it for now but I still have more Creepy Commando to post. Check back soon.

That's All Folks.  

 

When Commando Gets Creepy: Haunted

 Welcome to the third installment in this series. I wasn't originally planning on it being a series, even a short one, but I find that what I plan to write and what actually happens don't always match. 

 What we're currently looking at is the long-running British comic series called "Commando", which is a digest sized title focusing on wartime heroics and tending towards titles such as "Desert of Death" and "March or Die" 

 But every now and then Commando gets a bit strange. 

 Today I'm going to bring up another three examples of  stories with a supernatural element. A bit like the last lot, an item has a history and some unexpected properties. However this time the object in question is a lot bigger. And can move. And has guns. 

 Better hope it's on your side. 

Commando 2050: The Haunted Tank (1986)

 I mean, the title says it all. 

The story: "New boy" Sid Raleigh has finally been accepted by the rest of his tanks crew which means they let him in on a big secret: Their particular  tank is haunted, most likely by the spirit of a notorious practical joker.  Sometimes the tank will stop for no reason. Sometimes it will start for no reason. Funny thing is, it always saves the crew from incoming danger.

  Sid is a bit dubious, as you'd expect, but we all know how this goes.  Eventually Sid and his mates get dragged into a nefarious Nazi scheme and the ghost has to take decisive action. 

An entertaining story that manages to work with the premise without making it too silly. 

  

When Commando Gets Creepy: Artifacts

 Back in December I made a post about an issue of Commando that managed to be the comic equivalent of a Christmas Horror movie. (Read it here: Krampusnacht).

 Well, I had a dig through my stack of Commandos and found enough issues with a supernatural element to make either one long-ass post or several posts that are a more reasonable length. I'll do the latter and try to work with a rough theme.

  I'm not going to do Sci-Fi stories for the time being, so nothing about aliens, time-travellers or Nazi Wunderwaffe.  I'm strictly covering the eerie, Weird War Tales sort of story.

  (Hey D C Thomson, if you're reading this then I have an idea for you: you already published a Commandos Vs Zombies collection so why not do a Commando Chills volume? )

 What we'll look at first is something Commando used several times over the years. 

Artifacts

 To clarify, what I mean here is: an object from the past with some supernatural properties. When it falls into the hands of an ordinary squaddie strange things happen.  

Commando 1320  The Magic Blade (1979)

  Possibly inspired by the Fairy Flag of Clan Mcleod, this is about a family heirloom passed from generation to generation and war to war. As we shall see, other artifacts are a bit more random. 

The story: 15th Century Scotland Warriors from Clan Broderick arrive a little too late to save the local witch from the raiders from a rival clan. She appreciates the effort and before dying promises that the Brodericks will receive a talisman that will give them victory - but can only be used three times. 

 Shortly afterward a meteorite strikes down the enemy chieftain in the middle of a battle. The Brodericks promptly turn the lucky star-rock into a dagger.   Over the centuries this comes in handy when things get truly, truly desperate before we finally arrive at WW2.

 The new chieftain leads his  clan into battle once again, this time as a special commando unit.  And during the Normandy campaign, the dagger is used for the third and final time as the men of Clan Broderick fight off a panzer attack. 

A fun story, maybe a little old-fashioned but that's part of the charm of Commando comics anyway.  I did like the time spent developing the history of the clan and their talisman. 

 

Commando 3807 - Tin Hat Terror (2005)

 A trope Commando used a lot over the years is the idea of a mild-mannered man becoming a hero. 

Sometimes he just finds the courage within himself when it's needed. Sometimes...well...he has a bit of help.  

 Like the last issue, this one starts way back in the past. Unlike the "Magic Blade" the artefact takes effect on the person wearing it. 

  The story:  9th Century England. A Viking warrior goes into a berserker state when his clan is betrayed and ambushed, laying waste to everything in his path until he finally takes a death-wound. 

 As he dies, his steel helmet is struck by lightning.  

 Centuries later the Viking's cairn is opened up by archaeologists  who are surprised to find the berserker's helmet in pristine condition. 

  (Personally that would be a giant red flag to me and I'd rebury the bloody thing immediately. Under concrete and holy water, for preference.)     

 Thanks to an unfortunate combination of events, during WW2 the helmet is  melted down to make a "tin hat".  This is issued to timid Pay Corps clerk  Perry Gosling - who promptly stops being timid and starts being a rage monster every time he puts it on. 

  

   This does come in handy when the Germans launch their invasion of France and poor Percy gets caught behind enemy lines. Not so much fun for the German troops suddenly faced with a kill-crazy nutter.

  Another fun story and to be honest the artists' depiction of Psycho-Percy's KillFace makes it even better.  

  Yes, the fight on the cover does happen. 

Commando 4210 - Dead Man's Boots (2009)

Another one where the object(s) in question come with the previous wearer along for the ride.  Plus we're in familiar Commando territory - the terrible soldier makes good.  

The Story: D-Day 1944.    Aboard one of the troopships one particular soldier has the shiniest boots you could imagine. Why? He starts telling his tale and it goes back to the Fall of France. 

  Trev Walker needed a new pair of boots and quickly, as the Germans were on their way and he couldn't get far in his socks/ Luckily he found a shiny, shiny new pair in an abandoned museum. 

 It gets a bit weird when the previous owner pops up in the shiny leather to say "Go on, borrow these but take good care of them."  

 It gets weirder when the boots make Trev significantly better at marching and running.  Also, there's a Nazi senior officer with an unhealthy interest in Trev's new boots.

  Seems there's a history there and it goes back to WW1.  

I would say this is a bit more light-hearted than usual but it is still a war comic with all that entails.  Worth a read. 

To sum up: Three variations on a basic theme that still manage to work within the Commando famework.  It helps that the usual under-rated Commando artwork is on display. And I think I can safely say that all three are very British in tone. If you are into this sort of thing, keep an eye out for a copy.  

I have more Commando Chilling Combat tales to show you. Pop back in a bit and bring a torch. 

That's All Folks. 

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

Judge Anderson Pinup

 Since I had my scanner out I thought I'd catch up with some stuff I've been meaning to digitise for a while. While i was doing that I happened to look up and saw the poster jsut above my computer desk. "You know what" I mused "I've been threatening to scan this for a while."

It took a bit of doing because the pster was just slightly larger than the scanner knew what to do with and I had a bitch of a job getting the various bits aligned; even then there's some definite glitches if you look closely enough.

 

Never mind. Here's the infamous  Judge Anderson topless pinup from one of the Summer Specials. 

 No, I don't know where her nipples went. 

  That's All Folks

 

A Fistful of Old Comics: October 2020

  On payday I decided to do something I haven't done in a long, long while; take  a stroll down Albert Road in Southsea and see if I could pick up something nice.  Personally I'd have preferred a day when it wasn't pissing it down with rain but that's Britain's weather for you.

  As it turns out, on the way to Albert Road the bus took me  through Highland Road and that's where I spotted this: 

 While I'm really not buying vinyl these days the chance to pick up a CD or two is always wonderful and that word "Collectables" on the sign definitely piques my interest. And that's why I hopped off at the next stop and trudged back through the rain.

  The owner was a nice chap and more than welcoming- definite plus point as some of these speciality shops aren't always keen on strangers - so I do hope I didn't drip too much on his floor. 

  I'm rambling so let's fast-forward to the relevant bit.  Downsairs was where I hit The Mother Lode. Two great boxfuls of old British Commando comics and a few US titles too. I was even more impressed when I found out that the Commando's were nice and cheap. 

   I pulled out a fistful at random that looked sort of interesting and went on my way with a warm glow that the pouring rain couldn't extinguish.  Here's what I came away with.  

 

 Secrets of Haunted House #27

 The only US title I picked up.  Not sure why it isn't "Secrets Of The Haunted House" mind you.

 

Battle Picture Library 1338 : Hoodoo

 

 

The next two I don't have the issue numbers for.

Curse that price sticker that I'm too chicken to try and remove.   

Starblazer - The Omega Experiment

 

Starblazer - Terror Satellite

The last few are all issues of Commando.

If you're thinking "BigD is just wanting to buy stuff that he couldn't get when he was a kid" then you would be DAMN RIGHT!

#984 Wings of Fear

 

 

 #1283: The Sword Shall Decide

#1299: The Black Zero

 

#1320: The Magic Blade

 

 

#1335: Death Of A Wimpy

 

 

#1354 Legend Of The Longbow

 

 

#1453: Man of Honour

I reckon there's a couple of hours reading in this lot and I might even try and do a proper writeup on some of them. 

 

If you want to go checkout RPM Records then here's the link:

https://myrpmshop.co.uk/

 

That's All Folks. 

 

 
 

In 1980 This Is What The Future Of The RAF Looked Like

  Something old British Comics absolutely loved doing was putting pinups of Cool Stuff on the back page.  Sports comics would have racing cars or footballers.  Adventure/War comics would have tanks or military aircraft. Basically, the sort of thing a boy who hasn't disocvered girls yet would think "Awesome"

 Every now and again one of their hosue artists would get the chance to let his imagination run free and show off some fantasy vehicle from the far-off 21st century. It stil irks me that now we're here absolutely none of them ever made an appearance.

This particular aircraft is from the back page of Warlord from October 1980. It;s Titled "40 Years On" so would be zipping around Britain's skies in this current year 2020.

 Even with the fact that the Stealth capability is non-existent and it looks a right night mare to fly, I still find myself wishing that the RAF really did have something this Sc-Fi in their arsenal.  It's got a freaking LASER for heaven's sake. 

That's All Folks.

Been reading: The Stringbags (2020) by Garth Ennis& PJ Holden

 "Nazi Germany, Imperial Japan and Fascist Italy began World War II with aircraft that could devastate enemy warships and merchantmen at will. Britain's Royal Navy squadrons went to war equipped with the Fairey Swordfish.  A biplane torpedo bomber in an age of monoplanes, the Swordfish was underpowered and undergunned - an obsolete museum piece, an embarrassment. Its crews fully expected to be shot from the skies. Instead they flew the ancient  "Stringbag" into legend. "

  "The Stringbags" is the story of a likeable but not particularly lucky Sworfish crew who find themselves involved in some of the operations that made the Swordfish an everlsting aprt of Naval Aviation history.

  I am, as I've stated before, a big fan of WW2 stories from Garth Ennis and a lot of his trademarks are here: dry humour, bewildered junior officers, war-hardened superiors, understated heroism, bloody action and the occasional punch right to the feels.

    Heroes Archie, Pops and Ollie are easy to identify with; they aren't crack "aces" and they know it but still trying to do their bit, all the while  hoping it won't get them killed.   If you liked the old "Commando" books but want characters that are a bit more "real" I think this particular crew are for you.

 The artwork is more than decent, being equally good at quiet dialogue and battle scenes.

  The book itself is not cheap: I paid £17.99 but for that I gt a handsomely bound hardback on nice paper and a story that stuck with me afterwards. Well worth it.

That's All Folks

A Fistful Of (Old) Comics: Starblazer

 A little while ago I was delighted to discover a small  bookshop in Cosham. What made this even better was the better half-dozen boxes of old comics next to the till. I was particularlly interested in the contests of two particular boxes.

 "Starblazer" was a British title that ran from 1979 to 1991 and was similar to "Commando" in approach.  Each issue featured a standalone story in a conveniently pocket-sized format, the major difference being the subject matter. "Commando" did War and lots of it. "Starblazer" did SF and Fantasy.

Did you really need me to tell you that? 

I mean, you weren't seriously expecting tales of bunnies and kittens were you? 

I don't remember reading them very often, possibly because the distribution was notoriously hapahazard, so I was interested to see what I had been missing.

I therefore grabbed four that looked promising, added them to the growing stack of "Ka-Zar", "Arak" and "Conan" comics then handed over a fistful of coins and trotted off merrily.

 Here's what I bought and here's what I thought.

 No. 96 The Promised Planet  (1983)

What's it about?:  A decrepit colony ship has finally been offered a world to cal their own - the catch is, MX-7 is bitterly hostile to human life.  A young engineer rebels and sets off to find the new tech his people need to survive the alien world. In the process he stumbles across a nefarious alien plot.

What I thought. I picked this up because the artwork looked awfully familiar. "Starblazer"  didn't credit artists or writers but I was fairly certain the artist was Jesus Redondo, the guy who made "Starlord" strip  Mind Wars so appealing. And I was right!
 The story moves along very quickly and manages to pack a helluva lot of action into 63 pages. The artwork also manages to pack a lot into a small space but without feeling overcluttered. I was rather impressed.

   Welp, I can see some exciting new nightmares in my immediate future. 

No. 194 Cabel And The She Warrior (1987)

What's it about? Tiberius Cabel makes his living collecting and selling rare animals from across the Galaxy. This isn't actually legal but so far Cabel and feathery sidekick Hairball have got away with it.
   But then his ship is accidentally impaled by a spacecruiser and Tiberius Cabel finds himself shanghaied by a shipfull of belligerent warrior-women headed for the infamous planet Netherworld on a rescue mission.

 
What I thought: The gender politics are as subtle as a lead pipe to the lughole - Cabel is bullied into washing up because that's men's work - but otherwise this is a fun little tale. Tiberius Cabel is not your typical  SF hero, being mostly concerned with getting his merchandise back and escaping with hide intact, but he's got a nice line in off the cuff plans and he's easy to like.
 Commandra and her gals are um, a bit flat by comparison, but not as obnoxious as they could have been.

 Once again this issue crams a lot into a small package and there's a delightful snarkiness underpinning the whole thing.  Witness Cabels' attempt at gatecrashing a restaurant that specialises in exotic cuisine.

    Shades of Douglas Adams, maybe? 

 If you like your SF a bit daft, then you might like this. 

The next two are each clearly part of a series. Since I hadn't read the previous installments that was a bit awkward.  

No. 264 Banished From Babalon. (1990)

What's it about?: Lady Cinnabar and her axeswinging brother Little Rulf are big believers in the traditional feudal virtues of honour, valour and settling petty disputes with violence. Sadly such things are no longer tolerated on the planet Babalon, so the brawling siblings are loaded onto a spaceship and shot off into space with the message "Don't come back"   

 Then a  family reunion in deep spaceleads to all manner of trouble, which means Lady Cinnabar and Rulf have to get back to Babalon before it's overrun by heavily armed space arseholes. 

What I thought. Going into this one cold, I was initially puzzled by references to Vivanna's earlier actions until irealised this was a sequel. Looking at Wikipedia, this was the second of three Babalon stories and Lady Cinnabar herself was spunoff from Morrison's earlier Kayn stories. 

  My other, immediate, thought was that the artist draws weird faces. At least one panel made me wince at how ugly everybody was.  I don't think that was deliberate. 

 Otherwise the art isn't that bad. The penciller is definitely better at drawing ships than he is at drawing female faces anyway. 

 As usual, the story takes a few pages to establish everybody and what they are all about then takes off at a canter. Starblazer not having much patience with filler or needless waffling.  There's some classic SF Man v Machine-logic debating and Rulf hits things with his axe quite a bit.

 Not bad but let down by some artistic flaws.

  Do you think maybe this planet was colonised by Brits? 

No. 267 Skald - The Saga Continues (1990)

 What it's about:  After ending the brutal reign of the Warlocks, the hero Skald, his faithful giant-ass Yak-thingie Crookhorn and feminist stereotype Linx are wandering the wastelands when they rescue a beautful young woman called Delana from maraudinfg Warwolves.  Her grateful father then asks Skald to do him a tiny favour.  To whit: Go and retrieve a certain Warlock gizmo for him.

Because Skald isn't an idiot, he's'not too keen on this idea. He's also wondering if he can get there and back without being killed by Warwolves. Oh, and before Linx loses her patience and sticks her sword up Delana's nose.

 Another fantasy story that has SF underpinnings but more "Post Apocalypse" than "Space Opera".

I won't lie. I didn't pick this up for the cover, the SF elements or even the giant yak. I added this comic to the pile because...

    I'm sorry. I find myself  magnetically drawn to warrior-women in fur bikinis.   

My, she's got big...earrings.

  I liked Linx and I'm tempted to check out the other books in the series - two earlier installments and a sequel - just to see more of her.  

  The other characters are pretty good too. Naturally Crookhorn steals the show on a regular basis, villain Glorkus is full-on, minion-killing mad warlord wickedness and Delana is...well I suspect if she wasn't female and pretty somebody would have thrown her over a cliff by now.  Skald himself has a nice, dry, zero-fucks attitude to him that I quite liked.

  Artwork is pretty good. Story is not exactly new territory but gets the job done in respectable fashion and kept me entertained all the way through.  Not bad value for 50p, hey?  

If by tactics you mean "Charging!" then yes, they worked. 

So there you go. For 50p an issue I got a little slice of adventure that's easy to stack on  my bookshelf. 

Favourite title: Cabel And The She Warrior, if only for the scene where our hero runs into a homicidal chef. 

BTW, It would be nice if DC Thomson did a reprint volume of some of these. Just a suggestion. 

That's all folks. 

Women's Wrestling Comics: Grappling Gertie's Schooldays (1992)

The best women's wrestling comic cover ever? Could be. 

  Back in 2012 I did a post about Gertrude Williams aka Leopard Lily, prim teacher turned lady wrestler and star of the only British comics ever to feature women's wrestling.  (Read it HERE) 

 I said at the time that there was a later prequel and if I ever got my hands on a copy, I'd post some scans. 

Well, it took a while but I finally have a copy of "Grappling Gertie's Schooldays" - a a tale of plucky schoolgirls, Arab princesses, nefarious villains and large, scary women with alliterative names.