Thursday, June 25, 2015

Commando issues 4819-4822

Commando issues on sale 18 June 2015

Commando No 4819 – Brilliant Death
The Convict Commandos are not known to do things the conventional way. Titch Mooney, Jelly Jakes, Smiler Dawson and Guy Tenby — not forgetting their ruthless confederate Dr Jane Mallory — always get the jobs where conventional is not an option.
   Even by their standards, though, a boat chase through the centre of Venice was a bit extreme.
   You really have got to read this tale.

Story: Alan Hebden
Art: Manuel Benet
Cover: Manuel Benet

Commando No 4820 – Lost Patrol
Sergeant Jim Stark was trying to lead a lost patrol of fellow Chindits back to safety, through a jungle swarming with Japanese. A tight enough spot for any man, even worse for Jim who had lost his memory.
   But Jim didn’t know the half of it.
   Among the men of that lost patrol was a man already wanted in England for murder, a man whose burning dark eyes bored into Jim’s back every time it was turned, a man who had to kill the sergeant or die himself!

Introduction
The trouble with the records for the early Commando books is that the entries tend to be a bit cryptic. Take the details for the names; usually it’s just a second name with an initial added only if there are two creators with the same surname.
   Take the de la Fuentes, for example. There’s V de la Fuente, R de la Fuente and finally J de la Fuente. We know the first two are Victor and Ramon but we only think the last is José Luis as the work he’s known for is nothing like this.
   Not that it matters here as the work is as punchy as the hard-hitting Powell (no first name again) script. Classic Commando.—Calum Laird, Commando Editor

Story: Powell
Art: J Fuente
Cover: Ken Barr
Originally Commando No 176 (August 1965)

Commando No 4821 – A Motley Crew
In the lead-up to the hastily organised evacuation at Dunkirk, a disparate group of servicemen found themselves thrown together.
   A Pay Corps clerk…
   …an RAF policeman…
   …and a Royal Navy Able Seaman…
   …were joined by a shady civilian who was unsure whose side he was on, except his own.
   They would have to combine their skills, intelligence and abilities if they were to live to fight another day.

Story: George Low
Art: Morahin
Cover: Janek Matysiak

Commando No 4822 – Full Speed East
THE MEN — Tough British sailors schooled in the traditions of Trafalgar. Lean, hard-fighting Americans spurred on by the memory of Pearl Harbour.
    THE SHIPS — MTBs of the Royal Navy — four torpedo tubes, six guns, capable of 40 knots. Patrol Torpedo Boats of the US Navy — four tubes, five guns, a top speed of 45 knots.
    THE OBJECTIVE — To close with the enemy…FAST!

Introduction
Character clash is at the heart of all fiction. Without it we simply would have no drama. This tough sea and jungle tale has that character clash in spades — British Royal Navy sailors face off against their US counterparts as they struggle to put aside their differences and fight the real enemy, the Imperial Japanese Navy. The tension builds gradually, unravelling like the coils of a giant snake…
   Oh, there is a giant snake in it as well. Just thought I should mention it.—Scott Montgomery, Deputy Editor

Story: Mclean
Art: Fleming
Cover: Ian Kennedy
Originally Commando No 1080 (November 1976), re-issued as No 2372 (May 1990)

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