2008-06-04
On this page we will mention news and things of interest to the old boys club. Contact us if you have something to share with us.
Ken Barr returns to Commando
2008-06-04 / Artist Ken Barr has been commissioned to hand in two new covers to Commando. To many fans this will be the biggest news in years, since Ken was the man responsible for many of the best covers in the early years of the publication, including the very first. Ken has a site operating now that you can find here.
Commando interview in print
2008-05-24 / Our fanzine SLICE 2008 (link removed 2009-07-02) is out, and here is a preview of the Commando interview with editor Calum Laird that is in print now. The magazine also sports a war comic and plenty of classic rock.
New Commando interview
2008-05-07 / UK site Down The Tubes has a new interview online with Commando editor Calum Laird on this link. Where Eagles Dare is mentioned.
Steve Holland interview added
2008-04-03 / Today we have added yet another interview to Where Eagles Dare, and this time we let Steve Holland talk about his work as an author/editor and all the past, present and future goodies that he has been (and is about to get) involved in. Be warned, once you have read this interview your economy may take a serious dent, as you rush to buy this stuff. On the other hand, this is the stuff the Old Boys Club lives for, so screw the bank balance.
First images of Commandos in India
2008-03-30 / Courtesy of Commando editor Calum Laird (recently interviewed here on Where Eagles Dare), we can now show you a photographic example of how they are publishing Commando in India. The "3 in 1" editions look like this, and they are 180 mm wide by 225 deep instead of our usual 140 x 175 mm. The contents inside are just larger as well. Looks pretty good. Perhaps a UK dealer somewhere can import these, and give fans here a chance to buy them? Collectors will surely want copies of these beauties.
More books coming up
2008-02-16 / Prion must know a good thing when they see it so on august 20 we will have two more books coming our way from them - "Against All Odds" (War Picture Library Vol 2) and "Let ´Em Have It" (Battle Picture Library Vol 2). No covers available as yet.
New war comic in India
2008-03-13 / This comes in from TIMES ONLINE in a story by writer Jeremy Page in Delhi. (slightly shortened here). --- As the son of a general in the Indian Army, Aditya Bakshi grew up on a steady diet of second-hand Commando war comics that lionised the plucky British Tommy's heroic feats against Johnny Foreigner. Now, aged 28, he is publishing the first Indian version of the black-and-white cartoons in an attempt to celebrate India's own war heroes and to update the image of the world's second-largest standing army. Mr Bakshi and the military top brass also hope that the bi-monthly Indian War Comics will help to stem a brain drain to the private sector that has left the Army short of 11,200 officers. The first issue, which will go on sale in two weeks, is called My Heart Wants More! and tells the tale of Vikram Batra, a real-life army captain who died in the country's conflict with Pakistan in 1999 over the Kargil Heights in Kashmir. “The point is to increase the visibility of the Army and promote the ethics of patriotism, self-sacrifice, honour and bravado,” Mr Bakshi, a navigation officer in the Merchant Navy, told The Times. Colonel Sakhuja, an army spokesman, said that the military was not involved officially in the comics, although it was providing information about war heroes. “Everything which helps to recruit more officers is always welcome,” he said. He added that the Army had taken several steps to improve recruitment - including a glitzy new advertising campaign. Mr Bakshi's comic is based closely on Commando, which was first published in 1961 and is still printed today. The Indian version will be sold online as well as in shops for 50 rupees per issue. The text is written by Mr Bakshi, while the illustrations are by Pradeep Yadav, a 19-year-old student at the Delhi College of Art.
If anybody in India can provide us with covers in the future, we would be very grateful.
Fab book - fab everything
2008-02-06 / Better late than never Dept: This title, "The War Libraries" by Steve Holland and David Roach, came out in august 2007 through The Book Palace. It deals in detail about all the war libraries that Fleetway used to publish back in the heyday of war comics. Steve Holland is a good writer, I read his book "The Trials Of Hank Janson" (2004) last year, and I can recommend it highly to any friends of classic pulp detective stories.
Summer offensive coming up
2007-12-11 / The fifth Commando book from Carlton, "Rumble In The Jungle", is coming our way in mid-may 2008. Fab cover too.
Cool cover for deep pockets
2007-11-28 / There is an alternate cover for the second Commando book "True Brit" available now, not sure when it popped up but here it is. If they keep this up we will all have to add a wing to our mansions...
Second cover for Anzacs book
2007-11-05 / There is an alternate cover for the Commando Anzacs collection available now.
Commando feature
2007-09-03 / There is a two page article on Commando in Judge Dredd Megazine #262. Cool.
Artist Phil Gascoine dead
2007-08-22 / We are sorry to hear that we have lost one of the great artists in our field, Phil Gascoine. Down The Tubes has a tribute and an interview with Phil on this link.
Battler Britton battles on
2007-07-06 / The five US Battler Britton comics from last year is now out in a special edition. The Yanks always do that. They opted to go with the first cover so that makes any diehard collector cringe a little. A fresh cover would have been a pretty good idea.
4th Commando book on the way
2007-05-23 / The fourth Commando collection from Carlton ("Anzacs" being the third, due out on August 7), is going to be released on September 3. The title is "All Guns Blazing". Looks like we´re in for a lot of nostalgia in the years to come.
Prion adds another title for October
2007-05-21 / Suddenly we have 700 page nostalgiabooks raining from the skies. This title "AARRGGHH IT´S WAR" with selected cover art from four classic UK comics, comes our way in October.
2007-04-30 / UK newsorganisation BBC has a story about Commando and the current landmark 4000th issue on this link. It mentions that the title has had 140 authors, 100 cover artists and 120 interior artists. It also reveals that 50% of the output is reprints now. George Low is interviewed and people can leave a comment.
September release
2007-04-21 / Book update, these two titles are released on September 3 in the UK.
Carlton reloads, fall attack planned
2007-03-27 / Our jaws almost dropped to the floor today when we got the news that Carlton will follow up the two Commandobooks they have released so far with another two warcompilations in the same style this fall, picking adventures from War Picture Library and Battle Picture Library. It also looks like the "Anzacs" Commando title will see UK release in august. (Source: Down The Tubes).
Commando pressrelease up now
2007-03-27 / We have added the official pressrelease from Commando HQ regarding issue 4000 to the site, see Battletalk.
Commando issue 4000 out in april
2007-03-22 / Commando editor George Low has told Where Eagles Dare that issue 4000 of Commando, due out in april, has the title "Aces All". The script is by Ferg Handley and all art is by Jose Maria Jorge. Where Eagles Dare can also premiere the cover here today, and what a great cover it is! First rate art!!
Commando Anzacs book
2007-03-17 / "Anzact At War" is the title of a new 12 story Commando book that is going out in New Zealand and Australia. No word yet if this is coming out in the UK as well later on. Apparently, the earlier 12 book titles, "The Dirty Dozen" and "True Brit" sold very well in New Zealand and Australia.
Commando writer recalls his journey
2007-03-17 / Commando writer Sean Blair is featured on UK comics site Down The Tubes on this link. Apparently, Commando sells over a million copies a year.
More news on Mammoth book
2007-01-27 / The upcoming (see news below) book now has a cover and this is it. It seems like we are talking about a paperback format compilation of war stories picked from several magazines (both Blazing Combat and Commando has been mentioned, meaning material from both the US and the UK). The title can be pre-ordered online now.
Second official Calendar out
2006-12-28 / Fans of Commando may have noticed that a second Commando Calendar for 2007 from Spitfire Designs Ltd popped up in UK stores before christmas, and there has been widespread speculation that this one is a bootleg. However, Commando editor George Low tells us that "The `Spitfire` was done under license but we didn´t have any influence on it". In any case, all this interest in Commando must mean something!
New book on the way
2006-12-14 / We understand that a book titled "The Mammoth Book of War Comics" is planned for august 2007 by Carrol & Graf Publishers. We have no further details right now, only that David Kendall is listed as author and that the book will have 512 pages in all (ISBN:0786719737).
SLICE on MySpace
2006-12-04 / As some of you may well know by now, I do publish a magazine every now and then in about 500 copies (swedish). This MySpace page is there to promote that but if you like hardrock, women and creative artists you may well find the links interesting.
Battler Britton - readers thoughts
2006-11-21 / The fifth issue of the new Battler Britton is out and so ends the first story from the team of Garth Ennis and Colin Wilson. So what did you think of it? Send in your thoughts now and we´ll add them on the Battler Britton Review page.
True Brit is out
2006-10-22 / The new Commando book "True Brit" (see cover below) is out and it got a very positive review on UK radio last week (not sure on what programme).
Dutch scene unveiled
2006-10-15 / The Dutch scene has been listed on the Stats page, with some 1313 issues counted in total. We have also added a story about the scene on the Battletalk page today. I have to say that it reminds me about the swedish scene a lot, so I suspect that some publishers were in touch.
Commando 2007 Calendar
2006-09-27 / Word is just in that Commando is doing a 2007 Calendar with some of the best artwork from past times. Buy it here now.
2006-08-17 / We have just learned from Commando headquarters that they have launched a small site to promote the publication. Readers can also contact Commando. Link.
Battler is back!
2006-07-24 / Battler Britton has returned to duty. The first issue from DC Comics went on sale on july 5 and many copies are hopefully finding their way over to Europe on import as we speak. Four more issues will come, and if I know the americans they will probably relase a thicker book with all five stories collected somewhere down the road. Garth Ennis is the writer and in this first issue he also has a page were he talks about Battler and the history of the comic. Colin Wilson crafted the art. We open up a gallery today for the new Battler Britton, and we keep our fingers crossed that this is only the beginning.
For the avid collector
2006-07-23 / Once a collection gets serious it starts to be a bit of a problem to recall exactly what issues one has got or not, especially with the re-prints. That´s why the avid collector makes notes and that´s why you can now print out your own list from Where Eagles Dare now. Works fine for Commando and many other titles of the past.
Second Commando book planned
2006-07-11 / There will be a second Commando book, this one titled "True Brit", in october. Commando´s editor George Low hinted as much in our recent interview with him, and Amazon has the title listed now. In reality, this means that the first book must have been a commercial success. So war comics are doing fine in the UK in this format now, something that may be noted by others. Battler Britton would be nice, and if the finns can get a book out...
War comics in Germany
2006-06-11 / We are now looking into the german scene and the first proof of existance is variations of french artist Pierre Dupois (1929-2004) WWII comics. This is one such book, but there have been others. We also have feedback on the Q&A page from Germany that suggests that we should keep our eyes open for other titles. First gallery is up and running.
Hazanas Belicas rules!
2006-06-11 / The first spanish galleries are up, and we are highlighting Hazanas Belicas with special galleries since the format is a little different (but also because of the great art).
2006-06-10 / We have discovered a spanish title called Hazanas Belicas that is a real beaut, and you can find more information about this title on the Nostalgia page now. We do recall a norwegian version of this title called Commandoes, now that we see the original.
Italian scene unveiled
2006-06-10 / Things are moving along nicely and we now have information about the scene in Italy, with nearly 30 titles added on the stats-page plus a couple of galleries as of today. It would seem that several of these war comics were produced in Italy and not in the UK, which makes them all the more interesting to check out.
French scene unveiled
2006-06-02 / The French scene has been listed on the Stats page, with 6302 issues. We have also added Battler Britton galleries with comics from France in the galleries. Fantastic art.
American Pulp magazines
2006-05-29 / The american Pulp scene produced dozens of nutty magazines with WW II covers. These may not belong to the comics scene as such, but as a phenomenon it is worth to be remembered for what it was. These magazines were also called "sleaze" or "sweat" back then, and we have added a few galleries to this site now. We actually discovered this scene watching the 1968 movie "One Plus One" that featured The Rolling Stones heavily (and how they survived that movie is a bit of a mystery in itself!), as some covers can be spotted in a scene shot in a second hand shop.
New page for vital statistics up
2006-05-23 / The Norwegian scene has been listed, possibly completed, with 3616 war comics listed. The exception could be odd issues of war comics in titles like the norwegian version of "Classics Illustrated".
2006-05-21 / I came across a mention on the Internet today that the norwegian war comic "Kamp serien" had a run of 1370 issues, beaten only by Donald Duck in Norway. This statistic gave me the idea to start up a stats-page on this site where we can start to get the vitals together. Country by country, lets get the number of issues published and the titles/periods, a very interesting and worthy goal surely.
Commando in Denmark - danish scene unveiled
2006-05-21 / Today we unravelled the danish war comics scene as a result of our Questions & Answers page, and struck gold to say the least. We now know that Commando came out in Denmark in several publications, "Commando" and "mini-BIG" being two. Other titles, like Front serien, Krigs serien, Bajonet serien, Brigade serien, Felt serien and Attack serien (featuring Battler Britton and Spy 13 comics) can now be added to the ever growing list of european war comics. We also found enough covers online to launch the first two galleries with these comics from Denmark today.
Battler Britton is on the way
2006-05-09 / The first comic of five is coming out in july and if you do a Google-search now for "Garth Ennis + Battler Britton" you should be able to find many links where you can pre-order. No final version of the cover as yet.
Battler Britton alive and well in Finland
2006-04-09 / This wonderful pocketbook was published by Egmont in Finland in 2005. It sports 276 pages of classic adventures and information about Battler Britton and his history.
Battler Britton set to return in 2006
2006-04-09 / British comics site Down The Tubes reports that Garth Ennis is to take on Battler Britton for new adventures in 2006. Read more here.
Great Dutch site online now
2006-04-09 / Fans of classic war comics are creating sites about their interest and in the Netherlands we have Ben Kamphuis and his huge site about the Dutch war comics scene. Hundreds of covers. Check it out.
War comics still popular in Finland
2006-04-09 / Egmont still produce a pocketbook version of classic Commando adventures in Finland called Korkeajännitys, but they also have a production of war comics themselves that deals with the WWII battles the finns had with Russia. This book came out in 2005.
Fantastic album
2006-04-09 / More on the scene in Finland. They have a series of albums with classic war comics heroes such as Tiger McTaggart and Sniper Kelly going. This album, with a truly great cover by Ian Kennedy, saw the light of day in 2003. You don´t have to understand the lingo to enjoy this.
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