Since I´m sitting here in Sweden I thought it would be a good idea to start proceedings with a general overview of how the scene here has been like. The bulk of the production of war comics here has always been british imports, generally speaking Fleetway material and other sources (not Commando though, as far as I know). I´ll take you through the major titles first and add some general details.
SERIEBIBLIOTEKET (1961-1969)
This was the first title and it was published, like most titles at that time, by Center Förlaget. The first 13 issues had adventures with Robin Hood and so on but from issue 14 and onwards this became the first proper war comic in this country. The covers may give UK collectors a general idea of the original sources, but it is a tricky business to be sure since some covers were used for other publications later on but with different comics inside. 187 issues were published up´til 1968 when issues started to get listed "1 1968" and so on. 26 issues came out in 1968 and 19 in 1969, then it was over. It seems like the company was taken over by others at that time and some of the titles (like this one) simply disappeared. Others moved on into other magazines in bigger format.
KOMMANDOSERIEN (1962-1969)
This title was a follow up from the same publisher once the first title proved a success. I talked to a guy not long ago that used to be involved in creating these comics back then and he told me that they used to sell between 25 000 and 40 000 copies of these comics and that the secret to the whole thing as far as the profits went came from a very large printingmachine that could actually print up to 24 different comics at the same time. This must have been a complicated process but somebody made it work and that was the key to the success that this publisher had. This could be a clue to how things worked elsewhere as well. 130 issues printed up´til 1968, 26 in 1968 and 20 in 1969. It was incorporated into a bigger comic called Attack at that point.
Also produced by Center förlaget. First 10 issues in 1965 in bigger format, 21 issues in small format published after that. I always thought that the title was a bit odd, but the logo was nice enough.
Pilot 22 was also introduced in Sweden by Center förlaget, and this is Battler Britton. Not sure how they came up with the "Pilot 22" name, but it made for a good logo in any case. 38 issues came out up´til 1968, then 13 in 1968 and another 13 in 1969. This title moved on to bigger format in 1970 and lived on to 1984 after that. So generally speaking, you could say that Battler Britton became one of the most beloved war comics in this country, and certainly the best known. My source from them days told me that most of these war comics were written in the UK but the artists used to be in places like Spain. I was told that a former british air ace used to arrive to the swedish company in a flashy sportscar, to sell them war comics. Don´t know who that could have been but it´s a nice story. Also, artists used to arrive from Spain with huge suitcases of originals, so they actually travelled in person with the stuff. Kommandoserien went into this title in 1970.
SPION 13 (1964-1969)
This title was our version of "Spy 13" and 67 issues was released up´til 1968, 26 in 1968 and 21 in 1969. It changed to a bigger format and lived on to 1973 after that.
DET STORA KRIGET / ATTACK (1967-1971)
At this time a publisher called Semic arrived on the scene and it was these guys that took over Battler Britton and the other titles mentioned so far in this country (changing the format in the process). This title had stories about certain battles in the war and it came out in 26 issues in smaller format (slightly higher than the normal sized ones though) and issue 29 was the last with that running order. 7 issues came out in 1969, 13 in 1970 and the last 3 in 1971. When this title was cancelled Semic continued with Spion 13 for another couple of years and after that they only focused on Battler Britton.
BAJONETT SERIEN (1965-1976)
The first publisher to follow the success of Center förlaget was Williams, and they soon had three titles going. 87 issues came out up´til 1972 and after that they published 12 issues a year. Issue 7 1976 being the last. There was no Issue 12 1973, the reason is not known. Re-runs started in issue 12 1974. I know that people that had been involved in Center förlaget moved on to this publisher in 1969 when that company came to an end.
Also from Williams (one of "the three"). 60 issues came out up´til 1972, and after that they published 12 issues a year. The pattern is the same. There was no Issue 12 1973 and re-runs started with Issue 12 1974. Issue 7 1976 was the last.
The last of "the three" from Williams. 86 issues came out up´til 1972, and after that they published 12 issues a year. Again, no Issue 12 1973, so they must have run into trouble somehow. Issue 7 1976 was the last.
When Williams packed it all in things took a strange turn, as the titles that had been published by them started to come out as re-runs but with new names (Bajonett, Brigad and Front was never used again) and from different publishers. I´ve never been able to figure all this out but it looks like a mess. The following titles are all re-runs from Williams and it lasted another 12 years before the last swedish war comic saw the light of day. These were the last titles...
PATRULL SERIEN (1976-1988)
Published by Atlantic Förlags AB, and with the first three issues coming out in 1976 it looks like they carried on where Williams had ended without missing a beat. This title was published 12 times a year and I think that Issue 8 1988 was the last. In 1987, from the first issue that year and onwards, two adventures was included in every issue. But only the first had a cover, the second story was sort of a bonus and came unannounced.
PLUTON / ATLANTIC SERIEN (1976-1986)
Published by Atlantic Förlags AB, hot on the heels of Williams going down the tubes. This title came out as "Pluton serien" in six issues before a namechange to "Atlantic serien". The first title was much more suited but somebody wanted to go ahead a rename it anyway. Initially, it kept the logo for a while, but that changed to a less attractive one eventually as well. Not sure when this ended, but it happened in 1986 (possibly with Issue 12).
SOLDAT SERIEN (1976-1986)
Third title from Atlantic Förlags AB, taking over where Williams left off. This one came out 12 times a year and ended with Issue 12 1986.
ACTION SERIEN (1976-1988)
And this is the twist. As seen above, Atlantic Förlags AB continued the re-issue program of the old Williams catalouge, with new titles. But so did a second company, Pingvin Förlaget! I have no idea how two companies could get the rights to re-issue exactly the same catalouge, at the same time. Re-prints became the norm and it was a strange thing. Pingvin Förlaget also jumped in right were Williams had ended, in late 1976. Action serien was published 12 times a year and I think that Issue 12 1988 was the last. Two adventures per issue the last two years, the same idea that Atlantic had with one of their titles. Could the same people have had two companies going? Maybe they even printed their publications together? It is a bit murky still, but hopefully we´ll get to know more about this in time.
ATTACK SERIEN (1978-1985)
Sales of Action must have been good because Pingvin Förlaget launched this title in 1978 to compliment it. Still just re-runs from the Williams catalouge. This title was published 12 times a year and it ended in 1985, slightly earlier than some of the other titles.
The swedish scene had a rather good period between 1965 and 1976, but after that it really took a dive. The endless re-runs of the Williams catalouge meant that collectors like myself dropped off and it had to end some day. In 1988 it was all over. I wonder if a swedish version of Commando, with all new adventures all the time and no re-runs, could have survived? That we´ll never know because nobody ever tried. I know I would have been more interested had the titles been new and not old stuff we´d seen several times before.
A few titles have been neglected in this overview. There was a publication called Topp serien that came out for a while in the late sixties, both in large size and in Commando-size (this title may or may not have published stories from Commando, I´m not sure).
Some comics with US origin has also been published, a few from Dell and a few (not many) from Marvel ("War Is Hell"). All in all, I would say that about 2000 comics has seen the light of day in this country. I´ve asked current editors at Egmont about the subject and they don´t feel that war comics has a big enough market anymore, that todays youth wouldn´t be interested. Still, the scene in Finland is alive so I´m not enterily sure that they are right. But knowing that young boys don´t discover the joy of reading these days as earlier generations did, it could be true that classic comics is on the decline and that we´ll soon have it all in the rear mirror. I sometimes wish that the small sized comics would re-surface, giving the youngsters a chance to discover that reading is good, and for a cheap price. It does worry me that this general decline is going on. Well, that´s another chronicle I guess.
I´m just glad that these comics were such a great part of my life when I was a lad. At least I had the choice to buy them if I wanted to.
(May 2006)
