This week’s Commando set from DC Thomson, issues 5979 to 5982, brings you all-new Cadman tale featuring the World War One coward from Andrew Knighton and Mike Dorey, trying to avoid eating any more flatulence-inducing Maconochie rations! Plus, there’s a dramatic story from the helicopter-filled skies of the Vietnam War, too, courtesy of top selling author James Swallow and Paolo Ongaro, featuring an absolutely knockout cover by Keith Burns.
For those wondering Maconochie rations, tinned food it was claimed consisted of the “finest beef, potatoes, haricot beans, carrots and onions” (but, reportedly, more likely, sliced vegetables, chiefly turnips and carrots, in thin soup or gravy), were a staple of army life during World War One.
Universally used by troops, although they could be eaten “hot or cold”, the chances of being able to heat them on the Western Front, at least, were often remote, and eating them cold was distinctly unappetising. The BBC notes here, for example, that the accumulation of a lump of fat on top of barely recognisable chunks of meat and vegetables led one reporter to describe Maconochie as “an inferior grade of garbage”.
Contemporary letters from the Front, however, suggest that despite this reported issue, they were a welcome addition to a soldier’s ration – and probably healthier than the cigarettes they were provided, too…
The tinned good was sold at home, for the princely sum of 1/6d a 22 ounce can, Maconochie commissioning popular commercial artist Anne Rochester, who also illustrated children’s books an jigsaws as well as working on a variety of magazines such as Tatler, for one of their advertising campaigns. (Post war, she was a member of the Bassett-Gray Studio, a London-based workshop of freelance artists and designers co-founded by Charles Bassett, Henry Bassett and Milner Gray in 1922).
These new issues are on sale from Thursday 30th July in TG Jones and select newsagents, and available digitally, too.
Commando 5979 (Home of Heroes): Cadman: Quartermaster
Story: Andrew Knighton | Internal Art: Mike Dorey | Cover Art: Mike Dorey & Grant Wood
The Western Front, May 1916. Prince Rupert’s Horse Regiment find themselves short of food and, crucially, the private food supplies of Lieutenant Cadman, the fighting coward, have run dry too.
Spurred into unusual action by his rumbling belly, Cadman leads his men on a dangerous expedition to replenish his food stores, and escape another tin of Maconochie rations…
Commando 5980 (Gold): Tiger in The Tail
Story: McOwan | Internal Art: Amador | Cover Art: Ian Kennedy
First published 1972 as No.621
The most dangerous job in the RAF — that’s what people said about “Tail-End Charlies”, the rear-gunners who were always the first target for enemy fighters.
This story is about Charlie Stevens, a man who set out to make the job dangerous indeed — for those enemy fighters!
Commando 5981 (For Action and Adventure): Snake-Bite!
Story: James Swallow | Internal Art: Paolo Ongaro | Cover Art: Keith Burns
During the fiercest fighting of the Vietnam War, US Army helicopters were in the thick of it — none more so than the AH-1 Cobra gunships, agile death-dealers deployed against the invading forces of the Viet Cong.
But the conflict in Southeast Asia cost much, not just in bullets and machines, but in the lives of men and their spirits, broken by the toll of destruction…
Commando 5982 (Silver): Heroes and Cowards
Story: C. G. Walker | Internal Art: Ruiz | Cover Art: Philpott
First published 1985 as No. 1885
There was no denying the fact that Lieutenant Roger Darbrook had run from his first taste of war, leaving his sergeant to do his job for him and fight a vital rearguard action.
The question was, would he run again? Many people thought so, and at one time it certainly looked like they were right. Yet things aren’t always what they seem…
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• If there’s a past Commando comic you would like to see reprinted, contact the team via generalenquiries@commandomag.com
Commando Issues 5979 – 5982 Cover Gallery
• Commando Comics is online at commandocomics.com | DC Thomson – Subscriptions | Commando Comics on AmazonUK | Commando Comics on Magzter | Follow Commando Comics on Facebook | X | YouTube |
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John is the founder of downthetubes, launched in 1998. He is a comics and magazine editor, writer, and Press Officer for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He also runs Crucible Comic Press.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine and Overkill for Marvel UK, Babylon 5 Magazine, Star Trek Magazine, and its successor, Star Trek Explorer, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics; and has edited several comic collections and graphic novels, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”, and Hancock: The Lad Himself, by Stephen Walsh and Keith Page.
He’s the writer of comics such as Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs”, with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: British Comics, British Comics - Current British Publishers, Comic Previews, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News
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