British Comic Companion – Commando For Action and Adventure

Last Updated: 14th December 2018

Commando Issue OnePublished by DC Thomson, Commando For Action and Adventure  is Britain’s longest serving war comic, publishing stories of action and adventure since 1961. These stories, with their mixture of excitement, danger and courage under fire, and the dynamic artwork that accompanies them, have won Commando a loyal readership over the decades.

On land, at sea, and in the air, Commando’s stories cover every corner of the globe and are set throughout world history, the epic tales of bravery in battle making the title colloquially known as Commando Comics the Home of Heroes.

Ken Barr's final cover for Commando - Issue 4138, commissioned by Calum Laird in 2008. "It was quite odd working with Ken," Calum recalls, "as we never met face-to-face, I just called his mobile. And his rough was sent in by post… on tracing paper. This was at a time when everybody else was, at least, using the fax machine. The print here doesn’t do justice to the red he used on the cover. "It was the only job he did for me, not because we didn’t want to do more, it just never happened."

Ken Barr’s final cover for Commando – Issue 4138

Formerly known as Commando War Stories in Pictures the title primarily draw its themes and backdrops from the various incidents of World War One and Two, although many other historical conflicts, including the Falklands, have featured. It was first published in July 1961 and is still in print today.

It is the last of the British “pocket digest” or “picture library” titles, which were published in abundance and covered multiple genres from war to humour and romance. With its 68-page format, on sale in all good UK newsagents and digital outlets, Commando has remained more popular than many other British war comics.

Most stories have no continuity between them, although that has slowly changed, with the publication of several stories featuring “Convict Commandos” and “Ramsey’s Raiders“.

DOWNTHETUBES FEATURES

• downthetubes runs regular updates on new releases of Commandocheck this tag for the latest news

Commando Collections – a guide

Here’s a list of published Commando collections, which we’ll endeavour to update as new books are released.

Commando: The Best Issues of the 1960s?
Article by Colin Noble

EDITOR INTERVIEWS

George Low
Interview by Jeremy Briggs first published in 2007

Calum Laird
Interview by Jeremy Briggs first published in 2008

Kirsten Murray
Interview by John Freeman first published in 2017

Gordon Tait
Interview by Jeremy Briggs first posted in December 2018

ARTISTS

• COMING SOON: A checklist of Commando artists

A Tribute to Ken Barr | Ken Barr Creator Profile

Cam Kennedy – Commando Classic Comic Resurfaces
Article by Colin Noble – published in 2016

In Praise of… Commando artists Calum Laird and Carlos Pino
Article by Calum Laird

In Memoriam: Gordon Livingstone

Gordon Livingstone – An Appreciation by Calum Laird

Gordon Livingstone, I Preseume – an Art Gallery
Compiled by Colin Noble

Secrets Revealed: How Gordon Livingstone started on Commando
Article by Colin Noble

An interview with Keith Page
Interviewed by Jeremy Briggs, first posted in 2009

WRITERS

• COMING SOON: A checklist of Commando writers

Writing Commando
An article by Sean Blair, first published in 2007

• The official Commando web site is at www.commandocomics.com

Commando © DC Thomson