Time travel! Snipers versus V2 rockets, criminals turned into unlikely heroes, renegade paratroopers during D-Day and time travelling British soldiers? Yes, it’s all going on in Commando issues 5771-5774, on sale in all good newsagents and online, from Thursday 1st August 2024.
Commando veteran Vicente Alcazar, who celebrated his 80th birthday this year, provides the art on both new stories in this new set, with Georgia Standen Battle delivering script on “The Shape-shifter Returns!” and Ferg Handley back with another Renegade Raiders tale.
Represented are “Sniper!”, a classic Commando story from the 1970s that sees two brothers pitted against a fanatical Nazi; and “Some Kind of Hero”, offers an adventure centred on a criminal turned hero. It’s a familiar theme to many a Commando, even today – but, as the editorial team tell us, “if it ain’t broke…”!
Commando 5771: Home of Heroes – The Shape-shifter Returns!
Story: Georgia Standen Battle | Art: Vicente Alcazar | Cover: Neil Roberts
After a case of mistaken identity, Private Ron Cope is catapulted into the future to stand trial for crimes he didn’t commit! Transported to 3023, the hapless Brit has to prove that not only he can’t shape-shift… but that he is from 1940!
But his problems don’t end there, because when he gets back to his own time, he’ll have to hunt down the shape-shifter that stole his place — if he manages to get back to the right time, that is!
Science fiction meets Commando war action in Issue 5771, the sequel to Issue 5623, released last year. A time travel caper that might send your head spinning, Vicente Alcazar, who has worked on the the title for decades, now, provides the art for this new story, and Neil Roberts delivers a cracking cover.
Commando 5772: Gold Collection: Sniper!
Story: Allan | Art: Collado | Cover: Penalva
First Published 1971 as Issue 523
It must have been the strangest duel in the Second World War – a rifle matched against a giant V2 rocket, the Nazis’ most fearful terror weapon.
But the man carefully sighting along that rifle barrel was dead-shot Captain Gordon Baxter. He wasn’t likely to miss, even when he knew he’d probably be blown to kingdom come if he hit the target…
Commando 5773: Action and Adventure: Renegade Raiders – The Windmill
Story: Ferg Handley | Art: Vicente Alcazar | Cover: Simon Pritchard
The Renegade Raiders return in more paratrooper action after D-Day! Sergeant Joe Shatner and his group of mavericks have more than just Nazis to contend with, as his brown-nosing lieutenant has it out for them!
That is, until a surprising radio call has the Renegade Raiders hightailing it to a windmill in enemy territory, on an all-out rescue mission!
Commando 5774: Silver Collection: Some Kind of Hero
Story: CG Walker | Art: Blasco | Cover: Jeff Bevan
First Published 1982 as Issue 1616
In a desperate race against time, Arnold Ragley dragged the unconscious driver from the burning truck and began stumbling to safety with him. Why the hurry? Because he knew that the truck was filled with high explosive!
It was a heroic action… which was strange, because Arnold Ragley had never been a hero and never wanted to be one…
Fans of Jesus Blasco (best known in Britain for his work on strips such as “The Steel Claw”) should be aware that “Blasco” is a credit that has appeared in a number of Commando reprints – but the artist is not the same, either Jesus Blasco or his brothers. “In fact,” Steve Holland noted back in 2014, “there might have been two Blascos who have worked for Commando as there was an early – 1964 – issue, which is long before a run of strips that began in 1979.”
Steve believes the later Blasco is the Spanish artist, Jamie Blasco Romero, although he would have already have been 50 when he started working for Commando, who drew a new issue roughly every two months until 1990 – a total of 58 issues.
Lambiek notes Jaime Blasco drew for several collections of Bruguera publishers in the 1960s, including Coleccion Bisonte (‘Alf Regaldie’, ‘Joe Mogar’), Coleccion Héroes (‘Flecha Rota’) and Colleccion Búfalo (‘Keith Luger’), as well as stories with ‘Rin-Tin-Tin’. He has also drawn war stories for the French pocket book market. The Spanish language comic resource, Tebeosfera, also has a profile here, indicating he drew strips for “the Scottish market”(!)
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Commando Issues 5771-5774 Cover Gallery
• Commando Comics is online at commandocomics.com | DC Thomson – Subscriptions | Facebook| Twitter | YouTube | Commando Comics on AmazonUK | Commando Comics on Magzter | Pocket MagsDirect
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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, Comic Previews, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News
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