As Halloween approaches, the Commando team have another creepy crop of war comics on offer – one offering more adventures than usual! Issues 5795 – 5798 are on sale from this Thursday, 24th October, 2024, all delivering stories with a horror comics feel.
The big news for this set is a departure from normal format for Commando, with Issue 5797 – “The QM’s Storeroom of Secrets” – delivers the title’s first-ever “anthology”-style issue – six supernatural tales, presented by the title’s fictional Quatermaster (the “QM”, also known as Sean Hardgrave), written by Georgia Standen Battle, drawn by a mix of artists – Vicente Alcazar, Manuel Benet, Paolo Ongaro, Carlos Pino, Esteve Polls and Alberto Saichann.
It’s a great idea, the stories akin to the sort of tale you’d find in anthology comics of yesteryear such as Scream!, and continuing today in 2000AD with “Tharg’s Future Shocks”. You have to wonder if this format could work at other times of the year – at Christmas, for example. It’s also given several regular Commando artists opportunity to really show off their seasoned skills with a lower page count than usual.
We’re also treated to one usual, full length new story: “Strange Frequencies”, a “fangtastic” story of a haunted radio from creepmeister Daniel McGachey, featuring art by Juan Fernandez and a bone-chilling cover by Marco Bianchini. “Definitely not one to read with the lights off,” we’re told, and the claim is true, as Daniel skilfully mixes horror with war, by way of some classic supernatural staples in terms of story threads… but revealing any of them here would spoil the tale.
Juan Fernandez art has a scratchy, twisted style to it, interpreting the macabre nature of the script in a unique way that, while not as realistic as some art on a regular Commando tale, suits this one to the ground!
Re-presented in this set are “Castle of Doom”, a classic Commando adventure, featuring some grisly cover and interior art by Gordon C Livingstone; and “Ghost Tiger”, centred on the legend of a man-eating tiger! First published in 1976, the story’s horror builds to a powerful climax, as family feuds and personal greed is exacerbated by a cursed claw and the terrors of jungle warfare.
If you’re in the mood for some horror comics, then this latest Commando set’s for you – and if it’s war adventure you’re after, that’s on offer too, both this week, and in a fortnight, with an incoming set that includes an all-new “Cadman” story. What will the cowardly soldier get up to this time?
Commando 5795: Strange Frequencies
Story: Daniel McGachey | Art: Juan Fernandez | Cover: Marco Bianchini
The camp is deserted, no sign of life anywhere. But what’s that you hear among th shifting sands in the barren North African desert? Maybe in the distance there is the drum and thump of artillery like a heartbeat, but not here, not even the howls of the wind interrupt the horrible stillness.
That is until you hear it… the crackling of a radio set to a strange frequency, and the rasping, ghoulish voice calling your name…
“Listen.…You must listen…You must listen…”
Commando 5796: Castle of Doom
Story: Allan | Art and Cover: Gordon C Livingstone
First published as No. 474
They stood face to face and shook hands like the best of friends. One was Major Pete Lambert and the other, Franz Becker, an officer in the hated German SS. And all around them were hot guns smoking and the acrid smell of war…
Commando 5797: The QM’s Storeroom of Secrets
Story: Georgia Standen Battle | Art: Vicente Alcazar, Manuel Benet, Paolo Ongaro, Carlos Pino, Esteve Polls and Alberto Saichann | Cover: Manuel Benet
Commando’s first‑ever anthology of horror! Included in this creepy issue are six supernatural tales the “QM” has collected from his storeroom! From crows to bats, from thieves to murderers and from witches to vampires — there’s something for everyone here in Commando!
Commando 5798: Ghost Tiger
Story: Lomas | Art: Boluda | Cover: Ian Kennedy
First published as No. 1084
Deep in the steaming jungle of India, where the tiger is king, there dwelt a sinister spirit. It was known as Thuggee Raj, a ghost tiger which nightly prowled the forest paths, striking terror into every heart.
Any man who scoffed at it was foolish indeed, for Thuggee Raj had a power no man could overcome — the power of life and death!
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Commando 5795-5798 – 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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