A New Year, new issues of Commando – and what an opening salvo for 2025! The veteran war comic blasts into January in the usual way – with lots of explosions! Commando Issues 5815 – 5818 are on sale in all good newsagents from Thursday 2nd January.
The big news for this set is the return of “Sergeant Moses Rayker”, one of many outstanding characters first seen in the weekly comic, Warlord, 40 years ago. Writer Dominic Teague and artist Mike Dorey bring him to Commando for the first time in “Sergeant Rayker” – and he’s just as tough as he’s ever been, and with fresh artwork and an incredible cover from Mike.
This is an issue you won’t want to miss, as Rayker faces danger from “friend” and foe alike, Dominic Teague deftly delivering an all action tale that pulls no punches when it comes to highlighting some of the racism soldiers like Rayker really endured in wartime.
(Quite aside from fictional accounts of black service during World War Two, highlighted in powerful films such as the recently released The Six Triple Eight, you may be interested in books such as Black Warriors: the Return of the Buffalo Soldier, Ivan J. Houston’s account of the famous “Buffalo Soldiers” known as Giganti Buoni, the Good Giants, who helped liberate Italy during World War Two, makes for sober reading).
Also new this time is “Shadow on the Sea” from writer Andrew Knighton, who will provide a commentary on the story later this week for downthetubes readers, with art from Jaume Forns. It’s a smashing story, pitting the crew of a hard-pressed corvette, defending a North Atlantic convoy from ruthless U-Boat attack. The hero of the hour, though, is the ship’s cat!
Wait – you gotta be kitten me – a Commando about a cat? Let us purrsuade you – this clawsome adventure contains all the meowtstanding action and adventure you’ve come to expect, all from an unlikely source. We’re telling mew, it’s the cat’s pyjamas! (That’s quite enough cat-related puns – Ed).
Represented in this set is “Find the Traitor”, a snowcapped adventure from 1971 that seemed very fitting for the time of year, global warming notwithstanding, and “Pop’s Army”, pitting schoolboys against Nazis in occupied France, two classic tales with outstanding covers from the masterful Ian Kennedy that are icing on the cake.
Commando 5815: Shadow on the Sea
Story: Andrew Knighton | Art: Jaume Forns | Cover: Neil Roberts
The North Atlantic, 1941. Captain Thomas Bright and the crew of the HMS Dandelion are tasked with escorting merchant ships carrying food and supplies to Britain. German U-boats lurk beneath the waves, threatening to destroy the ships at any moment.
Help comes in the unlikely form of Shadow, the new ship’s cat, whose keen eyes and hearing could make the difference in fighting the unseen enemy!
• See Also: Confessions of a Cat Person – “Shadow on the Sea”, a Commando Writer’s Commentary
Commando 5816: Find the Traitor
Story: RA Montague | Art: V Fuente | Cover: Ian Kennedy
First published in Commando 542, April 1971
The brave partisans hidden high in the snow-clad mountains of Yugoslavia had a tough time keeping out of the clutches of the Nazis — especially with that Fieseler Storch reconnaissance aircraft seeking them out.
But with the Yugoslavians were Nick Bradford and Stan Waterman, two RAF lads who’d been shot down and stranded. They decided that somehow, they’d get hold of that Storch — and use it to spy on the Germans!
Commando 5817: Sergeant Rayker
Story: Dominic Teague | Art and Cover: Mike Dorey
Last seen in Warlord in 1984, Sergeant Moses Rayker returns for another adventure!
In 1944, during a daring escape over the Italian mountains, Rayker and his squad encounter a familiar face. Buford ‘Bubba’ Ballard clashed with Rayker before the war, and Ballard still holds a grudge. Nonetheless, Rayker knows his duty is to escort Ballard past the German checkpoints and safely home. Can both men keep their cool long enough to survive? Or will Rayker end up smacking the tar outta him before they make it back?
“Sergeant Rayker” began in Warlord issue 232 (cover dated 3rd March 1979) and last appeared in 1984.
Here’s some teaser art from this special issue, via Mike Dorey…
Commando 5818: Pop’s Army
Story: Bernard Gregg | Art: Ruiz | Cover: Ian Kennedy
First published in Commando 1752, November 1983
A bunch of teenage French boys commanded by a British schoolmaster couldn’t cause the Nazi invaders that much trouble, could they?
You bet they could!
• Confessions of a Cat Person – “Shadow on the Sea”, a Commando Writer’s Commentary
• Commando Comics is online at commandocomics.com | DC Thomson – Subscriptions | Facebook | Twitter | YouTube | Commando Comics on AmazonUK | Commando Comics on Magzter
• If there’s a past Commando comic you would like to see reprinted, contact the team via generalenquiries@commandomag.com
Commando Issues 5815 – 5818 Cover Gallery
Further Reading …
• Calling All Warlord Agents! Feature by Simon Belmont
• Mike Dorey is online at mikedorey.co.uk
African Americans have served proudly in every great American war. These fighting men represented the first Black professional soldiers in a peacetime army. The recruits came from varied backgrounds including former slaves and veterans from service in the Civil War. The Buffalo Soldiers National Museum (BSNM), is dedicated to exploring and displaying the stories and contributions of African Americans in the military by way of performing and visual arts, educational programming, and exhibitions
• Army.mil: Black Americans in the US Army – an item on an official site of the US military
• National Park Service: Buffalo Soldiers in the 1940s
• Black Warriors: the Return of the Buffalo Soldier by Ivan J. Houston (AmazonUK Affiliate Link)
The Italians in the towns and villages liberated by the buffalo soldiers during World War Two called them Giganti Buoni, the Good Giants. They did not know that these giants would return to a country where they were still second-class citizens. In 2012, Ivan J. Houston, one of those remaining buffalo soldiers, was invited to return to Italy by the owner of a villa his battalion captured. He and his family would be guests at the fifteenth-century Villa Orsini, now a bed and breakfast renamed the Villa La Dogana. His return to Tuscany almost seventy years after the war had ended was filled with emotion. In this book, he describes how he went back to a place where African American buffalo soldiers are considered heroes and liberators. He visits battlefields where more than three thousand African American buffalo soldiers were killed or wounded as they battled Nazi and Fascist soldiers. The author and his family returned to Italy for five consecutive years, visiting the battle sites and celebrating ancient victories that will never be forgotten.
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “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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