On 16 October 1939 a dozen Junker Ju88 bombers of the Luftwaffe set out from the German island of Sylt to make the first attack of the Second World War on the United Kingdom. Their target was the Royal Navy battlecruiser HMS Hood which they believed was anchored in the Firth Of Forth at the Rosyth naval base beside the Forth Railway Bridge near Dunfermline. The Hood wasn’t there but that did not stop the Germans attacking the naval ships they found there, despite the efforts of the Spitfire pilots of the RAF’s 602 and 603 Squadrons, based at Edinburgh and Glasgow, to prevent them.
This was a true story that fascinated local creator Colin Maxwell who had already covered various Scottish historical subjects in his small press Maximized Comics. Colin has written and illustrated the story as Raid On The Forth, a black and white 32 page, A5 comic and financed it via Kickstarter. Indeed, the Kickstarter proved so successful that Colin was able to commission Commando cover artist Graeme Neil Reid, another creator local to Rosyth, to paint a wrap around cover for the comic.
Raid On The Forth was launched at the Defend Fife WWII re-enactment festival on 4 August with both Colin Maxwell and Graeme Neil Reid there to sign copies and where, remarkably, they met Margot Allison the daughter of one of the Spitfire pilots who fought back against the Luftwaffe bombers that day.
Raid On The Forth’s writer/artist Colin Maxwell and cover artist Graeme Neil Reid at Defend Fife Festival in August 2019
The comic is now available in Dunfermline’s Little Shop Of Heroes comic shop and by mail order from the Maximized Comics website.
Raid On The Forth, as well as other titles, can be purchased from the Maximised Comics website – http://www.maximized.co.uk/index.html
There are more details of Graeme Neil Reid’s work on his website – https://gnreid.co.uk/
His Patreon site is here – https://www.patreon.com/GraemeNeilReid
The Dundee Courier’s article on Colin and Graeme meeting Margot Allison is here.
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
News, reviews, interviews and features for print and on-line: Spaceship Away (since October 2005), Bear Alley (since February 2007), downthetubes (since June 2007), and Eagle Times (since October 2008). Plus DC Thomson’s The Art Of Ian Kennedy, Titan’s Dan Dare and Johnny Red reprints, Ilex’s War Comics: A Graphic History and 500 Essential Graphic Novels, and Print Media’s The Iron Moon and Strip magazine.
Categories: British Comics, Crowd Funding Projects, downthetubes News
“Ragtime Soldier: Trench Raider” cover revealed, gets funding boost from Creative Scotland 
Crowdfunding Spotlight: Action Force, Revived 
Crowdfunding Spotlight: Bastaroid by Greg Meldrum and Scott Twells 
Crowdfunding Spotlight: Ragtime Soldier by Pat Mills, Gary Welsh and Phillip Vaughan