The Many Faces of Commando
- Published:
- Thu 01 Sep 2011
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Beyond the Pocket Book!
The look and feel of "Commando" has
become familiar to many over 5 decades - 66 pages of black and
white adventure between full colour covers in a handy pocket sized
book. Over the years, however, the
"Commando" brand of war stories in
pictures has made forays into less familiar shapes and sizes across
the world...
The first of these expeditions into unfamiliar territories began
in the early 1970s, a decade after
"Commando" debuted. Finland's
"Korkeajännitys" - literally
"High Voltage" - has featured many translated
"Commando" stories alongside other
war-themed strips from various UK and US publishers. These Finnish
collections have appeared as thick paperback books as well as
larger, glossier editions.
It was the late 1980s before another different style of
"Commando" appeared, this time closer to
home. British comics have traditionally produced bumper hardback
editions starring their favourite characters ("annuals") around
Christmas time. "Commando Annual" kept
the square shape of the regular issues, but these were larger,
softback volumes featuring several full and single colour
adventures - one of which, "The Three
Musketeers", can be read here - as well as
features on weaponry and military vehicles. Perhaps
"Commando" readers preferred the longer
stories familiar from the comic, as there were only two annuals
published.
In 2005, Carlton Books produced "Commando: The Dirty
Dozen", collecting "The 12 Best Commando
Books of All Time", as selected by then-editor, George
Low. This hefty soft-back, nearly 800 pages thick, was to be just
the first of an ongoing series of anthologies of classic
stories. It was followed by "True Brit",
"ANZACs at War", "All Guns
Blazing", "Rumble in the
Jungle", "Bandits at 12
O'Clock", "D-Day - Fight or
Die!", "Battle of Britain -
Scramble!" and 2011's "Rogue
Raiders".
The first six editions have been issued together in two
collectable box-sets, "Commando: Ammo
Box" and "Commando: High
Explosive", alongside facsimile editions of the first
two "Commando" comics. A
"Korkeajännitys" edition of
"The Dirty Dozen", was also released in
Finnish.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the comic, Carlton have
brought out a selection of themed compilations
-"Tally-Ho!",
"Banzai!", "Action
Stations!" and "Achtung!" -
each featuring 3 adventures, and will be launching a large-format
coffee table edition "Commando -
50 Years: A Home For Heroes".
Throughout the years, the original
"Commando" issues have proved popular
with readers all around the globe - whether sent out by relatives
or friends in the UK, or bought by subscription - prompting
EuroKids in India to release 24 issues in 2007. These larger format
magazines retained the original English language captions and
balloons, and were collected into 8 "Commando - 3 in
1" compilations.
A year later, another English language selection was repackaged
by Geddes & Grossett under the original
"Commando" title and also as
"Espionage" for the Canadian, American
and Australian markets, while 2009 saw
"Korkeajännitys" publishers, Egmont,
release "Kamp Og Kommando", paperback
book sized editions for Norwegian readers.
While all of these publications have strayed from the
traditional "Commando" look, they retain
the same basic format - comic strips on paper. The biggest change
has occurred in the last few years, as
"Commando" has brought action and
adventure onto the internet, onto iPhones and iPads, and well and
truly into the digital
age!
(This article originally appeared as a tie-in to the
National Army Museum exhibition Draw Your Weapons: The Art of
Commando Comics - September 2011-April 2012.)
