Moustache Monday!

This is a fine example of the sneaky moustache in the bushes.

True to the  tradition of tashes this moustache has the time to console his mate Ginger about a bunch of big nasty Germans while still finding time to poke his big gun through the underbrush.

This fine Moustache appears in War Picture Library 192 The Unguarded Hour.

Moustache Monday!

A slightly unusual tash today - displaying both the variety and the subtle brilliance of facial hair. This tash adorns Charlie in Air Ace Picture Library 78 Aces High.

A nice piece of grooming that starts with a gap and then ever so slightly broadens by the finish. Kind of reminiscent of a 2006 Barossa Shiraz I once had the pleasure to met.

Meanwhile if you look skyward...

I like to think it all started with AP Publishing all those years ago...

Meanwhile over at Boardgame Geek...

...the create a caption competition is raising its own fair share of chuckles, sighs and groans.

The link to the all the fun can be found here BoardGameGeek Create a Caption Competition

Surely there has to be a pocket war comic featuring Goliaths.

Moustache Monday!

Moustache Monday starts with two tashes.

Young Tommy Grafton gets the good oil from two chaps who know a thing or two about staying out of bother.

War at Sea Picture Library 19 Close Quarters.

Cover of the Week War Picture Library 71 Zero Hour

No doubt what's going on here! A race to the wire is in progress in War Picture Library 71 Zero Hour.

This cover has everything going for it.

It has focus and no ambiguity.

Only one thing can happen at zero hour and the artist who painted this cover has put us right in the middle of it all.

There's so much to like. I don't believe I have ever seen a helmet so lovingly rendered as the one the main subject is wearing. The detail of the netting over the helmet and the way it fits under the helmet is just superb. The helmet strap is also just so well done.

I also like the way the advancing troops appear to be shouted out by the main subjects' intensity. Those silhouetted bayonets are both a menacing and poignant  indicator of the carnage that is about to unfold.

The best part about this cover is - there's no stupid flash cut out breaking up the flow of the image.

There's no doubt the score for Zero Hour. 10/10.

Cover of the Week Air Ace Picture Library 261 Pacific Invasion!

You could be forgiven for believing that World War 2 in the Pacific only involved 2 combatant nations. However the cover of Air Ace Picture Library 267 Pacific Invasion leaves little doubt on who they were and what was involved.

A lone British fighter appears to be taking on the might of the Imperial Japanese Navy during an invasion. The awkwardly placed and politically incorrect cutaway says it all "As the Japanese hordes swarmed ashore, the Warhawks dived - to destroy".

The water is a beautiful blue - it doesn't look right. However I have seen the turquoise blue of the Coral Sea and I can only say that the artist may have got it right.

On the down side those landing craft look a little bit clumsy and those big ships look a little too close to the shore for my liking. As stated before the cutaway doesn't do too much either.

However I love the smoke trails from those guns (or rockets) and that beautiful blue water. 7/10

Cover of the Week Air Ace Picture Library 316 Flying Joker

It always stirs the heart to see an Allied biplane pilot giving his Hun adversary a bit of what for. There's no doubt been a bit of a jolly struggle to get to this point - as the holes in the English aircraft testify.

There's been some attempt to convey historical accuracy but that's not important here. I'm a little confused by what appears to be an unsupported strut in the middle of the pilot's view and I don't believe the earth and sky have ever been that colour yellow at the some time.But damn it it works!

Despite my pedestrian understanding of art and my strong felt prejudices against Dogfight Dixon I really like this cover. Everything comes together to make you want to pick up Air Ace 316 Dogfight Dixon and the Flying Joker and read it. Everything from the holes in the wing and fuselage, the burning plane, the flight attitudes of the two aircraft, the cut out flash in red and the entertaining title font to act as motivators that say "pick me up".

As covers go 9/10 easy.

War Picture Library Advertising - The Royal Navy

How long did it take for Royal Navy recruiters to realise that there was a vast audience of potential recruits sitting out there reading pocket war comics?  The recruiters thought they must have hit upon a gold mine of impressionable lads when they started to advertise in Fleetway Publications.

The Royal Navy needs you!

This advertisement comes from December 1967 and adorns the inside front cover of War Picture Library 412 Murder Charge. Now modern day marketing types would flinch at positioning the Royal Navy next to a title like that. There would be an uproar and the inevitable trial by social media. No doubt the marketing types in 1967 were made of sterner stuff than their modern day counterparts.

You would think that after 44 years that the recruitment strategy for the Royal Navy would be vastly different - but a quick look the website for Royal Navy careers tells you that things haven't really changed all that much.

...go for the life that has action and adventure. 

AAGH! of the Week. War At Sea Picture Library 19 Close Quarters