Moustache Monday!

Can you look this good?

Of course we can all shave and tie a cravat. Are we not men? However how well can we carry it off?

All can be perfect in the world of the moustache as it requires dedication and aplomb. Any less will result in scruffiness and a confusing acceptance of unstructured garments as acceptable day wear. 

Confidence, direction and a vocabulary that consists of “intersect “ and “ respective“ will transform a work-a-day fellow into a fine chap. 

A note to the fairer sex who may have the good fortune of falling upon this advice – you, as you know, must support your man in all endeavors regardless of how fantastical and bewildering they appear to you.

Adventures in Big Panels

Big panels are cool. I'm not talking about opening or closing panels - I'm talking about the ones that turn up in the story. You would think giving an image all that real estate is one way of driving a point home. Presenting them out of context really doesn't do them justice. They seem to appear more frequently in the earlier issues - not that I've done a proper study on the subject.

These beauties are from War Picture Library 93 Force of Arms, Air Ace Picture Library 309 Bomber Destroyer and War Picture Library 21 Airborne.

Rules for Bad Guys.

Surely one of the golden rules of being one of the bad guys is not to stand around and say that you're going to hunt down the good guys. You know it's going to end in tears so why do it?  Possibly it's another opportunity to stand around and look sinsiter. However it takes more than just a narrowing of the eyes to look unpleasant. It requires resolve and that sometimes ain't easy to draw. Framing certainly helps as well. Interesting choice to carry on for another ten miles though. Why not five or for another twenty-five or more? The silhouette of the armoured car and fence are very nice touches. It just goes to show that not even darkness will stop this unpleasant fellow. But why is he so cross? Has something of  great value been taken from him? Possibly he has nothing better to do with his time than to pursue fugitives. However what could possibly outpace a column with an armoured car or two? Other armoured cars or jeeps perhaps? Or is it possible that our belligerent friend here is infused with bad Karma? Why are there so many more questions than there are answers? There is one thing for certain. Our friend here isn't going to make it to the end of the story.

Moustache Monday!

Whether taking a bullet or taking criticism a man with a moustache can take on the harshest of situations.

Particularly when it is his own own fault.

When you are the engineer of your own destiny you want the truth. You want to hear the words no matter what. Even though your gunner is painted all over the inside of the cabin. Even though your aircraft is full of holes and his own body is riddled by lead. These facts are of little consequence if you don't hear the truth from somebody else. You're not looking to attribute blame; even to yourself.

Sure, you might be flying a dud aircraft and ordered to fly dud tactics.  Sure you may have even been allotted a gunner who couldn't hit the broad side of a barn.  Or even, and it does happen, the enemy outwitted you. Don't worry. Don't panic. These things happen.
More importantly those things don't matter.

Time to square the jaw and bare the teeth.  Be prepared to pay the price and get ready to be covered.

Red Pistol Handle Matches Red Epaultes, Why?

Teutonic swagger meet sun burnt knees in a contest that will have only one conclusion. Despite the size of his main gun the sartorially misinformed tank commander is about to pay for crimes against fashion. Whoever let him get out of the barracks and into that hulking steel brute should be brought before a court of high justice. Really! Matching red arm band, epaulets, cravat and pistol handle? Who or what army does this man belong to? You can't tell me that the curtains match the drapes either!

Now let us turn our attention to Mr Rugged. There he stands all sun burnt, baring his knees and swinging that big heavy rifle around. He certainly looks like the rough type. How does he keep all that harness he's wearing so white while he's running around and building up a sweat?

I think these two are really just playing at being rough and tumble. The sooner they stop, calm down and just get on being nice to each other the war just might stop a little bit sooner.

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Moustache Monday!

Explain this. You are enjoying a leisurely drive around the country side in your open motor vehicle. You are discussing the virtues of good tailoring and the appropriate times to consider either a Full or Half-Windsor. The discussion then moves to moustaches and the imperatives of waxing. Just then, as if he fell from the sky, a leather jacketed, jodhpur clad, shiny boot wearing scruff wraps his thighs around your driver. 

What is a man supposed to do?

 A lesser man knows not what to do. A man sporting a finely groomed and waxed moustache would instantly have the answer. In an instant the situation is assessed. In less then another instant, action is taken. We are fortunate to see here, in that lonely space between instants, the older man ready to strike using the "open hand of death" martial art technique learnt in his youth.

Rarely used as the consequences are inevitably terse for the feckless provocateur.

Cover of the Week War Picture Library 430 Sixth Sense

Story telling is not necessarily about revealing every detail or using the obvious to bludgeon an audience.

Sixth Sense presents an almost bare cover.

Many pocket war comic covers like to focus on individuals either as soldiers or pilots in individual aircraft usually in a moment of crisis or at a dramatic height. War Picture Library 430 Sixth Sense depicts a rescue action by a group that is, unusually, not under fire. The individual determinism is still there of course, present in beautifully completed insert illustration that takes up about a quarter of the page. The usual cut out flashes or sub-heads are simply not needed. The two co-joined illustrations and the title work very well together create the reason to pick up and read Sixth Sense. Who or what did he see? How is he tied in with the rescue? Also why do the men in the boats appear to be so anxious.

Not a traditional cover, if there really is such a thing, but well worth 10/10. Nice artwork particulalry in capturing the feeling attitude of the crews in the boats.

Moustache Monday!

A man can look one way and his shadow another. But knowledge only has one direction in which it can travel. It is a well known fact that knowledge is enhanced when filtered through the fine hairs of the upper lip of truth.

True lesser men can be clever. However they will always remain in the shadow of those who know wisdom. And what of the shadow that must turn away? Is it insecure? Is it in shame? What does it hide? It knows that knowledge and truth can come to us all but there are only some who know how to truly use them. That fortunate few who can take mere facts and see their beauty where others only see base opportunity. Give a moustache man a fact and he will use it like no other man can.