You won't believe what happens to this Nazi next...

Amazing. Hard to believe what only a few grams of lead can do to the morally and politically corrupt fighting for their miserable lives. Brave. There is no doubt. Wrong. There is no doubt. Poor kommand of English. There is no doubt.

While you're down there...

Commandos are pretty tough you know. You should also know not to mess with them or even worse, sneak up on them. They know stuff like how to deliver a well placed karate chop along with a witty, yet manly, line.

Naturally enough being struck by a commando would leave one with few words. In a situation like that it would be best to choose your words wisely or not at all.

Cover of the Week War Picture Library 17 Commandos Die Hard

Before Bruce baby had a crack at it and made it his own - Die Hard belonged to another bunch of blokes. These guys are so tough they don't even need weapons to fight the enemy let alone a sneaky bloke called Hans. So when the going gets tough the tough clearly have the right idea about where they need to be.

For me the best member of this trio is the figure obscuring his face with his hand. Has he suffered a wound or is he merely making sure his tin hat is staying where it should? I enjoy the ambiguity whether it is intentional or not. Our friend in the middle has a fair degree of being manic about him, nicely supported by his colleague trying to restrain him.

This is a nice example of early War Picture Library cover artwork - so old that it is published by AP and not Fleetway. It doesn't have the edge of later pocket war comics - but it does carry charm, if that is the right word for it. So there is a story going on here. Why is the man in the middle being restrained? Why are their weapons on the ground and not in their hands? I can't quite pick the quality that pegs this as a pre 1960s piece of art but it clearly is because it was published in 1959. Perhaps it's a combination of the colour range and the rather flat faces. So in that context I'm going 8/10.

War Picture Library 58 Up the Marines!

Up the Marines! is simply dreadful from the very beginning. Just what is going on with that cover? The self-vandalising enemy are rightfully cowering as they are being consumed by what looks like a creature from Cuthulu.  The story can only get worse from here - and it does.

Sergeant Swift and Corporal Younger are on a commando canoe raid to disable harbour bouy lights, making a vital German convoy to run aground. In the course of the action Younger gets himself killed and of course Swift blames himself. Swift returns and is awarded a medal for the action. Younger's younger brother is present at the investiture to accept the award. Have a wild guess at what happens next.

The younger Younger idolises Swift from the stories told to him by the older Younger. Younger Younger enlists and manages to get posted to the elite commando unit with Swift. Understandably Swift is keen not to have another Younger (older or younger) killed by his side and accordingly tries to minimise risk taking on missions. Younger Younger is of course distressed and embarassed that he's not seeing enough action and he tries to leave the unit.

Of course it all works out in the end when the two are involved in an assualt on a pillbox.

To be kind if you like things being blown up and people shot up then this story would be just OK. There are glimpses of the artist of trying to make something at least visually interesting - the pipe smoking German Oberleutnant, the sailor's cap ribbons fluttering in the breeze - but it's not enough to save this story.

I really have to dig deep to find to say anything nice about this one.

The cap ribbons fluttering away are a nice touch.

See children...you didn't come up with WTF.

Oberleutnant stop hogging the pipe.

One of the few highlights in the story.

This man is an idiot. How did he ever get to command a ship?

 What an odd shaped scone you have sergeant.

I wish my posture was like that.

Good at drawing things being blown up and destroyed. Good at drawing a hail of bullets - but drawing an office appears to be a bit of a challenge.

Zombies!

Oh the shame...

This is that crazed  look you get when you're in the shadow of death and assualting a pillbox while wearing a tie.