War Picture Library 220 The Atlantic Wall

There's a breath of honesty in The Atlantic Wall that is missing in most other pocket war comics. Victory is paid in blood. The toll of British dead is extraordinarily high. At the risk of sounding morbid it is this aspect of the story that makes it a good read. Not all the characters who are introduced survive.

The pivot of the story is Brigadier "Blood and Thunder" "Big Jumbo"  JMB Oliphant - an inspiration to his men as well as a perfectly eccentric English officer. He prefers to go into battle wearing his monocle and a black jumper with his two hunting dogs by his side and a sten gun in his hands. He's quick to praise and promote initiative. He is interested in results! Also (and perhaps alarming to our modern sensibilities) he has little time for sentimentality, for example the Brigadier sees a dead British soldier clutching a piat as a wasted firing opportunity. The tears can come later.
This is where the honesty can be found. Of course there are the typical extreme comic book moments. There can be no other way. However minor characters are given a chance to evolve. After that they are unlucky and buy it or lucky and survive. Which is interesting to find a War Picture Library story that openly says that luck sometimes has a part to play in success. But as we learn in The Atlantic Wall luck is only created by making things happen and things only happen as a result of strong leadership.

 Now that's how you wage war!

You might be smug now...

Sergeant Goldfinger (bottom right hand corner) survives the battle only to meet his fate several years later at the hands of another Englishman.

 You do the right things and this is what happens...

Psycho old dude with dogs wastes two bad guys.

Karl and Ernst have their final lesson.

If there wasn't a war on I'd let them eat you.

Thems big Nazis.

 Our weird little guys are better than your little weird guys.

 Outstanding lack of sentimentality. I love it.

 What? Daring do not enough? Luck had no part to play in it.

 The old I got you but you got me Aggghhh!

 What! Remorse? Where did this nonsense come from?

For you windowhead the war is over.

Air Ace Picture Library 248 The Missing Bombers

The Japanese are so reasonable in this story they could be confused for Germans. When Air Ace Picture Library 248 The Missing Bombers turns to the Japanese they're not getting ready to die for the Emperor, nor are they calling anybody a dog, nor do they get a lot of chances to let out a final AIEEEE! The lack of stereotyping is a little bit disturbing. In fact the Japanese are portrayed as an organised enemy who just happen to make the mistake of fighting against the Allies. The artwork also doesn't have that agro guy looking though his extra thick spectacles as you would expect in one of these comic books.

All the racism is a part of the story and not in the story - if you know what I mean.

At the centre of The Missing Bombers is Kenaka Cooper, a flying chappy, who has a Japanese mother and an English father. His posting to a Wellington squadron raises a few eyebrows as well as a few hackles. Not only are the allies hard up against it now they have to contend with having a traitor in their midst. Kenaka is of course no traitor.

I like seeing Wellington bombers in pocket war comics and I was a little disappointed not to see more of them. However for some reason there a lots and lots of panels with blokes just standing around  - this issue should win a prize for the most small crowd scenes seen in a war comic book. Needless to say the narrative device of getting the Wellingtons to fly through the secret canyon is just silly.

In its own way The Missing Bombers is a sensitive story as the men around Cooper have to come grips with his ethnicity.

Well if you look really closely only 3 of them are really flying. Two of them are sort of crashing and the last one is missing.

Three disjointed panels of action on the same page. I think the artist was standing a bit close to the ink fumes.

That almost sounds reasonable. Are you sure you're the bad guys?

It's a message from your wife. She says don't forget to go past the supermarket on the way home and pick up some bread and milk.

Who else knows about this?

So that's way he's shorter than everyone else!

Well say it out loud man! You're about to get in an aircraft with him.

Nice panel.

Hey! Why go over it when you can go through it.

Interesting perspective.

Why would you have to do that? Also that guy on the radio looks like he's just lost a bet.

Can I move if I surrender?

Check out the cool gun the Japanese marine is holding.



















I don't know if holding hands with another man would be considered manly back in 1963.

War at Sea Picture Library 19 Close Quarters

The Germans speak in Close Quarters. You get to hear the bad guys. You get see a Hudson flying around. You get to see some serious remorse. What's not to like?
A green coastal defence pilot has some big ideas on how to sink Nazi submarines at night. However being the new Johnny he is quickly pulled into line by his CO. But being young and having big ideas entices our hero to try his "trick". He is promptly rewarded for his display of bravado by being shot down and having most of his crew killed. He is then rescued by the very same virulent convoy sinking U-Boat that he was trying to destroy.
This is a pretty interesting pocket war comic.
The senior British command are shown as staid, conservative, lacking in imagination and ready to quash any display of initiative. The Germans are shown as resourceful. However when the young British pilot at the centre of the story makes the opportunity and produces some results it is at a heavy price. Usually redemption features heavily in these stories but in Close Quarters it is replaced by remorse.
Also the Germans aren't shown as out-and-out bad guys. They're just doing their best trying to get the most bang per buck and get away alive. However in true bad guy style the Captain of the U-Boat just has to go and sow the seeds of his own destruction. When he meets and greets his newly captured prisoners he gives them "the secret". Even though the U-Boat captain is far more likable than the senior RAF stiffs he still is a bad guy after all and has to pay the ultimate price. This is a great comic. If you can find it, keep it.

Close Quarters jumps straight into the action.

 Why all the shouting?

The Royal Navy - where irony is met with sarcasim.

...also you're not really air crew until  you grow a tash.

A bad end to the day.

 What a shift from the comical representation of this character from beginning of the story.

 After the war of course I will set up a secret organisation...

Pretty grim business this war.

 A Sunderland. Magnificent.

 How else could you explain it?

Could this be the best final panel ever?