Have monocle will go the biff!

Some fellows are happy to go the biff under any condition. Shirts on or shirts off it’s all the same to them. It is worth noting the lack of upper body attire should provide the hopelessly obvious hint that Australians are involved. Sadly the fit looking chap in the middle dealing with the hapless meaty buffons is an Englishman. However when it comes to showing the world to have at it he is not a shy man. Have monocle will wage war - against friend or foe - is the right type of chap to have on your side. Heaven forbid if he were one of the enemy.

The uncouth language of the Outback

Though somewhat harsh the description of the banter between the two shirtless ruffians is also inaccurate. Far from being inappropriate the cheerful fellows appear to be speaking in some kind of code, unintelligible to others but far from offensive. Perhaps of more of a concern is for everyone at the centre of attention to go shirts off at the slightest provocation. Look... bare chests, there be Australian there.

Men in short skirts?

Are these fellows in skirts? Or are they in shorts? Or even, if you look closely enough skorts?
Interesting way to toughen up a bunch of blokes - by changing the way they dress by putting them into dresses. By no means is dress wearing not tough - hell 50% of the population tend to be wearers of non-trousers and it would be foolish to think that they are anything but tough. Perhaps it's a tough-guy thing about being tough that being transitioned into a non-trouser situtation might be seen as something less than optimal. Still there they are. Acting as one and having something made of them. Looks like hard work though, skirts or no skirts. 

Now cough...

Doctors can be funny people. But not as funny as some of their patients. Asked to cough most people would just get on with it. Some however want to make with small talk at a critical juncture. What turns a normal person into someone who enjoys the uncomfortable encounter will remain a mystery for evermore.

Any excuse to get your gear off.

Some men can't wait to get their shirts off. You would think fighting a fire might call for more protection not less. Workplace health and safety would not be happy. Sure sometimes expediency wins over prudence. Even though it might attract glances from some of the other chaps, some fellows will take any excuse to go shirtless .  Not that there's anything wrong with that.. Odds are however in pocket war comic lore if there is a shirt to be cast aside it will be probably be done by an Australian.

Oh Those Savage Doctors

Is this one of those shirt on or shirt off moments? Doctor Deserthead seems to be only feigning interest in the paper in front him just so he can pay special attention to our friend. So what does FAA actually stand for?
Also what happened to all the other chaps who were there 2 hours ago? Did they all get to go home and sit out the rest of the war?

Again so many  questions. There are never enough answers.

War Picture Library 135 The Big Arena

Shirts off and Australians. Why do the two always go together? Without fail Australian war picture comic troops are always keen to throw off their kit and show off their chests. The other typical traits of Australians in these stories are their disregard for authority and their fearless fighting ability and spirit.

War Picture Library 135 The Big Arena follows a pair of battle hardened and battle weary Aussie blokes who decide they need a rest from fighting and decide to go absent without leave. Even the officers understand and allow them to skip off for a short break. However  the spit and polish by the book just out from Australia provost sergeant major doesn't understand how things really work in the shooting war and he is determined to bring the two battle weary malingerers into line even if has to cross enemy lines to do it.

Naturally, through a series of adventures, the sergeant comes to fully understand the two heroes and it is only a matter of time before he is brought under the spell of the bromance. Finally he learns how things work in a shooting army.

Australians in pocket war comics never fail to impress. They're always smiling, always shooting and willing to give it a go. They also tend to be larger than mortal men and this is certainly true in The Big Arena where two of the main characters are easily breaking 6'6'' if not bigger.

This is a big story of men from a big country in another big country during a big war.

You're about to eat my cold steal you accursed Australier! And don't laugh at my skinny legs.

When most Spandau teams go out of business they usually have a sale first.

Ginger Meggs grows up and goes to war.

This is a great plan. I can see how this is going to work.

This tank crew looks like the right age for tank crew - a bunch of young punks.

You know you're a part of the Commonwealth because everybody has got different hats.











You don't see a lot of blokes from India in these things - but it's good to see two of them relaxing.

This sergeant is big enough to play lock for the Wallabies.

Passes? Passes? We don't need no stinkin' passes.

Oh the desperation.

Good degree of concern, dread and anticipation in this panel.

Australians will always create an opportunity to take off their shirts.

You think? I thought it was a lost tribe of Mongolians on their final stretch home. Boy did I get that one wrong.

The desert is a big place.

When things go bad...

...they go really bad.

Under the Southern Cross I stand. A sprig of wattle in my hand. 'Stralya! You Bloody Beauty!

War Picture Library 85 Break-Through

Not the worst war picture library ever written but it could win an award for being the most tedious.

There just isn't any emotional energy in this story as it just plods along going from one incident to the next. There's nothing wrong with the background to the story as desperate attacks and counterattacks follow each other and the narrative is never too far away in reminding the reader about the harsh cost of war in human lives. The main characters have all the right attributes for a good story; two of them are front line veterans, another is the tough but fair athletic military policeman and in a supporting role there is an immoral and treacherous coward.

All the fragments are there for a reasonable if not good story but they just don't come together. It would require some exceptional artwork to lift Break-Through to an acceptable level - but sadly it isn't there. However on a positive note the charging Tommy on the cover is ready defeat the Hun with a yell and blinding blaze of white webbing is pretty damn good.

The cover alone however cannot save Break-Through. This is one of those stories that makes it into the "er not the best" catergory. The more I read Break-Through the more I found myself turning each page in desperation waiting for something dramatic to happen. I think I uttered "AAAAGH!" out of absolute frustration more times than I would like to admit.


You're accused of eating all the cream buns...

This is supposed to be a tough detention camp. The man on the extreme left appears to be singing a song and the two on the extreme right are having a good old chat while checking out each other's thighs.

Another game of Risk! in progress.

Funny isn't it? They'll charge at enemy machine guns, run headlong at enemy tanks and fight in deadly hand to hand combat. But step on one sharp stone and all of a sudden its "ouch!"

His troops call him the Mexican.

If one of your comrades was killed by two escaping prisoners wouldn't you administer Rule 303? Or in the German's case Rule 7.92.

Why not now? Or in four days? Or how about a week from Thursday?

That would have to be the worst armoured car ever produced. With designs like that it just goes to show why the Germans lost the war.












Curiously the Man of Lamancha poster survived the inferno and is now available on eBay.