The Future is Here Now.

Perhaps due to being idealologically irreprehensible and and in possession of questionable military tactical sense, these crack troops appear hell bent on getting themselves killed.
I suppose it makes the post war reunions all that much more intimate and saves on the number of invitations that need to be sent around. See what happens when you have one eye on the future?

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.

War Picture Library 444 Blood on the Sand

There's more than enough blood shed in War Picture Library 444 Blood on the Sand. It's bound to happen when you have a Long Range Desert Group tooling around the desert giving it to the bad guys. And the bad guys are really bad in this one - they have fat commanders, SS, torture and a bed reputation as the narrative backs up their nastiness up at every turn. When the LRDG are sneaking up on the enemy and blowing them up they're portrayed as courageous. When the Germans are doing the same thing they are grim, greedy and sinister. The Germans lack morality - they are prepared to use torture to get what they want.

I think there might be a historical anomaly with having SS in the desert - however I'm not a historian. The Long Range Desert Group on the other hand have plenty of pluck and big bushy beards tucked under their turbans as they race around the desert in their trucks.

Story wise there's plenty of crash, bash (but no tash!) and things that go boom in the night.

Earning trust is at the heart of the story. An experienced Long Range Desert Group have their beloved officer killed in an ambush. Before he succumbs to his mortal wounds he saves his faithful sergeant and then with his last gasp and provides the covering fire that allows his compatriots to escape. If this isn't a hard enough act to follow then his replacement is also the unluckiest man alive. Eventually he proves himself to his new men and wins their trust.
Even though there's plenty of blood on the sand in War Picture Library 444 but the romance (if that's the right word) of the LRDG is not captured. Maybe it's a case of one mission too many. Having a sense that the desert is a big place would have helped. The LRDG just zip from panel to panel - there's no sense of 'long range' in any of the story. Finally, a few beards on the front cover would have nudged everything in the right direction.

That UGH! looks odd with part of the U missing, however it looks like it belongs with the rest of his outfit.

Understand this. We're playing Risk this evening. Don't even think of winning because I'm going cheat.

Shouldn't that hand pointing at the map be smaller?

Look at the size of the turret on that thing!

Muttering...sniggering...grim...smug Nazis!

Why are you going to burn it then idiot?

Don't see graves too often in a Fleetway comic.

These bad guys are really really BAD.

Echoes of Von Ryan's Express.

That must be a hit below the belt!

War Picture Library 83 McMain's Marauders

A funny sort of a story where long and proud clan traditions meet insensitive Canadians meet smug Germans meet vain counter clan claims and all this with not an Englishman to be seen. This is one of those somebody doesn't want to fit in where he's wanted kind of stories. That's the insensitive Canadian sent to command McMain's Marauders who have lost their commanding officer and clan chief in the heat of battle. Despite being a McMain himself the Canadian doesn't understand the importance of also being a clan chief. The smug Germans only have themselves to blame for their own ultimate predicament. But they do provide the Canuck McMain with the necessary environment to realise his Scottish heritage. The vain counter clan claim comes from the ancient enemies of the McMains - the McKaigs who are embodied by Brigadier McKaig who is determined to destroy/dismantle the McMains.

In what appears to be a deliberate attempt to spite this terrible story line the artist employed to look after McMain's Marauders has done an excellent job. As this story is partly set at the beginning of the war we even get a glimpse of the French.

For some reason I always thought the earlier pocket war comic stories would be better. McMain's Marauders proves that to be a completely hopeless assumption. But if you like seeing the occasional swirl of a kilt and real men's knees - this is the story for you.

Yeah - that's this time. Does that mean that last time things were different.

An ancient AAARGH!

Ooh...I'd follow him.

The McKaigs must be bad guys - they have black hats.

Two things here...it must be the olden times I can tell by the scrolls. Also is the first time for dancing in a pocket war comic?

Smug Germans!

Frenchies!

Smoke that durry mate.

Ooh that big gruff Sergeant...

Great panel!

Bagpipes

"...go to blazes tilt on his head" must be very different to plain old jaunty.

You see...smoking makes you look cool.

Battle Picture Library 251 Vendetta

Ever had that feeling that somebody somewhere has got it in for you? Vendetta is good. It starts with that stirring cover (who can resist a wounded officer firing a Thompson gun one handed?) and then jumps straight into the action with a desperate situation with enough AAAGH!s in first couple of pages for several pocket war comics. Young Philip Anstey makes the mistake of being in the same brigade as his father during a battle in World War One. As the younger Anstey is sent to get help, the Germans absolutely, totally and indefatigably blow his father and most of his brigade to kingdom come. Young Anstey (of course) does his best to stop this from happening but is foiled at every opportunity by a rain of German shells and a non bullet-proof horse. Even worse his pleas for help to the Duke of Onslow's Lancers (DOLS) waiting in support falls on deaf ears. Anstey then tries single handily to counter attack the Germans and save his father but is prevented from doing so by a hail of lead.

Fast forward a number of years and Anstey has risen to command his brigade. A position he holds with pride. However when the modern version of the DOLS is brought under his command he is beyond outraged. When he learns that his son holds a commission in that unit he becomes almost murderous. Brigadier Anstey has little time for them even though, despite their continuing losses, they fearlessly engage the enemy. The bravery of the DOLS, while under his command, is never in question

There's action a plenty with a few twists and turns (including the cover) that do a good job of throwing you off track before the big reveal. It's Anstey who is bleeding the DOLS white by repeatedly sending them into action. The Vendetta of the title is his! The reveal is big enough to paper over some of the coincidences (or should that be flaws?) in the story.

Even though some of the vehicle depictions in Vendetta are a little bit suspect it's a different story for the infantry. Most of the British soldiers are drawn like modern day rugby players. They're all very fit and muscular and if they could pack a scrum against the Germans they wouldn't need any weapons at all to win the war.

Vendetta just goes to prove it's not always the guys shooting at you who are out to get you.

Boy is he mad! That's a heart attack waiting to happen.

Sneaky Germans! Having bombs that fall without warning.

What you need is a bullet proof horse.

I like how that guy in the foreground looks really drunk.

Fit. Big jawed. Officers. These are real men! Of course a tash for the man in command.

Anstey spends so much time carrying on like this it's surprising he hasn't had a heart attack by this point in the story.











We've all pulled this face and felt like this at sometime...












The big reveal! Yeah it was ME all along!

Smug Nazis and their satisfied chuckles! Hmmm... I wonder if those victory weapons are going to land anywhere near or on top of those badly drawn and moving Tiger tanks?

The brigadier's son is in need of some very heavy counselling if he can't display more emotion than that.