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Post by dem on Oct 19, 2023 15:31:40 GMT
The first batch of this year's Hallowe'en Commando issues has just gone on sale. Two reprints of classic spooky adventures and two new stories, one of them a sequel to last year's Gorgon story, the other a subterranean tale of terror. downthetubes.net/halloween-horror-ahead-in-latest-commando-comics/There will be four more Hallowe'en specials in a fortnight... including one I'm particularly excited about... That was quick. Courtesy, once again, of the Wapping Little Free Library Commando Fairy (thank you, whoever you are!) Bernard Grigg & Haupt - The Haunted Wood: Commando #5688 (14 October 2023: originally 1975) Blurb: It was a place shunned by every living creature. No man would go into that wood, no animal hunted there, no insect stirred.
For centuries an atmosphere of evil had brooded amongst those trees, while an ancient mist shrouded the terrible things that had happened there. Setting is "Le Bois du traîtres," Pauville, France, 1945, where inexplicable deaths are a commonplace and no birds sing. Initially named after a medieval Judas, as of 1940 the woods are haunted by the troubled ghost of Angus Fraser, a young soldier in the Glencrachen Highlanders, whose act of "cowardice" led to the shooting of the sergeant who twice saved his life. Now wood and surrounding district are under German occupation, Dreiger of the SS will hear no more of these absurd fairy tales. Either the Civic dignitaries surrender the schweinhund killing his men, or three of their number will be shot at dawn.
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Oct 19, 2023 20:18:57 GMT
The next four Hallowe'en editions, due next Thursday, will include two classic reprints Phantom Pilot and Haunted Skies, and two originals, Commandos Vs Zombies 0 - a prequel to the zombie trilogy - and Nightmare Express.
More info about these titles in due course, but I can reveal that Nightmare Express is my first Commando script, it was drawn by the brilliant Mike Dorey, whose work on strips like Ro-Busters and MACH Zero in 2000AD I've long loved, and that the story is my own blood-spattered love letter (or Arthur Grimsdyke-style Valentine's card) to classic horror anthology films, particularly the films of Amicus, which I've loved since first seeing Dr Terror's House of Horrors during a BBC2 Horror Double Bill when I was 9 years old.
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Post by andydecker on Oct 20, 2023 7:55:47 GMT
More info about these titles in due course, but I can reveal that Nightmare Express is my first Commando script, it was drawn by the brilliant Mike Dorey, whose work on strips like Ro-Busters and MACH Zero in 2000AD I've long loved, and that the story is my own blood-spattered love letter (or Arthur Grimsdyke-style Valentine's card) to classic horror anthology films, particularly the films of Amicus, which I've loved since first seeing Dr Terror's House of Horrors during a BBC2 Horror Double Bill when I was 9 years old. Congratulations!! Consider it sold. |
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Post by dem on Oct 20, 2023 12:21:17 GMT
More info about these titles in due course, but I can reveal that Nightmare Express is my first Commando script, it was drawn by the brilliant Mike Dorey, whose work on strips like Ro-Busters and MACH Zero in 2000AD I've long loved, and that the story is my own blood-spattered love letter (or Arthur Grimsdyke-style Valentine's card) to classic horror anthology films, particularly the films of Amicus, which I've loved since first seeing Dr Terror's House of Horrors during a BBC2 Horror Double Bill when I was 9 years old. Congratulations!! Consider it sold. Sounds brilliant! Well done, Dan. Can't manage them all, but I'm planning to get yours and the ... Gorgon sequel. Would love to see them covered in a future Battling Britons. |
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Post by dem on Oct 20, 2023 18:48:09 GMT
.... stumbling block being they seem to be subscription based, and it's only the occasional supernatural issues interest me. Are they not available in WHS or similar?
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Oct 20, 2023 19:55:17 GMT
.... stumbling block being they seem to be subscription based, and it's only the occasional supernatural issues interest me. Are they not available in WHS or similar? WHSmith is one of the few shops to stock it. You can also order individual copies of recent/current editions from MagsDirect. magsdirect.co.uk/?s=commando&post_type=productIndividual issues are also available on Kindle and other digital platforms. |
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Post by andydecker on Oct 22, 2023 11:41:37 GMT
Did you read the new Battle Action from Rebellion this year, Lurker? It had a impressive creator line-up and looked good.
But I guess I read too much of Ennis' war comics over the years to really appreciate this. The only story of his I really liked was the one in the free preview, Rat Pack: The Tough Way Out in which he told a another version of Where Eagles Dare in 10 pages and played it for laughs.
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Oct 22, 2023 17:14:22 GMT
Did you read the new Battle Action from Rebellion this year, Lurker? It had a impressive creator line-up and looked good. I didn't. My Rebellion purchases have tended to be more from the Misty and Scream side of things, plus revisiting some old 2000AD favourites. I never really got into straight war comics, though I can appreciate the skill that goes into them - the Commando editorial team and their writers do a lot of research to keep the details correct. I've always preferred my stories with a touch of the macabre or fantastic, so I'm looking forward to the new Fiends of the Eastern Front collection. |
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Post by andydecker on Oct 22, 2023 18:59:28 GMT
Did you read the new Battle Action from Rebellion this year, Lurker? It had a impressive creator line-up and looked good. I didn't. My Rebellion purchases have tended to be more from the Misty and Scream side of things, plus revisiting some old 2000AD favourites. I never really got into straight war comics, though I can appreciate the skill that goes into them - the Commando editorial team and their writers do a lot of research to keep the details correct. I've always preferred my stories with a touch of the macabre or fantastic, so I'm looking forward to the new Fiends of the Eastern Front collection. Oh yes. I have seen the announcement of Fiends. I am a big fan of the original, which I thankfully still have the first reprint which was done years ago when they gave free reprints with the Megazine. I even bought a few of the prose novels.
Unfortunately the sequel/prequel they did recently in 2000 AD left me cold. Maybe I have read too many of those 'vampire down the centuries stories' to get excited about those any longer, but this I found very by the numbers and later doing concepts which Hellboy did already and much better as far as I am concerned. |
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Oct 22, 2023 21:31:33 GMT
Oh yes. I have seen the announcement of Fiends. I am a big fan of the original, which I thankfully still have the first reprint which was done years ago when they gave free reprints with the Megazine. I even bought a few of the prose novels. I'm mainly buying the new edition for the original story, as I missed the previous reprint volume. Haven't read any of the sequels yet, but it's the Finley-Day and Ezquerra strips I'm looking forward to revisiting. |
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Oct 25, 2023 9:57:26 GMT
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Post by dem on Oct 25, 2023 18:15:51 GMT
Going to try for Nightmare Express at Cannon Street and possibly London Bridge stations tomorrow. Failing that, should be near Victoria Station Friday - WHS have a large store there. Will let you know how I get on! |
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Post by andydecker on Oct 25, 2023 20:13:50 GMT
A great cover. Evokes a lot of wonderful and beloved genre works.
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Post by The Lurker In The Shadows on Oct 25, 2023 21:22:40 GMT
A great cover. Evokes a lot of wonderful and beloved genre works. Someone on Facebook remarked that he thought it was an Iron Maiden album cover... but, yes, I'm delighted to have my first attempt at a Commando drawn by Mike Dorey. And though I've only seen the internal artwork briefly, so far, it's all I could have hoped for and more. I, too, shall be haunting the nearest WHSmith branch tomorrow, as I'm far too impatient to wait for the copies I requested from the publisher. |
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Post by dem on Oct 26, 2023 18:04:05 GMT
I, too, shall be haunting the nearest WHSmith branch tomorrow, as I'm far too impatient to wait for the copies I requested from the publisher. Any luck? I tried Canon Street and the larger store at Liverpool Street Station mid-morning but no joy. Will try at Victoria tomorrow ... |
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