Since 1713 the mighty Rock of Gibraltar has been British, a massive stone fortress guarding the Mediterranean. But in World War Two, the Nazis had plans for capturing the Rock and knocking out the garrison by using deadly nerve gas. And all that stood in the way of the Germans was one lance-corporal and one small Barbary ape.A couple of years ago I read a bunch of issues of COMMANDO, the long-running British war comic, especially while I was writing a column about them for BATTLING BRITONS, the excellent fanzine published by Justin Marriott. I guess I burned myself out on them, because I hadn't read one for a while. But I was in the mood for one this morning, and man, "Boss of the Barbary Apes" really hit the spot. A great script by the always dependable Eric Hebden, a fine cover by Ian Kennedy, and superb interior art by Cam Kennedy. The 64 pages flew by. This story was published originally in COMMANDO #568 back in July 1971 and then reprinted in COMMANDO #4433 in September 2019. The e-book edition (which is what I read) is still available on Amazon. If you want a tense, well-written World War II adventure yarn that can be read quickly, I give this one a high recommendation. I still have a ton of unread issues of COMMANDO on my Kindle. Might be time to get back to them and maybe pick up some new ones.
When a man has served for five years in the Foreign Legion you can reckon he knows a thing of two about fighting. Dirk Lassiter had come through many a savage battle, but the grimmest fight of his whole life was against a man who knew just as much as he did -- another Legionnaire!This issue of COMMANDO, published last year, is actually a reprint of a yarn from 1972. I don't know if that's the original cover, but I really like it and that's what caused to pick up the e-book edition, along with the fact that it's written by Eric Hebden, father of long-time British war comic author Alan Hebden and a really fine writer himself. I'm a sucker for a French Foreign Legion story, but that's only the way this one starts out. The story has some nice scope to it, covering several years and ranging in setting from Libya to Madagascar. As always, a top-notch war tale, and I enjoyed it very much.
Down, down, down screamed the Hurribombers, their pilots letting the bombs go only at the last possible second. Their target was a chateau which sheltered Brigadefuhrer Helmut Groot, the Nazi killer whose very name put shivers down the spine of all who heard it.
And in case the bombs failed, Captain Steve Simpson and a small band of men were playing a desperate game of “Hunt the Killer”. They all hated Groot so much they were praying the bombs would miss so they could settle the score in their own way.
(A friend of mine who's read a lot more of this series than I have recommended issues with art by Gordon C. Livingstone. This is one such issue, and I can see why my friend recommended it. The art is excellent, reminding me at times of John Severin and at others of Neal Adams. And the script by long-time COMMANDO author Eric Hebden is fast-paced and interesting. The edition I read is actually a reprint. This story was published originally in 1968, in the early days of the COMMANDO series, under the title "The Worst Enemy". This is acknowledged inside the book, so the publisher isn't trying to pass it off as a new one. But it was new to me, and I enjoyed it quite a bit.)
