Commando #4433: Boss of the Barbary Apes - Eric Hebden

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.

War Picture Library: Battle of Britain - Ian Kennedy

Famed British comics artist Ian Kennedy passed away a few weeks ago. I’ve seen many excellent covers  by Kennedy on issues of COMMANDO, but I haven’t read many stories that used his interior art. The volume WAR PICTURE LIBRARY: BATTLE OF BRITAIN reprints two such stories, “Steel Bats” and “’Never Say Die’ Wapiti” (both of which actually first appeared in the comic AIR ACE PICTURE LIBRARY in 1961 and 1964). As you’d expect from the collection’s title, both stories deal with the RAF’s efforts to combat the Germans’ intensive bombing raids on England during the early days of World War II.

“Steel Bats” follows the often used storyline of a younger, more impulsive pilot clashing with an older, more by-the-book superior officer. It plays out against a fascinating background, though, that of the British pilots struggling to shoot down German bombers they can’t see simply because the nights are too dark. In order to do that, the pilots have to come up with new ways of attacking the enemy, and who better to do that than our brash young protagonist? There’s plenty of action and drama before the odds begin to turn in the RAF’s favor in a climax that seems a tad bit rushed in its resolution of the story’s emotional conflict. That doesn’t detract from the story’s overall enjoyment, however.

The protagonist of “’Never Say Die’ Wapiti” is a young pilot dogged by bad luck. After several brushes with catastrophe, he’s assigned as the commanding officer of an air field where obsolete planes are stored as part of an effort to make it look like a functioning base to German reconnaissance planes. However, our hero and another young officer at the base decide to fix up one of the planes and get it in flying shape again. They decide to use this plane, a decrepit Westland Wapiti, to launch an unauthorized bombing raid on a German installation on the French coast. Well, we all know that’s not going to go smoothly, and sure enough, even though they get the Wapiti in the air, that sets off a complicated and action-packed chain of events. This is a superb story with a lot of twists and a satisfying ending.

The authors of these stories are unknown, but Ian Kennedy provides outstanding artwork on both of them. Kennedy was a great storyteller with his art and makes even aerial dogfights easy to follow, as well as giving the characters a lot of personality. I really enjoyed both of these stories, and if you’re a fan of British war comics, WAR PICTURE LIBRARY: BATTLE OF BRITAIN is worth seeking out. It's available in a Kindle edition or as a paperback.