Battle picture weekly - Terror Behind the Bamboo curtain

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Adam Eterno
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Re: Battle picture weekly - Terror Behind the Bamboo curtain

Post by Adam Eterno »

I'm still reading as well!

geoff42
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Re: Battle picture weekly - Terror Behind the Bamboo curtain

Post by geoff42 »

Ha-ha, Adam, I haven't forgotten about you. Actually, you're in the same situation as I am: reading Battle from its humble beginnings. Perhaps you should proffer your opinions. Although my posts have tended to dominate this thread, by no means do I regard this thread as my personal blog. Any other member is more than entitled to chip in with their take on Battle's history. More the merrier, I say. Feel free, Adam, or anybody else. Let's celebrate Battle's history while we're still alive to do so. Any takers... :)

geoff42
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Re: Battle picture weekly - Terror Behind the Bamboo curtain

Post by geoff42 »

A while back, I commented on Battle Stations, Battle's letter page, through which readers recounted a forefather's quirky tale from both world wars. On re-reading Battle's 17th May 1975 cover-dated issue, wherein Battle Stations began in earnest, I discovered that the first "true" star letter of the week was actually dedicated to the fairer sex, posted below. And why not? Women played an integral role during the Second World War, working in factories throughout the country to manufacture armaments and other essential equipment - a most valuable asset that bolstered the war effort.
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comixminx
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Re: Battle picture weekly - Terror Behind the Bamboo curtain

Post by comixminx »

geoff42 wrote:A while back, I commented on Battle Stations, Battle's letter page, through which readers recounted a forefather's quirky tale from both world wars. On re-reading Battle's 17th May 1975 cover-dated issue, wherein Battle Stations began in earnest, I discovered that the first "true" star letter of the week was actually dedicated to the fairer sex, posted below. And why not? Women played an integral role during the Second World War, working in factories throughout the country to manufacture armaments and other essential equipment - a most valuable asset that bolstered the war effort.
Scan_20170911 (2).jpg
And why not indeed? Good to see! :)
jintycomic.wordpress.com/ Excellent and weird stories from the past - with amazing art to boot.

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philcom55
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Re: Battle picture weekly - Terror Behind the Bamboo curtain

Post by philcom55 »

My Nan even suffered a war wound when acid burned through her foot in a munitions factory. Apparently it was just as dangerous as serving in the front line! :shock:

geoff42
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Re: Battle picture weekly - Terror Behind the Bamboo curtain

Post by geoff42 »

Here's an interesting question... eventually. Throughout Battle Station's history, a letter would occasionally appear from a female (the latest from July 7th 1979 cover dated issue of Battle, posted below) who proudly broadcasted the fact that not only did she read Battle but also she enjoyed its contents. More often than not, the "girl" in question would read her brother's Battle. Yet, there were instances when the girl would actually buy Battle herself without the need of a male sibling. Nothing wrong with that. My question is this: did any boy ever write into a girl's comic to espouse his liberty in reading something that may have been deemed prohibitive back in the seventies? Of course, we know that boys did secretly read girl's comics. But, did they have the balls to publicise that fact. Admitting it now doesn't count as we're a far more unprejudiced society. However, back in the seventies... heh-heh, did any boy admit to reading or (shock! Horror!) actually buying a girl's comic?
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Tammyfan
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Re: Battle picture weekly - Terror Behind the Bamboo curtain

Post by Tammyfan »

It is known that Misty had a male readership. I think a boy wrote in to Jinty to say he was one of her readers and listed his three favourite strips.

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Re: Battle picture weekly - Terror Behind the Bamboo curtain

Post by Phoenix »

Tammyfan wrote:I think a boy wrote in to Jinty to say he was one of her readers and listed his three favourite strips.
I'm pretty sure that Geoff will be requiring chapter and verse if he is to believe that, Tammyfan. I can't see 'thinking' cutting the mustard, I'm afraid.

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Adam Eterno
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Re: Battle picture weekly - Terror Behind the Bamboo curtain

Post by Adam Eterno »

Tammyfan wrote:It is known that Misty had a male readership. I think a boy wrote in to Jinty to say he was one of her readers and listed his three favourite strips.
Brave boy!

Tammyfan
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Re: Battle picture weekly - Terror Behind the Bamboo curtain

Post by Tammyfan »

I suspect boys were more comfortable with reading Misty and maybe even admitting it because it was a spooky/horror comic and therefore not considered 'soppy girls' stuff'.

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Re: Battle picture weekly - Terror Behind the Bamboo curtain

Post by Tammyfan »

philcom55 wrote:My Nan even suffered a war wound when acid burned through her foot in a munitions factory. Apparently it was just as dangerous as serving in the front line! :shock:
Poor Nan! :o

geoff42
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Re: Battle picture weekly - Terror Behind the Bamboo curtain

Post by geoff42 »

Shame on you, Tammyfan: "Soppy girl's stuff." I'm sure that Pat Mills (the Godfather of Battle, Action & 2000 AD) would pour scorn on comments such as that. As we both know, he was responsible for Terror Behind the Bamboo Curtain along with John Wagner which, essentially, was a girl's narrative in a boy's comic and one that he had far more regard over the likes of the overt machismo of Rat Pack and D-Day Dawson. Of course, I do realize the irony in your comments :) Naughty-naughty.

geoff42
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Re: Battle picture weekly - Terror Behind the Bamboo curtain

Post by geoff42 »

Crazy Keller

A series of unfortunate events robbed Keller of 11,000 Dollars, a princely sum that wasn't actually his. The stash was a combination of his men's savings which was entrusted to Keller for safe-keeping. Unsurprisingly, on learning of Keller's misfortune, his men were eager to string up their captain. Given the grace of 24 hours to deliver his men full compensation, Keller was well and truly knee-deep in strife. All was resolved in the following episode within the July 14th 1979 cover date issue of Battle. Via radio, he and his side-kick, Aerial, redirected a US plane, ferrying the army's salary in cash, to a disused airfield. Armed and masked, they plundered 11,000 Dollars (not a nickel more), to pay back Keller's aggrieved men. Thereafter, he rode into German territory to raid looted gold from the Nazis (a couple of bars to the equivalent of 11,000 Dollars - not a nickel more) to parcel off back to Washington to repay the money he had stolen from them originally... job done and morals intact.

This was one of the better adventures of Crazy Keller, captain of the US Corps Signalmen. The entire series, which endured for more than 14 months, was written and drawn by Alan Hebden and Eric Bradbury, respectively, While never reaching the heights of Hebden's former and greatest star, Major Eazy, Keller provided many a wild jaunt that should have thrilled the readers. Yet, regular complaints were aired in Battle Stations, citing it as daft and far from amusing. To some degree, Major Eazy and Keller were alike: irreverent mavericks who were prepared to defy order and fraternize with the enemy to achieve their objectives. Even the major's storylines verged on the unbelievable. However, not only had he the advantage of just being "cool" but also a subliminal tone of "untouchable greatness" underlined his exploits and afforded an enigmatic counterbalance over which he invariably triumphed.

In contrast, Keller was intent on steering a course for outright slapstick that obviously irked many readers. Still, as with his contemporary "The Spinball Wars" that attracted just as much if not more stick, Crazy Keller enjoyed a lengthy presence within Battle - a justified presence, too, that eschewed a light-hearted perspective among the dark sub-text of Charley's War and H.M.S. Nightshade and the brooding, bleak landscape of Johnny Red. And, as always, Bradbury's art was solid and earthy enough to reel in a strip that was always in danger of lampooning itself. Unquestionably, Keller had his merits. Perhaps those readers who wrote to complain had simply overlooked the irony.

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philcom55
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Re: Battle picture weekly - Terror Behind the Bamboo curtain

Post by philcom55 »

Tammyfan wrote:I suspect boys were more comfortable with reading Misty and maybe even admitting it because it was a spooky/horror comic and therefore not considered 'soppy girls' stuff'.
To be honest I generally liked 'soppy girls' stuff' when I was a boy in the 1960s, but I'd have been scared stiff to buy a copy of Bunty for fear of what the newsagent would think - imagining him banning me from the premises and writing letters to my parents and headmaster! It really was a different world when any evidence of gender noncomformity could result in people being subjected to brutal regimes of aversion 'therapy'! Things had certainly improved when Misty appeared in the 1970s, but not by that much...! :shock:

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Re: Battle picture weekly - Terror Behind the Bamboo curtain

Post by Tammyfan »

geoff42 wrote:Shame on you, Tammyfan: "Soppy girl's stuff." I'm sure that Pat Mills (the Godfather of Battle, Action & 2000 AD) would pour scorn on comments such as that. As we both know, he was responsible for Terror Behind the Bamboo Curtain along with John Wagner which, essentially, was a girl's narrative in a boy's comic and one that he had far more regard over the likes of the overt machismo of Rat Pack and D-Day Dawson. Of course, I do realize the irony in your comments :) Naughty-naughty.
Not what I would think of it - what male detractors would have called it! Not every male would have appreciated girls' comics in the way Pat Mills does and would just write the girls' comics off as being full of 'soppy' ballet and ponies and such.

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