Commando name going into new interesting avenues..i.e Viking

[Peter Gray]

I'm new to Commando But really enjoyed it...
Was on the edge of my seat reading the German point of view..Shadow of evil set in the 50's..even my wife whose never read one is enjoying the thriller now...she said it is good..

Great to read a Viking story under the Commando name..
I wonder if it can be adapated for other stories...i.e

Commando legends...like Robin Hood..
Fantasy stories King Alfred and the roundtable..Dragon stories and knights...could Commando be used for a

Football story..maybe at an army barracks football league team?

Romance stories in the Army...Navy...Civies...

just ideas..

[Captain Storm]

I innocently propositioned Cpl Clott a while back with a story plot centering on an Aging General being sent back in time to the trenches to get a taste of what it was really like and got slated for it!But what do I know...only what I like

[felneymike]

I think Shadow of Evil (which coincidentally has a near-identical plot to my own Eugene Manx) was actually a reprint from the early 90's, they usually put an "originally published" label in tiny writing on the first page.

I did also like the Axemen one, though they have been doing "wierd" ones for years (in 97-98 there was one called "Spaceman in a spitfire" with some very 50's sci-fi looking backdrops, didnt buy it though), there was also another recent reprint where people at various places in WW2 get abducted by aliens just before they are supposed to die. Also the recent two comedy ones (the tank one was brilliant!) seemed to be a bit of a departure, though i understand they have done the odd comedy one before never two so close together.

It does seem as if the stories are diversifying a bit more, though i should think sport and romance are still long-distant, if they turn up at all (though here's perhaps hoping the upcoming Valentine library see's a revival of a dedicated romance picture-library. I'd buy it.). More spy or mystery stories set in the context of war would provide a change of pace without being too "non Commando" though. What about a tale of a policeman investigating a criminal gang who work during the blackout for instance?

story plot centering on an Aging General being sent back in time to the trenches to get a taste of what it was really like

Well i'd lap that up. Might be a little to "politicised" though. I did however consider doing a short black comedy comic in which a braindead "Heat" reader is suddenly teleported to the trenches, but i have enough on me plate

[Sergeant Jock]

If memory serves, there have been Commando stories about cops in the blackout and similar. I can't remember any titles but I'm certain I've read at least one back in the dim and distant. That's not including MP stories by the way.

As for sport and romance, they had their own 'libraries' and they're not around now...so maybe Commando would be better to stick to 'War Stories In Pictures'? They've been around since '61 so they must be doing something right.

The science fiction title (Starblazer?) went the same way too so I always thought Commando were chancing it a bit when they strayed into that sort of territory. They always seemed to make it just about believable, though.

That said, I'm with Corporal Clott on the beam the general back to the trenches idea. Sorry, Captain.

I definitely wouldn't want to read about romance in the services!

I agree with felneymike, the tank story was great. The artwork was just right, too. I hope they do some more like that.

Does anyone know when they started to stray away from World War 2 only stories?

[nottinghamian]

I never thought I'd say it, but I am glad Commando has been printing quite a lot of non WW2 stories recently. As a long term reader, some WW2 stories are becoming rather repetitive.

For example, Nazis are ALWAYS evil (surely a few were just misled?) and there are too many Nazi v 'other' German story lines. And the poor Japs have it even worse. They are all evil fanatics, every last one.

I was a great fan of the Victorian war reporter issues from last year. They were different, well written, and funny.

[felneymike]

Hmm, the Japanese guy in the "alien abduction" one seemed pretty on the level, and grew up to go into business with his former American enemy, though admittedly that was a very rare case. They did mention after getting an email from a Japanese-American that they'd be doing stories with Japanese "good guys" "soon", though that was months ago. They could perhaps do a story about a Kamikaze pilot who feels peer-pressured into doing it but doesnt want to, and just as he is flying the war ends, and his fanatical general commands them to carry on but he tips the general into the drink before ditching himself without hitting a ship. I'd also like to see more Napoleonic stories, and perhaps ones further back such as the Hundred Years war and the Civil war. They could also take us to the far east in earlier times, stories of the Samurai and of battles in China and Mongolia, maybe of one of the soldiers who was immortalised in the Terracotta army? (there was a TV show about that on a while back on satellite, the first emperor of all china had it built to protect him in the afterlife, he was a military and poltical genius but tried to prolong his life with mercury, which we now know to cause brain damage, and he started to go mad)

As for further discussion of the departure from "Tommy VS Nazi" WW2 tales, what about the recent "Kung fu" story set in China? that one was good, and different despite still being set in the war. There was also a "western" one a year or so ago, though to keep it Commando the main characters had been civil war rivals and where now racing to the same treasure they had heard about

I do however think that the Nazi V 'Other' German stories are a good thing as they deflect the usual criticism of Commando being "anti-german", unfortunate but it does happen.