Review: Commando - ANZACS at War

Necessity, they say, is the mother of invention. And so it was that one of the most successful publishing formats in British Comics came about for the want of a printing press.

Back in 1950, Amalgamated Press was looking to repackage some of the comic book titles they’d developed for the Australasian market, such as Buck Jones and Kit Carson, for their domestic British audience.

The problem was that the titles packaged for Australia were published in a larger size, with differing page counts, which couldn't be easily shoehorned into the then-standard British tabloid weekly paper used for children’s comics.

Legend has it that Edward Holmes, comics editor at Amalgamated Press, failing to find a suitable printing press to do the job, suggested the comics be reformatted so they could be published on the presses designed to print the company’s line of pocket-sized fiction magazines.

Holmes couldn't have possibly guessed just how fortuitous his decision would be. But when Amalgamated Press released the first two issues of its new digest-sized title, Cowboy Comics, in April 1950, they set in motion a minor revolution in British comics publishing.

Not only would these small ‘pocket library’ comics be sold at a higher cover price, but their increased page count allowed writers and illustrators to create longer, more involved stories, with potentially greater scope for subplots and more fully-rounded characterisations.

In their own way, these pocket-sized comics were more closely aligned to the popular fiction of their day than ‘traditional’ comic books. While they may not have fully realised the ‘adult’ storytelling potential made possible by this new format, these comics were the true forerunners of today’s ‘graphic novels’.

Like their paperback novel equivalents, these comics spanned a variety of genres, including westerns, romance, war, historical adventures, mysteries, sports stories and science-fiction.

Because they were more attuned to the reading tastes of the wider public (as opposed to comic book readers), these ‘pocket comics’ remained consistently popular well into the 1980s.

Arguably the most popular were the war comics which began to appear in the late 1950s. Once again, Amalgamated Press scored an early success with the launch of War Picture Library in September 1958, followed by its companions, Air Ace Picture Library (January 1960) and Battle Picture Library (January 1961).

While social commentators of the day were apparently aghast at these British comics stirring up jingoistic hatreds, so soon after the creation of a ‘united’ European Community in 1957, these war comics found an eager audience, not just amongst children and teenagers, but also with adults serving in the armed forces.

These ‘pocket comics’ also featured artwork by a new generation of British and international artists, some of whom came from book illustration and commercial art backgrounds, and whose grittier, more sophisticated styles lent themselves perfectly to the ‘tough as nails’ stories they were illustrating.

DC Thomson, the Scottish publisher behind such perennial children’s favourites as The Beano and The Dandy, entered the fray with its own digest format war comic, Commando, in July 1961.

The success of Commando prompted DC Thomson to launch similar titles over the intervening years, such as the science-fiction comic, Star Blazer, and the sports title, Football Library. Yet none of these matched the staying power of Commando, which has long since eclipsed its rivals, with eight new editions appearing every month, 46 years since its debut issue went on sale.

One reason for the longevity of Commando is its willingness to use compelling storylines in diverse historical settings. While its long-extinct competitors remained fixated on the Second World War, Commando gradually encouraged its contributors to produce stories ranging from the Napoleonic wars to tales of modern-day piracy in Asia. Even fantasy and science-fiction themes have crept into Commando stories!

These consistently inventive plots, coupled with equally accomplished artwork, goes a long way towards explaining Commando’s ongoing appeal, particularly in light of the UK’s greatly diminished comics publishing industry.

Given the title’s popularity in countries like Australia and New Zealand, Commando cleverly featured tales starring ‘Aussies’ and ‘Kiwis’ in the thick of the frontline action.

And it’s a sampling of these stories which form the basis for Commando: ANZACS at War, a massive paperback collection showcasing “the best 12 ANZAC war stories ever!”

Writing in the book’s introduction, Commando editor George Low (who selected the stories) claims that “both the Aussie slouch hat and the Kiwi lemon squeezer add colour to a story.”

He recalls how, as was often the case, he would be on the verge of rejecting a story idea, when the hopeful writer would ask: “What if we made the hero an Aussie?”

“Somehow,” Low reasons, “the inclusion of the word ANZAC fires the imagination and opens up new angles to get the reader turning the page.”

Clearly more than a few Commando readers agreed with Low, judging by the range of ANZAC stories featured in this book. While the majority of these comics are set during World War Two, some tales take place in the colonial era, such as ‘Maori Challenge’, set during New Zealand’s savage Maori wars. Others, like ‘The Forgotten Five’, touch on the enduring ANZAC legend of the 1915 Gallipoli campaign, while ‘The Warlord’ is set during the tumultuous Vietnam War.

ANZAC soldiers’ legendary disregard for authority – and British officers, especially! – was no doubt considered a vital ingredient when it came to generating conflict between the story’s protagonists.

George Low is quick to admit that Commando does rely on perceived national stereotypes when it comes to penning ANZAC stories. “We do know that not everybody calls everybody else ‘cobber’ and not every Kiwi is built like a rugby forward…but it makes for part of the fun.”

Although the stories in this collection are uniformly entertaining, one wishes that this book showcased some of the great ANZAC stories from the magazine’s formative years, such as ‘Blood River’ (Commando #21) and ‘Diggers Die Hard’ (Commando #39), which typically featured outstanding artwork.

While no doubt in keeping with its longstanding policy of not crediting its contributors, this Commando collection annoyingly fails to identify the featured writers and artists. However, it should be pointed out that the Commando website now lists the writers and artists appearing in the magazine’s current issues.

Nonetheless, this is a handsome, well-produced volume, which intersperses the stories with single-page ‘Fact Files’ documenting various military weapons and uniforms, and features black & white reproductions of the corresponding Commando covers where these stories first appeared.

Commando: ANZACS at War (ISBN: 073228600X) is published by HarperCollins and sells for AUD$29.99.

This article originally appeared in the July 2007 edition of Collectormania magazine. Text copyright © 2007 Kevin Patrick.