Commando (comics)


Commando For Action and Adventure, formerly known as Commando War Stories in Pictures, and colloquially known as Commando Comics, is a British comic book magazine that primarily draws its themes and backdrops from the various incidents of the First and Second World Wars. It was first published in July 1961 and is still in print today. It is noted for its distinctive 7 × 5½ inch, 68 page format that became a standard for these kinds of stories. Commando has remained more popular than many other British war comics, because of its character based stories and detailed black and white artwork, with only the covers in colour. It is considered by some to be one of the greatest war comics in history.
The stories contain certain characteristic motifs; to mention a few – courage, cowardice, patriotism, dying for the sake of one's country, noble actions, and making a cup of refreshing tea while in the face of danger, enmity turning into friendship when the going gets tough, and so on. Apart from portraying these universal qualities, Commando Comics also show soldiers in national stereotypes, glorifying Allied soldiers, but showing soldiers as a mixture of good and evil. Typically, each story was self-contained within a single issue, though, in later years, several stories have seen recurring characters appear.

Publication history

The comic series, then going by the title Commando War Stories in Pictures, was launched by D.C. Thomson of Dundee, Scotland, in July 1961. It was an addition to the company's already high-profile comics, such as The Beano and The Dandy, as well as The Victor launched earlier that same year. During its launch year two issues were published per month, but due to the comic's increasing popularity this rose to four a month. Since 1971 there have been eight issues published per month. As of issue 539, certain stories have been reprinted. In September 1993 the comic title changed to Commando For Action and Adventure. The last issue to feature the former title was issue 2690, Password to Freedom, published in August. The first comic to feature the new title was issue 2691, A Race Against Time, published the following month.
As well as the comics, annuals were also produced in 1989 and 1990, each containing seven new stories. The annuals were in full colour and illustrated in the style of the time, not in the original style of the comics.
At its peak in terms of sales, in one month during the 1970s, Commando's comics circulation figures reached 750,000 according to George Low, who began working with Commando in 1963 and retired as editor in 2007. Current circulation is 9,600 copies a fortnight per issue.
Landmark Issue no 4000 of Commando – 'Aces All!' – was released in April 2007. In 2011, Commando Comics celebrated their 50th anniversary of publication, having begun in 1961. They issued reprints of several of the early Commando stories from the 1960s. Commando in 2011 re-printed all of the first twelve issues from 1961. Since 2007, half of Commando issues released have been re-prints of earlier stories but the remainder are new and original stories and artwork. A book celebrating the best of Commando comics cover art was released in October 2011. In 2011, new editions of Commando became available via digital download.
In June 2013, it was announced that Commando Comics, whilst still owned by D C Thomson based in Dundee, would now be printed by GGP Media in Germany.
Commando released their 5,000th issue, 'Zero Hour,' in March 2017.

Artists and writers

Commando in its long history has employed 140 writers, over 100 cover artists & 120 interior artists. The artists & writers have been based in a variety of locations including the UK, Italy and Argentina. Some writers and artists who have worked on Commando include:-
  • David Motton wrote the first issue Walk or Die. He wrote three of the first five issues and then over a score more. He also wrote Dan Dare for Eagle.
  • Gordon Livingstone who was one of the first artists employed by Commando when it began in 1961. His first issue was Commando No 4-Mercy for None first printed in July 1961. Livingstone produced the interior story art for over 360 issues of Commando and the cover art for over 30 issues. His last work was issue no 3293-Sweeney's Island, released in December 1999, the same year he retired. He died in 2017.
  • Ken Barr who has produced the cover art for over 200 issues, including the earliest ones printed in 1961.
  • John Ridgway, whose work with Commando began in 1971 with issue no 546 Mustang Ace and who has drawn the interior art for over 120 issues and for half of those, he also did the cover-art.
  • Denis McLoughlin came to Commando relatively late in his career. Having worked as an illustrator since the 1940s, he drew the interior art for his first Commando in 1982. McLoughlin drew the interior art for over 170 issues prior to his death in 2002 at the age of 84.
  • Ian Kennedy who, from 1970 produced the cover-art for over 1200 issues of Commando and also drew the interior story art for five issues. Ian, who had over 70 years experience working in comics died in 2022.
  • Jose Maria Jorge was an Argentinian artist who had a distinctive and precise drawing style and who produced the interior art for 163 issues, nearly all of which were aviation and naval-themed stories. His work with Commando began in 1969 with issue no 384-Flying Fury and he had the honour of illustrating Commando No 4000 in 2007. His final issue was No 4329-Divided Aces printed shortly before his death at the age of 69 in 2010.
  • Keith Page began in 1996 with issue 2941 Odd Man Out and has since drawn the interior art for over 200 issues.
  • Shane Filer, a novelist whose first book Exit was published by Biblio Publishing is a more recent contributor. He has written 7 issues, including No 5133-The Home Front which featured a rare female protagonist, and was illustrated by Carlos Pino.
  • Alan Hebden wrote 286 stories for Commando, 30 of which featured the Convict Commandos.
  • Carlos Pino Gallardo began drawing for Commando in 1989 with issue #2302.
  • Ferg Handley has written over 250 issues of Commando, most notably the series featuring the Special Raiding Force known as Ramsey’s Raiders.
  • Brent Towns, a novelist from Australia, has written over 20 issues of Commando, many of which have featured Australian or New Zealand forces.
  • Andrew Knighton, an author of speculative and historical fiction, began writing for Commando in 2018 and has created several stories set in historical eras such as the Napoleonic Wars and medieval period.
  • Colin Maxwell, a writer and artist of comics featuring historical characters and events, began writing for Commando in 2020 with issue #5371.
  • Neil Roberts, an artist with over 20 years experience in art, illustration and game art, has illustrated the covers of over 60 issues of Commando.
  • Manuel Benet Blanes, an artist from Spain, is one of the most prolific of current artists on Commando, having illustrated the covers and interiors of hundreds of issues.
  • Calum Laird took over as editor of Commando in 1981, and although now retired, he still contributes stories.
  • Graham Manley, an artist who had previously worked on The Dandy and 2000AD, began providing artwork in 2022 with his first cover on issue #5585 and interior work in issue #5589.
  • Comic artist and book illustrator Keith Burns produced the cover art for his first Commando #5209 American Avenger in March 2019. To date, he has produced the cover art for over 40 issues of Commando.
  • Scribe Award nominee Julian Michael Carver, who has written for BattleTech and, to date, the only novel written for the TV show Primeval: New World, debuted in 2025 with issue 5877 Feeding Frenzy. The story is based off the incident involving the USS Indianapolis.

    Themes and stories

In the early years, all of Commando stories were set during the Second World War but in more recent decades, the comic has extended its range to a variety of conflicts including the First World War, the Cold War, Spanish Civil War, the Falklands, Korea, Vietnam, the Napoleonic Wars and conflicts in the medieval & ancient eras. A handful of issues have also dealt with fictional conflicts such as civil wars fought between imaginary states.
Commando has also featured stories that have crossed into other genres such as horror, supernatural and science-fiction. There were early examples that, although set in the Second World War, incorporated these alternate genres in their stories such as #808 Haunted Skies, #1180 Island of Horror and #1495 Out of the Future. By the 1990s, Commando was featuring such genres in settings other than WW2. One example was issue #2774 Space Watch, a science-fiction adventure about spaceship battles.
Since the mid-1970s, Commando has been also willing to portray conflicts through the viewpoint of soldiers on the opposite side. Issues such as #1350 Private Schultz's War, #2598 Let Me Fly, #2713 The Flying Musketeers and #2841 Hero of the Reich portrayed World War II from the experiences of German combatants. The issue #2574-Giant Duel was a story told from the perspective of Italian combatants in WW2. Issues #922 A Question of Honour and #1168 Thunderbolt featured respectful portrayals of Japanese combatants.
The majority of Commando issues have featured self-contained single stories but a small number have featured recurring characters in a series of multiple issues. One early example were characters Tom, Dick & Harry which featured in two issues released in the early 1960s. Beginning in 1991, a 5-issue series The Bomb Gang was released, featuring a group of misfits during WW2 tasked with bomb-disposal duties. Other series have included Ramsey's Raiders, a series inspired by the exploits of the SAS in North Africa during WW2 and Log of the Lairds, a generational series about an English family-line of special agents operating in the Middle East from the Great War to Operation Desert Storm. Another series was Eagles of Battle, another generational series portraying the interlocked stories of several families in south-west Britain, spanning from the Roman era through to the Second World War.
Despite the emphasis placed on action and adventure, the creators of Commando have placed great importance on achieving historical and technical accuracy as much as possible. The first editor of Commando, Charles Checkley, and his deputy Ian Forbes both served in the Second World War. George Low remarked that Forbes always had a great respect for the Germans and that it was important that distinctions be made between fanatical Nazis and the ordinary German soldiers.
In 2019, Commando began publishing stories with a supernatural or horror theme around Halloween each year. The stories maintain a war theme, but have featured zombies, vampires, werewolves and ghost stories.