When it first appeared on newsagents’ shelves in 1976, Action caused a moral panic as newspapers, MPs, and self-appointed moral guardians fell over themselves to condemn its no-holds-barred, anti-authoritarian, action-packed pages!
Now Action and its groundbreaking war-themed stablemate Battle are back for a brand new 96-page hardcover original graphic novel – due for a Direct Market release in June, followed by a bookstore launch in September.
Battle Action Special will feature eight brand new stories written by Garth Ennis, the twisted mind behind The Boys and Preacher, reviving some of the most popular strips from these two groundbreaking 1970s comics.
Joining him and a host of comic book artistic talent, with his first comics work since the end of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, will be artist Kevin O’Neill, whose entire style was once deemed wholly “objectionable” by the Puritans of the Comics Code Authority in America.
O’Neill is the artist on the revival of Kids Rule OK, writer Jack Adrian and artist Mike White’s series about kids running amok in a post-apocalyptic landscape that was so infamous it helped lead to Action being pulled from shelves!
Behind a brand new cover by Andy Clarke (Batman and Robin) and Dylan Teague (Madi), the Battle Action Special will bring the best of Battle and Action’s action-packed and controversial comics back to life in all their bullet-spraying and enemy-shredding action!
Take to the skies with artist Keith Burns and colourist Jason Wordie, and witness the air duel of the century as ace fighter pilot Johnny Red faces off against Skreamer of the Stukas.
Infamous German tank commander Hellman of Hammer Force bears down on American Colonel Glory Rider in Tunisia, drawn by the legendary Mike Dorey (Ro-Busters).
Blunt instrument of British Intelligence Dredger returns and takes no prisoners on the streets of 1980s London, courtesy of Watchmen colourist and Judge Dredd artist John Higgins, with co-colours by Sally Jane Hurst.
Take on the selfish but fearless Crazy Keller by Chris Burnham (Batman) and colours by Len O’Grady, and meet Nina Petrova, the scourge of the Eastern Front, with art by Patrick Goddard (Judge Dredd) and colours by Jason Wordie.
And roll out into Italy in the heat of 1944 with The Sarge as Ennis reunites with The Stringbags artist PJ Holden.
“Happy new year, pals!” from everyone at the Treasury of British Comics to all our readers, young and old! Here’s to a safe, prosperous, and fun-filled 2022!
They may be little but their war on crime is anything but small – the first collection of House of Dolmann is available to pre-order now!
Written by Tom Tully and drawn by Eric Bradbury, crime-busting inventor and expert ventriloquist Eric Dolmann has created a small army of robotic puppets to help the forces of law and order fight back against crime. Whatever the situation, Dolman has a mechanical warrior perfectly suited to get the job done!
From the safety of his flying ‘Dolmobile’, he directs Raider, Elasto, Mole, Togo and Giggler into action! Occasionally they will question his judgement and bicker amongst one another – even though they aren’t capable of independent thought!
Collecting stories from Valiant from the 1960s, this new 144-page collection is out on 14 April 2022 and will be available from all good book and comic book stores, online retailers and the Treasury of British Comics’ webshop, and digitally through our webshop and the 2000 AD app.
The paperback comes with a classic cover by legendary artist Brian Bolland, while the webshop exclusive hardcover sports a brand new cover by Judge Dredd and Invisibles artist Chris Weston.
An Annual under the tree was a Christmas tradition for generations of kids. In his regular look at classic British comics and the Treasury archive, David McDonald takes a look at the once booming publishing phenomenon…
Annuals are a publishing phenomenon stretching back well over a century. The term ‘Annual’ in publishing covers a lot of different types of books, – almanacs, yearbook and Annual reports, but the ones this piece is concerned with are those titles that one would associate with comic and story papers, traditionally given at Christmas.
The seventies and eighties were the golden age of Annuals. They were ubiquitous at Christmas, with an Annual on most kids’ Santa list, and for those that did not ask for one they could be sure a grandparent or relative would bring them as gifts.
Annuals would go on sale late summer or early autumn, dated the following year, e.g., Lion Annual 1973 would have gone on sale in early autumn 1972. Firmly geared to be a Christmas buy, they were heavily promoted in the weekly comics and in newsagents and toy shops too. Posters and flyers would be sent to proclaim on the shop windows that Annuals were now in stock. Once Christmas was over, whatever Annuals were left in stock were out of date and would be heavily discounted and sold.
Some Annuals do turn up on occasion with no year printed on the cover. It’s possible that these were published without a date for overseas markets, like South Africa, Australia and New Zealand, giving the titles extra shelf life in case of any shipping delays.
The format of the Annuals was generally uniform, hardback and A4. Colour was sporadic and depended on the publishers, some having a full colour section with the rest all black and white. Some had spot colour throughout of blue or green and some were even full colour.
Occasionally different formats were used, like softback or editions like ‘Summer Annuals’ and ‘Birthday Books’. Some titles would have spin-off Annuals from the main title. Buster had several joke book titles – ‘The Buster Book of Gags’, Valiant and Lion had ‘sport’ and ‘war’ titles, Tiger had Roy of the Rovers Annuals and 2000 AD had Dan Dare, Judge Dredd and Rogue Trooper Annuals.
The range of titles available was staggering. In 1980, (cover dated 1981) for example, there were 10 publishers in the UK producing over 200 titles! A lot of the titles that were published were licensed spin-offs of television programmes or sports personalities. They had little or no comic content and had no supporting weekly or monthly. Some like Star Trek and Marvel titles did have comic content but in general they were reprints of American material.
By far the biggest publisher of Annuals in 1980 was IPC magazines. It published a whopping 60 Annuals under the ‘A Fleetway Annual’ brand which was instantly recognisable. The winged ‘speech bubble’ logo with ‘A Fleetway Annual’ in bold adorned the front cover of every Annual. Introduced in 1973, the design was an adaptation of the old Fleetway Library logo. It was an effort to create a unified and recognisable brand of all the disparate parts that made up IPC’s juvenile department.
Annuals were big business for Fleetway, they sold in large quantities and were cheap to produce. All of IPC’s juvenile department got Annuals. Preschool titles, girls and boy’s comics and the teen photo strip magazines all had Annuals, as did some of IPC’s magazine titles like the Anglers Mail and Shoot!
In general, they consisted mainly of reprint with a small budget for a section of newer material. For long running titles like Valiant its editorial team had an extensive back catalogue to use. The Annuals could be stuffed with reprints, put on a new cover with a small amount of newly commissioned pages and you have an attractive package.
When a new title was launched it didn’t have the back catalogue of reprint to use, so similar material from older titles was used. For example, when the first few 2000 AD Annuals were published, they reprinted The Guinea Pig, UFO Agents and The Phantom Patrol from the Eagle and Swift.
A ‘live’ weekly Annual would be produced by the editorial team of that title in a freelance capacity. So, for example, Battle Annual 1979 would have been produced by Battle editor David Hunt and his team.
Producing an Annual on top of the ongoing rush to get the weekly to the printers was often difficult. Annuals were also an opportunity to blood new creators or use up material that may have been commissioned and not used in weekly titles for whatever reason.
Design by Jan Shepheard
Annuals of live titles usually had new covers and new stories of the current stars of the comic, some in colour as well as reprint of older material.
The Annuals of ‘dead’ titles i.e., an Annual of a weekly that had been cancelled, sometime years beforehand, were produced in the IPC offices freelance by whatever editorial staff members were available. Often nearly completely reprint, even the covers would be reprinted from older picture libraries or Look and Learn. Features would be used a lot for content compared to the Annuals of live titles. The format the Annuals used was slightly different to the older comics meaning that reprinted comic artwork would have to be altered. There would not have been the budget or personnel to reformat enough comic pages, so features, often pulled from educational titles like Look and Learn or World of Wonder, were quick and easy fillers. Annuals of dead titles often ran for years after the weekly titles’ demise. Knockout weekly ended in 1973, but it’s Annuals continued until 1985 (pub. 1984), a full 11 years after the title’s cancellation!
The mid-eighties saw the decline of the Annual’s popularity. Fleetway Annuals dated 1985 could be seen as the last hurrah for a lot of titles as the following year output nearly halved.
Like the weeklies, they were in less demand, and competition from television and computer games for kids’ attention and pocket money saw the comic market dwindle. By the early nineties Fleetway published only a handful of Annuals, with 2000 AD andJudge Dredd published as softback ‘yearbooks’. The classic ‘A Fleetway Annual’ logo was revamped in 1992, dropped in 1993, and in 1994, the World Distributors logo appeared on the Annuals, a sign of various mergers and acquisitions within comic publishing at the time in the UK.
1994 was the last year of classic hardback Annuals from the Fleetway stable, only Whizzer and Chips, Buster, Roy of the Rovers and Big Comic Book were published. 1994 was also the last of the 2000 AD and Dredd ‘yearbooks’.
2000 AD did return to the tradition with its ‘Prog 2000’, published in the year 2000. It was a perfect bound softback year end issue of 2000 AD and along with the Judge Dredd Megazine it continues these end of year special issues to this day. This year’s is available now in all good newsagents!
While the golden age of Annuals is long past, they still are a Christmas institution in many homes, with the indomitable Beano Annual still leading the charge as the bestselling title each year.
What are my favourite Fleetway Annuals? I hear no-one asking but to round up, here they are anyway!
Big Adventure Book 1988
Cover by Sandy James, its 244 pages has a great eclectic range of reprints – The Steel Claw, Hook Jaw, Dredger, The Black Crow and One-Eyed Jack.
Frankie Stein Annual 1976
With some prime Robert Nixon art, (worth being on this list for the cover alone), mix in some Frank McDiarmuid art with Ken Reid reprints and you have a great book.
Valiant Book of Mystery and Magic 1976
Edited by Chris Lowder, cover by Geoff Campion. It reprints The Spellbinder from Lion as well as new material by Pat Mills, Eric Bradbury, Angus Allen and Joe Colquhoun (who draws himself in his story). It has the distinction of being the first IPC published title to include creator credits.
Judge Dredd 1981
Probably the first Fleetway Annual to contain nearly all new material, prime Mick McMahon art mixed with John Wagner scripts, wrapped neatly in a Brian Bolland cover, hard to top!
2000 AD Annual 1985
My favourite. Behind an amazing McMahon cover, the art by Belardinelli, Dillon and Higgins, Gibson and Smith make this the best looking Annual ever published. The scripts by Mills, Moore, Wagner and MacManus are not too shabby either!
With thanks to David Hunt, Kevin O’Neill and Mary McDonald.
David McDonald is the publisher of Hibernia Comics and editor of Hibernia’s collections of classic British comics, titles include The Tower King, Doomlord, The Angry Planet and The Indestructible Man. He is also the author of the Comic Archive series exploring British comics through interviews and articles. Hibernia’s titles can be bought here www.comicsy.co.uk/hibernia. Follow him on Twitter @hiberniabooks and Facebook @HiberniaComics
All opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Rebellion, its owners, or its employees.
From long lost classics to new adventures – Rebellion is proud to announce the full schedule of Treasury of British Comics graphic novel titles for 2022!
Acclaimed by critics and readers, the Treasury of British Comics is bringing classics from the world’s largest archive of English language comic books back into print, and also reinventing some of the world’s most thrilling and enthralling characters for new generations.
The schedule for 2022 includes never-before-reprinted classics, as well as new volumes in on-going series, and old and new takes on legendary titles.
These collections will be available from all good book and comic book stores, as well as online retailers, and digitally from the Treasury of British Comics webshop and the 2000 AD app.
Lovingly restored by Rebellion’s in-house reprographics team, the schedule includes the best of boys’ comics with two volumes of historical adventure Karl the Viking (January and December) featuring stunning black and white art by Trigan Empire artist Don Lawrence, war action with The Sarge by Gerry Finley-Day and Mike Western from the legendary and groundbreaking Battle, and the second volume of one of Britain’s most enduring comic book heroes, The Steel Claw (November), reprinted from the pages of Valiant for the first time and featuring the stunning art of Spanish comics’ legend Jesus Blasco.
The bestselling reprint of The Rise and Fall of The Trigan Empire by Mike Butterworth and Don Lawerence continues in May, with the much-in-demand first collection of House of Dolmann (April), which see a ventriloquist use an army of puppets to help the forces of law and order fight back against crime, while the Super Picture Thriller misadventures of the maniacal super-thief The Spider are collected in Crime Unlimited (February).
And there’s hi-jinx and comedy in Trevor Metcalfe’s madcap parody of the 1960s Batman TV show, Birdman and Chicken (March), and Leo Baxendale’s much-anticipated series Badtime Bedtime Stories (September) from the pages of Monster Fun.
The legacy of classic characters continues in brand new collections that combine the old and the new. The Best of Cat Girl (August) collects stories of this beloved UK superhero from the pages of classic 1960s girls’ comic Sally, and ‘Cat Girl Returns’ by RAMZEE (Zorse) and Elkys Nova (Roy of the Rovers). And Black Beth: Vengeance Be Thy Name (June) brings together both the ‘lost’ story of this fearsome fantasy warrior created by an unknown writer and Spanish artist Blas Gallego, but also the brilliantly resurrected new stories from writer Alec Worley (Star Wars) and DC Comic’s newest artistic star, DaNi (Coffin Bound).
Karl the Viking
Originally serialised in Lion, Karl the Viking is a sweeping historical fantasy story of an orphaned Saxon boy, adopted and raised by the viking Eingar after his raid on Britain. Upon coming of age Karl succeeds Eingar and leads his tribe into battle in Britain against wild tribes of Picts, and re-connects with his old Saxon family, gaining an ally in his cousin Godwulf, and making an enemy of the Earl of Eastumbria. These fast-paced stories were drawn by Don Lawrence shortly before he revolutionised painted comic art with The Trigan Empire, when he was already a master of pen and ink, and his Karl the Viking series was the pinnacle of black and white comic art.
9781786184627
Paperback (plus webshop exclusive hardcover)
20 January 2022
£19.99
Pages: 240
The Spider: Crime Unlimited
From the pages of Super Picture Library! The Spider is the uncrowned king of the New York underworld, so elusive to the police that he even manages to taunt the Police Commissioner at his retirement party. But Professor Aldo Cummings, a famous but ill-tempered scientist, determined to stop the schemes of the Spider once and for all, invents a ray-machine which will eliminate the evil from a person’s personality. But a tragic miscalculation will turn Professor Cummings into the Professor of Power, and he will seek a more direct confrontation with the Spider. The first collection of the Spider stories originally published as part of the Picture Library series, these long-lost and fast-paced pulp adventure stories have never been reprinted before, written by Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel and Donne Avenell (Adam Eterno).
9781786184658
Hardcover
3 February 2022
£19.99
Pages: 256
Birdman and Chicken: The Krazy Crusaders
To the outside world, Dick Lane and Mick Mason look like two average, law-abiding citizens. However, they lead an amazing double life – for when fiendish finks and vile villains step over the line, Dick and Mick strike back as the crime-fighting duo, Birdman and Chicken! Cowled, caped and equipped with a vast array of crime-busting gadgets, Birdman and Chicken fight back against the likes of The Giggler, Sourpuss, The Puzzler and Father Time – and sometimes they win! A rib-tickling parody of the 1966 Batman television series, Trevor Metcalfe’s super-series was a highlight of Krazy comic every week and is finally collected here for the first time.
9781786184924
Paperback
3 March 2022
£14.99
Pages: 192
House of Dolmann
Genius creator and expert ventriloquist, Eric Dolmann has created a small army of robotic puppets to help the forces of law and order fight back against crime. Whatever the situation, Dolman has a mechanical warrior perfectly suited to get the job done! From the safety of his flying ‘Dolmobile’, he directs Raider, Elasto, Mole, Togo and Giggler into action! Occasionally they will question his judgement and bicker amongst one another – even though they aren’t capable of independent thought!
9781786184917
Paperback (plus webshop exclusive hardcover)
14 April 2022
£14.99
Pages: 144
The Sarge Vol.1
They depended on the Sarge. And the world depended on them. British Sergeant Jim Masters, a veteran of WW1, has to protect and lead his inexperienced platoon during the Second World War. From Dunkirk to North Africa, the might of the German Army face the ultimate adversaries when Masters and his boys spring into action – Nothing can substitute experience! With an introduction by Garth Ennis (Preacher, The Boys)
9781786186331
Hardcover
12 May 2022
£19.99
Pages: 144
The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Vol 4
The fourth omnibus of the science-fiction classic, The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire, collects the stories published from 1973 through to 1976. Don Lawrence’s painted art continues to be a highlight of the series, and as he takes a sabbatical from the strip Miguel Quesada and Philip Corke match his impressive work with their own style. The Trigan Empire remains resilient against enemies on all fronts, from treacherous politicians, murderous Zith assassins, and alien invaders, Trigo and Janno protect the citizens of Elekton.
9781786185648
Paperback (plus webshop exclusive hardcover)
24 May 2022
£19.99
Pages: 240
Black Beth: Vengeance Be Thy Name
A warrior with a name born of the black rage that filled her heart! In a world of swords and sorcery, the evil tyrant Rassau discovers that he is destined to be killed by a fearsome warrior called Beth. Together with his men, Rassau seeks Beth out, destroying her village and killing all held dear to her. With the aid of a former warrior – the blind Quido – Beth becomes a skilled fighter and sworn enemy of all that is evil! She will not rest until her people are avenged! This book contains both the original strip and the brilliantly resurrected stories that have been masterfully guided by writer Alec Worley and DC Comic’s newest star, the astonishing Greek artist, DaNi!
9781786186355
Paperback (plus webshop exclusive hardcover)
7 June 2022
£14.99
Pages: 80
The Best of Cat Girl
The beloved UK superheroine finally pounces into her own collection! From the pages of classic 1960s girls’ comic Sally comes the first ever collection of beloved British superheroine The Cat Girl! Cathy Carter is not your average teen. She can jump further, fight longer and climb higher than anyone she knows – with the aid of a magic suit, she is Cat Girl! Facing off in glamorous, globetrotting adventures against supervillains and master criminals, Cathy often finds the hardest fight comes from her bumbling detective father, who doesn’t believe Cathy can fend for herself. Can Cathy save the world when the person trying to hold her back – is her dad? This collection contains Cat Girl’s latest adventure, ‘Cat Girl Returns’ from the Tammy & Jinty special, as well as a purrfect selection of the best classic Cat Girl stories from Sally, and a brand new cover from Elkys Nova.
9781786185853
Paperback (plus webshop exclusive hardcover)
2 August 2022
£14.99
Pages: 128
Badtime Bedtime Stories
Once upon a badtime… In these explosive, hysterical comics, Jack the Nipper, Little Miss Muffet and Little Red Riding Hood run wild in chaotic retellings of beloved tales. These anarchic, frenzied comics stories from the pen of Leo Baxendale are the arguably the jewel of the British humour comics, beloved by many for their DIY storybook aesthetic when they were originally printed in Monster Fun. Now, in this stunning new collection, the comics are restored to their full glory, while reprinted in a smaller style to retain the intimate feel of the originals. Crammed with gags and hidden details, these Badtime Bedtime Stories are the perfect late night read for kids and grown ups!
9781786185310
Hardcover
1 September 2022
£14.,99
Pages: 96
A Spell of Trouble
TO WITCH OR NOT TO WITCH? Popular, rich and great at school, Carrie lives a charmed life – because, unbeknownst to her classmates, she’s a witch! Hailing from a long line of witches and warlocks Carrie has never wanted for anything – that is until her bumbling, nonmagical and anti-magic cousin Angela shows up! And worst of all – if Carrie can’t turn Angela into a legendary sorceress – she’ll lose all her powers! Worlds collide and sparks fly as these cousins have to learn to live together – or else! This comedy classic from British girls’ comic Jintyfeatures a brand new cover by the original artist, Trini Tinturé, as well as another tale, the spooky, insect-infested ‘Creepy Crawley’, in a volume perfect for Halloween!
9781786186126
Paperback
13 October
£14,99
Pages: 80
The Steel Claw Vol.2 – Reign of the Brain
One of Britain’s most enduring comic book heroes returns in two stories reprinted here for the first time! The second collection of the sci-fi classic, the Steel Claw collects writer Tom Tully’s first two stories originally published in the comic Valiant between 1963 and 1964. Featuring the stunning, realistic black and white art of Spanish comics’ legend Jesus Blasco!
9781786186812
Paperback (plus webshop exclusive hardcover)
10 November 2022
£14.99
Pages: 112
Karl the Viking Vol.2
In the second, and concluding, volume of Karl the Viking the brave Briton takes the fight even further abroad than before as he and his band of warriors battle against the rival viking Gefion One-Eye in Africa, become mercenaries in a violent dispute between treacherous Russian tribes, and survive against fantastical and unnatural sea monsters. Karl the Viking is the series which made Don Lawrence’s reputation, and it was on this basis that he was hired to revolutionise painted comic art with The Trigan Empire. This volume also contains stories written by Michael Moorcock penned when he was just beginning to create the adventures of Elric.
This isn’t your grandad’s war comic – never had there been an anti-hero quite like Hellman of Hammer Force!
Collected for the first time, and from the very beginning, the legendary strip from the pages of the controversial 1970s comic, Action, is available in paperback now!
Major Kurt Hellman is a Panzer commander during the 1940 German invasion of Belgium. But this man is no Nazi – he avoids taking life wherever possible, all while facing foes without and treachery within!
This groundbreaking series of thrilling combat is written by Gerry Finley-Day (Rogue Trooper) and drawn by Mike Dorey (Ro-Busters). With the hardcover website exclusive edition now sold out, this is your chance to grab a slice of ’70s comics history!
One of the major highlights of the controversial 1970s comic, Action, ‘Hellman of Hammer Force’ was a unique series that followed a World War Two tank commander. But this wasn’t a brave British bulldog fighting the foreign enemy – he was German!
Continuing our series of short essays commissioned from selected comics critics that explore 2000 AD and the Treasury of British Comics’ latest graphic novel collections, Doris V. Sutherland takes a look at this groundbreaking series…
While Action sparked moral outrage during its heyday of 1976, much of its content today seems rather tame. After years of controversy over everything from violent video games to gangsta rap, a comic that drew its chief inspiration from Jaws and Rollerball seems positively quaint.
There is one exception, however. Action contained a certain strip that, had it made its debut today, may still have caused many a furrowed brow. That strip is ‘Hellman of Hammer Force’ — a World War II story in which the main character fights on the side of Germany. Scripted by Gerry Finley-Day with art by Mike Dorey and Alex Handerson, this provocatively-themed strip is now the subject of a Treasury collection.
The premise of ‘Hellman’ did not come out of the blue. Like much of Action, it has its roots in 1970s popular culture. The purportedly autobiographical novels of Sven Hassel, depicting life forced to fight beneath the swastika in a Danish penal battalion, were enjoying commercial success as paperbacks. A comic on a similar theme would have had clear marketplace potential.
Not that Hellman’s exploits have particularly strong aesthetic ties to Hassel’s bleak and brutal work. ‘Hellman of Hammer Force’ was never intended as an unflinchingly realistic examination of twentieth-century conflict; certainly, nobody will mistake it for ‘Charley’s War’. It belongs ultimately to the tradition of romanticised war comics that also gave us the likes of Commando, with derring-do very much the order of the day. Still, the premise of the series does force it away from simplistic us-versus-them flag-waving.
The strip’s main thrust is established early on via a top-of-the-page slogan: “He fought two wars — one against the allies, the other against his Nazi bosses.” While Hellman is fighting in Hitler’s army as a panzer major, he has no sympathy for the Fuhrer’s regime. A stickler for fair play, he wounds rather than kills his opponents where possible. This philosophy is contrasted with the likes of Hellman’s commanding officer Kastner, who shows no qualms about using the panzers to obliterate vastly overpowered soldiers.
“I am a soldier, not a butcher” protests Hellman in one story, when Kastner admonishes him for allowing defeated Englishmen to survive. Another instalment has Hellman disobeying a direct order by saving an injured enemy; he faces execution, but he receives unlikely salvation when a passing spitfire that guns down the officer before the order can be carried out.
This scene is a good example of how the strip embraces the more fanciful aspects of old-school war comics. Likewise, many of the stereotypes found across the genre remain present and correct. Of the allies, the British are portrayed as the boldest: “Our blitzkrieg has completely shocked the enemy — even the British” says one of Hellman’s men. “The British I respect,” says Hellman elsewhere, “but the French bow to whatever wind blows strongest!” When the series introduces an allied officer as a recurring antagonist, it chooses not a Britisher but a boorish, bullying American named Colonel Rock: “We don’t pussyfoot around with stupid honour in this man’s army” declares the colonel. “You gangster!” responds Hellman in a thought balloon. “You throw away the rulebook like you throw away your cigar”.
Captured by Greeks, Hellman distracts them by throwing his medal to the ground, prompting them to scurry for the valuable trinket (“those Greeks value silver greatly… greedy fools! You deserve to lose!”) The German protagonist also resents his Italian allies, dismissing them as “cowards” and “of no use in a hard fight” — although the incident in which an Italian sacrifices his life to save him from a Sikh soldier’s razor-edged quoit perhaps prompts Hellman to reconsider this stance.
While it may be easy to scoff at certain aspects of ‘Hellman’, the strip does carry an undeniable atmosphere. Mike Dorey’s stark depictions of colossal tanks ploughing through the landscape provide an appropriately severe setting for the lantern-jawed anti-hero’s missions, particularly when the stories incorporate specific events from World War II.
We first meet Hellman on 1 May 1940 as the Hammer Force rolls into Belgium; later, the Battle of Dunkirk and the invasion of Greece play out against Hellman’s personal conflict with his superiors. Come 1941, Hellman is in North Africa; Erwin Rommel turns up as a background character, his disdain for “Nazi fools who know nothing about courage and soldiering” making him a kindred spirit to Hellman. Next, after charting conflict in Libya and El Alamein, the strip arrives in 1943, when Hellman’s anti-authoritarian leanings result in him being given a new command “in Germany’s most savage battleground… the Russian front.”
The strip introduces still more internal conflict when the Major is put in charge of a penal company. Although this plot element was likely inspired by Sven Hassel (the company is referred to as “the legion of the damned”, the title of Hassel’s first novel) the brutish convicts receive little of the sympathy that Hassel afforded his subjects “They loot the dead like vultures!” thinks an appalled Hellman. “For a moment they were soldiers — now they are back to scum!”
The Russian portion is where the strip becomes particularly bleak. Previously, the violence had been brutal, but portrayed in an indistinct manner: those dying were often obscured or shown from a distance. Now, we see in graphic detail such sights as men wailing in agony as they are roasted by flamethrowers, crushed by tank-treads or blown apart by landmines. Hellman is accompanied by the Waffen SS, who are even more sadistic than Kastner. In one strip Hellman plays Russian roulette with the SS leader, prefiguring The Deer Hunter.
‘Hellman of Hammer Force’ captures all of the straightforward appeal that made British war comics a thriving genre in their day, yet the grimness and squalor running through the stories really do add a new dimension. Read today, the strip becomes the best kind of throwback: the sort in which, for all of the old-fashioned aesthetics, the innovation remains palpable.
Doris V. Sutherlandis the UK-based author behind the independent comic series Midnight Widows and official tie-ins for television series including Doctor Who and The Omega Factor. She has contributed articles to Women Write About Comics, Amazing Stories, Killer Horror Critic, Belladonna Magazine and other outlets.
Robot Archie is one of British comics’ most singular and loved characters. In his regular look at classic British comics and the Treasury archive, David McDonald explores the life and exploits of the world’s most powerful mechanical man…
Content advisory: some of the images on this post contain offensive and outdated stereotypes, and are included for the purposes of historical interest.
What character has appeared in Lion,2000 AD, in original adventures in America’s ‘DC’ Comics and in the Netherlands ‘Sjors’ comic too?
It’s none other than one of British comics most successful and well remembered characters, Robot Archie!
My first introduction to the character was in my older brother’s 1979 Lion annual. The cover with Archie battling a giant Octopus fascinated me, however, the accompanying text story inside disappointed me. I always felt a little short-changed with text stories in annuals, it was supposedly a comic!!
During the early eighties, Archie cropped up in various annuals and specials, including the 1980 Lion special with an amazing Garry Leach cover. That special was edited by Richard Burton- who would later edit 2000 AD. It’s well worth tracking down for the Archie v Spider story, which is probably the last new story featuring the characters for nearly a decade. It also has some Steve Dillon illustrations on the Captain Condor text story too which was possibly his first work for IPC.… but I digress, back to Archie!
From reading his adventures in the annuals and specials, I was hooked. A great character, sometimes in search of an equally great story. That great story landed in a surprising place in 2000 AD prog 627 in 1989. I’m getting ahead of myself a bit though, what of Archie’s origin and his ‘comic life’?
While Archie may have been one of Fleetways more popular characters, it took him a while to evolve into the swaggering and brash character that helped him become so well remembered. The character appeared in the first issue of Lion back in 1952 as the ‘Jungle Robot’ created by writer Ted Cowan and artist Alan Philpott. Archie, having been built by Professor CR Richie, was in the possession of the Professor’s nephew Ted Richie and his friend Ken Dale.
Archie was no more than a remote-controlled toy, operated by Ted Richie via a control pad he had in his possession. His first adventure only lasted six months, and it would be another five years before Archie returned to Lion in 1957, this time as Archie – The Robot Explorer. The new series continued much the same as the first tale, jungle adventures, on the trail of some lost treasure or villainous native. The next evolution in Archie was the addition of artist Ted Kearnon in 1958 who would become the character’s main artist until the end of the series.
Kearnon was an excellent draughtsman, who could draw literally anything the script threw at him. His depiction of Archie is the definitive one that we all now associate with the character.
Re-titled ‘Robot Archie’ in 1959, the final stage of Archie’s evolution happened in early 1966 when the Professor fitted him with a ‘mechanical brain’ and a voice box. Why this wasn’t thought of before is a mystery, but it was the final piece in the character, and with a masterstroke. Over the following year his personality emerged. He was brave, but also impulsive, vain, boastful and full of his own importance, which made for some great stories and interactions with his ‘owners’ Ken and Ted.
The post 1966 stories are the character’s golden age. The jungle settings were less frequent, and Archie had lengthy time travel adventures along with battling various monsters, both mechanical and traditional!
The addition of personality and a voice completely changed the stories from having Ken and Ted being in control of Archie and their adventures, to trailing behind Archie with his newfound bravado and overconfidence.
Archie continued in Lion until the title was cancelled in 1974. The seventies were tough on older comics. Lion and its stablemate Valiant were cancelled giving way to newer and brasher titles like Action and 2000AD. This wasn’t the end of the character though. In 1975 IPC in conjunction with Swiss publisher Gevacur published ‘Vulcan’ (titled Kobra in German). Vulcan was smaller than the traditional Fleetway size comic and reprinted some of Fleetway and IPC’s best-known characters. While the format and paper were quite flimsy, the printing was far superior than the newsprint that was used on most IPC comics. So stories like The Spider and The Steel Claw looked their best.
Archie appeared in Vulcan in full colour in what could be termed new material. It had been published previously, but in Dutch in the Netherlands! Archie was reprinted extensively in the sixties in the Netherlands, and when material from the UK ran out, Dutch artist Bert Bus produced new strips, some of it based on the original British material. It was these strips drawn by Bus that were reprinted in Vulcan, and while Vulcan only lasted 60 issues (the first thirty were only distributed in Scotland as a market test), the German language version Kobra lasted over 160 issues.
From 1976 onward, Archie was limited to his yearly outings in the Lion annuals and specials. He does make an early appearance in 2000 AD as one of Tharg’s droids in the story Tharg and the Intruder in Prog 24, drawn by Kevin O’Neill. His appearances finally came to an end in Lion Annual 1983, the last Lion annual.
Back to 2000 AD Prog 627 in 1989, Archie crash-landed into one of 2000 AD‘s most popular series, Morrison and Yeowells Zenith! Zenith was a uniquely 2000 AD take on the superhero genre. Zenith was a spoilt selfish popstar, and a reluctant superhero. Archie appears in the third series of Zenith, and his transformation is so out there it works brilliantly. He is now a member of a supergroup, Black Flag, an aficionado of ‘Acid House’ music, self-styling himself as ‘Acid Archie’. His character essentially stayed the same as he appeared in the late sixties, and the new characteristics could be seen as an extrapolation of his personality growth in the sixties and seventies.
Archie played a central part in Zenith Phase Three and continued to crop up in later Zenith stories. One of his most memorable scenes is when he appears riding a flower adorned Tyrannosaurus Rex in Zenith! It was inspired by the cover of Lion (3rd December 1966) in the story Robot Archie and the Jungle Menace. A back cover poster of Archie that appeared in Prog 647 by Steve Yeowell raised my hopes that Archie was getting his own series in the Prog, but alas it never materialised.
During this time Archie also appeared in a new story in the Classic Action Holiday Special in 1990. This is a new story, but Archie is firmly in his 1960’s character, with some great art by Sandy James.
Due to the break-up of IPC’s comic assets in the mid-eighties into Fleetway and IPC Media, it turned out that when Archie was appearing in Zenith and the Action Special, Fleetway didn’t actually own the character! This break up in the mid-eighties meant that IPC Media owned Archie. Through various mergers and acquisitions, DC Comics in the US and IPC Media were part of the same company. Due to this association, DC published some of IPC Media’s assets in the US in the 00’s under the ‘Wildstorm‘ imprint. The titles they published were Battler Britton, Thunderbolt Jackson and Albion.
Albion was written by Alan Moore, Leah Moore and John Reppion, with art by Shane Oakley. It featured Archie on the front cover of issue one! Albion told the tale of how all of the various IPC, Fleetway and Odham’s characters had been incarcerated by the government in Cursitors Doom’s Castle and of Penny Dolmann’s efforts, with the help of a reconstructed Robot Archie to release them.
Since Albion, appearances of Archie have been few, although he continues in print in India. It’s also worth pointing out that Archie has inspired other Robots, Android Andy in Captain Britain and Tom Tom in Jack Staff are good examples. A broken-up Android Andy appeared in the first issue of Albion!
Rebellion’s acquisition of the old IPC/Fleetway comic assets now means Archie is back in the House of Tharg. He has been in comic wilderness now for a while, is it time for a return of Acid Archie?
C’mon Tharg you know it makes sense!
David McDonald is the publisher of Hibernia Comics and editor of Hibernia’s collections of classic British comics, titles include The Tower King, Doomlord, The Angry Planet and The Indestructible Man. He is also the author of the Comic Archive series exploring British comics through interviews and articles. Hibernia’s titles can be bought here www.comicsy.co.uk/hibernia. Follow him on Twitter @hiberniabooks and Facebook @HiberniaComics
All opinions expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the opinions of Rebellion, its owners, or its employees.
To the outside world, Dick Lane and Chic Dodds look like two average, law-abiding citizens. But they lead an amazing double life – for when fiendish finks and vile villains step over the line, Dick and Chic strike back as the crime-fighting duo, Birdman and Chicken!
The first ever collection of writer/artist Trevor Metcalfe’s side-splitting series from the pages of Krazy is available to pre-order now!
Cowled, caped and equipped with a vast array of crime-busting gadgets, Birdman and Chicken fight back against the likes of The Giggler, Sourpuss, The Puzzler and Father Time – and sometimes they win!
Out on 2 March 2022, this collection reprints Metcalfe’s rib-tickling parody of the 1966 Batman television series for the first time, a highlight of Krazy comic every week!
Celebrating one of the finest talents in comics, The Tom Paterson Collection is a gorgeous hardcover bringing together strips from Tom Paterson, artist on titles such as Buster, Whizzer and Chips, and many more.
One of the most inventive and influential cartoonists British comics has produced, Paterson stands alongside titans such as Leo Baxendale and Ken Reid in the pantheon of British cartoonists thanks to his work on classic strips as Sweeny Toddler, Calamity James, Buster, Grimly Feendish, The Numskulls, Bananaman and Dennis the Menace.
With his unmistakeable trademark stinky, striped sock often appearing in the panels of his work – a useful identifier born out of an age where publishers frowned upon artists signing their work – Paterson’s rich visual gags gave each story that quality of instant re-readability.
This 192-page collection comes in a standard hardcover option or special limited edition hardcover, exclusive to the Treasury of British Comics webshop.
features some of Tom’s outstanding colour and black & white strip work for IPC/Fleetway from titles like Buster, Whoopee!, Jackpot, Whizzer & Chips and Oink! amongst others. With quotes from the man himself and some extra, added treasures, this is a must have for fans of British humour comics both young and old!
