Battle Picture Weekly
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| Battle Picture Weekly | |
 Cover to first issue. |
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| Publisher | IPC Magazines |
|---|---|
| Schedule | Weekly |
| Publication date | March 8, 1975 - January 23, 1988 |
| Number of issues | 673 |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Gerry Finley-Day Pat Mills Tom Tully John Wagner |
| Artist(s) | Carlos Ezquerra Mike Western |
Battle Picture Weekly, at various time also known as Battle Action Force, Battle and Battle with Storm Force, was a British war comic published by IPC Magazines from (issues dates) 8 March 1975 to 23 January 1988, when it merged with Eagle. Most stories were set in World War II, with some based on other conflicts.
In 1974, in response to the success of the D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd war comic Warlord, IPC hired freelance writers Pat Mills and John Wagner to develop a rival title. Mills and Wagner brought in fellow freelancer Gerry Finley-Day to help develop stories. When the title proved a success, Mills went on to create Action and 2000 AD, while Wagner was asked to revive Valiant. The attempts to breathe new life into Valiant were unsuccessful, and it was merged with Battle in October 1976.[1] For some time afterwards the merged comic was entitled Battle Picture Weekly and Valiant. Action also merged with Battle on 19 November 1977, the resulting comic being named Battle Action. In 1982 the comic was retitled again, to Battle.
A notable feature of the comic, suited to its era of circulation, was its letters page with readers sending in stories of their fathers' and grandfathers' exploits during the Great War and WWII, often in an effort to win a nominal 'star letter' prize.
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[edit] Tie-in with Action Force
From 1983 through to 1986, the comic ran a series of stories relating to the Palitoy range of action figures, Action Force.
The Action Force characters initially guest-featured in a comic strip serial in Battle for four weeks in July 1983. The strip proved to be so popular that a further five promotional mini-comics were included free with every IPC publication in the weeks to follow. On 8 October 1983 Action Force joined the pages of Battle full-time and the title was relaunched Battle Action Force.
Eventually, in line with the increasing popularity of the toys, the focus of the comic moved towards Action Force (at the expense of some of the longer-running and more traditional wartime stories) and providing the back-stories to the action figure characters.
During 1984 to 1985, Palitoy increasingly used the comic as a promotional publication, running competitions, mail-in offers and fan-club elements of the Action Force toy range through its pages. As Action Force itself transmuted to its G.I. Joe equivalent (see Action Force - Third generation), the comic took on the role of providing continuity with regard to the diverging storylines and characters. By the end of 1986, Palitoy had lost the Action Force licence to Marvel UK and the comic was again re-titled first as Battle (1986) and then Battle with Storm Force (1987) prior to its eventual merger with Eagle (1988).
[edit] Notable stories
Notable stories included:
- Rat Pack, written by Finley-Day and initially drawn by Spanish artist Carlos Ezquerra, about a group of convicts released from prison to carry out suicide missions, inspired by The Dirty Dozen.
- Major Eazy, by Alan Hebden and Ezquerra, a laid back, cigar-smoking British officer who drove a Bentley, visually based on James Coburn. For a time Major Eazy became the commander of Rat Pack.
- Darkie's Mob, by Wagner and Mike Western, a violent series set in the jungles of Burma, with the renegade Captain Joe Darkie leading a group of lost soldiers in a personal guerrilla war against the Japanese
- Johnny Red, written by Tom Tully and drawn initially by Joe Colquhoun, later by John Cooper, about a British fighter pilot flying for the Russians
- El Mestizo, by Hebden and Ezquerra, about a former slave turned mercenary in the American Civil War
- Hellman of Hammer Force, written by Finley-Day, starring a German tank commander
- Charley's War, by Mills and Colquhoun, a First World War story set in the trenches of the Somme
Garth Ennis has stated that Battle was "one of my favourites as a kid and a big influence on my own work. I used to enjoy Darkie's Mob, Crazy Keller, Hellman, Cooley's Gun, the later Rat Pack stories, Death Squad, The Sarge... the list is endless".
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ History of Battle at sevenpennynightmare.co.uk
[edit] External links
- Battle Picture Weekly Comic - The Britishcomics.com view.
- Best Of Battle
- Blood For The Baron!!! Battle Action Force comic scans
- Battle Picture Weekly at Comics UK
- Colonel Marbles' Battle fansite
- Charley's War fansite
- First part of an interview with John Wagner by David Bishop
- Battle at comic fansite 26pigs.com
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