Books Monthly 50 Years of Commando

Anyone who's fighting to keep Britain's libraries open - it's unthinkable that anyone could even contemplate this - there is a Facebook page, just search for "save our libraries" and the UK page will show up...

50 YEARS OF COMMANDO COMICS!

PUBLISHED BY CARLTON BOOKS in HARDBACK AND AVAILABLE FROM ALL GOOD BOOKSELLERS AND ONLINE STORES

PERFECT CHRISTMAS GIFT

50 years of "Commando"...home for heroes...and still going strong! And now you...yes, YOU...can advance shoulder to shoulder with the bravest and the best through six of the finest "Commando" stories ever...brought together in this battling book for all "Commando" fans out there! When the toughest of the tough get going, the action accelerates from page to blistering page. Can you cope with the pressure? Are you sure? Good, because we're also going to unleash the stinging power of 50 full-colour covers on you as well. That's one for every hard-fought year, and you'll need nerves of steel to get in close...combat close...to pick out the finer details of these startling illustrations. You just know it will be well worth the risk. And all the gen from the classified documents which shield the secrets of "Commando" comic books will be there too for you to explore and enjoy. The truth is revealed about the 50-year fight from day one of a carefully planned and well executed campaign to bring you the best of the action to rock you right back on your heels. You've proved you can take all that's thrown at you by reading this far, so don't miss out on this mother of all battle books. Remember what they say. Who dares wins...and that could be YOU!

EDITOR'S COMMENTS: This is a remarkable achievement - there have been, of course, Superman and Batman comics right through from the 1930s to the present day, but they have been through several major changes in style, and even changes of universe! I don't know if COMMANDO COMICS STORY LIBRARY is the longest running series without any significant change of style, but what I do know is that it is iconic, inspirational, and something that doesn't seem to have ever suffered a diminish in popularity. The website is colourful and informative, with previews of forthcoming issues (there are eight a month) and plenty more. Carlton already publish a fantastic selection of COMMANDO COMICS flexibacks and other formats, including these:

together with two excellent flexibacks of cover art. These are all now collectors' items and brilliant to read, but the brand new 50 Years hardback is something else. An instant collectors' item itself, it traces the history of this iconic library of picture stories back to the very first issue, when George Low was commissioning the very best artists and illustrators to do the covers and interior art for a new series of war-based adventure stories. There are probably a small number of ladies (and girls) who might collect these fantastic comics, but it's a fairly safe bet to say that the majority of readers and collectors would be men (and boys). The format of the comic hasn't changed in 50 years, and neither has the quality of the writing (I can't fault either the grammar or the spelling), and the illustration. Elsewhere in this issue I review the magnificent new hardback book about DREW STRUZAN just published by Titan Books, and marvel at how someone can paint a poster featuring what is unmistakably Harrison Ford as Indiana Jones - it is a miracle of artwork that leaves me nonplussed. I am equally admiring of the artists who drew, week on week, the aircraft and military vehicles and equipment that populate the pages of the Commando Picture Story Libraries. They are faultless, brilliant, and utterly amazing and I doff my hat to the artists. The stories, too are great fun, informative and thrilling. This magnificent new book from Carlton reveals the story behind this terrific library, with information on the artists, illustrators and writers, as well as a complete reference of every single issue that has ever been published. This book is a work of art and belongs in the fine arts section of any library. It is utterly brilliant.

Books Monthly is published by Paul Edmund Norman on the first day of each month. Web design is by Gateway. Submitting to Books Monthly: Basically, all you need do is e-mail it along and I'll consider it - it can be any length, if it's very long I'll serialise it, if it's medium-length I'll put it in as a novella, if it's a short story or a feature article it will go in as it comes. Payment is zero, I'm afraid, as I don't make any money from Books Monthly, I do it all for fun! For Advertising rates in Books Monthly please contact me at paulenorman@yahoo.co.uk. Should you be kind enough to want to send me books to review, please contact me by e-mail and I will gladly forward you my home address. Meanwhile, here's how to contact me: paulenorman@yahoo.co.uk