Eagle [Vol.21] #1

27 Mar 1982. Cover price 20p.
32 pages. Colour & B&W contents.
IPC Magazines Ltd.

Edited by David Hunt.

Cover by Gerry Embleton.

Free Space Spinner.

Contents:

 2 Eagle Hotline Eagle is Back! text introduction by David Hunt. / A Welcome from the Stars comments from John Craven, Peter Davison, Roy Castle, Ian Botham, Lenny Henry, and John Bond; photographs (uncredited). / How Times Change the new artists - the men who capture the action on film for our exciting photo-stories! Introduction to John Powell, Dave Watts, and Gary Compton. / Wanted! reader feedback requested. / Ernie UNTITLED [Eagle's Official Eagle Mascot] w:/a: Dave Follows.

 3 Doomlord An Alien Stalks the Earth, part one, w: Alan Grant; photography by Gary Compton.

 7 Kids are Tough! Darren Defies Thugs! text feature about Darren Daly by UNKNOWN (uncredited); photograph (uncredited). / Big Mouth readers' mail. / Eagle Interview Peter Davison by UNKNOWN (uncredited); photographs (uncredited), illustration by Dave Follows.

 8 The Whole Town's Popping! advertisement for Waddingtons Pop-Aways.

 9 Personality Plus Bryan Robson pin-up and mini-bio (uncredited). / Fifty Freebie Man. United Books Up for Grabs! competition.

10 Thunderbolt and Smokey! UNTITLED [Two players don't make a football team], part one, w: Tom Tully; photographs by John Powell.

14 Sgt. Streetwise The Police Had Need of Men Like Him... Men Who Stayed Streetwise!, part one, w: Gerry Finley-Day; photographs by Dave Watts.

16 Dan Dare Return of the Mekon, part one, w: Barrie Tomlinson; a: Gerry Embleton.

18 Sgt. Streetwise The Police Had Need of Men Like Him... Men Who Stayed Streetwise! cont.

19 Eagle Fun Spot School Report - Jim Davidson; photograph (uncredited), illustration by Dave Follows.

20 The Tower King UNTITLED [A Gutted City, Haunted by Crazies], part one, w: Alan Hebden; a: Jose Ortiz.

24 Squadron Leaders advertisement for Humbrol 1/48 and 1/72 scale models.

25 Eagle Data File F-15 Eagle fact file; illustration (uncredited).

26 Daley's Diary Strange Names! / Arnold's Dilemma / Great Mates / 'Picca-Dilley'! / A marathon a day... text features by Daley Thompson.

27 The Collector Eye of the Fish w: Roy Preston; a: Pat Wright & Ron Smith, photography by Gary Compton.

31 Read Mike Read UNTITLED [I'm the strange character who struggles in to London at the crack of dawn] (half page) text feature by Mike Read; photographs (uncredited). / Shopwatch UNTITLED [Kensington board game; The Puffin Adventure Sports Series] shopping feature (uncredited); illustration by Dave Follows.

32 Dan Dare Return of the Mekon, cont.

A messy cover, with Embleton's art covered by redundant lines of text, half of the space given over to promoting a free gift... which would have covered the announcement that there was a free gift. Sheer genius. The messy appearance is continued inside, with Eagle Hotline, a catch-all editorial page appearing to have taken some design hints from early eighties magazines. It is nice to see Eagle's past remembered, with Dan Dare and Digby, Harris Tweed, and Jeff Arnold represented, though this, for the moment, is all the Eagle relaunch has to say about its illustrious original incarnation.

How do you compete with one of the most celebrated and beloved titles to bear the Eagle name? By changing everything which made the original so compelling, and to promote photo strips over traditional comic strips.

Midnight. A fireball streaked down over the sleeping town of Cranbridge -

The only witnesses were P.C. Bob Murton and Howard Harvey, a reporter from the Cranbridge Argus -

Officer Murton is immediately killed by Doomlord, having his knowledge absorbed, and is soon disintegrated with a beam from the alien's ring. Howard Harvey is rendered unconscious, before Doomlord takes the physical appearance of Murton. When Harvey awakens, he travels to the police station to report Murton's death, but is brought face-to-face with Murton, very much alive, and wearing the alien's ring.

Doomlord, the first of this issue's photo strips, attempts to present a dramatic SF tale with all the limitations of its photography undermining any credibility. Doomlord's introduction, it must be admitted, is fairly impressive given that he appears to be wearing a discarded duvet, with a mask which is far more convincing that that used in photos of Tharg. It isn't a perfect introduction to Doomlord, but it isn't anywhere near as bad as some complaints about the revived series would have you believe.

The world really wasn't calling for a mix of Invasion of the Bodysnatchers and The Day the Earth Stood Still, but Alan Grant provides enough interest to keep things moving along without getting caught up in extraneous detail.

A mandatory sports strip for Eagle, Thunderbolt and Smokey!, is a run-of-the-mill school-based photo strip.

The educational record of Dedfield School was second-to-none! But when it came to getting results on the sports field, it was a very different story...

Losing seven-nil, Dedfield - nicknamed 'Dead-Loss' - are a football team without support from their teachers, though Colin Dexter (Thunderbolt) is determined to turn the team's fortunes around. When he learns that Smokey Beckles, recently transfered to the school, isn't going to play for a losing team, his hopes seem dashed.

That the only black character is named Smokey should tell you all you need to know.

On a more positive note, the strip presents a problem, shows a partial solution, and throws a few wrenches in the works. From a purely storytelling standpoint, this is a fairly strong opening, though presented in dreary grey, page after page of photographs, this can't quite overcome its appearance. If this had been a traditional comic strip its plot might have been enough to make a success of the concept, yet there is nothing here worth getting excited about.

Sgt. Streetwise is slightly better, being the adventures of Detective-Sergeant Wise of Special Undercover Operations. Wise operates on his own, without a radio, cuffs, or weapon, even going so far as to forgo identity papers, and after his homeless disguise is blown has to take on a new identity to continue his work.

Snow-covered streets add slightly to the feel of the strip, though this is a pale imitation of detective television shows, and requires a great deal of suspended disbelief at the frankly ludicrous set-up. As with all the photo strips, the reproduction isn't sharp enough to justify such an elaborate means of creation, and there's no real sense of drama despite a well-staged opening.

Splitting the strip, so that Dan Dare could take the colour centre-pages is annoying, and completely unnecessary, displaying a lack of

The return of Dan Dare comes in Return of the Mekon.

It appeared to be the final confrontation between two beings whose adventures had thrilled a generation. Colonel Dan Dare, valiantly fighting to save Earth from the sworn for of mankind... the cold, merciless mastermind of Venus - the Mekon!

The Mekon surrenders after an intense battle, vowing that one day he will get his revenge on Dare. The World Supreme Court, highest judicial body on Earth, passes judgement, sentencing the Mekon to be placed in a life support capsule, enclosed in a meteor, then set adrift in space. Forever. Because a slap on the wrist and a fine isn't going to deter such a heinous villain as the Mekon. Preparations are duly made, and a meteor, with the Mekon imprisoned inside, is sent off into space.

In such a prison, time became meaningless. Was it a month, a year, or a century before other beings approached the meteor?

Aliens pick up the meteor hoping that valuable ore will be discovered within it, and cut it open - despite getting a life-reading from within.

The inhabitants of the planet Korzak were a meek race... and the sight of the green-skinned being terrified them!

Informed that Treens have lived in peace for many years, leaderless and abandoned, becoming farmers and traders, the Mekon is outraged. Deciding to exact his revenge on Dare, he orders his rescuers to take him to the location of his enemy, beaming down to the planet to continue his battle - only to discover that Dan Dare died hundreds of years before. A gravestone states that he died before his battles with the Treen Empire, puzzling the Mekon, and though he cannot defeat a dead man, he can take his revenge on the planet Earth.

Another strip split to take advantage of colour pages, this time continuing on the back page, Dan Dare is a decidedly odd return. Focusing on the Mekon rather than the titular hero, the story goes so far as to kill off Dare on the final panel. This can be taken as a statement of intent for the revived title - don't expect things to remain as they were. It is only partially successful in bringing back Dan Dare's world, feeling slightly too rushed to properly establish a timeline of events.

The solar power satellite was the most important result of the American space programme of the 1980's. A vast array of solar panels had been placed in stationary orbit above the equator...

Solar energy from the sun was converted into microwaves and beamed down to a huge receiving station on the ground, where the microwaves were reconverted into electric power and fed into a grid.

It should have been the start of a new era.

Instead, it was the beginning of a disaster!

The microwaves had disrupted the balance of the Earth's atmosphere, making the generation of electricity in any form impossible. Without it, aircraft fell out of the sky... Ships drifted helplessly... Road traffic ground to a halt...

...and nuclear power stations melted down!

Without electricity there was no radio or TV... No telephones or newspapers... No form of transport... Nor was there heat or light.

In the days that followed, panic swept the world as nobody knew what was happening.

Without electricity food production and distribution broke down, forcing starving mobs out to the countryside in a desperate bid to find some.

Finally, after panic and starvation, came disease and death on a scale unknown since the black death.

Small bands of survivors formed tightly-knit groups to defend themselves and continue life in the ruins of civilisation. In London, within the walls of the Tower of London, such a group was led by a man named Mick Tempest.

There's a lot to like in The Tower King, and much back-story to deliver, which it does as rapidly as possible. The extended sequence of reported information, which builds up to the appearance of the titular character, may take up two whole pages, but as it is essential to everything which follows it is a justifiable journey. The city of London, seen only partially in the vignettes, may not be the most original choice of location to place the series in, though the concepts are interesting enough to overcome this lack of imagination.

Its primary selling point, a modern world deprived of power, had already been visited in the television series The Changes, based on Peter Dickinson's books, though in a slightly different form.

The strip's introductory text is slightly over-playing the reality of such a situation - heat can be provided from fires, and printing presses of old did fine without electricity. Regardless, one has to hand it to Hebden - the text boxes prefacing the story is very dramatic and attention-grabbing manner in which to begin the story. The close of the story proves that there are forms of transport in the new landscape of London, though given that the strip had already shown us horses...

Eye of the Fish, a complete story, is introduced by The Collector.

"Welcome. I am known as The Collector! Some of my exhibits may seem a little out of the ordinary to you. But then so, too, are the reasons why I keep them!"

Terry Lansberry and his father go fishing near a sign which prohibits such activity, but their illicit sport is soon brought to a halt by darkening skies. Terry disappears in a flash of light, swiftly followed by his father, thereafter learning an important lesson...

Yes, it is a slight, and incredibly silly, variant on a well-worn theme, but it doesn't really need to be brilliant. A complete story, however well crafted, is essential to giving readers of an anthology value for money - you never know if they are going to purchase the next issue, so as long as they get one full story then their purchase has been validated.

With a superb beginning from The Tower King, an intriguing question (or two) lingering in Dan Dare, and Doomlord's inherent possibilities, this is a solid, if unexceptional, beginning. Or, if you prefer, it is a rather subdued revival with much potential.

Eagle [Vol.21]

#02

Scream! #1

24 Mar 1984; Cover price 22p.
32 pages. Colour & B&W.
IPC Magazines Ltd.

Edited by Ian Rimmer.

Cover by UNKNOWN.

Free Dracula fangs.

Contents:

.2 From the Depths... text introduction (uncredited).

.3 The Dracula File UNTITLED, part one, w: Gerry Finley Day; a: Eric Bradbury, lettering by John Aldrich.

.8 Monster What was the Terrifying Secret of the Locked Room?, part one, w: Alan Moore; a: Heinzl, lettering by Paul Bensberg.

12 The Thirteenth Floor The Thirteenth Floor Didn't Exist... Yet it was There..., part one, w: Ian Holland (Alan Grant & John Wagner); a: Jose Ortiz, lettering by Mike Peters.

16 Tales from the Grave "The Undertaker", part one, w: Tom Tully; a: Jim Watson, lettering by Tim Skomski.

19 A Ghastly Tale! w: UNKNOWN; a: UNKNOWN.

20 Fiends and Neighbours UNTITLED w: UNKNOWN; a: Graham Allen (uncredited).

r: Cor!! (IPC Magazines Ltd.) #[182] (24 Nov 1973).

22 Library of Death At Death's Door... w: Barrie Tomlinson; a: Cam Kennedy, lettering by Mike Peters.

27 The Terror of the Cats "No Harm...", part one, w: John Agee; a: Gonzalez, lettering by Peter Knight.

31 Dare You Read Scream! Next Week? (one third page) next issue information. / Advertisements (two thirds page)

32 Presented With Scream! illustration by UNKNOWN.

I vividly remember running around with Dracula fangs in my mouth when I first read Scream!, and the strange taste which they left in my mouth for a while after. Memories of this title appearing on the shelves of newsagents is still fresh in my mind all these years later, and coming to it after so long is... Well, it is weird. Separating the quality of contents from the memory of stories is an interesting experience, though mostly it holds up under scrutiny.

Although bringing the Count into a modern era had been done several times before (most memorably in Dracula A.D. 1972), The Dracula File manages to retain visual aesthetics of more traditional interpretations while staying conscious of the political landscape of mainland Europe since WWII. The strip's weak spot is a thoroughly uninspiring logo, which doesn't capture the cold war spirit to any degree.

Taking a uniform from an East German military base near the border, a defector disguises himself in order to make a run for the barbed wire on the western side. Guards fire at him as he flees, and, as mines explode around him, he stumbles to safe harbour. Taken to a British military hospital in Western Germany, the officers in charge determine that he is Rumanian, and ponder whether he might be a valuable defector. It is an opening which could have been inserted into a contemporary James Bond film without changing much.

The jacket he wore during his escape is checked, and the British see a row of bullet holes - he man should have died from his injuries. Computer analysis of medical reports show his body is of indefinable age, but before information can be passed along a fire breaks out. Thinking that they are in a Len Deighton novel, the British consider the possibility that K.G.B. agents might have attempted to kill the defector, not realising that danger is closer than they think.

There are a few places where the story attempts to make leaps it can't quite reach, and the final panel is a touch too on-the-nose, but there's more to like than dislike in the manner Gerry Finley Day brings Dracula back to Britain. There was one aspect of the story which seemed far-fetched at the time of publication, but which have been proven correct in intervening years - bats can cross the Channel. It was something that bothered me, but since it ha been verified I'll refrain from pointing out how unlikely they are to show up on radar.

With an audacious sense of black humour, Alan Moore opens Monster with twelve-year-old Kenneth Corman burying his father's corpse in his back garden is nothing compared to how he closes out this installment - the boy walking slowly up the stairs to a locked door. There's so little event, yet so much detail. While we don't get introduced to the inhabitant of the room, we get enough background to know that there is a secret here which been maintained for a very long time. There is real emotions at play, and a solidity of setting which is a step above expectation.

Three years before Robert Maxwell bought IPC, there was Maxwell Tower...

Max, the digital protagonist of The Thirteenth Floor, is Scream!'s star attraction. It is difficult to justify an in-universe reason for a screen representing the software, but the visual adds so much to Max's character - a crackling screen of static and electricity with a mind of its own. Jerry, his controller, isn't as well defined, but there is obviously a close rapport in the scenes they share.

Jerry permits Max to take care of new tenants moving in, Mrs. Henderson and her son. As they settle in to their new home, Mr. Kemp (an unpleasant debt collector) arrives to harangue the recently-widowed woman about money she owes him. Max, naturally, is less than pleased at this state of affairs, and decides to teach him a lesson. Despite being built without a thirteenth floor, the traditional image of death (a skeletal figure in robes carrying a scythe) greets Kemp there.

Now that Rebellion own the character, there exists the (remote) possibility that we might get a personal assistant based on Max. So much more interesting than Siri, who would never dare suggest that someone annoying be disposed of in a gruesome-yet-appropriate manner.

Horror anthologies need good hosts. Dry wits capable of lightening the tone between tales, stepping in and out of the narrative to address the reader with offhand commentary on the events. Unfortunately, despite the best of intentions, The Leper isn't a good host. Yes, he looks appropriately hideous, but his schtick is decidedly one-note. How many ways can a leprous grave-digger be worked into a story? That Scream! already had Ghastly McNasty able to perform a similar role, The Leper is doubly redundant.

The grave in preparation is for Joshuah Sleeth, the undertaker, was a thoroughly unpleasant individual, not above assisting people to the other side in his quest for money. There is a great sense of atmosphere in the telling, and even the slightly cartoony touch which Watson brings to the strip works well. That the story feels very familiar might be down to having read the issue on publication, but I'm certain that there is more to it than that.

A Ghastly Tale! brings to mind Future Shocks in 2000 A.D., bring a sequence which blazes through a slight premise in a single page, never explaining more than it has to. So brief is the strip's presence that we don't find out the names of either of the main characters, nor why, precisely, they are reduced to appearing in a sideshow. An interesting experiment in storytelling, though one which is likely to become frustrating in the long term.

Good reprints - and specifically ones which are well-chosen for appropriateness in a title - are always welcome, and Fiends and Neighbours is a classic.

At Death's Door feels like a cop-out thanks to the "it was all just a dream" ending, but the visual of the ghost with a stick is fabulous. Yes, the story is derivative and hokey, but horror stories don't necessarily need to operate on logical foundations, and the telling is entertaining. It would have been better with more background to the family situation (and why the parents seem so stiff), but it is a continuing story.

What is the deal with cats? Cats. Are. Not. Scary.

Was someone at IPC bitten by a cat as a child? I'm not sure why both Misty and Scream! were launched with stories about cats, but as figures of dread they are lacking. Rats can be terrifying (ask James Herbert), dogs can - when handled well - hold a few scares, but domestic cats are far too unimposing to present a credible threat.

Terror of the Cats is based on the conceit that cats have turned on people, attacking randomly. There's not much more going on, and at no point in the story is there a sense that the story is being taken seriously. To end on such a low point is unfortunate.

Action #1

14 Feb 1976; Cover price 7p.
32 pages. B&W contents.
IPC Magazines Ltd.

Edited by Pat Mills.

Cover by UNKNOWN.

Free "The Red Arrow" plane.

Contents:

.2 Look Out! Action is Deadly! introduction. / Win Prizes rewards for letters, jokes, and drawings. On offer is Skimmer Disc, £1 Postal Order, Action Tee Shirt, Tiger Tank (Hasegawa 1/72 scale), and Thunder Chief plane (Monogram 1/72 scale) / The Red Arrow free gift flying instructions. / The Money Man's Throwing ££££'s Away

.3 Dredger UNTITLED [Hasan Gadazi] w: UNKNOWN; a: UNKNOWN.

.6 Hellman of Hammer Force UNTITLED [First Across the Frontier] w: Gerry Finley-Day; a: Mike Dorey.

.9 Blackjack UNTITLED [A Left Jab to the Head] w: John Wagner; a: Trigo.

12 Knowall readers' questions feature. / Guess What? picture puzzle. / Action Mouse UNTITLED [Box Your Shadow] w: UNKNOWN; a: Joe Collins.

13 Play Till You Drop! UNTITLED [First Game of the Season] w: UNKNOWN; a: Barry Mitchell.

16 Hookjaw UNTITLED [The Killer Still Has the Hook in its Jaw] w: Ken Armstrong; a: Ramon Sola.

20 Sports Stars of the Future Les Collins (half page). / Soccer Session with the Boss The Throw-In / Twit of the Week reader feature. / Vote in Action

21 Sport's Not For Losers! UNTITLED [Crippled] w: Steve MacManus; a: Dudley Wynn.

24 The Coffin Sub UNTITLED [The Mediterranean, 1941] w: UNKNOWN; a: Angelo Todaro.

27 Action Packed! Next Week (half page) / UNTITLED [Hi. The name's Steve... Steve McManus].

28 The Running Man UNTITLED [Manhunt for Cop Killer as Fifth Policeman Dies] w: Steve MacManus; a: Horacio Lalia.

32 In Action Next Week!

Once again I'm missing the free gift, for reasons that should be obvious. The absence of these items usually doesn't bother me, but this plane - with handy catapult to sent it flying at speed - looks like a perfect way to waste an afternoon. It's frustrating that so many ridiculously fun items are missing, yet more mundane gifts - postcards, posters, badges, trading cards - are routinely present and correct.

But I'm meant to be dealing with contents, so without further ado:

Beneath an average cover, despite not really playing to Action's strengths, there is a lot to like. At publication the most enticing editorial content must have been The Money Man's Throwing ££££'s Away - every Saturday Money Man would turn up in a different town to give money to readers. On Saturday the 14th, between 11am and 12 noon, he made an appearance at Whitgift Centre, Croydon, and if challenged with "You are the Money Man of Action," he would hand over five pounds. Only for the first reader to do so, mind you, though an additional five readers would receive £1.

Absolutely a product of the seventies, Dredger is often described as the title's Dirty Harry. Presaging The Professionals prominent use of an agency designation (D16 in the case of the strip, CI5 in the case of the series), Dredger also used a tough, no-nonsense figure who refused to bow to regulations when they interfered with his agenda. After serving five years in the Royal Marine Commandos, Dredger had been discharged for brutality, thereafter becoming a mercenary, then joining DI6. It is a fascinating back-story, yet isn't elaboated upon.

In 1973, Hasan Gadazi, Prime Minister of Kuran, is returning home after signing an oil deal with Britain. Targeted by Arab assassins, he is wounded by gunfire when boarding his flight at Heathrow - despite being guarded by Agent Breed of DI6. Dredger manages to stop the shooter by ramming the man's car with a forklift. Dredger accompanies Breed to ensure there are no more attempts on Gadazi's life, but once in the air terrorists armed with sub-machine guns take passengers hostage, threatening to execute Gadazi. Dredger leaps into action, takes out the terrorists, and learns that the pilot is also involved.

Too late to save the co-pilot and flight engineer, Dredger is forced to take control of the plane. Talked down by air traffic control, the flight ends with destroyed tyres and the under-carriage caved in, although the passengers are saved. Breed acknowledges that Dredger, in spite of his rough edges, managed to get results. A very topical story for the era, when standing orders for pilots were to cooperate with terrorists hijacking their flights. For a comic, especially even one aimed at young readers, it concludes slightly too neat and clean to be believable.

Dredger is a fascinating character, even here. Completely at ease in even the most pressing circumstances, he shows little regard for accepted protocols and displays the kind of action hero behaviour which would dominate films a decade later. There is a tension with the more reserved Breed, continuing through the dramatic rescue, which promises to deliver future disagreements. There is a slight hint of ITC's formula here, and this would make for a highly entertaining adventure series - just in case any television producers are reading this.

Published a year before the release of Cross of Iron, Gerry Finley-Day's Hellman of Hammer Force opens on the first of May, as Germany's blitzkrieg on the West begins, with panzer commander Major Kurt Hellman leading the Hammer Force's charge across the Belgian border. He differs from stereotypical representations of German officers in British comics, stating that he kills tanks but not men if it can be helped. The progress of the advance is halted until Reichscommissar Gauleiter Kastner can join the unit to witness their effectiveness firsthand.

Hellman considers the Nazi officer a slimy toad, and his thoughts on the man don't improve when told to murder British soldiers. Instead of obeying orders, he sends his men in to capture the British instead. Stating that he considers himself a soldier and not a butcher, Hellman insists that there be honour in battle. Kastner, disapproving the lack of respect from his subordinate, prepares to send a report to SS headquarters in Berlin. It's surprising how quickly the strip gets into a rhythm, with Hellman trying his hardest to keep the fighting as clean as he can. It is a very impressive beginning, with the characters' personalities are clearly depicted from the start.

The first sports story stars Jack Barron, a young up-and-coming heavyweight known in the ring as Blackjack. The fourth round of his seventh fight in the World Championship finds him seemingly coasting to an assured victory against "Irish" Tom Tully, but just before the bell rings Barron takes a hit to the face. Yank Kraski, Jack's American trainer, seals the cut on his brow, and he concludes the fight with a resounding victory. A few weeks later Jack gets himself checked out, as he's been having trouble with his sight ever since the fight.

A Harley Street doctor informs Jack that a fragment of bone is affecting the optic nerve, and if he keeps fighting he will go blind within one year. Wandering the streets, attempting to process the prognosis, Jack encounters a group of young men attacking kids and wades into the fight. After ensuring their safety Jack hands them tickets to the fight, deciding that he is going to be world champion even if it blinds him. A great set-up, with a likable lead facing a massive disadvantage should he continue on his path. Intelligently handled, with enough edge to fit alongside the more aggressive material.

Play Till You Drop!, the ubiquitous football strip, follows Alec Shaw, striker for Rampton City. After a dirty tackle Alec is taken to the treatment room where he encounters Vernon Grice, a newspaper reporter for the Daily Comet. The reporter tells him that proof has been uncovered that Alec's father, City player of note Tom Shaw, accepted a bribe to throw a match. Outraged, Alec refuses to accept the allegation - until he sees a photograph of his father with bookmaker Bernie Wallace. Grice demands payment in order to keep the information out of print, and Alec agrees in order to preserve his late father's reputation.

A simple enough start, with a mystery to be solved (circumstances of the photograph), an injury to overcome, and a crooked reporter to take down. It feels as if the strip is working on plotting-by-numbers at this point, and not much characterization is present, but the strip works on its own level.

Hook Jaw is the star of Action, a great white shark roaming the sea looking for fresh meat. At an oil drilling platform it bites a diver's leg off and slashes the air hose of another. Chief diver Rick Mason is powerless to intervene when Bannion, struggling for air, drops his weight belt. When Bannion hits the surface he explodes thanks to nitrogen narcosis. Mason, furious with the Red McNally, the rig boss, for drilling in a shark's nursery, accuses the man of putting profit before safety.

Taking to the air, McNally fires at Hook aw, injuring the shark enough to turn the other sharks against the maneater. The amassed sharks aren't enough to stop Hook Jaw, and he escapes to fight another day. Simple, brutal, and with a very dark sense of humour, Hook Jaw functions less as an adventure strip and more as horror. There is an aspect of the plotting - concerning an implacable killer which cannot be stopped - that anticipates slasher films, The colour printing makes the strip all the more visceral - red ink has rarely been used to such effect.

Dan Walker, the protagonist of Sport's Not For Losers, is an athlete with Barncastle Harriers, who, during the 110 metre hurdles, gets hit in the face. With a seriously damaged Achilles tendon, he is told by a doctor that his running days are over for at least a year - if he attempts to run, he might be crippled for life. After witnessing his brother running from a gang, and hurdling over a wall to escape, Dan gets the notion to transform Len into a top athlete - but first must convince him to give up cigarettes.

There's a few lines which feel almost as if this has been sponsored by one of the regular health initiatives which ran in comics over the years, yet the sense of (then-)contemporary social awareness is palpable. Dan's attempt to turn his brother Len's life around is, while not spectacularly original, at least presented in a realistic manner, with enough obstacles preventing this goal to provide a fair amount of antagonism. Sport's Not For Losers wasn't a strip I was looking forward to tackling, but it isn't as bad as the name suggests.

The Mediterranean, 1941. The periscope of British submarine H.M.S. Conquest spots two Italian destroyers approaching. Lieutenant Commander Mark Kane orders a torpedo strike against one of the vessels, but the second destroyer turns to engage the sub with depth charges. Five men are killed in the explosions, and Kane orders their bodies to be placed in the torpedo tubes along with some wreckage to convince the Italians that they have succeeded in destroying the boat. Having survived the encounter, Kane is dismayed to learn that the sub is filling with chlorine gas, and they are powerless to surface.

A leak shorts the electrical equipment, and an explosion rips through the submarine - the force of which assists Kane in opening the escape hatch, the outrush of air propelling him to the surface. Happily, this isn't Hook Jaw, so he doesn't explode when he reaches the surface, but he is the sole survivor of the incident. Kane considers himself a deserter, that he should have gone down with his ship. The submarine, having sunk in shallow water off the coast of North Africa, is soon recovered, and Kane is cleared of all blame by an inquiry.

Given command of his former ship, the Conquest, the crew are less than happy at the prospect of serving under him. Unnerved, Kane's crew view him as Captain of a sub brought back from the dead, and that they are now sailing in The Coffin Sub. Which is the coolest name imaginable for a series set on a submarine. Whatever problems I have with the miraculous survival of the main character, he's a wonderfully different protagonist. A very impressive beginning. It's a shame that the rush of air which pushed him to the surface didn't raise the corpses of his crew, for extra nightmarish imagery, but the extremely evocative artwork is good enough without ghoulish garnishing.

The Running Man starts in a bar on Seventh Avenue, New York. Vito Scarlatti is in the midst of a hold-up when a passing police officer enters the bar. He's shot and killed, and as Vito makes his escape another officer is killed. Young Vito has killed five policemen in the space of twelve weeks, and a manhunt is on for him. Carter, a runner in New York to take part in the 5,000 metres at Yankee Stadium, is blown up with a rigged champagne bottle, Awakening in what he presumes to be hospital, Carter discovers that he has been given plastic surgery. Removing his bandages, he finds himself with the face of another man.

Leaving his room, Carter finds himself on the docks rather than in a hospital. Relief at seeing a police car turns to fright when they open fire on him, believing him to be Vito Scarlatti. Forced to run like never before, a race for his very life, Carter must find out what has happened and why.

In many ways the weakest strip - an incendiary bomb which doesn't kill at such close range, easy plastic surgery, and a hospital set built in such an unlikely location - there's a fairly complex plot, helped by having The Godfather influencing the portrayal of the antagonists. Even by the era's standards, the behaviour of police - opening fire on an unarmed man - seems a little over the top, but it makes for an interesting predicament for Carter to deal with.

Much more entertaining than the cover suggests, Action may not be firing on all cylinders straight from the first issue, but there's more than enough to keep my hopes up for future issues.

Battle Picture Weekly #1

08 Mar 1975; Cover price 6p.
32 pages. Colour & B&W.
IPC Magazines Ltd.

Cover by UNKNOWN.

Free combat stickers.

Contents:

.2 Battle Picture Weekly Blasts into Action! Introduction text.

.3 D-Day Dawson Beach-Head! w: Gerry Finley-Day (uncredited); a: Geoff Campion (uncredited).

.6 Lofty's One-Man Luftwaffe UNTITLED [Mass Escape from a Stalag Luft] w: Pat Mills & John Wagner (uncredited); a: Paulo Ongaro (uncredited).

.9 Boys at War The Headfirst Hero text feature by W. Harrington (uncredited); illustrated by Mike Western (uncredited).

10 The Flight of the Golden Hinde UNTITLED [Strange Vessel of the Past] w: S. Conforth (uncredited); a: UNKNOWN.

14 Battle Honours Brew-Up at El Alamein w: UNKNOWN; a: Zaccara (uncredited).

16 Day of the Eagle UNTITLED [Meet Mike Nelson] w: Eric Hebden (uncredited); a: Pat Wright (uncredited).

19 This Week's Great Gift! text feature (uncredited).

20 The Bootneck Boy UNTITLED [Marine Recruiting Hut] w: Ian MacDonald (uncredited); a: Giralt (uncredited).

23 The Rat Pack UNTITLED [Maximum Security Wing] w: Gerry Finley-Day (uncredited); a: Carlos Ezquerra (uncredited).

29 The Terror Behind the Bamboo Curtain UNTITLED [Bridge Must be Finished by Monsoon] w: Charles Herring (uncredited); a: Giancarlo Alessandrini (uncredited).

32 This Amazing War! German Secret Weapons Fact feature by Eric Hebden (uncredited); illustrated by Ian Gibson (uncredited).

Giant cover illustrations of free gifts are an odd conceit. Are they there in case someone picking up the title can't tell there is something provided alongside the item they have purchased, or are they there to torment people many years later, when the gift in question has long since disappeared? Whatever the reason, it brings to mind the much older D.C. Thomson first issues which so prominently displayed their wares.

Battle Picture Weekly even partially aligns itself with the pocket books with a title which brings to mind Battle Picture Library, which had been published since 1961, but doesn't overtly signal such a link in any way. The markets being slightly different, and with such variety in the weekly, there isn't a great shock in this quiet distancing.

D-Day Dawson, for all the platitudes lauded on the strip over the years, isn't initially inspiring. A throwback logo doesn't help - even the first panel gives off the gung-ho, boys own adventure feel which was outdated even in 1975. Things improve through the duration of the story, though once Dawson is shot and placed upon a landing craft there is an odd sense of events not being taken entirely seriously. A wound which will kill Dawson eventually, yet a giving him a year of life with which to ruminate on events, should have more serious implications.

A shell destroys the landing craft, so he uses this stroke of bad luck as a means to rejoin the fight. Only a brief amount of time having passed, so after (presumably) having received some rudimentary surgery to stabilise his condition, he decides that grabbing navy explosives and heading back onto the beach is a good idea. There is no mention of keeping the gaping wound in his chest clean, he doesn't quickly stash any painkillers in a pocket, nor does he have any time to change clothes to conceal his wound.

What he does is charge a German strongpoint with the explosives, destroying it.

It is clear that the notion of a (legitimately) fearless soldier holds some special appeal, but the handling of the injury is sloppy and rushed. Had there been a return to Britain for the wounded Sergeant, before working his way back to the front lines on learning of the deaths of his squad, there would have been added psychological motivation. Even getting him back to one of the ships for a few days would have allowed for the extent of his injuries to be clarified.

Not the great yarn it is often seen as, but merely an above-average one.

A much fresher logo for Lofty's One-Man Luftwaffe signals a different type of strip. The opening break-out from a stalag luft certainly doesn't feel like run of the mill military exploits, especially when the body count begins rising. Lofty is the only one of his group to escape the clutches of waiting Germans, and he makes his way to an airfield where there is aircraft which will get him safely home.

But this isn't that story.

Taking out ace pilot Major Ranke, who was also on his way to the airfield, Lofty assumes his identity and takes his place with the one-o-nine squadron. Nabbing himself a plane, Lofty takes to the skies, quickly becoming tangled in ongoing combat between a Wellington and a Focke-Wulf, before limping back to the airfield he had just left. Welcomed as Ranke, Lofty decides to stick around so he can fight the German air force from within.

Passing yourself off as a German pilot isn't just about a solid grasp of the language, but idiosyncrasies, slang, personal history and knowledge of cultural phenomenons local to a specific region. It isn't explained how he can so convincingly step into the shoes of a decorated officer without any preparation or reference material, but there's enough eventful moments to keep young readers from questioning the logistics.

The Headfirst Hero is the story of John Cooper, who joined the French Foreign Legion at only fifteen. Despite being on the brief side his story is one which has lasting interest, and there's a solid argument that the inclusion of such material really solidified the title in the early issues. Balancing the fiction with history allowed the stories to be placed in context by astute readers, and highlighted events which spurred the writers on.

History was nowhere more evident than in The Flight of the Golden Hinde, in which Sir Francis Drake's vessel is called upon to defend British interests once more. Or, at the least, a replica is, created as a test to see if the British Navy could replicate Drake's achievements. There's an appealing ridiculousness to the story which carries it above the other strips, and despite qualms about how effective such a ship would be in open conflict with a 1940s vessel, the premise is presented with the right amount of self-awareness.

A second slice of true-life bravery, though by presenting Brew-Up at El Alamein as a strip, with excellent art, there is more immediacy to proceedings. The first issue feels slightly skewed in favour of strips, to the detriment of value-for-money. It is enjoyable to lose oneself in well-written text pieces amongst the more obvious contents, and by skimping on these it doesn't take long to rush through the issue. It isn't a problem which comedy titles suffer from, but adventure titles should feel as if they are packed with content.

Day of the Eagle, and Mike Nelson (Mystery Science Theater 3000 baggage is now hanging over that name) is caught in the midst of a Mission: Impossible-style operation to obtain German documents. He escapes, causing the maximum amount of damage in his retreat, and delivers the pilfered information to his superior in the S.O.E., where the title of the story finally comes into play. Operation Eagle is given the go-ahead.

Mike seems a little too eager to go kill someone. Anyone. He isn't fussy. The image of him stroking his chin in anticipation of being set loose to end the life of an unknowing individual gives the impression he is fitting Colonel Forster up for a pine box. Who is this madman, this psychopathic killer in our midst? Well... Mike is, unfortunately, our hero, and we are meant to like him. Which is something of a problem.

He's informed that from now on he'll only be known as Eagle (presumably to stop people asking how the Bots are) and given a FG 42, the German S.S. Paratroopers rifle. Of course he has to try it out, riddling a handy dummy with ammunition as Forster had wisely removed himself from the vicinity. When a boffin gives him a special lightweight tripod for use as a machine gun, Mike is delighted: "For maximum killing power, eh?"

We only know he's the hero because his job is to kill Hitler.

Which makes everything alright.

A full page is given over to explaining the history of badges given away as stickers, which only highlights how much more fun would have been had if Battle Picture Weekly had splashed out on actual patches for the launch. The badges chosen were all from Allies, so seeing kids running around with proper sew-on patches would have heightened interest in the title, as well as fostering an association with actual military branches.

Danny Budd is The Bootneck Boy, dismissed from a Marine recruiting hut by an unimpressed Marine Sergeant. We're given some back-story, and get to see that his life is already difficult before he gets jumped by three youths in a street-fight. Thankfully this is witnessed by the officer who told him he was too scrawny to enlist, and admiring Danny's ability to defend himself offers him a chance to fulfill his dream.

While it contains less action than elsewhere, The Bootneck Boy is an important strip in setting tone - it isn't a leap to see that this would eventually lead to Charley's War. Seeing small moments in Budd's liife before events propel him into combat allows for a sympathy which is entirely lacking in Day of the Eagle, and prevents the strip from being about (essentially) going out to murder people.

Rat Pack is a bargain-basement Dirty Dozen, with four inmates released from Wessex Military Prison by Taggart in what looks suspiciously like an unauthorised mission. Floodlights and prison sirens mark their escape in a jeep, but when they get to a barn to hide the jeep discover military police awaiting their arrival. Turk immediately attempts to kill Taggart (and not for the last time), before being slapped away.

Taggart tells his men - Kabul 'The Turk' Hasan, Ronald Weasel, Ian 'Scarface' Rogan, and Matthew Dancer - that they are to train to become a special commando unit, striking at dangerous targets behind enemy lines. The prison break was their first test, and they now need to take out Big Karl, a sixteen inch, long range German gun sited on the French coast. It is pointed out that their mission could be a suicidal attack, which proves prophetic - informed wind-speed is too strong to parachute into combat, Taggart kicks them out of the plane anyway. Right into the path of a German patrol.

As troops are mobilised Taggart has a moment of self-doubt, but readers shouldn't. This is an accomplished and entertaining opening, even if inspiration for the story is so blatant. Characterisation of the leads is strong, and danger is perceptible throughout. A great deal of the kudos goes to Carlos Ezquerra, whose confident artwork breathes life into events, and manages to make each of the main cast easily identifiable even in group shots.

The Terror Behind the Bamboo Curtain focuses on the lives of men interned at a Japanese prisoner of war camp, and who are being forced to construct a bridge before a monsoon arrives. The Japanese villains are drawn to resemble buck-toothed, short-sighted stereotypes seen in cartoons of the forties, and has little in common with actual appearances of officers. We get our first taste of what is to come when a prisoner is sent through 'the bamboo curtain' - a forest of bamboo laden with traps. Blake, a tough can-do British soldier, goads Camp Commander Sado into sending him into the bamboo forest.

There are more offensive stereotypes in The Bamboo Curtain than in the rest of Battle Picture Weekly combined, and it hurts the strip's credibility. If visual depictions are so biased, then we can't trust anything in the strip to contain nuance: British officers are square-jawed heroes who play by the rules, while foreigners are unattractive, cowardly, and willing to engage in all sorts of ungentlemanly conduct. A poor way to round off an otherwise strong collection of strips.

A final treat remains in the form of This Amazing War! which explains the Krummerlauf, a wind cannon, and a belt-buckle pistol. A really interesting selection, which contains facts which are beyond simple dates and names, and allows for intriguing illustrations. Did someone actually get their hands on one of those belt-buckles, or was it cribbed from a photograph? I would like to believe that a collector of militaria lent the item to editorial for the feature, but know that it is highly unlikely.

A rough jewel of a comic, with defining elements already in place.