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Six months prior to the arrival of
'Battle Picture Weekly', DC Thomson had launched their own war themed comic
called 'Warlord'. Perhaps the most enduring legacy of Warlord was not that
it raised the standard for violence and violent language in comics which it
surely did but it also led IPC to respond with their own war themed comic in
March 1975.
The first Issue of Battle Picture
Weekly comic was dated 8th March 1975 and came with a free gift of
'Combat Stickers of World War 2'. In order to make a break from the staid
traditional world of boy’s British comics at IPC, the editor, John Sanders,
had took the decision to bring in freelancers from outside. The freelancers
were Pat Mills and John Wagner. Battle Picture Weekly produced long time
favourites such as D Day Dawson, The Flight of the Golden Hinde, Day of the
Eagle and The Bootneck Boy.
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Battle comic can be
considered most famous, or even infamous depending on your
viewpoint, for the story 'Charley's War'. 'Charley's War' was
the story of sixteen year old Charley Bourne who lied in order
to join the army during the First World War. The story was
written by the great Pat Mills and drawn by Joe Colquhoon of
'Roy of the Rovers'
fame. Charley's story was told through his letters home which
were often badly spelled. Titan books have released two graphic
novels reprinting the the critically acclaimed stories that
originally appeared in Battle comic in the late 1970s. |
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