A fresh set of Commando comics hit the racks on January 9th, including Fog of War, a new story by me! This one is my hat-trick for Commando, and my second World War II era tale after the RAF and POW tale J-For-Judas.
I was inspired by some of my favourite war movies like Operation Crossbow and The Guns of Navarone to write a story about a special forces unit coming in to attack a remote enemy outpost – but rather than cast the Allies as the raiders, I flipped the script to make it a Nazi attack force raiding a British Army base…
The excellent and atmospheric cover for this issue comes from artist Keith Burns.
(For those of you unfamiliar with Commando, it’s one of Britain’s longest-running comics, celebrating it’s 59th birthday in 2020! Four issues are published every two weeks in a ‘digest’ format featuring a single, complete 63-page story. Commando is largely known as a throwback to “Boys-Own” adventure comics, packed with wartime drama in the tradition of movies like Where Eagles Dare or 633 Squadron.)
I’ve always been fascinated by the Sea Forts off the East Coast of England, and when I hit on the germ of an idea for Fog of War, I knew they would be the perfect location. I invented the fictional “Blackland Sands” fort, inspired by the real Shivering Sands Fort out in the Thames estuary.
The sea forts are an unusual piece of British military history, and you can still see them today – boat tours will take you around them, but sadly the rusted hulks are now too dangerous for visitors to go board. Here’s a Pathe newsreel from 1940 showing them in action…
I’m indebted to Bob Le-Roi, whose great website Fort Fanatics provided me with lots of useful information on the sea forts and their designer Guy Maunsell – the character of Royal Navy Captain LeRoi who appears in my story is named after him as a thank-you! I’d also be remiss if I didn’t also note that Fog of War owes a debt to one of my favourite action movies – as a nod, a couple of characters are named after actors from that film…
Go Here for more about Fog of War or visit the official Commando website.
