I’ve penned another script for an issue of D.C. Thompson’s long-running war comic series Commando, and #5531 “Old Dogs” is on sale today, with a story that once again highlights my love for classic military jets – taking the lead this time is the venerable English Electric Canberra, the Dassault Mirage 50 and a few other examples of contemporary airpower…
During the mission known as ‘Operation Folklore’, the Air Ministry knew they had to box clever if they wanted to beat the invading Argentinians out of the Falkland Islands. Flying an unarmed Canberra under Chilean colours, they would recon the enemy without arousing suspicion… But when the pair operating the aircraft is a reckless young RAF pilot and the veteran officer who made his training a misery, the two will have to put aside their differences to face a ruthless killer willing to do anything for the bounty on their heads!
For those of you unfamiliar with Commando, it’s one of Britain’s longest-running comics, first published in 1961. Four issues are published every two weeks in a ‘digest’ format, each featuring a single, complete 63-page story – two all-new tales and two reprints. Commando carries on the tradition of two-fisted, action-packed adventure comics, with wartime dramas in the tradition of movies like Where Eagles Dare or 633 Squadron.
The cover for “Old Dogs” is a terrific piece by the late Ian Kennedy, with interior art by Paolo Ongaro (who previously drew the first of my Commando stories, “Edge of the Sky“).
My original pitch for this story was set closer to the present day, but after discussions with the editorial team we decided to shift the events back a few decades to fit in with Commando‘s Falklands at 40 commemoration – so it is now part of a trio of issues marking the 40th anniversary of the Falklands War, along with “Cold Conflict” by Colin Maxwell, with art by Klacik and a cover by Neil Roberts, and a reprint of the 1992 story “The Deadly Trade” by Ian Clark, with art by Carlos Pino and another great cover by Kennedy.
“Old Dogs” draws inspiration from a real life covert mission run by the RAF during the Falklands War that has only come to light in recent years. Operation Folklore was a clandestine series of reconnaissance flights where British aviators and unarmed PR9 Canberra photo-recon planes were secretly deployed to airfields in Chile, from where they could overfly the Falklands and report on the positions of the Argentinian invasion force. To conceal their presence, the RAF Canberras were repainted in the colours of the Chilean air force, the Fuerza Aérea de Chile. The story also has a bit of my own Commando comics continuity in it – the character of cocky Harrier jump-jet pilot Ryan Cross is the grandson of Aiden Cross, the pilot of the World War II Wellington bomber central to the plot of my previous story “J-For-Judas“.
I would be remiss if I didn’t give a tip of the wings to author Rowland White, for his detailed article in Aeroplane Magazine and his excellent book Harrier 809 talking about Operation Folklore in greater depth – both are great reads and highly recommended for anyone interested in stories of modern military aviation.
For more about “Old Dogs”, follow this link or go here to visit the official Commando website. You can also check out details of the other Commando stories I’ve written here.
