Commando Presents… The Vietnam Files

Commando Presents… The Vietnam Files— a brand-new graphic novel out now!

The first widely broadcast war in human history, the campaign in Vietnam changed everything. Spanning 20 years, it has gone down as one of recent history’s most controversial wars. But within the fighting, on land and in the air, were heroes on both sides and stories of camaraderie and bravery like no other!

This special edition collects four of the best Commando comics featuring the Vietnam War in stunning black-and-white art. Collating classic Commandos No. 5013, ‘The Hill’, No. 5035, ‘Escape Saigon!’, No. 2753, ‘Air Pirates’, and No. 2842, ‘Carrier Pilot’, this volume is perfect for fans of British comics and military history. Featuring stunning artwork from Manuel Benet, Ian Kennedy and Jose Maria Jorge.

Available on Amazon now!

Rebellion Releases — 16 September 2026

PROG 2500 IS HERE!

It's a landmark issue: 2,500 issues of 2000 AD have been published since it first debuted on shelves in February 1977! To celebrate, we're starting every story inside the issue with a new #1, including the much-anticipated Judge Dredd: The New Future, the sequel to A Better World, by Rob Williams, Arthur Wyatt and Henry Flint! Alongside, we have the start of new stories for Herne & Shuck; Azimuth; Ghosted and vampiric bounty hunter Durham Red, alongside a standalone Thistlebone text story.

All this, and an exclusive Silent Hill: Townfall story from game director Jon McKellan and artist David Roach! It's ONLY available in the pages of 2000 AD!

And that's not all: Judge Dredd Megazine is also out this week, with a brand new story for Dredd called "Rojimbo" by Geoffrey D. Wessel and Nick Roche; as well as new Lawless, a one off Dredd story called "Zomball" - guess what that's about - and the continuing series of both Storm Warning and Rogue Trooper! A packed week - happy 2500th, everyone!

Here are this week's two releases...

2000AD Prog 2500
Cover: Mike Perkins.

JUDGE DREDD // THE NEW FUTURE by Rob Williams & Arthur Wyatt (w) Henry Flint (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
AZIMUTH // HOW TO TRAIN YOUR DAGON by Dan Abnett (w) Tazio Bettin (a) Matt Soffe (c) Rob Steen (l)
SILENT HILL: TOWNFALL // THE DOCK HOUSE by Jon McKellan (w) David Roach (a) Emily Roach (c) Rob Steen (l)
DURHAM RED // HUNGRY CITY by Alec Worley (w) Ben Willsher (a) Simon Bowland (l)
THISTLEBONE // THE WITCHFINDER'S APPRENTICE by T.C. Eglington (w) Simon Davis (a)
GHOSTED // BOOK TWO by Guy Adams (w) Megan Huang (a) Simon Bowland (l)
HERNE & SHUCK // STORMING THE STONE by David Barnett (w) Lee Milmore (a) Quinton Winter (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)

Judge Dredd Megaazine #496
Cover: Anthony Williams.

JUDGE DREDD // ROJIMBO by Geoffrey D. Wessel (w) Nick Roche (a) Pippa Bowland (c) Simon Bowland (l)
STORM WARNING // SLAUGHTER HOUSE by John Reppion (w) Lee Carter (a) Rob Steen (l)
MEGA-CITY 2099 // ZOMBALL by Ken Niemand (w) Conor Boyle (a) Rob Steen (l)
ROGUE TROOPER // AN ITERATION OF ALLIES by Andi Ewington (w) Sinu Senan (a) Jim Boswell (c) Simon Bowland (l)
LAWLESS // STRAY by Dan Abnett (w) Phil Winslade (a) Simon Bowland (l)

Comic Cuts — 11 September 2026

Good news, everybody! The imaginary progress bar attached to the latest Bear Alley Books' title has reached 100%. On Wednesday I sent the files to our printer and should receive a proof copy in 8-10 days, hopefully sooner. I have some proofing to do, but hopefully I've already caught any errors. If everything works out, I should have the book on sale at the Colchester Swap Meet at the Baptist Church on 10 October. I'll be offering the usual advance order discount to everyone who can't make it to the capital of Roman Britain.

I always wait until contracts have been signed before announcing titles, and hopefully that will be done within the next week or so and I'll be able to show off the cover. Then I knuckle down to the second volume of this set which I'm hoping will be out in November. Before Christmas, anyway. The gap just helps me to spread costs a little.

I've had my nose so tightly to the grindstone that I haven't really done anything other than laying out the pages for the new book. There has been one good bit of news: on Saturday, sales of ACTION: THE SEVENPENNY NIGHTMARE suddenly took off. Normally I sell a book or two every day across the whole selection of Bear Alley titles. Between about seven and ten in the evening I sold nine books, eight of them copies of Action. On Sunday I sold another five copies of Action, on Monday two and on Wednesday one.

Now, this was after a bit of a drought on sales of the book, which sold well in its first two months (March/April) and has been steadily selling since, but only at a rate of a couple per week. Someone, somewhere must have mentioned it, but all I can find is one mention on Facebook. I'm not exactly across all social media!

I'm certainly not complaining. I was a bit worried that I was about to run out of copies and had to promptly put in an order with the printer to restock. I need copies for the Swap Meet anyway, but I'm hoping that there might be another little run on the title, as I think it's one of the best things I've written and I'm especially proud of the way it looks as well as the way it reads. Took me ages to design, but it was worth the time and effort, I think. 

Saturday was also the annual Invasion: Colchester, which saw a record crowd packing their way into the town centre like sardines in a tin. After a while it became almost impossible to take photos without someone pushing past you, ducking in front of you (but still managing to ruin a shot), or you ended up simply taking photos of other people's kids. Thanks to Mel, I managed to put together a collection of reasonable photos for the blog on Sunday, which you can find by scrolling down (or clicking here, if you've arrived from Facebook).

Rather than ramble on, I'll post a few random cover scans. I should be able to reveal the title of the new book next week. 

Commando 5991-5994

This week's Commando features a murder mystery on the Korean front lines, and a nerve-wracking tale from the skies of the Cold War. Issues 5991-5994 are on sale today, Thursday September 10th. 

5991: Murder on the 38th Parallel

The devious Captain Jeff Webster thinks he’s gotten away with murder — after all, what’s one more fragged body on the battlefields of North Korea? But he didn’t count on a friendly, tenacious and infuriating military policeman to hound him at every turn. Maybe it’s not as easy as he expected to get away with… Murder on the 38th Parallel.

Story: Dominic Teague
Internal Art: Giovanni Fabiano
Cover Art: Marco Bianchini

5992: Band of Heroes

The two parachutists made their landing safely on the soil of Occupied France. Eagerly, they waited for the welcoming words from the French Resistance. But the first they heard were pure Cockney, and from a middle aged Englishman in First World War uniform! 
    That surprise was only the first of many when fighting alongside Jimmy Robinson and his tough bunch of veterans.

Story: R A Montague
Internal Art: Fleming
Cover Art: Ian Kennedy
First published 1977 as No.1109

5993: Rules of Engagement

In 1951, still bitter from missing action in World War Two, Flight Lieutenant Eric Hewson was flying Gloster Meteor F.8 jets over West Germany when the opportunity to finally see real action with the USAF in Korea arose. That was until the offer was given to his buddy, Flight Lieutenant Nick Greene. 
     When Greene returned to Germany, swaggering with combat stories, tensions rose between the men — but there were bigger threats in the skies than missed glory.

Story: Steve Taylor
Internal Art: Jaume Forns
Cover Art: Neil Roberts

5994: The Tank-Men
 
Sergeant Fred Manning was no stranger to action, and when he was posted to command a Sherman tank in the Allied advance through Germany, he thought his previous experiences would stand him in good stead. But all his fighting had taken place in the battles which had raged across the deserts of North Africa. He would soon learn that this was to be a very different kind of war…

Story: RA Montague
Internal Art: Gordon C Livingstone
Cover Art: Marco Bianchini
First published 1980 as No. 1390

Rebellion Releases — 9 September 2026

The essential Judge Dredd graphic novel series – this is the ultimate introduction to the Lawman of the Future!

The Essential Judge Dredd line returns in March 2027 to celebrate fifty years since the Iconic Lawman first screeched into action on the pages of 2000 AD. Created by John Wagner and Carlos Ezquerra, Judge Dredd is Judge, Jury and Executioner, empowered to deliver on-the-spot sentences to those breaking the Law – even if the sentence is death!

The Essential Judge Dredd collects his greatest stories in self-contained volumes, ideal for first time readers who want to experience the ultimate thrill-rush of life on the streets of Mega-City One. From America to Necropolis; from The Apocalypse War to Judgement Day: these are the best way to step into Dredd’s boots and experience his most awesome adventures.

Essential Judge Dredd: Titan sends the Lawman off-world as he heads to the desolated planet of Titan, home to a Mega-Prison housing the toughest criminals of all: disgraced ex-Judges who have been stripped of their badge for breaking the Law and locked away forever. From the creative team of Rob Williams (Suicide Squad) and Henry Flint (Shakara), Titan is a modern Thriller presented in full colour which never relents as things go from bad to apocalyptic for Dredd!

When he receives a message that something has gone wrong on Titan and they’ve lost contact with the prison-planet, Dredd must team up with SHS Judge Gerhart – who has a personal grudge against Dredd that could wreck the mission before it even begins. A modern classic storyline, Titan spirals gloriously out of control and straight into the storyline Enceladus, which brings disaster to Titan and Mega-City One – and is also included in this volume!

Get the whole story in one easy format – if you want to see Judge Dredd at its most brutal, this is the collection to start with!

Includes the stories:

    Titan
    Fit
    Enceladus: New Life
    Enceladus: Old Life
    Melt

And now, this week's release...

2000AD Prog 2499
Cover: INJ Culbard.

JUDGE DREDD // THE OUBLIETTE by Ken Niemand (w) Dan Cornwell (a) Chris Blythe (c) Annie Parkhouse (l)
FUTURE SHOCK: A SERIAL KILLER ALPHABET by James Lovegrove (w) Paul Marshall (a) Jack Davies (c) Rob Steen (l)
BRINK // THE CALL OF THE VOID by Dan Abnett (w) INJ Culbard (a) Simon Bowland (l)

Invasion Colchester 2026 (5 September 2026)

If this is the first weekend in September, it must be time for Colchester to be invaded by cars, celebrities and cos-players of all ages. It grows every year, raising money for charity and adding a few tens of thousands of feet to the streets of the town centre, which has, frankly, been suffering for years, with some big names (Woolworths, Debenhams, Marks & Spencers, et al) disappearing and small businesses being driven out of business by out-of-town shopping parks. For one day a year that trend is reversed — and hopefully shoppers will remember how many good stores, charity shops, pubs, restaurants and coffee houses there are in the town alongside bigger attractions like the Castle. The shops that remain know how good Invasion Colchester is for business — you only have to look at the support they give on the day.

We arrived nice and early as I wanted to get around the charity shops and buy some socks (life as a high-flying author/publisher is incredibly glamorous). I didn't find much in the way of second-hand books, but at least my footwear isn't so holey now that it could start its own religion.

Starting at 11, by 11.30 trying to get through the crowds was like wading through a tar pit. But between Mel and myself we managed to get a few fun photos. Enjoy!

A huge thanks to Kerrie Williams, who organises this event every year. Here she is, being interviewed ...

Also spotted on the mean streets of Colchester , friend of Bear Alley Books Keith Burns was painting live, with the finished artwork to be auctioned and the money donated to charity.

This was taken just as he was starting. Thankfully, Karl Kennedy (another Invasion Colchester organiser) snapped this shot of the artwork later in the day. He tells me that this is not the finished piece, but Keith will complete it once he gets home.

There were, as always, dozens of cars on display, but you will have seen most of them before. Click on the label below and it will take you back in time to Invasions of years past.