Bear Alley: Battling Britons #5 (June 2023)

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Friday, July 07, 2023

Battling Britons #5 (June 2023)

A somewhat late review, proving definitively that Justin Marriott is publishing issues of his magazines faster than I can read them!

The latest (fifth) issue of Battling Britons swerves slightly from its usual laser focus on war stories to take a look at spy stories of the Seventies. Behind a fine Dredger cover by Bill Cunningham, we have the usual introductory matter from Justin, including updates to previous issues, interviews with fans of war yarns (Andy Yates of the Commando Swapmeets facebook page is the subject this time) and reports of swapmeets and conventions before we get to the meat of the issue.

For me, the issue kicks off nicely with a look at the work of Pat Wright, whose work graced Commando, The Crunch and Battle during the '70s. His distinctive, thin line photo-realistic style will be well-remembered by readers of those comics on strips like 'Hitler Lives' and 'Return of the Eagle'. Rob Williams is interviewed about his current appearance in Rebellion's limited series Battle Action where he's writing 'Major Eazy' and 'Death Squad' for issues 3 and 4 respectively.

Yaroslav Horak is the subject of the first spy-related feature, Horak being the artist on the Daily Express's James Bond strip for many years as well as war strips for comics. The cover star comes in for a solid study in Justin's overview of Dredger, as does Mike Nelson in Paul Trimble's detailed account of the stories featuring Battle's wartime spy, The Eagle. Pete Clark, former editor of Warlord and Bullet has some interesting insights into how Warlord attracted many excellent international artists and some of the odder habits of writers on Bullet.

There's always room for something a little quirkier in Battling Britons and a feature on some of the odder spies to appear in DC Thomson's boys' titles reminds us that for every Peter Flint there was a Spy in the Suitcase or Volts of Vengeance. If that doesn't float your boat, how about a look at how bagpipes have been depicted in comics?

Reviews of aerial comics, comics relating to the Irish War of Independence, and spy comics (as you might expect), mingle with takes on Kev O'Neill's horror comics and Alex Nino's Bishop Fortune. I think its a safe bet to say that there will be something for everyone in the latest issue.

Battling Britons #5
Justin Marriott. ISBN 979-839313191-3, June 2023, 155pp, £6.99. Available via Amazon.