New year, new Commandos! We’re helping you through the January cold by celebrating the legendary art of Jeff Bevan! Four classic issues, each with a magnificent cover from one of Commando’s most popular artists. Issues 5819-5822 go on sale from today. Thursday 16th January 2025!
5819: Born to be Brave
They called him a “headline hero” – a guy always out for glory, a guy who was always getting his photograph in the papers.
Then, on one routine mission, his luck ran out. With his Spitfire riddled with German bullets, he parachuted from a flaming cockpit to the desert sands below. Nothing would ever be quite so glorious for him again…
We start our collection predictably enough with one of Bevan’s first ever Commando covers! All the way back in 1973, the already accomplished artist created this brilliantly evocative desert scene to illustrate RA Montague’s scorching story.
Story: RA Montague
Art: Arias
Cover: Jeff Bevan
5820: India or Bust!
To young Joe Pike and the crew of the Sunderland flying boat, the mission to rescue a British diplomat cut off by the Japanese seemed a routine job.
But then things began to go wrong, badly wrong. And Joe, ambitious and eager to prove his ability to command, grabbed his chance with both hands. Their only hope lay in his courage and determination. It was a matter of…INDIA OR BUST
Yet another explosive cover by Bevan which brings to life a top-hole tale of derring-do from RA Montague! Jeff Bevan might have been known for his ships and boats but he could really put pen to paper when it came to aircraft too!
Story: RA Montague
Art: Marzal
Cover: Jeff Bevan
5821: Man Overboard!
Enemy-infested jungles are unnerving places at the best of times, but when you’ve been washed from the bridge of a submarine, swam several miles to the nearest beach, have no weapons and no food – the situation is ten times more frightening.
That’s precisely what happened to Lieutenant Stan Baker and Able Seaman “Scruffy” Waterman. But even after all that, they were still a bundle of trouble for the Japanese!
Bevan was renowned for his nautical scenes, and his work was often used as a reference for other artists. One look at this particularly stunning example, and you can see why!
Story: RA Montague
Art: Jose Maria Jorge
Cover: Jeff Bevan
5822: Strike Fast – Strike Hard!
Night after night, fierce, no-quarter battles were fought in the narrow waters of the English Channel and the North Sea by small craft of the British and German navies. As Lieutenant Hugh Humbert was to find out, the smallest mistake could have a high toll on ships and men’s lives. The only way to be sure of winning was to strike fast and strike hard!
This is a very special Commando cover from Jeff Bevan. Never before reprinted, this issue from 1993 was the last of Bevan’s covers to be published and you can see why he remains a fan favourite to this day.
Story: CG Walker
Art: Gordon C Livingstone
Cover: Jeff Bevan
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