Filed under: 9 stars, Cam Kennedy, Carlos Ezquerra, Eric Bradbury, Gerry Finley Day, Joe Colquhoun, John Wagner, Mike Western, Pat Mills
I never read “Battle” when I was a kid and read their rival “Warlord” instead. It looks like I really missed out on some great stories and this book provides a taste of what I missed. I enjoyed all the stories in this book and they capture the cream of British war comics admirably. The Black and white artwork is excellent throughout and even the B/W printed versions of the color strips look good. The only strip that I had read before was pat Mill’s excellent “Charley’s War”.
My only real criticism is that because they included so many different stories it meant that all you got was a short taster of each. It was annoying for instance that theyonly included 3 out of 6 episodes of “Hold Hill 109”. I hope they will produce some “Complete” versions in the future.
Included in this collection:
- “D-Day Dawson” written by Gerry Finley Day and Ron Carpenter with art by Colin page.
- “Day of The Eagle” written by Eric Hebden with art by Pat Wright.
- “The Bootneck Boy” written by Gerry Finley Day and Ian MacDonald with art by Giralt.
- “Rat Pack” written written by Gerry Finley Day with art by Carlos Ezquerra.
- “Major Easy” written by Alan Hebden with art by Carlos Ezquerra.
- “Fighter From the Sky” written by Gerry Finley Day with art by Geoff Campion.
- “Hold Hill 109″ written by Steve MacManus” with art by Jim Watson.
- “Darkies Mob” written by John Wagner with art by Mike Western.
- “Panzer G-Man” written by Gerry Finley Day with art by Geoff Campion.
- “Johnny Red” written by Tom Tully with art by Joe Colquhoun.
- “Joe Two Beans” written by John Wagner and art by Eric Bradbury.
- “The Sarge” written by Gerry Finley Day with art by Mike Western
- “The Early Adventures of Hellman of Hammer Force” written by Gerry Finley Day with art by Mike Western.
- “Crazy Keller” written by Alan Hebden with art by Eric Bradbury.
- The General Dies At Dawn” written by Gerry Finley Day with art by John Cooper.
- “Charley’s war” written by Pat Mills with art by Joe Colquhoun.
- “Fighting Mann” written by Alan Hebden with art by Cam Kennedy.
- “Death Squad” written by Mark Andrew with art by Eric Bradbury.
This book is highly recommended as an introduction to the golden era of British war comics. [ISBN-13: 978-1848560253]. 9/10
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One Mad Dog 
Thanks for posting not only your review of this book but a listing of what is collected (along with credits). I’ve been looking for something like this. I’ve heard nothing but good things about Battle and am anxious to pick up a copy. I’ve known about Charley’s War for sometime, but again, I’ve never picked any collections up.
Comment by Chris Marshall September 17, 2010 @ 6:10 am