Crow's comment on yesterday's posting regarding just how Patrick Wright's war comics artwork was ever so slightly too real when it came to the dishing out of ultra-violence does remind me of a delightful anecdote he related concerning his tenure on Mike Nelson, one of the most violent World War 2 strips ever devised for eight year olds. As Patrick related, "Battle Action was edited by a lovely man called Dave Hunt who wasn't at all comfortable with working on war comics, his one ambition was to edit Roy of the Rovers. Anyway, I recall being hauled in for a briefing by Gerry Finley Day (the scripter) who turned up late complete with girlfriend wearing the skimpiest of negligees, the couple looking like they had only recently been roused from bed. As I recall the story involved a mad Japanese scientist implanting an explosive device into the skulls of some allied generals, the whole lot being timed to explode simultaneously. The explosion occurred at the start of an episode and required a large splash panel and I do remember putting an awful lot of work into that one.It looked great when it was finished with bits and pieces flying everywhere.I eventually got a phone call from a very dejected Dave Hunt saying, "Patrick, I'm sorry but that jaw bone is just going to have to go."
Here's some more examples of Wright's Commando work and a photograph of the collection of militaria he had amassed at the tender age of seventeen taken by older brother Nicky and modeled by some familiar Geordies. The guns actually fired live rounds in those days - deactivated weaponry being a relatively recent phenomenon in response to increasingly tight gun regulation.
Commando © DC Thomson 2011
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