EXTRACTS: The Art of Commando (illustrators special) © 2019 The Book Palace (144 PAGES in Full edition)

9 the idea to fruition was to establish a team of artists and writers able to supply the necessary material on time and within budget. His task was made easier by the amount of in-house talent that DC Thomson had available, the sheer volume of newspapers and periodicals that they produced ensured that they had a breadth of writing and artistic talent available for such a task. The covers, which were the most immediate selling point of the series were assigned to Ken Barr. A pugnacious and independent individual, his service in the army and study of martial arts informed much of his art, as did his love of Americana. His covers had more than a hint of the US Pulps about them, something which Checkley’s US slang informed titles, such as ‘A Guy Needs Guts’, seemed to pick up on. It was Barr who designed the cover banner with its characteristic dagger logo. He also supplied the stylish vignettes which decorated the story teasers on the back of the wraparound covers. But beyond the punchy logo and catchy titles it was the power of Barr’s paintings,—a world of buggin' eyes, clenched jaws, gritted teeth, steely sinews, blazing guns, Nazi regalia and enough tungsten lighting to sear your retinas that embodied the essence of Commando comics and made them so