Battling Britons issue four

'Battling Britons'
Issue 4, November 2022

The UK's Justin Marriott continues to expand his empire of publications ('bookzines') devoted to pop culture ephemera.

A couple of years ago I reviewed 'Battling Britons', Marriott's foray into documenting the war comics published in the UK. A bookzine of the same name now is up to volume two, issue four. 

Like Marriott's other publications, 'Battling Britons' is Print On Demand, which means a copy can be printed in Middletown, Delaware, and delivered to you just a few days after ordering it - no need to wait for airmail delivery from the UK. 

'Battling Britons' issue four (162 pp.) is a 'future war' special, which I find appealing.

The contents of the bookzine are divided into 'Quick Hits', which are two-page summaries of various comic book - related events; Columns from dedicated contributors; and Feature articles. All of these incorporate photographs and scans, rendered in black-and-white, applicable to the material under discussion.

I'd like to think I have some fair degree of familiarity with the British comics scene of the 1970s on up to the present-day, so I found plenty of articles in 'Battling Britons' that were of interest.

For example, Jim O'Brien's 'Hell Drivers and No-Option Contracts' examines the 2000 AD comic 'Invasion !', and how its hero, the combative lorry driver Bill Savage, was derived from the UK character actor Stanley Baker. This, in turn, led me to investigate the noir films from the postwar era that featured Baker as the exemplar of the 'Hard Man' of British popular culture. And an article by Gary Dobbs, titled 'Savage by Name, Savage by Nature', takes an affectionate look at the history of the 'Invasion' franchise

Also entertaining was James Bacon's overview of the 2000 AD franchise, 'Rogue Trooper'.

O'Brien also contributes 'Argentina Invaded !', a six-page overview of the comic strip 'The Eternaut', published in Argentina from 1957 - 1959. 'Eternaut' is considered a classic sci-fi action tale. O'Brien's article reminded me that I have on my bookshelf, covered in dust, the 2015 Fantagraphics hardcover English translation of the entire comic...........! 

Well, 'The Eternaut' now is out of print, so I'm glad I have my copy to hand.

In the closing pages of bookzine, editor Marriott recalls the 1988-1989 six-issue comic book 'The Light and Darkness War', published in the USA by Marvel's Epic imprint. The comic was illustrated by the UK's Cam Kennedy, a veteran of British war comics.

Summing things up, if you're a fan of postwar, Anglophone comic books - and war-themed titles in particular - then you'll probably find some very readable pieces in 'Battling Britons' Issue 4, available from amazon.com for $7.99.