new comic

Ever wondered what would happen if the U.S.A's mightiest superteam met the stars of the U.K.'s most miserable soap opera....?

This was originally the cover of Justice League of America #21 (1963) by Mike Sekowsky and Murphy Anderson.

Dot Branning, Ian Beale, Phil Mitchell, Pat Evans, Patrick Trueman and Heather Trott are all drawn by me.

Englishmen shooting Englishmen? Sergeants shooting their own officers? Based on actual events (yeah right!) Seize-and Hold grabs and contains your attention through a well-constructed flashback storyline and some nice crisp artwork.

It all starts with a courtroom drama where Sergeant Curtis stands accused of murdering his own squad in order to save his own life. As evidence is given by each witness in turn the events of that fateful day are disclosed and the truth is eventually revealed. This is a tidy story as each witnesses' evidence builds on the details of the previous witness. There are even a few red herrings thrown in this Battle Picture Library - well as many that can swim around in 64 pages.

Curtis's war turns into one huge guilt trip when he discovers, Lieutenant Welch, his new platoon leader, is the younger brother of the respected but ultimately psychotic and now very dead Captain Welch. Why the guilt trip? Because Curtis blew Captain Welch away in what could be best described as a battlefield gangland shooting, that is to say up close and personal. Curtis of course has no choice but to pull the trigger as the nutso captain was about to embark on a prisoner killing spree. It's not the morality of the situation that worries Curtis. Even though Captain Welch running around shouting "Kill Kill" and then delivering on that promise to the unarmed prisoners is more shocking than concerning. What really worries Curtis is that he and the rest of his men stand a good chance of being captured and then getting the same treatment from the enemy. So hence the reason for gunning down Lieutenant Welch's older brother.

In trying to absolve his guilt, Curtis becomes obsessed with making sure the younger Welch survives the war. This leads to the incident where Curtis stands accused of deliberately placing his squad in harm's way for his own survival.

A pocket war comic worth getting a hold of, if not just for the cover of the paratrooper with the grenade firmly in his grasp, pin clenched between his teeth and gritty determinism in his eyes. Also worth getting to see a British officer being a murderous swine - behaviour that is usually only attributed to the Hun.

For those who take an interest the inarticulate cry Seize-and Hold has quite a number. Among the many interpretations there are AAAGH, AIEEE..., AHGHH!, AAGH!, UGGGH!, and an AAAHHH...




 Everybody deserves a friend.
It was another Thursday evening game night and as usual Barney would always take forever during his turn of Axis and Allies








 That's one really ugly dude in the foreground.
...and I think I got him - but I wasn't sure. So I fired again.
 Caution - Loonie English officer on the loose.












German army experiments in supine levitation are moderately successful.











I just want to make sure that I got them!











You know...despite the death and destruction and explosions and having most of my platoon killed right around me this war thing just isn't doing it for me anymore. 


And a mighty fine AHGHH---.












A strange little panel.
















Dead guys in a field and a short AAGH!
Kiss me you fool. You know you want to and you know I want you too.











What a guy! If I had one like that I'd have it out too.

I saw a trailer for Skyline the other day, this trailer in fact....



I can't really tell if it's going to be any good or not, but it did get me thinking about the new Superman movie.  Imagine a trailer similar to this one.  It starts with a group of ordinary people like you or me, waking up and gradually realising that their lives have changed overnight.  Huge ships are appearing in the sky and abducting people in columns of light.  Metal behemoths are striding across the city, stomping everything in their path and plucking people at random off the street with huge tentacles.   All this is interspersed with news footage and scenes of the alien menace attacking every major city across the globe.  The enemies' faces remains unseen, their motives a mystery.  Panic reigns as people desperately try to flee the cities any way they can.  News readers are weeping, people are kneeling and praying in the street, shops and homes are looted.  Lovers are torn away from each other, parents scream desperately for their children.  All hope is lost.  Amidst all the chaos there is one man slowly walking against the flow of terrified people running for their lives.  His pace quickens, he removes his glasses and the camera closes in as he rips open his shirt to reveal a familiar symbol.  John Williams' Superman Theme begins to play.....

I would love to see Zack Snyder do something like this with his Superman movie.  One of the great things about The Dark Knight is that Christopher Nolan doesn't seem to have set out to make a superhero movie.  He made a crime thriller and stuck Batman and the Joker in it.   We then got to see how the world of the crime thriller was changed by the presence of these two larger than life characters.  I reckon the same could be done with Superman.  Snyder needs to make the best sci-fi/invasion thriller he possibly can, and then stick Superman in it and see how that kind of film is changed by his presence.  At the very least it'll give Superman the chance to face the kind of threat he's never faced before on screen, and give us the chance to see a kind of Superman film we've never seen before.

What do you think?

The Amalgam Age of Comics: B'wana Beast and Beta Ray Bill

1. The comic I’m giving away is used. It will NOT be in mint condition. These things have been around for 40 years or so and have had a hard life.
2. I can change these terms and conditions at any time.
3. Only Followers of Pocket War Comics (pocketwarcomics.blogspot.com) are elligible to win.
4. Only one entry per Follower will be counted.
5. I reserve the right to remove any entry at anytime at my discretion.
6. I will pay for postage only. Customs duty, taxes and other government or government agency charges are the winner’s responsibility.
7. If the postal service loses the comic then that’s a problem.
8. I will not pay for insurance. We can figure something out if you must have insurance.
9. I will need a mailing address in order to post the comic to you. I will only ask for this if you win. If you don’t want to give me those details then I can’t send you anything.
10. I reserve the right to cancel the random draw at any time.
11. If your name is One Lucky Winner you will still need to enter the draw like everybody else.
12. Registration closes at midnight 21 November 2010.