Aiiiee! Darkie!

[paulvonscott]

Brutal and really enjoyable.  It's dark stuff, darker than Bad Company and where kano had a kind of invincible cool about him, there's something you about Darkie that makes you hate him, even though he's the main character of the strip.

It's so funny (in a horrible way) when the men realise they are being taken in the wrong direction, right into the heart of jap territory.  What a 24-carat bastard.

I have to say, Time Killer and Darkies Mob were the two best things in the Meg for me this month, though I haven't read any duffers yet in there...

[Mangamax]

Kind of interesting what Pat Mills had to say in the introduction to Slaine about the Leyser guns being a result of a ban on showing what bladed weapons could do.
Didn't know there was such a ban. Why wasn't it mentioned in T.P.O?

[Bolt-01]

I never read Battle. Wish I had now. The art IS superb. 12 panel pages that are still full of detail and atmosphere. The level of detail is outstanding.

The story is very interesting. Early Anti-hero. I'm not scared of the japs, but Darkie worries me.

rotts.

[davidbishop]

"Kind of interesting what Pat Mills had to say in the introduction to Slaine about the Leyser guns being a result of a ban on showing what bladed weapons could do.
Didn't know there was such a ban. Why wasn't it mentioned in T.P.O?"

Can't fit everything in - sorry!

davidbishop

[paulvonscott]

Maybe for the book eh?

I didn't know about the blades ban, I seem to have missed that paragraph when reading the text.  Must have got distracted.

I have to say I think Leysers are a great idea, and it's not like suddenly adding weapons into slaine wholesale, they can only be used above Ley lines are seem to be the exclusive product of this one advanced civilisation.

[Trout]

Well done to our very own Colonel Marbles for such an insightful and entertaining introduction to the reappearance of Darkie's Mob.

One point intruiges me, however, from Alan Barnes' editor's letter at the start of the Meg.

Perhaps he or Marbles or some other fan can clue we more youthful few into exactly what was excised from the reprint.

What racial slurs did it originally include?

- Trout

[paulvonscott]

I think it was probably of the slanty eyed creep and yellow devil type.  Describe them at your (yellow) peril.  I have to say I was looking closely for the chnages ;) and I could only find one bit ehre it said sons of satan I thought there might have been a switch.  Seemlessly done anyway.  DCT continued with slant eyes into the nineties (though those seem to be reprints of eighties ones).

[Marbles]

Thanks Trouty, I was excited but dead nervous about having my intro published - I've never had anything printed before so it was a big deal for me. Anyway I just hope the DM reprints are a  success otherwise I'll look a right twat (well more than usual).
Gordon is right there was  lot of utter tripe published in Battle, but there were a few real gems too.
My only (minor) quibble with the reprint so far is that the art doesn't look so good in places. I guess its difficult having to scan from the actual comic rather than original art, plus making it slightly smaller, but you do lose some of the finer details which can become just a dark blur. Still its wonderful to see it republished after all these years.
I can't remember which insults were omitted in the Meg this issue, but mostly the phrases were along the lines of 'slitty eyed rice-eaters' etc.

[Trout]

It really is a highlight of the Meg, IMO.

Battle was before my time and I'm quite enjoyinig it.

But gentlemen, no-one's been guilty yet but let's remember the SPOILER warnings where necessary.

I know it's a quarter of a century old, but Darkie's mob is new to me and many others...

- Trout

[Queen Firey-Bou]

sorry oh wonderous trout. sniffle faun.

[Wils]

Now that it's finished...

I started off by really enjoying Darkie's Mob but ended up losing interest for some reason. I'm not sure if this was due to the sheer amount in each Meg, or the fact that there were no breaks from it at all. I've no doubt that it's a cracking story, but I sincerely hope that the Charley's War reprints don't have the same effect on me.

[Dudley]

I once saw a film review that argued that there are very few good deliberately right-wing films, because the creative requirement to see the humanity in others is directly inimical to a right wing world view.
Darkie's Mob seems to bear this out, and given the wonderful stories that the writer's given us since, I am very surprised that he apparently still rates this piece of unexciting drivel.  
Please tell me Charlie's War is different?

[Woolly]

I thought DM kinda lost it a little in the middle, where it was repeating itself a bit. just read the last installment in the Meg, and think its brilliant again!

I know its not going to win awards for character or depth, but to think that strips of this quality were being made at the same time as i was astounds me!!

And to think i was brought up on whizzer and chips..... (shakes head in shame!)

[paulvonscott]

Go buy some old issues of Crisis you pinko subversive.

Till the Red Dawn...

Darkies Mob!

[Generally Contrary]

++ I once saw a film review that argued that there are very few good deliberately right-wing films, because the creative requirement to see the humanity in others is directly inimical to a right wing world view. ++

I read something similar - but the writer placed the reason for this trend with the degree of creative collaboration required in film-making.  The article contrasted this with the solitary nature of writing, arguing that a greater proportion of novels displayed a 'right-wing' viewpoint.

Where this places the more limited collaboration of comics I don't know.