George Low (1)

The Commando comics I discovered broke the mould for comic book formats. The editor in the 1950's wanted to add some Australian stories but the formats were different to the British ones. They chose to repackage as a smaller comic book with unspecified page count capabilties which meant that stories could be a lot longer. Apparently, this caused a mini-revolution in the comic book world and these Commando tales were almost more like a short novel than a quick comic.

This collection includes 12 stories about Anzacs, beginning in 1860 with the Maori Wars in New Zealand and going right through to the Vietnam War. Most of the stories are about Australian heroes but I appreciated the few kiwi touches here and there.

Now don't think this will be a quick read. This collection is about 780 pages long and took me quite a few weeks to get through but I did really enjoy the tales, although the word 'cobber' was getting on my nerves towards the end. From what I can tell, these stories are all fictional but you could easily believe that they're based on truth, the Anzacs have long held a reputation for fierce opposition in battle.

If you're interested in military stories and the Anzacs as I am then you will enjoy this one, otherwise, possibly not this compilation but there are still 4 new stories released monthly and the focus is on all battles, modern and ancient so there's bound to be something in there for everyone, especially if you have a son.… (more)