Battling Britons Summer Special

by Justin Marriott, James Bacon, Jim O'Brien

Hit the Beach! With a full-colour Summer Special of the fanzine for readers and collectors of vintage British war comics. Articles include Summer Special Memories, Rat Pack Meets Major Eazy, Native Americans in War Comics, Pulp Fiction Authors in War Comics, and the bizarre connection between Ice Lollies and Comics! Plus reviews of pocket books and collector profile.

Paperback

Published July 14, 2022

Reviews

[C. John Kerry]

Not sure why they decided to have a summer special but since the comics that they focus on had them I guess it makes sense. There are a few differences between the regular issues and this special. First off the book is bigger, at least in terms of width and height. At the same time it is considerably thinner, running only to fifty pages. The other main difference is the heavy use of colour inside. This means that we get to see a lot of the covers in colour which is a nice change from the usual black and white. The interior paper also might be of a better quality, though I can't be sure on that. I suspect it is though, due to the use of colour.
Given all that the contents are pretty much the same. There is the usual mix of articles and reviews. Mind you, there are fewer reviews than in a regular volume. The article take an unusual turn at times. For instance there is one on ice lollies. Not sure what those are but they sound like popsicles or perhaps creamsicles, maybe both. Why can't the English speak Canadian. Certainly the range of topics isn't limited to war comics. Still given the dearth of material on British comics, at least over here, this is not something to bemoan.
In short, an nice little volume. If you have an interest in British comics than this probably should be on your bookshelves. Happy reading.