When the Comics Went to War

by Adam Riches, Tim Parker, Robert Frankland

When the Comics Went to War is an expansive, authoritative history of the British war comic book genre, from the first publications to appear in the 1880s to the last new titles to appear in the 1990s. Featuring a wealth of material sourced from the original war comic publishers and from private collectors, this lavishly illustrated book charts the evolution of warfare as children lived through it, relating to actual events such as the Western Front in 1914–18, the rise of the Nazis, the British Empire, the Second World War, the Cold War, and Britain’s police actions around the world. In the late nineteenth century, war comics had such a powerful effect on readers that they were seen to provide ideal recruitment opportunities for the British Army and Navy, inspiring young men to sign up to serve their country. Their popularity grew substantially throughout much of the 20th century, with titles such as Victor, Valiant, and Warlord achieving weekly circulations in excess of two million copies during the 1950s to '70s. While the genre later experienced a sharp decline, that many vintage war comic titles continue to be reprinted in significant numbers today is a testament to their enduring popularity. From Union Jack and Boys of the Empire to Commando, Air Ace and Combat, this unique and nostalgic celebration of war comic books will jog the memories of older readers and introduce the magic of these war stories to a whole new generation.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, War

256 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Pam · Rating 3 out of 5]

When the Comics Went to War is by Adam Riches. This book, like the others, looks at the evolution of comics during the war years. This takes the British war comic book genres from the first publication in the late 1800’s to those printed in the mid 1980’s and looks at their evolution. The book is full of reproductions of many of the comic book features of the time. This makes it almost a historical tour.
Comic books were used for a variety of reasons during a war. They were used as recruitment, especially of those who couldn’t read very well. The short pages help give low readers a chance to really read. A great deal of propaganda was dispersed through the use of comics.
The anecdotes used were outstanding. Many came directly from veterans who actually used them during the war. They showed a great deal of information was able to be sent in a short amount of space. The photographs used were wonderful and were both black and white and colored.
Despite the pluses of the book, I did not particularly like the book. First, I do not like comics so the genre itself wasn’t interesting. Second, they were talking about British comics which I see as quite dull compared to American comics. I just didn’t always get the humor. Someone who liked British comics would probably love the book. I did learn quite a bit about comics, so it wasn’t a lost cause.

[Peveril · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe 3 and a half stars. It fails to be 4 or more for me because although it is fascinating in the early story-papers, and reasonably good on details of publishers and on duration and merger of titles, it is missing information I would have expected;
There is little on the authors of the huge amount of content required by these publications
The move from mainly text to mainly comic stories is unclear and reasons wholly unexplored
The details of this change - how many if each type at any date, numbers of 'mixed ' publications, etc
There is in only fleeting mention of how many publications existed at any given period and their overall circulations - very interesting when given, but not clear enough to get a picture of the 'comic's scene at any time
Lastly, no mention at all of the artists who, especially in the picture stories of the late fifties onwards, were so important to the appreciation and to the success - or not- of titles.

Most attention is given to summarising samples of stories. Often interesting, to see what was being written about and with what attitude, but it does get a bit repetitive.

This is a very good book, but could have been so much more.

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[Kay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another blast from the past and looking at comics from the 18th century onwards regards war stories. As was the ilk way way back they were all written word stories. Comic strips were the norm when I started reading them in the Sixties, the Victor being my favourite. It was a shame that they all died out but that is progress. Having said that you can still buy Commando books but I prefer looking at my many issues from the Sixties and Seventies. For you and me, the war is never over.

Ray Smillie

[Mylesgorton · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting history of war in boys' comics. Gets slightly repetitive towards the end, but generally strong before that.

[Henrik · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a really interesting walkthrough of the evolution of the warstories / comics in Great Britain from before 1900 and up to around the 70's.

Especially the early ones and the very imaginative invasion stories caught my interest. Reading the mock comic book at the end was a nice conclusion that showed the evolution from text to images.