commando war stories in pictures

When i think back to my childhood and teenage years i remember the beautiful books i used to read including the entire phantom series , tarzan of the apes , amar chitra katha and commando series . All were great reads and not only the entertainment value subconsciously they were inculcating a " value system " on the young minds . These real or imagined  heroes (phantom , tarzan )or heroines (Razia sultana of Amar chitra katha and Rani of Jhansi )  were courageous and were principled . And being a guy and interested in arms and ammunition it was but natural that i had as much interest in war comics . Even though geared for the guys mainly with all the machine gun fire and spitfire aircraft wiping out the entire airfield there was a value system there too and imagination at work

I remember the war story where a guy who was a civilian who used to do petty crime . He had dinner one day at a senior citizens house and he overheard while leaving the daughter of the senior citizen asking her father why people like the petty thief are living happily in this earth while virtuous people like her cousin die in action ( it was world war 2 time ) .  That made him think and he trained and joined the army and fought for his country and later married her .

Then there was the story were a haunted house was there where there was sound of merry making every year on a certain day . Apparently a group of soldiers called the Bakers dozen who were known for their camaderie used to guard the village long time back during world war  . And once they valiantly fought against the invaders inspite of the lack of reinforcements and finally they died in an air -raid . It was thrilling to read when both the villagers , the reader as well as the ghosts (the dead soldiers ) kept in suspense by the writers of this picture comic in the last page when they ask each other " Then what happened ?" .  And the leader of the group Mr baker explained that the reinforcements never came and they were ghosts .And after that realisation the haunting stopped forever .

Unlike in other professions teamwork is vital in military . In " A man afraid "  one person had difficulty pulling trigger in certain circumstances due to PTSD . ( a past military mental trauma ) . And soon enough there came a time when his handicap and fear came in the way of saving the life of his comrades under enemy fire . How the issue is sensitively handled by this battle hardened "men " is the theme of that story  ..

Thinking back now on those comic series as a blogger now i cant but be filled in awe at the imagination as well as the messages they conveyed be it comaderie , friendship ,duty ,courage etc. And yes the spitfires and mausser pistols were enjoyable but amidst the gunfire each story was entertaining beyond compare.)They are still in  production since 1961.)