War comics were big business for the UK in the sixties and seventies but all but disappeared until a small team of enthusiasts saved them and they are now on show in York

Many of them depicted full battles and therefore were an historical record of the First and Second World Wars. Sadly, many of them and their remarkable artwork were consigned to the bin when the genre dipped in popularity at the end of the Seventies. But a dedicated team of comic collectors and researchers at Rebellion Publishing have tracked down the surviving pieces and the results are shown in an exhibition telling the story of the British war comic currently at York Army Museum.

“Britain has been publishing comics continuously for over 130 years. During that time, conflict has remained a staple of comic book storytelling and by the 1960s and 1970s war stories were the most popular genre,” explains Rebellion’s Head of Publishing Ben Smith.

“But British comics boomed and then busted in the late Nineties and the glorious history that had taken a century to build was put in mothballs.

"The owners of the various archives didn’t make that work available so consequently the story disappeared and at Rebellion, which has been publishing 2000AD the Home of Judge Dredd for 25 years, we realised that if we didn’t go out and acquire the rights and the catalogue and ownership of these comic archives the story and the history of British comics was going to be lost.”

They founded the Treasury of British Comics in 2018 to conserve, curate and present the history of British comics.

“This exhibition is a wonderful example of that,” says Smith.

“It tells the story of war comics across a century we go from the real boom in the Fifties, Sixties and Seventies and then individual stories about what made those comics interesting to people at the time and into the present day.

“War comics are an extraordinary story in themselves – they demonstrate the real flowering of the British comic book industry. In the Fifties, comics were all about Westerns, cowboys and Indians and then Robin Hood – the classic stories really. And then Eagle came along and science fiction became popular. ”

Smith says it took 10 years after the end of the Second World War for veterans to actually start to tell their stories.

“In the Fifties there was a generation of 18-year-olds who were going into National Service but they hadn’t been in the war. A lot of them may not have been big readers of books but they were reading comics and a lot of the success of comics at this time was in these 64-page complete story format of the genre. They were retelling full battles, and many of them were very gung ho.”

By the early 1960s, Britain was publishing more comics than any other country: dozens were coming out every week and they were selling in their hundreds of thousands.

“War comics were a massive part of that. Because there were so many comics being published, the British comic book industry was truly international attracting artists from around the globe from Argentina to Italy.”

Featuring original comic artwork Into Battle: The Art of British War Comics is the story of war comics decade by decade.

From satirical comic strips and patriotic illustrated story papers of 19th century and early 20th century, to the revolutionary comics of the 1970s, which presented much more gritty, authentic and emotionally-charged stories.

Drawing on Rebellion’s extensive archives, the exhibition features artwork from the very best of British comics – taking in spectacular covers and action-packed panels from the War Picture Library, Battle Picture Weekly and Battle Action.

“In the exhibition we talk about the changes that go through war comics the storytellers – the veterans – and then as we go through into the Seventies war comics have become more juvenile, less realistic, and less interesting – very much a genre that’s going stale. But then in the mid Seventies there’s a revolution in British comics. With television series like the Sweeney, comics get mean and gritty and war comics get relaunched.," says Smith.

War Lord and Battle Action – ‘the DC and Marvel of the UK’ – were a new generation of gritty story tellers and artists.

“They weren’t written or illustrated by people who had experienced the war – they were children in the war or even born after it so they have a much more anti war ethos. Suddenly the war stories are much grittier – still action led .”

Rebellion has recently revived with the work of renowned comic writers and artists such as Garth Ennis (Preacher, The Boys), Keith Burns (Commando Comics, Johnny Red) and Dab Abnett (Warhammer 40k, Marvel Comics) features heavily throughout.

“The comic, which was known as Battle Picture Weekly before merging with Action comics in 1977, notably featured the series Charley’s War by Pat Mills and Jo Colquhoun, regarded as one of the greatest war – or anti war – comics of all time,” says Smith.

“Unlike a lot of the war comics, Charley’s War is about the First World War. Following its working-class hero from recruit in 1914 through almost every major event of the war, the strip sees Charley lose friends in battle, portraying the human cost of war through the eyes of an ordinary soldier. It ran for six years and has been in print repeatedly over the last 45 years. Its the peak of what the war comic was.”

Curator at the York Army Museum Graeme Green said: “'It has been both a privilege and a delight to bring the 'Into Battle' The Art of British War Comics' exhibition to the York Army Museum.

“The subject matter is the colourful comic books which invited generations of children, and adults to access the 'experiences' of their family members who went to war. Navy, Army and Air Force are all represented displaying courage, loyalty, compassion and professionalism as they do their duty. All traits manifested in their tight lipped grandfathers, fathers and uncles.

"And while the likes of John Mills, Richard Todd, Jack Hawkins and others, told similar stories on the silver screen, the longevity and accessibility of the comic characters delivered continuity and empathy. Each edition being eagerly anticipated by the reader who immersed themselves inside the turret, trench and cockpit with their comic hero.

“The real comic heroes were the artists who created the characters and brought them to life in graphic detail. Lines of anguish, fear and laughter sculptured with finesse and detail filled the imagination of the reader. Later colour print brought another layer of insight into the black and white dominated films and documentaries of the day.

“Ultimately the exhibition is one of nostalgia, for an audience that didn't go to war but were there through the art of outstanding artists whose talent is now being recognised in this vibrant and innovative exhibition.”

And it seem the exhibition is already proving a massive hit with visitors young and old coming from as far afield as London and Scotland to see it and footfall up 25 per cent as a result.

Into Battle: The Art of British War Comics is at York Army Museum, 3 Tower Street, York, YO1 9SB until November 17