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19 March 2024

UPDATED: Keith Burns covers for Commando

I first came across Keith Burns art when he illustrated the Titan comics Johnny Red series, since then he's just started illustrating Commando covers and the covers are fantastic. Here are the covers he's done so far...

Commando 5209 - American avenger

Commando 5215 - a matter of honour

Commando 5229 - shadow in the storm!

Commando 5241 - steel inferno

Commando 5251 - Radar raiders

Commando 5259 - Braddock


Commando 5267 - Braddock demons

Commando 5289 - the Wombat and the Tiger

Commando 5297 - fog of war

Commando 5299 - Sladen's promise

Commando 5307 - Stealing Stukas

Commando 5315 - Ironhide

Commando 5329 - Blitzkrieg west

Commando 5335 - Durand's Dunkirk

Commando 5337 - Dodger's Dunkirk

This issue is interconnected with issue 5337 Durand's Dunkirk but told from the perspective of the British fighting to stop their retreat.

Commando 5353 - Outgunned!


Commando 5355 - Bullseye Bruno

Commando 5377 - Third time lucky

Commando 5385 - The flying emu


Commando 5395 - HMAS Expendable

Commando 5411 - Ready for Anything!

Commando 5417 - The girls on the guns

Commando 5448 - Die-or walk!
Check out the third of our nine 60th Anniversary specials Issue 5448 Die — or Walk! Former editor Calum Laird's sequel to Commando Issue 1 Walk — or Die! has the table turned with the Brit carrying the Jerry!

Commando 5463 - Target Tomcat

Commando 5481 - Vengeance

Commando 5497 - Pearl Harbor

Commando 5511 - Escape from Java

Commando 5525 - Sink the Shokaku!
published March 15th 2022

Commando 5547 - Stay behind squad
published June 9th 2022

Commando 5559 - Wild weasel!
to be published July 21st 2022

Commando 5607 - Combat air patrol

Commando 5619 - Achtung, destroyer!

Commando 5641 - Sink the Tiger
The unthinkable has happened —HMAS Tiger has been captured by the Japanese and is being used to create havoc amongst allied shipping! The Australian Navy’s most experienced destroyer commander, John Griffin, is called in to solve the problem, his orders: “SINK THE TIGER!”

Keith's design roughs for Commando 5641

Commando 5671 - Dutch courage

Commando 5677 - Hell on high
They called Lieutenant Robert Lloyd a coward for flying out of formation in his B-17 and blamed him for the death of his crew. He was demoted to co-pilot in another outfit but his new pilot wasn't going to listen to a coward’s advice on flying!

Commando 5687 - Beneath
When the Nazis thundered over Europe, they did not know what horror lay beneath, hungry from the last war. It had tasted human-flesh and it craved more…

Commando 5711 - 3 Company
Three's certainly company with this lot! A soldier, a sailor, and a pilot find themselves stranded on the Dunkirk beaches each blaming the other for their predicament. But they'd soon after to work together to escape the clutches of the Nazis!

Commando 5715 - Steer into danger
The salty seadogs are back for another oceanic adventure in the Pacific as the experienced skippers of HMAS Tiger and HMAS Wombat take on deadly Japanese Cruisers!

Commando 5731 - Leg before Chindits
Major Charles Beevor and his depleted group of Chindits were deep into the jungles of Burma. Cut off by the Japanese, they were out for six and would not stop until the Japanese threat was bowled over!

18 March 2024

Will Eisner in Hackney - FINAL WEEK

Just a quick shout-out for this exhibition (postponed from the Autumn) that is now in its final week pen at the Jam bookshop in Hackney. 

The shop is open Thursday 12-6, Saturday 12-5 and Sunday 12-4

17 March 2024

UPDATED: Artist sketchbooks

I've enjoyed looking at the various programmes that have been produced to support all sorts of comic conventions over the years - one of the highlights for me in attending such a show is to meet the artists and to (just maybe) come away with an example of their art. If you can't afford a piece of original artwork then maybe a sketchbook from them is the next best thing? I've looked at many of these sketchbooks individually but I thought it was worth bringing all these posts together - and adding a few new images in too. Enjoy!


Updated: now with sketchbook by Dave Taylor (produced back in 2014). A4 sized, full colour throughout, 52 pages. Plenty of examples of his work on Judge Dredd universe work, Batman and sketches showing his love of the work of Moebius. Worth tracking down.

This Ant Williams sketchbook...check out his website here

This Alan Davis sketchbook
it's described thus... a large size sketchbook of preliminary/unreleased/final art to covers/commissions Alan has done over the last decade or so.

I've looked at the sketchbooks of Simon Bisley before (here) and I see there are some new sketchbooks to buy, here they are...

The current sketchbook (dated 2021) is for sale here

Warning these links may have expired...

This edition (limited run of 700 copies) is available here for $40 but hurry, there aren't many left

This version (limited edition of 150 copies) is available here for $50 but hurry, there aren't many left

This version (limited edition of 150 copies) is available here for $175 but hurry, there aren't many left


Previous Bisley sketchbooks...

Simon Bisley sketchbook - 2018, 64 pages, limited edition of 400 copies



Simon Bisley sketchbook - 2018, 64 pages, limited edition of 100 copies


There also seems to have been this version too...


Simon Bisley sketchbook - 2008, 32 pages, limited edition of 1000 copies

All previous mention of Simon's work can be found on the blog here

Glenn Fabry sketchbook 1
I looked in more detail at this sketchbook here and here

Glenn Fabry sketchbook 2

Glenn Fabry sketchbook 3
I've looked at Glenn's work a few times on the blog - check out all the posts here

New addition to this post - The artbook of Glenn Fabry - limited to 100 copies and with an original retail price of 100 euro



Also new for this posting - Monograph by Glenn Fabry




Duncan Fegredo

David Millgate
Art from Sinister Dexter co-creator and Judge Dredd artist. This high quality 48 page A4 art-book, featuring concept art, sketches, 2000AD art, pencil, colour and inked work, produced with permission from 2000AD.

The first print run was just 100 copies, retailing at £14.99 plus postage (£3.00 UK), it was initially on sale at ICE Comic Con in Birmingham on 9th September 2017.
Or you can STILL pre-order a signed copy via Baden James Mellonie via Paypal badenmellonie@hotmail.com (for £17.99 UK, please ask about non-UK postage before ordering) or contact Baden on Twitter @MelMellonie

Frank Quitely

widely available - 128 pages, the Amazon blurb says

With three decades of comic art behind Frank Quitely, Drawings + Sketches selects work from Jupiter's Legacy, Jupiter's Circle, WE3, Pax Americana and more offering insights into the stories and processes behind them. Comics were invented in Glasgow. It is fitting then that Glasgow should be home to Frank Quitely, known worldwide for drawing Batman, Superman and X-Men. A standalone beautiful and inspiring art book, a must-have for any fan or aspiring comics creator.

John Higgins sketchbook
I didn't get this from an actual comic convention in Moscow, instead I got it at the 2000AD 40th birthday event in 2017, A5 sized, 44 pages

Chris Weston sketchbook, US comic book size, 40 pages, colour plus black & white illustrations

rear cover...
I looked here at this sketchbook in some more detail 

Boo Cook sketchbook - A5 sized
As it says inside "...sketches from 32 sketchbooks over 27 years"


Graeme Neil Reid sketchbook (2010), US comic sized, 28 illustrations
limited edition of 30 copies

Graeme Neil Reid sketchbook (2008), US comic sized, 28 illustrations

Graeme Neil Reid sketchbook (2012), US comic sized, 28 illustrations



Gary Erskine sketchbook, A4 sized, 60 pages, colour 

Which was then reprinted (and enlarged) and looks like this...
You can buy it here

Cam Kennedy sketchbook 1

Cam Kennedy sketchbook 2
I looked at these sketchbooks in more detail here

Brian Bolland sketchbook
Only 500 printed (according to the seller on ebay where I've swiped this image from)

Staz Johnson
You can buy this here

These two I picked up at the recent Lawless convention - sketchbooks by D'emon D'raughtsman D'Israeli 


All sketchbooks can be found on the blog here