UPDATED: Something wicked - FutureQuake

A recent email from ebay highlighted to me that I'd never covered the Something Wicked anthology series here on the blog. I missed the series when it came out originally and the wikipedia page (here) is a bit light on some of the details so I'd be delighted if any could help me out with any more details about the series. I'd particularly love to know how long it lasted (plus details on cover artists and contributors would also be very useful). 

Thanks to John Freeman who has helped me out with my request for more info on Something Wicked...

Issue #1

• A Portrait of Perdition (writer) Al Ewing, (art) Flint Hasbudak
• Blood Money (writer/Art) Christine Harper
• By the Pricking of My Thumbs (Writer) Ed Berridge, (Art) Keith Burns Reprinted in Meg 244 (May 2006)
• Chalky (Writer) Ed Berridge, (Art) Dom Reardon
• Dark Rider, Pale Horse Writers) Cullen Bunn & Shaun Lee, (Art) Johnny Mcmonagle
• Dry Bone Gumbo (Writers) Ed Berridge & Richmond Clements, (Art) Bryan Coyle
• From Beyond the Grave: Comics From Hell (Writer) Ed Berridge ,Text feature
• Never Talk to Strangers (Writer) Richmond Clements, (Art) Ed Traquino
• Night Thoughts (Writer) Ed Berridge (Art) Brian Janchez
• On the Prowl (Writer) Mark Woodland (Art) Bryan Coyle
• Serpent's Tale (Writer) Ed Berridge, (Art) Bolt-01& Dan Evans (Originally presented as bookends to the comic)
• Step Right Up (Writer) Cavan Scott (Art) Dunk! Nimmo
• The Other Side (Writer / Art) Adrian Bamforth
• The Painting (Writer) Arthur Wyatt (Art) Vicky Stonebridge
• Tides & Currents (Writer) Paul Scott (Art) Julia Bax

Issue #2

• Big If (Writer) Al Ewing (Art) Paul Carter
• Fun Factory Writer: Christopher Thomas, Art: Steven Denton
• Gifts (writer) Lee Robson, (art) Dunk! Nimmo
• Granny Hood Writer/Art: Dean McDowell
• Marius Writer: Chris Chapman, Art: James McEwan
• One Way or Another Writer: Nick Andreychuk, Art: Tim Twelves
• Retail is Hell Writer: Dan Hill, Art: Brett Buckle
• Sugar Writer: James Mackay, Art: Gibson Quarter
• The Docks Writer/Art: Graham Plowman
• The Hunting Party Writer: Ed Berridge, Art: Keith Burns

Issue #3

• The Beast Within Writer: Mark Woodland Art: Bolt-01
• Shouldn't Have Asked Writer: Nick Andreychuck Art: Chris Fenoglio
• The Twist Writer: Robert Murphy Art: Paul Carter
• Withdrawal Writer: Scott Clements Art: James Feist
• War Diaries Writer: Terry Stock Art: Charles Paul Wilson & Steve Talaba
• The Hidden monster Writer: Ben Womack Art: Vicky Stonebridge
• Dead Air Writer: Alec Worley Art: Lonny Chant
• The Confronter Writer: Kieran Murphy Art: James Fletcher
• Zombigeddon Writer: Dave Roberts Art: Dan Kennedy

Issue #4

• Missing: All the Fun of the Fair (writer) G. Jonarth, (art & letters) , Mark Pexton
• A Spectre Haunting (writer) Alec Robertson, (art & letters) Andrew White
• No Laughing Matter (writer) Dan the Emperor, (art) Steve Denton, (letters) Bolt-01
• Arcadia (writer) Lee Robson, (art) Paul Williams, (letters) Bolt-01
• Beaten Path (writer) John Owens, (art & letters) Neil Roberts
• The Journey (writer) Dan Hill, (art) Chris Fenoglio, (letters) Bolt-01
• A Devil at Cards (writer) Mark Rush, (art) Gibson Quarter, (letters) Bolt-01
• Graveyard Shift (writer) Chris Lynch, (art) John Cahill, (letters) Bolt-01
• The First Time (writer) David Swallow, (art & letters) Victor Moya
• The Kindness of Strangers (writer) Lee Robson, (art) Vicky Stonebridge, (letters) Bolt-01
• Now I Lay Me Down to Die (writer) Nick Andrechuk, (art & letters) Charles Wilson III
• To the Extreme (writer) Rory McConville, (art) Brett Buckle, (letters) Bolt-01

Issue #5

• Bad Static (writer) Martin Hayes, (art) John Cahill, (letters) Bolt-01
• Underworld (writer) Mike Moreci, (art & letters) Keith Burns
• King of the Cats (writer, art & letters) Andy Warner
• Confession (writer) Robert Spalding, (art) Bruce McLaren, (letters) Bolt-01
• The Scientist (writer) William Tennant, (art) Vicky Stonebridge, (letters) Bolt-01
• Knock Knock (writer) John Owens, (art) John Cahill, (letters) Bolt-01
• Key to the Kingdom (writer) Lee Robson, (art & letters) Caroline Parkinson
• Tenure (writer) Luke Borley, (art & letters) , Calum Carr
• If Looks Could Kill (writer) Kevin McHugh, (art & letters), Neil Roberts

Something wicked, 2017, £6.50

cover artist looks like Dan Cornwell to me.

You can check out all other mentions of Dan on the blog here

You can check out all other mentions of FutureQuake on the blog here

Commando - for 360 years

An interesting issue of Commando here - this definitely is not one of the regular issues (issue 1664 is actually entitled The sea devils) instead this slim volume was issued in 2024 to celebrate the 360th anniversary of the UK Commando force. 

Good luck tracking one of these down! 

Thanks to Karl Kennedy for alerting me to the existence of this and to Nick Sparakes for the images

UPDATED: Commando calendars

News that the Commando calendar for 2023 is now on sale right here (for £7.99) gives me an opportunity to update my guide to all the calendars that Commando have produced over the years. Good luck hunting 'em all down.

2023 Commando calendar

2022 Commando calendar

The Commando calendar for 2021 is now available to buy here and it's a 60th anniversary special, with contributions from a variety of artists. Check out these (small, sorry) images they've teased...

art by Carlos Pino, Keith Burns, Ian Kennedy, Ken Barr, Gordon Livingstone, Chaco, Jeff Bevan, Jordi Penalva, Manuel Benet, Tom Foster, Neil Roberts, Graeme Neil Reid, Jose Maria Jorge

...and here are my notes about other Commando calendars...

Looking at my Ian Kennedy calendar the other day made me start wondering about precisely how many Commando calendars there were out there for the collector...

Not published by DC Thomson (but produced under licence from them) this large calendar (it's about twice the size of the Ian Kennedy calendar, above) was the first Commando calendar to be produced. This was sold mainly in bargain bookshops. 

2007's 'The art of Commando' calendar 

By 2009 the licence for producing a calendar had changed hands - covers selection is by Calum Laird (better image now used).

Then there was a good run of 3 years in a row when the calendar came out...

Commando calendar 2012

Commando calendar 2013

Commando calendar 2014

Then a few fallow years until 2018...

Commando calendar 2018

Commando calendar 2019

Commando calendar 2020

While I don't have all the Commando calendars above, here's a calendar that I REALLY wish I'd got at the time...2009 saw two DC Thomson calendars from 'Unique' (the Art of Commando is shown above) and this is the second one....

All my Ian Kennedy references on the blog are here

All my Ken Barr references on the blog are here

All my Keith Burns references on the blog are here

All my Neil Roberts references on the blog are here

All my DC Thomson references on the blog are here

Commando calendar 2022

You can now order the Commando calendar for 2022 here 

Details are as follows...

Pre-order now for delivery in August!

Buy one calendar for £7.99, two for £13.50, four for £23.50 or six for £30.00 - saving over 35%!

Since its first issue in 1961, Commando Comics has brought its readers thrilling tales of heroism, valour, and comradery. Still printing today, and with over 5,400 amazing issues, Commando remains the longest-running British war comic ever! From its debut, Commando has been well regarded for its stunning artwork with subjects spanning land, sea, and air!

This collection of covers features a mixture of pieces curated by Commando’s Designer Grant Wood, that range from the Classic Golden Era of the comic to modern day masterpieces. Included are 17 covers by some of the world’s greatest ever comic artists as well as a special double page-spread pull-out poster! Get ready to jump into action each month with this calendar, collecting some of the best covers from Commando’s archives, featuring artwork by Ian Kennedy, Neil Roberts, Keith Burns, and many more!

If you use the code SAVE15 you'll get 15% off (until 11th July)

The rest of the Commando calendars are here

All my Ian Kennedy references on the blog are here

All my Ken Barr references on the blog are here

All my Keith Burns references on the blog are here

All my Neil Roberts references on the blog are here

All my DC Thomson references on the blog are here

UPDATED: Commando calendars

The Commando calendar for 2021 is now available to buy here and it's a 60th anniversary special, with contributions from a variety of artists. Check out these (small, sorry) images they've teased...

art by Carlos Pino, Keith Burns, Ian Kennedy, Ken Barr, Gordon Livingstone, Chaco, Jeff Bevan, Jordi Penalva, Manuel Benet, Tom Foster, Neil Roberts, Graeme Neil Reid, Jose Maria Jorge

...and here are my notes about other Commando calendars...

Looking at my Ian Kennedy calendar the other day made me start wondering about precisely how many Commando calendars there were out there for the collector...

Updates are shown in red

Not published by DC Thomson (but produced under licence from them) this large calendar (it's about twice the size of the Ian Kennedy calendar, above) was the first Commando calendar to be produced. This was sold mainly in bargain bookshops. 

UPDATED: 2007's 'The art of Commando' calendar 

By 2009 the licence for producing a calendar had changed hands - covers selection is by Calum Laird (better image now used).

Then there was a good run of 3 years in a row when the calendar came out...

Commando calendar 2012

Commando calendar 2013

Commando calendar 2014

Then a few fallow years until 2018...

Commando calendar 2018

Commando calendar 2019

Commando calendar 2020

While I don't have all the Commando calendars above, here's a calendar that I REALLY wish I'd got at the time...2009 saw two DC Thomson calendars from 'Unique' (the Art of Commando is shown above) and this is the second one....