BATTLER BRITTON RETURNS!
Wildstorm
and IPC Media reveal their next UK character revival
First published on Comic
World News on Wednesday, April 12 2006
Battler Britton is the next IPC character to see revival through DC Comics Wildstorm imprint, in a five-issue mini series from writer Garth Ennis, illustrated by Colin Wilson, with painted covers by Garry Leach.
The first issue will go on sale in specialist comic stores from 6 July 2006.
"Battler Britton - England's Fighting Ace of Land, Sea and Air" was an IPC
staple for over 25 years. He debuted in Sun #361 in January 1956, created by writer Mike Butterworth and artist Geoff Campion, then moved over to Knockout in 1960 after Sun folded.
In 1960 and 1961, IPC/Fleetway published two hardback compilations of Battler's
adventures – packaged as Battler's memoirs -- with authorship credited to "Wing
Commander Robert Hereward Britton."
He entered his finest era in the early 1960s, creatively speaking, and began starring in the Air Ace Picture Library and Battle Picture Library digests
-- where his adventures were illustrated by (among others) Hugo Pratt, Francisco
Solano Lopez and – most famously -- Ian Kennedy and Graham Coton.
The five issue Wildstorm is set in at the midpoint of the Second World War, "as
the Nazis rain terror throughout Europe, Allied forces are on the run in North
Africa.
"It's October 1942 and Rommel's Panzers are unrelenting in their pursuit," a promotion for the new title states. "Wing Commander Robert "Battler" Britton
of the RAF and his squadron have been dispatched to an American airstrip to
spearhead a joint action against Hitler's war machine. Now they need to survive
the taunts, the threats, the assaults... and that's just from the Yanks!"
Explanations and Inspirations
So, why Battler Britton? “He was the only character on the list Wildstorm had
bought up that I was interested in," Garth Ennis, one of Britain's most popular
comics writers, reveals. "The rest were all old fifties and sixties characters,
well before my time,” the
writer, perhaps best known for writing Judge Dredd for the UK’s 2000AD, Preacher and Hitman for
DC Comics, continues. “[Editor] Scott Dunbier at Wildstorm showed me the list
and I worked my way down it, thinking -- no, no, huh?, no, never heard of it,
no, no... Battler Britton? Bloody hell, it's Battler Britton! Very pleasant
surprise.
"I used to read Battler as a kid in the Battle and War Picture Library reprints of the earlier Air Ace stuff.
The strip had great artwork by people like Ian Kennedy and Graham Coton,with
a surprisingly hard edge to some of the stories."
"While I didn't know a great deal about the actual Battler character, I was a pretty familiar with the old UK war comics," says
Colin Wilson, whose credits after 25 years in the comics business include Judge Dredd, Tex and Blueberry. "Having
grown up in New Zealand reading the Fleetway stuff, especially War Picture Library and Air Ace.
"It was the art that always interested me most, which was probably why I never
really got into the Commando series, which for some reason I always thought less well drawn.
"A favourite of mine were books drawn by Ian Kennedy," Colin adds, "who, at
least as far as I was concerned, was in a league of his own when it came to
the look and feel of aircraft and flying. Which is why in many ways I am treating
these Battler books that I am currently working on as something of a homage to Ian Kennedy and those original Air Ace stories, several of which I still have. If I can capture some of that, then I'll be very happy.
"Battler is also a chance for me to work with Garth Ennis, which is something
I've wanted to do for a long while."
Garth and Colin happily admit to being British war comics fans. "I love the
Picture Libraries," says Garth, "and
I recall reading things like Victor and Warlord from
time to time. The best war comic of all time, of course, is Battle,
with brilliant stuff like Darkie's Mob, HMS Nightshade, Crazy
Keller, The
General Dies At Dawn and Rat Pack -- especially the later stories
drawn by Eric Bradbury. Charley's War remains unsurpassed, even 25 years
later; the humanity, tragedy and sheer subversion of that story combine to
elevate it well above the rest of the pack.
"My favourite as a kid, mind you, was Johnny Red, which is what I was
actually hoping to find on the Wildstorm list. I don't know who has the rights
to that one nowadays, but Johnny's the one character I'd still drop everything
to write. In the meantime, Battler will
do nicely.”
(Johnny Red and Battle are not owned by IPC Media – Egmont Fleetway
does, and although they seem happy to re-sell material they own in Europe,
appear to have no plans to reprint such classic strips or capitalise on their
ownership).
"Back in those days, for me it was always about the art, and to this day I haven't a clue who wrote any of those stories," says
Colin of war comics. "Air Ace was the series that really got me, probably because of my interest in mechanical things. And the flying of course. I got into that series very early, and I can still remember the first issue to arrive that was held aside for me at the local newsagent -- McGregor's Crew. I think that it was issue No 6, probably drawn by the great Solarno-Lopez.
“Years later when I was publishing my comics fanzine Strips in New Zealand, we ran a story trying to identify some of those original artists, because of course in their day they were never credited. It was interesting to discover just how many of them went on to become very well known in Europe -- Hugo Pratt being the obvious example, but also other guys like Victor de la Fuente and Gino d'Antonio.
"It was also at this stage that I discovered it was Ian Kennedy that drew all
those wonderful flying stories.
Continued Appeal
Despite huge sales for war comics in the past, the market has shrunk in recent
years. "I'd say their appeal has greatly diminished," Garth acknowledges, "largely
because the generation whose parents experienced the Second World War have mostly
moved beyond comics. The conflicts we've had since have either been singularly
uninspiring, like Vietnam, or been fought by the MTV/ Nintendo/internet generation,
for whom comics have less appeal.
"All the same," Garth feels, "there’s a small but steady level of support for
material of this nature -- it's hard to top the drama of a war story, especially
when you realise that things like what they're depicting actually happened, that
people really did this stuff once upon a time."
"What can be more dramatic? A life and death struggle... as a genre it's got everything going for it," Colin adds. "Most
readers also have a general feel for the framework and some of the history, and
so there's no need for a large amount of exposition, you can immediately get
right in there.”
New Projects
Apart from Battler Britton, Garth is keeping busy with several comics projects. "There's The
Tyger, a Punisher special drawn by John Severin, Ghost Rider: Trail of
Tears, a western illustrated by Clayton Crain, four issues of JLA Classified with
art by John McCrea, featuring a flashback to our old Hitman book, and A
Man Called Kev drawn
by Carlos Ezquerra, the last (for now) Kev Hawkins story," he reveals. "I'm also
working on the monthly Punisher title, a Punisher miniseries with John
Romita Jr., Wormwood with Jacen Burrowes, The Midnighter with Chris
Sprouse, a western called Streets of Glory, and something quite special
I'm not really at liberty to mention at the moment.
"Finally, there's The Boys, a new monthly drawn by Darick Robertson, which
is going to be occupying a good deal of my time over the next five years. I'm
loving every minute of that one!"
As for Colin, "At the moment I also have a successful series running in France
- Du Plomb Dans La Tete, written by Mats -- and the third book in this series was published by Casterman in January.
“I'm also talking to [writer] Andy Diggle about a couple of very interesting
projects, as we've been trying to get together on something for years.Doing three
issues for The Losers with Andy last year was fun, and I'm starting to
find more and more interesting possibilities opening up for me in the US market."
(Thanks
to Garth Ennis, Andrew Sumner, Colin Wilson and Wildstorm for their help with
this story).
Web Links
• Colin Wilson: Official Site
• Wildstorm
• British Picture Libraries Site
• Read an interview with Ian Kennedy by Chris Weston on ComicCon.com
• Air Ace Picture Library