Battle Picture Weekly

Battle Picture Weekly, at various time also known as Battle Action Force, Battle and Battle with Storm Force, was a British war comic published by IPC Magazines from (issues dates) 8 March 1975 to 23 January 1988, when it merged with Eagle. Most stories were set in World War II, with some based on other conflicts.

A notable feature of the comic, suited to its era of circulation, was its letters page with readers sending in stories of their fathers' and grandfathers' exploits during World War I and World War II, often in an effort to win a nominal "star letter" prize. The comic at various times printed colour pinups of tanks, planes, ships, etc. in the centrefold or the back page (inner or outer).

Publication history
In 1974, in response to the success of the D. C. Thomson & Co. Ltd war comic Warlord, IPC hired freelance writers Pat Mills and John Wagner to develop a rival title. Mills and Wagner brought in fellow freelancer Gerry Finley-Day to help develop stories. Dave Hunt was made Editor. Doug Church also was very involved as a 'Creative Editor' on covers, layouts, features. When the title proved a success, Mills went on to create Action and 2000 AD, while Wagner was asked to revive Valiant. The attempts to breathe new life into Valiant were unsuccessful, and it was merged with Battle in October 1976. For some time afterwards the merged comic was entitled Battle Picture Weekly and Valiant. Action also merged with Battle on 19 November 1977, the resulting comic being named Battle Action. In 1979, Terry Magee was made Editor while Dave Hunt became Editor of the new "Eagle". Barrie Tomlinson was the Group Editor and Gil Page was the Managing Editor. The Director of the Youth Group was John Sanders. In 1982 the comic was retitled again, to Battle. Assistant Editor(for most of Battle comic's life): Jim Storrie Art Editors included Roy Stedall-Humphrys and Peter Downer Editorial Assistants included Barrie Clements, Roy Preston, Richard Burton Art assistants: Tim Skomski, Martin Goldring The details are:
 * Battle Picture Weekly (8 March 1975 [issue #1] – 16 October 1976 [issue #86])
 * Battle Picture Weekly and Valiant (23 October 1976 [issue #87] – 1 October 1977 [issue #135])
 * Battle Picture Weekly (8 October 1977 [issue #136] – 11 November 1977 [issue #141])
 * Battle-Action (19 November 1977 [issue #142] – 1 July 1978 [issue#175])
 * Battle Action (8 July 1978 [issue #176] – 4 October 1980 [issue#283]) : indicia still reads Battle-Action
 * Battle Action (11 October 1980 [issue #284] – 20 February 1982) : indicia now reads Battle Action
 * Battle (27 February 1982 – 1 October 1983)
 * Battle Action Force (8 October 1983 – 29 November 1986)
 * Battle (6 December 1986 – 17 January 1987)
 * Battle Storm Force (24 January 1987 – 23 January 1988)

Tie-in with Action Force
From 1983 through to 1986, the comic ran a series of stories relating to the Palitoy range of Action figures, Action Force.

The Action Force characters initially guest-featured in a comic strip serial in Battle for four weeks in July 1983. The strip proved to be so popular that a further five promotional mini-comics were included free with every IPC publication in the weeks to follow. On 8 October 1983 Action Force joined the pages of Battle full-time and the comic was retitled Battle Action Force.

Eventually, in line with the increasing popularity of the toys, the focus of the comic moved towards Action Force (at the expense of some of the longer-running and more traditional wartime stories) and providing the back-stories to the action figures in circulation at the time.

During 1984 to 1985, Palitoy increasingly used the comic as a promotional publication, running competitions, mail-in offers and fan-club elements of the Action Force toy range through its pages. As Action Force itself transmuted to its G.I. Joe equivalent (see Action Force – Third generation), the comic took on the role of providing continuity with regard to the diverging storylines and characters. By the end of 1986, Palitoy had lost the Action Force licence to Marvel UK and the comic was again re-titled first as Battle (1986) and then Battle with Storm Force (1987) prior to its eventual merger with Eagle (1988).

Notable stories
Notable stories included: Cooley's Gun by Gerry Finley-Day and Geoff Campion Kommando King by Gerry Finley-Day and Geoff Campion War Dog by Alan Hebden and Mike Western and later Cam Kennedy Death Squad by Alan Hebden and Eric Bradbury(bunch of German no-hopers on the Eastern Front) Fighting Mann by Alan Hebden and Cam Kennedy(Vietnam war) The Commando They Didn't Want by John Richard and Carlos Pino The Nightmare by John Richard and Mario Capaldi and later Carlos Pino(boy of the Blitz pursued by Nazi assassin) Invasion 1984 by John Wagner and Eric Bradbury(aliens from outer space) Invasion! by John Richard and Jim Watson(Falklands war) The Hunters by John Richard and Carlos Pino and later by Geoff Campion(secret agents)
 * Rat Pack, written by Finley-Day and initially drawn by Spanish artist Carlos Ezquerra, about a group of convicts released from prison to carry out suicide missions, inspired by The Dirty Dozen.
 * Major Eazy, by Alan Hebden and Ezquerra, a laid back, cigar-smoking British officer who drove a Bentley, visually based on James Coburn. For a time Major Eazy became the commander of Rat Pack.
 * Darkie's Mob, by Wagner and Mike Western, a violent series set in the jungles of Burma, with the renegade Captain Joe Darkie leading a group of lost soldiers in a personal guerrilla war against the Japanese.
 * Johnny Red, written by Tom Tully and drawn initially by Joe Colquhoun, later by John Cooper, about a British fighter pilot Johnny 'Red' Redburn flying for the Russians. Later Redburn flies with the RAF and USAAF in England, before returning to the Eastern Front in a Hawker Typhoon nicknamed The Red Death.
 * El Mestizo, by Hebden and Ezquerra, about a former slave turned mercenary in the American Civil War.
 * Hellman of Hammer Force, written by Finley-Day, starring a German tank commander.
 * Charley's War, by Mills and Colquhoun, a First World War story set in the trenches of the Somme.

Garth Ennis has stated that Battle was "one of my favourites as a kid and a big influence on my own work. I used to enjoy Darkie's Mob, Crazy Keller, Hellman, Cooley's Gun, the later Rat Pack stories, Death Squad, The Sarge... the list is endless" and he wrote a letter to the comic pointing out an error in tank identification.

Collected editions
Some of the stories are being collected into trade paperbacks by Titan Books:
 * The Best of Battle: Volume 1 (288 pages, June 2009, ISBN 1-84856-025-7)
 * The Best of Land Battle (288 pages, September 2010, ISBN 1-84856-731-6)

Charley's War has been reprinted in a collection of hardcover volumes by Titan. Then in 2010, they are also making more hardcover collections available including:
 * Rat Pack: Volume 1 (128 pages, September 2010, ISBN 1-84856-035-4)
 * Major Eazy: Volume 1 (120 pages, November 2010, ISBN 1-84856-441-4)
 * Johnny Red: Falcons' First Flight (128 pages, November 2010, ISBN 1-84856-033-8)
 * Darkie's Mob (112 pages, April 2011, ISBN 1-84856-442-2)

From 1 April 2009, Egmont UK (who now own the rights to Battle picture strips) in conjunction with W H Smith announced 4 special reprint collections from their stable, including a collection of Battle strips. This is expected to retail at £3.99. (The other collections are Roy of the Rovers, Misty and Buster).