Welcome to strip No.1. It’s all out WAR! – in Switzerland in 1943 (?) I hope you enjoy the adventure as much as me. And, if it resonates with your own childhood memories, I hope you enjoy re-living those adventures too. Did you enjoy playing soldiers too?

History

Pay attention and learn, you 1970s kids:

As we all know, Switzerland was invaded by the Nazis during WW2. Geography played a part in her downfall: having no natural defenses – such as mountains or deep valleys – it was a simple conquest. Much in the same way that he’d ordered his army not to destroy Paris, Hitler directed his bombers not to target any of the renowned nougat factories or banks (lots of his money was invested in the former and kept in the latter). As for the clock-making factories, he allowed his forces – in a very rare move – to exercise their own initiative.

He just wasn’t that fussed about time-keeping. Or wood crafts.

Politically Incorrect?

You think this strip is risqué? You should see the real thing – the war comics we read as kids were usually unbalanced, partisan fare. The British never ever shot prisoners and the Germans always did, especially when commanded by an SS officer.

We were British don’t you know! Honorable at all times. Fair play and all that rot.

Controversy

In Scotland around 1976 or ’77, comics were mentioned on BBC’s Saturday Morning SWAP SHOP programme, and my mum, overhearing this, remarked that they were talking about how awful boys’ comics were on the radio. “They’re really violent and they make all the Japanese look like Frankenstein – or gorillas!” The latter was certainly true! Referred to variously as ‘Tojos’, ‘Nips’, ‘Yellow-bellies’ and ‘Slant-eyes’, the Japanese got some very rough treatment in WARLORD Comic in particular. Usually they were fodder to be blasted to pieces by Union Jack Jackson and his American GI buddies’ hand grenades, or burned alive when their flame thrower tanks were hit! This was poetic justice – of course.

“Have a pineapple, Tojo!”

She may have been hearing these discussions around the time that IPC’s new ACTION comic was pulled from the stands. ACTION was probably the most violent and gory comic ever published in Britain. It’s been said that without ACTION, IPC would never have been able to publish the slightly less violent and gruesome 2000ad.

Pigeon-whatever…

“If you learn Irish, you’ll be able to use it when you’re playing German soldiers!”

Did you make up your own pigeon-German and Japanese when you played soldiers? Let me know what you think in the comments box. I remember Niall Barr in Scotland, age 8 or 9, standing on Robert Douglas Memorial School’s expansive lawn as we played soldiers. He was commanding the axis troops and would issue orders as total gibberish: “Floopin-loopen-blubber-jibber-jabber-fibble-bibble.” When we moved to Ireland, my dad tried to get me excited about learning the Irish language by telling me: “If you learn Irish, you’ll be able to use it when you’re playing German soldiers!”

Tell us about your experiences, in the Comments below?

** Stay Groovy, all you 1970s kids! **

– John White