Battle Picture Weekly

Battle Picture Weekly was the creation of freelance writers Pat Mills and John Wagner, working in collaboration with IPC editor David Hunt. It was conceived as a rival to D.C. Thompson's new Warlord title, and was supposed to drag IPC kicking and screaming out of the fifties, where the comics department had been languishing for two decades. The creation of Battle was shrouded in secrecy, and the title rocked the boat at IPC when it launched in March 1975, much to the surprise of the Boys' Department, who had no idea what was happening in the small office used by Wagner, Mills, Hunt and IPC man John Sanders. Battle was a runaway success, paving the way for Action, 2000AD and other IPC titles, whilst trampling all over Tiger, Lion, Valiant and Vulcan.

Battle was lucky enough to have savvy people at the helm who were involved in both writing and editing the comic. The stories were fast-paced, realistic and dark. Wagner and Mills wrote the first issue themselves before handing over the reins. The writers were hand-picked for the job, often giving relative newcomers the chance to shine. The artists were well chosen, seasoned veterans such as Mike Western, were given the chance to draw something new, and there were a host of new discoveries including the magnificent Carlos Ezquerra, and some very early and primitive efforts from Massimo Bellardinelli.

Battle kicked off with a line up featuring Rat Pack, D-Day Dawson, The Bootneck Boy, Terror behind the Bamboo Curtain, Lofty's One Man Luftwaffe, Day of the Eagle and Flight of the Golden Hinde. Once it was firmly established, Wagner and Mills were moved on to other projects. Wagner was given the task of reviving the ailing Valiant, whilst Mills was handed a new project that would evolve into Action, the boys' comic to end all boys' comics. Both these titles would cross paths with Battle in the not-too-distant future.

As Battle found its feet, stories were shed and new offerings installed in their place The most memorable new arrivals of the first year were Major Eazy and Darkie's Mob, the latter of which heralded John Wagner's return to the title. Major Eazy featured the full strip Battle debut of artist Carlos Ezquerra, who had previously provided episodes of Rat Pack, short stories and covers for the comic.

On the day Action was banned, the 23rd October 1976, Battle absorbed Valiant, taking in One-Eyed Jack, a character Wagner had created to help save the doomed title, Soldier Sharp - The Rat of the Rifles, which gave Joe Colquhoun his first work on Battle, The Black Crow, and an all new strip, Panzer G-Man. One-Eyed Jack was an excellent story whilst in Valiant, but lost its way in Battle, despite the efforts of series artist John Cooper.

The 100th issue saw the launch of two new strips, John Wagner and Eric Bradbury's Joe Two-Beans, and Johnny Red, by Tom Tully and Joe Colquhoun. Johnny Red was an instant hit and became the comic's longest running strip. Over the next few months El Mestizo, The Sarge and Gaunt all made their debuts, but some were not to last long, as the re-launched, tamed and lame version of Action was brought on board, forming Battle Action on the 19th November 1977. Surviving the cull at Action were Dredger, which was taken over by John Cooper, Hellman of Hammer Force, and The Spinball Wars. With the exception of Hellman, the Action stories didn't sit well in Battle. Dredger became exactly the same as One-Eyed Jack before it, in a contrived reworking of the story. Spinball had lost its way after the Action ban and this latest incarnation was the lamest yet.

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