| The Steel Commando | |
|---|---|
 The Steel Commando on the cover of the 4 August 1973 edition ofLion. Art by Alex Henderson. | |
| Character information | |
| First appearance | Thunder (17 October1970) |
| In-story information | |
| Full name | Mark 1 Indestructible Robot |
| Species | Robot |
| Place of origin | Earth |
| Team affiliations | British Army |
| Partnerships | Lance-Corporal Ernest Bates |
| Notable aliases | Ironsides |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | IPC Magazines |
| Schedule | Weekly |
| Title(s) | Thunder 17 October 1970 to 13 March 1971 Lion 20 March 1971 to 18 May 1974 Thunder Annual 1972 to 1973 Lion Special 1971 to 1976 and 1978 Valiant 25 May to 22 June 1974 Lion Annual 1975 to 1978 |
| Formats | Original material for the series has been published as a strip in thecomics anthology(s)Thunder Lion Valiant. |
| Genre | |
| Publication date | 17 October 1970 – 18 May 1974 |
| Creative team | |
| Writer(s) | Frank S. Pepper |
| Artist(s) | Alex Henderson Vince Wernham |
| Reprints | |
| Collected editions | |
| Steel Commando - Full Metal Warfare | ISBN 9781781086810 |
The Steel Commando is aBritish comic character, appearing in strips published byIPC Magazines. Created byFrank S. Pepper, the character first appeared in the first issue of the short-lived boys' weekly adventureanthology comicThunder, dated 17 October 1970. AfterThunder ended in March 1971 the strip continued inLion until 1974. The character is a robotic soldier fighting for theBritish Army inWorld War II; due to a programming error the mechanical man will only obey the orders of layabout Private Ernest 'Excused Boots' Bates.
Thunder was one of several new titles devised byIPC Magazines between 1969 and 1971. An all-new line-up of strips was devised for the new comic, includingAdam Eterno andBlack Max. "The Steel Commando" was created by the experiencedFrank S. Pepper, who had a long history with IPC and its predecessorsAmalgamated Press andFleetway Publications, beginning with "Rockfist Rogan" forThe Champion in 1937 before creatingCaptain Condor forLion in 1952 andRoy Race forTiger in 1954.[1] For "The Steel Commando" he worked with staff artist Alex Henderson, who had worked on strips such as "Spot the Clue with Zip Nolan" forLion.[2] The strip was given four pages ofThunder, two of which were in partial colour, with either red or magenta ink added to the black and white.[3]
Thunder only lasted 22 issues before being cancelled and merged withLion. The amalgamation is often considered one of the more prominent examples of IPC's 'Hatch, Match and Dispatch' policy of starting a new title, seeing which features were popular with readers and then combining it with an established title, which would receive a substantial boost in sales as a result.[4][5][6] British comics historian Steve Holland would even go as far as to suggest thatThunder was deliberately created to be merged intoLion.[7] "The Steel Commando" was one of no less than sevenThunder features to carry over toLion and Thunder from the 20 March 1971 edition, and would remain a feature of the comic until it was cancelled and folded intoValiant in 1974.[6] "The Steel Commando" was not among the strips that continued, though the character made a six-week guest appearance in "Captain Hurricane" in the rebrandedValiant and Lion.[8]
Along with the rest of IPC's post-1 January 1970 material, "The Steel Commando" was among the IPC Youth Group properties consolidated into the resurrected Fleetway Publications and sold toPersimmon BPCC Publishing on 6 July 1987, and were later purchased byEgmont Publishing. As such the Steel Commando was not among those licensed byWildStorm for the 2005limited seriesAlbion, though the character made a brief unnamed cameo in the second issue.[9]
In 2016 the characters owned by Egmont were sold toRebellion Developments, who began publishing both reprints and new material featuring the classic characters.[10] After a brief cameo in the 2017Scream! and Misty Halloween Special, the Steel Commando was announced as a member of The Vigilant, a new team of extant and fresh characters. The team first fully appeared in the 2018one-shotThe Vigilant, which included a short back-up strip (written by Aaron Stack, with art from Warwick Fraser-Combe andStaz Johnson) that explained the Steel Commando's post-war mothballing and subsequent reactivation by Doctor Sin.[11] In 2019 Rebellion issued a digest-sized 160-page trade paperbackSteel Commando - Full Metal Warfare[a], compiling theThunder strips and a selection of those fromLion as well as theValiant guest appearances, under theirTreasury of British Comics label.[12][13]
Early inWorld War II, British scientists create the Mark 1 Indestructible Robot to battle the Germans. However, a programming error makes the robot impossible to control until it stumbles acrossCockney malingerer Lance-Corporal Ernest 'Excused-Boots' Bates and begins responding to his orders and his orders alone. Bates' ambitions generally extend to finding menial work some distance behind the front lines, keeping his head down until the war is over and trying to get out of wearing regulation footwear. Much to his chagrin, his command over the robot sees him placed in charge of the Steel Commando for missions inoccupied France. The robot, which Bates swiftly nicknames 'Ironsides', proves to be a near-unstoppable weapon - when Ernie can be persuaded to order it into combat. Thankfully for high command, his demands for doing so are generally small-time, usually just involving a promise of comfortable shoes.
| Title | ISBN | Publisher | Release date | Contents |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steel Commando - Full Metal Warfare | 9781781086810 | Rebellion Developments | 22 August 2019 | Material fromThunder 17 October 1970 to 27 February 1971;Lion 20 March 1970 to 16 December 1972,Valiant 25 May to 22 June 1974 andThunder Annual 1972 to 1974. |
Both the character and the strip have received mixed reviews. In 1992,Lew Stringer criticised the Steel Commando as a derivative combination of Captain Hurricane andRobot Archie, feeling it was "too light-hearted to sustain interest".[14]
Previewing the collected edition forComicon.com, Richard Bruton noted the outdated attitudes on display, something acknowledged by Rebellion in a disclaimer included in the book.[12] Win Wiacek's review for Now Read This! noted the "frequently appallingly racist" tone of the times of the original publication, but felt there was a "working-class whimsical irony" to Bates, who he compared toAndy Capp.[15] He reiterated this view in a review for Slings & Arrows, feeling it "provides a wondrous window onto simpler times that still offer fascinating fun for the cautiously prepared reader".[16]Starburst gave the collection a tentatively positive review, noting it as "a fun artefact" while noting the strips' repetitive nature, and the "jarring" shift of tone for theValiant strips.[17]