Clash of the Guards
- War
26 September 1981 to 30 October 1982
8 January to 23 April 1983
Ron Tiner
"Clash of the Guards" is a British comic war story published in the weekly anthology Battle from 26 September 1981 to 23 April 1983 by IPC Magazines. Set during World War II, it follows the experiences of Brad Clash, a fictional American stuntman turned 6th Corps soldier assigned to pick up tips from a company of British Guards in Italy.
Creation
The story was written by Battle Picture Weekly stalwart Alan Hebden, who had worked on other strips for the comic featuring American protagonists such as "Fighting Mann" and "Crazy Keller". The former had seen him paired with former Commando artist Cam Kennedy, who had started work on the title in 1979 - reactivating his comics career after six years working as a painter in France. Kennedy would later recall working on "Clash of the Guards" fondly, stating "I remember his Steve McQueen scowl and the shotgun - that was a lot of fun".[1]
Publishing history
The strip was popular with Battle readers, and after initially ending in October 1982 returned for a second four-month stint in 1983, with art from Vanyo and Norma.[2]
Since 2016, the rights to the story have been owned by Rebellion Developments.[3][4] In 2023 the first batch of episodes, from Battle 26 September 1981 to 20 February 1982, were collected by Rebellion Developments in July 2023 under their Treasury of British Comics label.[5][6]
Plot summary
Captain Brad Clash uses his experience as a Hollywood stuntman to confound foes as the American 6th Corps moves through Italy in 1943 towards the Gustav Line. As such he is selected to join an exchange programme and attached to a unit of British Guards to observe their tactics. Initially he has little respect for unit commander Lieutenant Stanton Carlyle, but soon finds out the Limeys know a thing or two about fighting. He is also able to show that his courageous all-action style of fighting has its own advantages, as does his Winchester pump action shotgun.
Collected editions
Title | ISBN | Publisher | Release date | Contents |
---|---|---|---|---|
Clash of the Guards | 9781781086216 | Rebellion Developments | 26 July 2023 | Material from Battle 26 September 1981 to 20 February 1982 |
- v
- t
- e
- Comic Cuts
- Film Fun
- Funny Wonder
- Illustrated Chips
- Knockout (stories)
- Radio Fun
- Buster
- Cheeky Weekly
- Cor!!
- Jackpot
- Knockout
- Krazy
- Monster Fun
- Nipper
- Oink!
- School Fun
- Shiver and Shake
- Whizzer and Chips
- Whoopee!
- Wow!
- Wham!
- Smash!
- Pow!
- Fantastic
- Terrific
- 2000 AD
- Action (stories)
- Battle Picture Weekly (stories)
- Boys' World
- The Champion
- The Comet (stories)
- Crisis (stories)
- Diceman
- Eagle
- Eagle (1982 version) (stories)
- Hurricane
- Jag
- Jet
- Judge Dredd Megazine
- Lion (stories)
- Look and Learn
- M.A.S.K.
- Ranger
- Revolver
- Roy of the Rovers
- Scorcher
- Scream!
- Sonic the Comic
- Speed
- Starlord
- Sun (stories)
- Supernaturals
- Thriller Comics
- Thunder
- Tiger (stories)
- Tornado
- Valiant (stories)
- Vulcan
- War Picture Library
- Wildcat
- Girl
- Girls' Crystal (stories)
- Jinty
- June (stories)
- Marilyn
- Misty
- Poppet
- Princess (stories)
- Princess Tina (stories)
- Roxy
- Sandie
- School Friend (stories)
- Serenade
- Tammy
- Tina
- Valentine
- Jack and Jill
- Playhour
- The 10,000 Disasters of Dort
- The 12½p Buytonic Boy
- Ace Trucking Co.
- Action Force
- Adam Eterno
- The Amazing Three
- Anderson, Psi-Division
- The Astounding Adventures of Charlie Peace
- The Astounding Jason Hyde
- Baker's Half-Dozen
- The Ballad of Halo Jones
- Battler Britton
- Bessie Bunter
- Bible John - A Forensic Meditation
- Big Dave
- Billy Bunter
- Billy's Boots
- Birdman and Chicken
- The Black Archer
- Black Beth
- Black Max
- Black Hawk
- Bloodfang
- Bobby's Ghoul
- Bookworm
- The Bootneck Boy
- The Bumpkin Billionaires
- Buster Capp
- Captain Condor
- Captain Hurricane
- The Cat Girl
- Chalky
- Charley's War
- Clash of the Guards
- Cliff Hanger
- Computer Warrior
- Cursitor Doom
- D-Day Dawson
- D.R. & Quinch
- Dan Dare
- Danny Doom
- Dare
- Darkie's Mob
- Death Game 1999
- Death Squad
- Death Wish
- Defoe
- Doomlord
- The Dracula File
- Dredger
- Durham Red
- The Dwarf
- End of the Line...
- Ernie
- Faceache
- Fiends of the Eastern Front
- Fight for the Falklands
- Finn
- Fishboy
- For a Few Troubles More
- Gadgetman and Gimmick-Kid
- Goldtiger
- Grimly Feendish
- Harlem Heroes
- Hellman of Hammer Force
- Hook Jaw
- Hot Shot Hamish and Mighty Mouse
- The House of Daemon
- The House of Dolmann
- The Indestructible Man
- Invasion!
- Invasion 1984!
- Ivor Lott and Tony Broke
- Jack o' Justice
- Jane Bond
- Jet-Ace Logan
- Joe Alien
- Johnny Red
- Joker
- Judge Dredd
- Junior Rotter
- Karl the Viking
- Kid Chameleon
- Kids Rule O.K.
- Kitten Magee
- Lazy Bones
- The Leopard from Lime Street
- Loner
- Look Out for Lefty!
- Luck of the Legion
- M.A.C.H. 1
- Major Eazy
- Manix
- Master Mind
- Mazeworld
- Memory Banks
- El Mestizo
- Mind Wars
- Monster
- Mustapha Million
- Mytek the Mighty
- Nemesis the Warlock
- The New Adventures of Hitler
- New Statesmen
- The Nightcomers
- Nikolai Dante
- Odd Ball
- One-Eyed Jack
- The Phantom Viking
- Rat Pack
- Really & Truly
- Richie Wraggs
- Ro-Busters
- Rob Riley
- The Robo Machines
- Robot Archie
- Rogan Gosh
- Rogue Trooper
- Roy of the Rovers
- School Belle
- Sexton Blake
- Sid's Snake
- The Silent Three
- Sinister Dexter
- Skid Kidd
- Skizz
- Sláine
- The Spider
- The Steel Claw
- Steel Commando
- Store Wars
- Strontium Dog
- The Suicide Six
- Sweeny Toddler
- Sweet Tooth
- Terror of the Cats
- Tharg the Mighty
- Tharg's Future Shocks
- Third World War
- The Thirteenth Floor
- Thunderbolt Jaxon
- Time Flies
- Tom Thug
- Tomboy
- The Tower King
- Tricky Dicky
- The Trigan Empire
- Troubled Souls
- True Faith
- Turbo Jones
- The Vigilant
- Watch Out Beagle's About
- Whacky
- Wonder Wellies
- X-Ray Specs
- Zenith
- Leo Baxendale
- Massimo Belardinelli
- Jesús Blasco
- Brian Bolland
- Eric Bradbury
- Kenneth Bulmer
- Sid Burgon
- Reg Bunn
- Mike Butterworth
- Geoff Campion
- Joe Colquhoun
- John Cooper
- Ted Cowan
- Carlos Ezquerra
- Gerry Finley-Day
- Dave Gibbons
- Ian Gibson
- Scott Goodall
- Alan Grant
- Yvonne Hutton
- Ian Kennedy
- Tom Kerr
- Don Lawrence
- Brian Lewis
- Steve MacManus
- Leonard Matthews
- Mike McMahon
- Trevor Metcalfe
- Pat Mills
- Grant Morrison
- Robert Nixon
- Kevin O'Neill
- José Ortiz
- Frank S. Pepper
- Ken Reid
- Jerry Siegel
- Francisco Solano López
- Lew Stringer
- Barrie Tomlinson
- Tom Tully
- John Wagner
- Keith Watson
- Mike Western
References
- ^ Bishop, David (21 October 2003). "The Killing Fields". Judge Dredd Megazine. No. 211. Rebellion Developments.
- ^ Holland, Steve (2002). The Fleetway Companion. Rotherham: CJ & Publication.
- ^ "The Return of the IPC Youth Group". 11 September 2019.
- ^ "Rebellion Buys Fleetway Archive - Roy Of The Rovers, Oink, Tammy, Battle, Whizzer And Chips And More". bleedingcool.com. 25 August 2016.
- ^ Molcher, Michael (19 July 2023). "Clash of the Guards - out now!".
- ^ Bruton, Richard (8 March 2023). "First Look: 'Clash Of The Guards' – Another Classic Strip From 'Battle' Coming From The Treasury Of British Comics –".