Battle Picture Weekly, later known as Battle Action, 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.
In 1974, in response to the success of 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. When the title proved a success, Mills went on to create Action and 2000 AD, while Wagner was asked to revive Valiant .
Notable stories included:
- 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 flying for the Russians
- 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 a formative influence on his writing.
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