6000 Not Out: A Chat with Commando Editor Kate McAuliffe
This year is DC Thomson’s Commando comic’s 65th anniversary and, despite being the traditional British retirement age, it continues to publish 104 issues a year, including many that use heritage characters from Thomson’s weekly boys’ comics, plus it has an ever growing number of Commando Presents reprint graphic novels available.
The current editor is Kate McAuliffe, the seventh person to sit in the chair, although her remit within the company stretches far beyond Britain’s last war comic. In the run up to the publication of the 6000th Commando, a number that no other British comic has ever gotten close to, Kate took the time to talk to JeremyBriggs about her work and the batch of four specialCommandos that includes issue 6000, Sweet Revenge.
downthetubes: What is your job within DCT and what else did you work on for the company beforehand?
Kate McAuliffe: I’ve been the Heritage Comics Content Editor for eight years and worked as a Magazine Journalist for Boys’ Comics for two years before. On Heritage, we get to handle all of the juicy Archive content for DC Thomson. This mainly revolves around the bi-weekly Commandos (two new issues and two reprints), as well as the Fun Section for The Sunday Post newspaper (“The Broons”, “Oor Wullie” etc). We also get to create The Broons and Oor Wullie annuals and giftbooks, and the Beano and Dandy Giftbook every year.
Outside of those core titles, our reach extends to Starblazer, Spellbound, Football Picture Story Monthly, Warlord, Red Dagger, Hotspur etc. so there is plenty of variety in what we do.
In the past, I had the pleasure of working on the Beano 80th anniversary bookazine, all of DC Thomson’s graphic novels and the Art of Ian Kennedy book. Recently I had the privilege of writing an Oor Wullie ABCs children’s book in Scots. I’ve been very lucky.
downthetubes: With Commando reaching the remarkable feat of issue 6000, was there always an intention to do a special story for that landmark number?
Kate: Absolutely. During my first week at DC Thomson, I was tasked with writing the press release for the 5000th issue — a special celebration with a trifecta of amazing creators: Ferg Handley, Carlos Pino and Ian Kennedy. So, the pressure was on to match that offering. Luckily, there was plenty of time for us to plan and prep for this landmark issue, including the reprinting of the 1000th, 2000th, 3000th and 4000th issues, so we knew how special this occasion should be.
Actual planning for the issue and ideas pitching probably began in summer 2025, so it’s been in the works for a while.
downthetubes: Tell us a little about the background to the 6000th issue, “Sweet Revenge”. How did the writing duo of historian James Holland and comedian Al Murray come about, and was cover artist Keith Burns’ previous work with James Holland on the World War Two themed Ladybird books part of the reason to assign him the cover?
Kate: We’ve always been keen to speak to James Holland about writing a Commando. The Team are all big fans of his and Al’s We Have Ways of Making You Talk podcast, where they frequently mention being fans of Commando. We knew the 6000th issue was a landmark to be celebrated and approached James, who responded very enthusiastically and so an initial call was set up. He had a firm idea for an issue he wanted to write with Al and we were delighted to have both involved.
Keith was already on board for the 6000th cover (whatever it may have been), and James, having collaborated with him many times before, was delighted he was on cover duty.
downthetubes: Over the last few years a selection of new writers have been added to the Commando roster, both familiar names from other British titles and new talent. Assuming that neither James Holland nor Al Murray had written a comic script before, did this present an issue for the editorial team or were they treated as any other of your raw recruits?
Kate: No issues at all. I sent the writers’ manifesto to James and a perfectly formatted Commando script was sent back in return. Undoubtedly, both he and Al are dab hands at storytelling and the visual focus of a comic came very naturally to them.
downthetubes: The batch of four issues that 6000 will be released are all new stories and include “Captain Starblaze”, a nod no doubt to DC Thomson’s SF digest title Starblazer, a Warlord heritage character issue with Heinz Falken’s punishment battalion in “Kampfgruppe Falken: Escape Stalingrad”, and another heritage character issue with the mash-up of Rover / Victor / Warlord’s “I Flew With Braddock” andCommando’s own Ramsey’s Raiders in “I Flew with Ramsey’s Raiders”. All of these sound very tantalising, what can you tell us about them?
Kate: To start, Captain Starblaze is indeed an homage to Starblazer and is DC Thomson alumnus Daniel McGachey’s brainchild. Commando’s first superhero comic of a sort; it follows the story of a duo of silver screen actors who starred as Nazi-battling superheroes in World War Two propaganda films. The war might be over, but the Red Menace still remains, and so the pair are sent to Korea in a morale tour, until, of course, they get caught up in the action. Naturally, after reading the pitch, we knew a Commando-Superhero blend needed to be included in the 6000th set offering.
Recently catching up with past DC Thomson Boys’ Comics Editor Bill Graham over his work on Football Picture Story Monthly, Bill pitched some Commandos, including this latest “Kampfgruppe Falken” adventure, so we immediately snapped it up for the set too.
And lastly, we thought a crossover would make for a very special Commando. Ferg Handley wrote the 4000th and 5000th Commandos and so having him involved was a given. And, since he’s the creator of one of Commando’s favourite series, Ramsey’s Raiders, it made sense that they would form one half of the crossover. Plus, Ferg has also penned the Commando reboots of Braddock since the character’s move from Warlord. This made him the perfect person to write a team-up between the ragtag group of mavericks and the RAF’s most famous bomber pilot.
downthetubes: In addition to these new issues, the series of Heritage Comics reprint books, Commando Presents, marches on with some titles having a mixture of themed old Commando issues, while others have the newer Commando issues for the heritage characters backed up with a selection of older weekly comic strips and covers, plus some text stories for characters that are old enough to have originated in the story papers. With so many of these titles now available, how are the choices of titles and their reprint issues made and will the addition of the older weekly reprint pages continue in the heritage character titles?
Kate: For the themed Commando Presents… we have a wealth to choose from (over 6000 issues in fact). Some themes are dictated by anniversaries like D-Day, Dunkirk, The Battle of Britain, occasions like International Women’s Day, Armistice and Halloween; others are chosen based on linking material and what we think will be popular with our readers. The team regularly pitch collections and potential Commando issues to be included. There is no shortage of ideas or enthusiasm.
For the Heritage character-themed collections, we know how important seeing rarer archive material is to our readers. We try to include original stories chronologically, but also want to showcase what’s best, like Ian Kennedy annual art.
downthetubes: Finally, having celebrated its 65th birthday this summer, even getting a name check in the “Oor Wullie” strip in the Sunday Post’s Fun Section, Commando has reached issue 6000. No other British comic has come close to that – the Beano has yet to reach issue 4500. So this is a question that downthetubes has put to many Commando editors over the last couple of decades – what do you put its longevity down to?
Kate: While World War Two, Commando’s main story focus, may have ended over 80 years ago, I think we still feel its impact today, probably more so recently, so stories of everyday heroics and the common man standing up against fascism and defending those around him are just as appealing now as they were 65 years ago. You would think war comics would be too niche, but perhaps the setting is the perfect backdrop to endless stories of heroism and camaraderie. Combine that with a loyal band of readers (you’ll never meet more die-hard or supportive fans), and it’s not surprising Commando has stood the test of time and is still going strong.
downthetubes: Kate, thank-you for taking the time to talk to us.
The landmark Commando 6000 collection includes:
Captain Starblaze – a unique wartime adventure introducing Commando‘s first “superhero”.
Sweet Revenge, co-written by historian James Holland, who specialises in the history of the Second World War, and comedian Al Murray, with cover art by acclaimed Commando regular, illustrator Keith Burns.
I Flew with Ramsey’s Raiders, an action-packed crossover bringing together classic DC Thomson and Commando strips, “I Flew with Braddock” and “Ramsey’s Raiders”
Kampfgruppe Falken: Escape Stalingrad – another adventure Starr the reimagining of the legendary Warlord comic character.
Head downthetubes for…
• The many Commando Presents titles are available through Amazon (Affiliate Link)
The seven editors of Commando since 1961 are Charles “Chick” Checkley, Ian Forbes, George Low, Calum Laird, Kirsten Murray, Gordon Tait, and Kate McAuliffe. Chick Checkley and Ian Forbes retired in 1971 and 1988 respectively, but all the rest of the editors have been interviewed here on downthetubes.
• The downthetubes interview with George Low is here
• The downthetubes interview with Calum Laird is here
• The downthetubes interview with Kirsten Murray is here
• The downthetubes interview with Gordon Tait is here
Currently, the revived characters or strips that have appeared in the title in recent years are Cadman The Fighting Coward, Code Name Warlord, Harrier Squadron, I Flew With Braddock, Iron Annie, Kampfguppe Falken, Sgt Rayker, Union Jack Jackson and V For Vengeance
- About the Author
- Latest Posts
News, reviews, interviews and features for print and on-line: Spaceship Away (since October 2005), Bear Alley (since February 2007), downthetubes (since June 2007), and Eagle Times (since October 2008). Plus DC Thomson’s The Art Of Ian Kennedy, Titan’s Dan Dare and Johnny Red reprints, Ilex’s War Comics: A Graphic History and 500 Essential Graphic Novels, and Print Media’s The Iron Moon and Strip magazine.
- 6000 Not Out: A Chat with Commando Editor Kate McAuliffe
- Scripting the Harbour Launch Build in the Eagle Book of Hobbies
- Dan Dare Wine Glass Mystery – Solved!
- 2000AD’s Kelvin Gosnell reveals secrets of the Airfix Modellers’ Club
- A Subtle Commando Tribute to Colin Noble
