Darkie's Mob
"Darkie's Mob" | |
---|---|
IPC Magazines | |
Publication date | 14 August 1976 – 18 June 1977 |
Genre | |
Title(s) | Battle Picture Weekly 14 August 1976 to 18 June 1977 |
Main character(s) | Joe Darkie Lieutenant Meeker Sergeant Samson Private 'Shorty' Shortland Private Johnson Private Smiley Private Roper 'Flyboy' Ferris |
Creative team | |
Writer(s) | John Wagner |
Artist(s) | Mike Western |
Editor(s) | Dave Hunt |
"Darkie's Mob" is a
, the strip was told through a bloodstained notebook recovered from the Burmese jungle in 1946.Creation
Publishing history
The story debuted in the 14 August 1976 edition of Battle Picture Weekly, a soft relaunch issue that featured three other new stories - "Operation Shark", "Yellow Jack" and "The Unknown Soldier" - and a cover commissioned from the famed Don Lawrence.[2] "Darkie's Mob" quickly became hugely popular with readers, though the strip's high level of violence drew some comment. Shortly after the story debuted in Battle, the comic's sister title Action drew critical media coverage for its purported brutality, editor Dave Hunt received a letter of complaint from an MP after a constituent had flagged up an episode where Joe Darkie tied one of his men to a cross and left him for the Japanese. Hunt sent a reply claiming it was based on a real-life incident, and received no further protest.[1] Western would later recall that some of the violence did cause him some discomfort, and that he purposefully reined some of it in. Despite the story's popularity with readers, Wagner wanted to avoid it becoming stale and, feeling it was becoming repetitive, brought the story to a conclusion in June 1977. While Hunt was reluctant to lose such a popular strip, he would later feel that the story "is a classic because it did stop".[3] The character of 'Flyboy' Ferris was added at the suggestion of Battle assistant editor Steve MacManus.[4]
The story's popularity was nevertheless such that when declining sales saw Battle begin a reprint slot in March 1981, "Darkie's Mob" was chosen as the inaugural rerun. In 2003 it was given another repeat, being printed in the 2000 AD Gold section of
Since 2016, the rights to the story have been owned by Rebellion Developments.[6][7]
Plot summary
Following the defeat of
However, Private Richard 'Shorty' Shortland makes radio contact with headquarters and find out that not only was no Captain Darkie assigned to them, but no Captain Darkie is on record with the Army. Darkie destroys the radio, and the unit votes to summarily execute him. However, the trial is interrupted by a Japanese attack, and the group soon realises they have little chance of survival without Darkie. Only Shorty heard the message, and opts to keep it to himself while writing a journal of the events. Despite being massively outnumbered 'Darkie's Mob' win a string of victories against the Japanese, and even being stabbed through the chest by a Japanese officer in
News of the unit's exploits reach British high command, and
They gain a new recruit when they rescue and pressgang downed pilot Ferris in April 1943, promptly using him as bait to flush out a Japanese ambush. 'Flyboy' Ferris however wins Darkie's respect by punching the ersatz captain afterwards. The Japanese meanwhile put out bounties to encourage the Burmese to turn Darkie in, and begin torching villages suspected of being friendly to the troop. A year to the day after Darkie's arrival, Meeker is the latest to die, causing a train collision during a rescue after Samson and a patrol are captured. Soon afterwards, the Mob find themselves surrounded by a thousand Japanese troops on a hilltop but escape into a monsoon, though two more men - Tomlinson and Trench - are killed during the battle. Norman 'Jonesy' Jones is next to go, seemingly losing the will to live as sickness hits the Mob. This leaves Darkie, Johnson, Samson, Flyboy, Smiley, Roper and Shorty as the sole survivors, but after the monsoon season passes the Mob goes back on the offensive. The group is even called out by Tokyo Rose, much to Darkie's delight.
However, in October 1943 a ¥2m bounty sees the group turned in by a Burmese villager and paraded around Mandalay ahead of execution, though civilians help Flyboy escape. He steals a Zero and interrupts the execution. Darkie and the others escape before Flyboy plunges into a bridge out of the city to prevent them being followed. Soon afterwards Johnson is injured and stays behind so the remaining five men can escape. They resolve to capture General Shoto or die trying and infiltrate his camp, but both Roper and Smiley are lost - while Darkie is shot in the gut. He decides to tell Shorty and Samson the truth about himself - he is really an Anglo-Japanese called Joseph Daakee living in Burma who joined a group of bandits. After the Japanese invaded they executed his parents; swearing revenge, he took the uniform of a dead British Army captain and posed as Captain Darkie. He kills Shoto, responsible for ordering his parents' execution, but his condition grows gradually worse as Samson and Shorty try to get him out of the jungle. On 4 November they capture a Japanese launch, but Darkie dies before they can get him medical attention. There, Major McKay accepts Shorty's battle-log as the truth and the pair are to be returned to England. However, at the last moment the pair decide to return to the jungle and continue the battle against the Japanese; neither are ever seen again.[8]
Collected editions
Title | ISBN | Publisher | Release date | Contents |
---|---|---|---|---|
Darkie's Mob: The Secret War of Joe Darkie | 1848564422 | Titan Books
|
April 2011 | Material from Battle 14 August 1976 to 18 June 1977 |
Reception
"Darkie's War" has received considerable acclaim. Graham Kibble-White praised the story, and called it one of the darkest strips to appear in Battle.[9] Mike Conroy has also applauded the story,[10] even including Joe Darkie in his book of 500 Great Comic Book Action Heroes.[11] In his autobiography Heartland, author Neil Cross mentioned the death of the group in Battle as "the worst pain I had ever endured".[12] Comic writer, Battle fan and military history enthusiast Garth Ennis has lauded the strip, and wrote a foreword for the 2011 collected edition.[13]
However, the story has received some criticism for both its violence and its portrayal of the Japanese. The Judge Dredd Megazine rerun drew accusations of racism from readers,[14] and in 2023, Michael Molcher opined that the story's "jingoistic language and brutal violence make for uncomfortable reading now".[15] Jochen Eche however has argued that the strip investigated the popular representation of World War II as a 'good war'.[16]
References
- ^ a b Bishop, David (26 August 2003). "None But The Brave". Judge Dredd Megazine. No. 209. Rebellion Developments.
- ^ Holland, Steve (2002). The Fleetway Companion. Rotherham: CJ & Publication.
- ^ Bishop, David (23 September 2003). "They Were Expendable". Judge Dredd Megazine. No. 210. Rebellion Developments.
- ISBN 9781786180544.
- ^ Bishop, David (21 October 2003). "The Killing Fields". Judge Dredd Megazine. No. 211. Rebellion Developments.
- ^ "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.
- IPC Magazines.
- ISBN 9780749082116.
- ISBN 9780061731129.
- ISBN 9780764125812.
- ISBN 9781847396570.
- ^ "Review – Darkie's Mob: The Secret War of Joe Darkie and Johnny Red: Falcon's First Flight". 11 December 2011.
- ISBN 9781350142985.
- ISBN 9781786188946.
- ISBN 9781476674155.