In the hellish, humid jungles of Burma, renegade Captain Joe Darkie leads a rag-tag squad of British soldiers behind Japanese lines, transforming them into the brutal 'Darkies Mob'! Narrated in diary form by hapless Private Richard Shortland, Darkie's squad face hardship, horror and vicious combat at every turn, as their Captain's mania threatens to engulf them all. But what is Darkie's terrible secret, and how many will have to die before his bloodlust is finally sated? Acclaimed writer John Wagner ("A History of Violence") and legendary British artist Mike Western ("The Sarge") present the most uncompromising war comic ever published!
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"These older British comic strips could teach a lot of modern comic book fans (and creators) a lesson in good storytelling and art." --Primary Ignition
"A wonderful example of how to tell compelling action stories in a comic format with only a few pages to work with." --Playback:stl
"Darkie's Mob is a treasure, something to be read and loved as often as you can. This collection is not only a must-have for comic fans, it should be required viewing for writers and artists across the board." --Crave Online
"It is a war comic the way war comics used to be done. It tells a powerful tale of survival and war without apologizing for what it is in any way. In a world where a lot of our entertainment is watered down it's great to be exposed to a comic from another era that told its story with a real bravado that rarely exists anywhere in today's comic book industry." --Ain't It Cool News
"Few comics surprise me or leave me very impressed. Darkie's Mob: The Secret War of Joe Darkie has the honor of doing both." --Comic Attack
"It's a riveting read and an education in sequential art storytelling all in one." --The Trades
"Titan have been doing a great job at loading up new readers with these HC reprints of old war comic material and it's getting reprinted for a reason, it's good. This has character and bravado mixed up together like the best war movies always manage." --Weekly Crisis
"It's a riveting read and an education in sequential art storytelling all in one." --The Trades
"It is a war comic the way war comics used to be done. It tells a powerful tale of survival and war without apologizing for what it is in any way. In a world where a lot of our entertainment is watered down it's great to be exposed to a comic from another era that told its story with a real bravado that rarely exists anywhere in today's comic book industry." --Ain't It Cool News
"Few comics surprise me or leave me very impressed. Darkie's Mob: The Secret War of Joe Darkie has the honor of doing both." --Comic Attack
"A wonderful example of how to tell compelling action stories in a comic format with only a few pages to work with." --Playback:stl
"Darkie's Mob is a treasure, something to be read and loved as often as you can. This collection is not only a must-have for comic fans, it should be required viewing for writers and artists across the board." --Crave Online
"It is a war comic the way war comics used to be done. It tells a powerful tale of survival and war without apologizing for what it is in any way. In a world where a lot of our entertainment is watered down it's great to be exposed to a comic from another era that told its story with a real bravado that rarely exists anywhere in today's comic book industry." --Ain't It Cool News
"Few comics surprise me or leave me very impressed. Darkie's Mob: The Secret War of Joe Darkie has the honor of doing both." --Comic Attack
"It's a riveting read and an education in sequential art storytelling all in one." --The Trades
"Titan have been doing a great job at loading up new readers with these HC reprints of old war comic material and it's getting reprinted for a reason, it's good. This has character and bravado mixed up together like the best war movies always manage." --Weekly Crisis
"It's a riveting read and an education in sequential art storytelling all in one." --The Trades
"It is a war comic the way war comics used to be done. It tells a powerful tale of survival and war without apologizing for what it is in any way. In a world where a lot of our entertainment is watered down it's great to be exposed to a comic from another era that told its story with a real bravado that rarely exists anywhere in today's comic book industry." --Ain't It Cool News
"Few comics surprise me or leave me very impressed. Darkie's Mob: The Secret War of Joe Darkie has the honor of doing both." --Comic Attack
About the Author
John Wagner is the co-creator of 2000 AD's Judge Dredd, Strontium Dog and Robo Hunter and the author of A History of Violence. He was also the founding editor and a contributing scriptwriter for Battle. Mike Western is one of the great unsung stalwarts of the British comic scene, having illustrated many classics including Battle's HMS Nightshade and The Sarge, as well as Biggles, Roy of the Rovers, The Leopard of Lime Street and countless more.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
By M P Hall
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
This first appeared in the boys weekly comic"Battle"in the late 70's,and is written by Judge Dredd creator John Wagner.It is a particularly blood-soaked story of World War Two jungle combat,set in Burma in 1942.Captain Joe Darkie transforms a run-down platoon into a ruthless fighting machine,feared by the Japanese Army.Darkie is unhesitatingly violent,a single minded,obsessed man ,his only purpose is to kill as many enemy as possible.In the first episode alone,he beats up the injured lieutenant,beats up his Sergeant,pushing his hand into a fire.And kills three enemy soldiers really messily with his kukri,a nasty curved knife.
This is a well-written and drawn piece of work.This and many Battle stories demonstrated a new approach to classic war comics,combining dark humour,realism,historical research and a dose 70's movie cynicism.I remenber this making the Commando books and comics like Warlord look simplistic and childish.This book features really impressive artwork from Mike Western.His dark jungles are the background to his convincing realised characters.He transports the reader to a steaming,humid dangerous and unexpected world,the men's faces masks of fear and weariness.His combat scenes are most impressive,lots of flying blood and faces in agonised death-throes,Darkie has a particularly violent stabbing style,quite often his Kukri goes through and comes right out the other side,with lots of spurting blood...
There is a mystery about Joe Darkie and we pick up little pieces of the puzzle on the way.The grim humour and constant blood spattered action made this a favourite the first time around.Looking at it now,it is actually much better and more gory than I remember.I hope this super book will bring these lost comics to a new audience.My 12-year old thinks it's fantastic.
This is a well-written and drawn piece of work.This and many Battle stories demonstrated a new approach to classic war comics,combining dark humour,realism,historical research and a dose 70's movie cynicism.I remenber this making the Commando books and comics like Warlord look simplistic and childish.This book features really impressive artwork from Mike Western.His dark jungles are the background to his convincing realised characters.He transports the reader to a steaming,humid dangerous and unexpected world,the men's faces masks of fear and weariness.His combat scenes are most impressive,lots of flying blood and faces in agonised death-throes,Darkie has a particularly violent stabbing style,quite often his Kukri goes through and comes right out the other side,with lots of spurting blood...
There is a mystery about Joe Darkie and we pick up little pieces of the puzzle on the way.The grim humour and constant blood spattered action made this a favourite the first time around.Looking at it now,it is actually much better and more gory than I remember.I hope this super book will bring these lost comics to a new audience.My 12-year old thinks it's fantastic.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
By P. Brooks
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
"Captain" Darkie has more than a passing resemblance to Marlon Brando's Colonel Walter E. Kurtz in "Apocalypse Now and like the good Colonel is as mad as a bag full of badgers, driven in obsession to wrought havoc on the Japanese and uses whats left of a British Infantry Platoon as his weapon of vengence.
This complete "Darkie's Mob" includes a Preface from Garth Ennis, himself turning out some cracking stuff in his "Battlefield" series. In this Preface he pretty much hits the nail on the head with a quote from the late George MacDonald Fraser's Wartime memoir "Quartered Safe Out Here" where he recounts his time in the 14th Army in Burma.
This is a must for all those middle aged men like myself who read this comic strip over thirty years ago, it's stood the test of time in writing and artwork and its a great pleasure to see this released along with the Epic "Charley's War","Johnny Red" and "Major Eazy" I only hope that "HMS Nightshade" is also up for a second lease of life too.
This complete "Darkie's Mob" includes a Preface from Garth Ennis, himself turning out some cracking stuff in his "Battlefield" series. In this Preface he pretty much hits the nail on the head with a quote from the late George MacDonald Fraser's Wartime memoir "Quartered Safe Out Here" where he recounts his time in the 14th Army in Burma.
This is a must for all those middle aged men like myself who read this comic strip over thirty years ago, it's stood the test of time in writing and artwork and its a great pleasure to see this released along with the Epic "Charley's War","Johnny Red" and "Major Eazy" I only hope that "HMS Nightshade" is also up for a second lease of life too.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Here at last, in one sturdy oversized hardback edition, is a complete collection of every instalment of Darkie's mob, one of the best british war comic stories ever written.
For the uninitiated [which is probably nobody reading this review, but you never know] Darkie's mob came from the pages of Battle picture weekly. A war comic that first appeared in the mid seventies and was published weekly. Battle, along with fellow titles Action and later 2000ad, all from the same publisher, broke the mould of british boys comics by presenting stories that were grimmer, gritter, more realistic and more action packed than anything readers had ever seen before.
Darkie's mob is set in Burma during World War Two, and the narrative is told via a journal found right after the war at the scene of one it's bloodiest battles. It's the journal of Private Shortland. Who records how his platoon, raw and inexperienced and stranded behind the lines seemingly doomed, were saved when Captain Joe Darkie came along and assumed command. A tough and expert guerrilla fighter who knew the area and the people well, and was feared by the Japanese army, Darkie quickly transformed the platoon into Darkie's mob, a skilled band of ruthless guerrilla fighters.
But Darkie has a secret, which Shortland knows and keeps to himself. There is no record of there being a Captain Darkie in the British army. Who is he really? And why does he hate the enemy so much?
Every part runs for either three or four pages, and since they were published in a weekly comic, most are self contained. But they are masterclasses in storytelling because they all throw you into the story right away and also give new readers all the information they need to catch up at the beginning.... Read more ›
For the uninitiated [which is probably nobody reading this review, but you never know] Darkie's mob came from the pages of Battle picture weekly. A war comic that first appeared in the mid seventies and was published weekly. Battle, along with fellow titles Action and later 2000ad, all from the same publisher, broke the mould of british boys comics by presenting stories that were grimmer, gritter, more realistic and more action packed than anything readers had ever seen before.
Darkie's mob is set in Burma during World War Two, and the narrative is told via a journal found right after the war at the scene of one it's bloodiest battles. It's the journal of Private Shortland. Who records how his platoon, raw and inexperienced and stranded behind the lines seemingly doomed, were saved when Captain Joe Darkie came along and assumed command. A tough and expert guerrilla fighter who knew the area and the people well, and was feared by the Japanese army, Darkie quickly transformed the platoon into Darkie's mob, a skilled band of ruthless guerrilla fighters.
But Darkie has a secret, which Shortland knows and keeps to himself. There is no record of there being a Captain Darkie in the British army. Who is he really? And why does he hate the enemy so much?
Every part runs for either three or four pages, and since they were published in a weekly comic, most are self contained. But they are masterclasses in storytelling because they all throw you into the story right away and also give new readers all the information they need to catch up at the beginning.... Read more ›
Format:Hardcover
I started collecting Battle after this story had ended, but remembered it from old issues I got hold of, so looked through this book when I saw it in Waterstone's. I found Mike Western's art and the dialogue - grittily realistic compared to other strips I rember - compelling, so popped it on my wishlist and my brother bought it me for Christmas.
When I opened it I thought 'Interesting, but I'd've preferred a Charley's War volume'. Then I read it and changed my mind.
Apart from the art, this strip's narrative and plot structures are amazingly innovative. As others have noted, rather than the usual 'The Sarge and his section continue pacing up Italy / thrrough Normandy..', or 'One day Johnny Red and the Falcons were tangling with some Bf109s overr Stalingrad..' box intro, Shortland's diary - discovered after the war on a battlefield - gives us a 1st person perspective on the story. I'm not a comic expert, but can't think of another that uses this tactic. This also suggests the narrator was killed in action sometime in the Mob's story OUTSIDE THE STRIP - and in comics, you don't get anything 'outside the strip' - e.g. Battle stories tended to introduce characters in episode 1, go through the war, then kill them or the war off. Writer John Wagner exploits this tease in the last episode (which I won't spoil for you).
On a more 'tactical' level, Western's art conveys the crowdedness of the Burmese jungle very well; I felt Japanese scouts or snipers lurking in those panels, and the problems of sustenance and disease in remote jungle warfare are covered (tho I'd've liked more on this). The Mob's irregular nature (based on the old 'lost patrol' trope) allows for variation in appearance, usually a problem with war stories' uniforms!... Read more ›
When I opened it I thought 'Interesting, but I'd've preferred a Charley's War volume'. Then I read it and changed my mind.
Apart from the art, this strip's narrative and plot structures are amazingly innovative. As others have noted, rather than the usual 'The Sarge and his section continue pacing up Italy / thrrough Normandy..', or 'One day Johnny Red and the Falcons were tangling with some Bf109s overr Stalingrad..' box intro, Shortland's diary - discovered after the war on a battlefield - gives us a 1st person perspective on the story. I'm not a comic expert, but can't think of another that uses this tactic. This also suggests the narrator was killed in action sometime in the Mob's story OUTSIDE THE STRIP - and in comics, you don't get anything 'outside the strip' - e.g. Battle stories tended to introduce characters in episode 1, go through the war, then kill them or the war off. Writer John Wagner exploits this tease in the last episode (which I won't spoil for you).
On a more 'tactical' level, Western's art conveys the crowdedness of the Burmese jungle very well; I felt Japanese scouts or snipers lurking in those panels, and the problems of sustenance and disease in remote jungle warfare are covered (tho I'd've liked more on this). The Mob's irregular nature (based on the old 'lost patrol' trope) allows for variation in appearance, usually a problem with war stories' uniforms!... Read more ›
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