VE Day

Despite the current strange times we're in, it's been heartening to see respects and tributes paid to the wartime generation who clearly suffered way more than we can imagine and still made it through, usually smiling.

I'm from a younger generation who thankfully never knew war or it's effects first-hand but it has of course been an ever present over our lifes through Remembrance, Momuments and tributes. Funnily enough much of the comics I love which entertained me as a child and still inspire me as an adult were born out of conflict and the Second World War in particular.

The Victor, The Hotspur, Battle, Wizard, Warlord and of course Commando were among the most popular, all relaying heroic tales of derring do to an eager readership both immediately after the war, and through subsquent generations. With modern perspective you do wonder perhaps why these were (and to some extent remain) so popular when the generation who had actually fought and lived the experience themselves largely rarely spoke about it. Maybe it was just such an overwhelming event that it was a way for, mainly, children to understand and process events without directly having to discuss it?

Who knows but reading those comics allowed me to gain a respect for those who had fought and learn a little of the tragic events which impacted the whole world in a way we've thankfully never seen, so it's more than appropriate that we pause to reflect and provide our own thanks.

Colin Mathieson artwork, Matt Soffe colours