#Hellman of Hammer Force

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Action No. 30, dated 4 September 1976. Hellman of Hammer Force cover. Treasury of British Comics.

[downthetubes]

Rebellion announces new Battle Action mini series - our guide to the returning strips

Battle Action, 2000AD publisher's relaunch of the title inspired by two classic British weekly comics, Battle Picture Weekly (aka Battle) and Action, is back as a five-issue miniseries

[macgyvertape]

50 or so hours into Cyberpunk 2077

This should be roughly the correct amount of time, ive been leaving the game running as I get up to get food or do stretches. Quests are roughly in order I did them

non spoilers above cut:

 i haven't found a single hat/helmet i like, and since you can't hide them I just am not wearing any. It matters that much.

I posted the other day about bugs, every few hours I play I find new bugs. some require me to go back and reload a save others I honestly can’t tell if it’s a bug or just really poor development

there are several perks that don’t quite do what the description says, like the Anamesis perk. Based on reddit and trying it out it seems to just not do anything.

sometimes in car chase segments the passenger will say “look out” as cars spawn in my path and hit me. Can’t tell if that was deliberate or a pop in issue

Yeah I’ve just totally given up on doing pacifist things unless required by a mission. Given up on doing stealth too unless a mission objective, except for sneaking around to set up a fight.

:readmore:

the delemain car quest is fun. From the shock of the one going "beep beep motherfucker" and doing a hit and run to start it off, to the GLADOS car i see a lot of people talking about. It was fun to explore the city when i might have missed places like the landfill apparently there is follow up on T-bug's death if you go back to the quick hack shop in Kabuki. It's not much but better than nothing I made the pass with Panam of "what if the room just had one bed". I know she won't do a wlw romance, which is fine since I wouldn’t have chosen her.  I enjoy her as a character, don’t get me wrong, my V considers her as a friend, but it seems like theres always drama going on which would be tiring. I would have gone for a fling, i like her leotard-pants combo with all the straps

but also her questline was buggy as hell. Multiple cases of having to reload due to clipping into objects, including her in a driving section, or just insta-dying when collision physics with some rocks broke "your neural network can no longer function independantly of the chip" me slapping my desk: s y m b i o te!!! come on lets have some s y m b i o s i s

in the scene with hellman i really liked how Johnny moved around the room. It made him feel like he was really there. it was hard to follow the convo as I left the room, i would not have understood it without subtitles. But i guess Takemura fucking waterboarded hellman. :|

lol I hope the dialogue is different b/c i refuse to smoke for Johnny

i am level 18 and still can't beat the first opponents in the fist fighting quest. ffs

I looked up the romances options so I went to do the I fought the law quest as soon as i got it. ACAB, but like I literally just met River Ward 2 minutes ago, and I really like him. His earring and cyborg eye, his big fluffy coat. I'm definitely gonna sleep with him Ok i like how when River Ward is dealing with the tiger claws if you interject it leads to a fight. It goes better if you follow his instructions and let him deal with it. Seriously I enjoy that sometimes its good to not pick a dialogue choice.

during the red queen club part, there was no dialogue over the phone. So i reloaded a save and got myself spotted and attacked. Then River showed up to help me <3 and it was more enjoyable having him there. I honestly am not sure if him not going to the club level is bug or not.

then uuuuuugh the worst of irl police "cops are my family" from Detective Han. Again ACAB "FRATERNITY OF CITY COPS RESEMBLES A [Nomad] CLAN NOT AT ALL" ok a few minutes ago i was complaining about bugs, but the character modeling in this game is good (when they're there). You can see body posture, characters jiggle their legs when they are nervous. Like I though character A was just throwing a cigarette on the ground, but then character B flinches back; I realize Char A threw it at B as a fuck you

I'm honestly curious if "I fought the Law" quest will have any impact later on. My choices were that I thought there was more going on than Holt being the only person behind this (based on how complicated the main questline heist is, and keeping an eye on some of the in game news), and told him not to take it to internal affairs, and I loved his response of how he doesn't give a shit what we think, he's doing it anyway.

In the elevator to report in, Johnny said "this muck is deeper than you think, tell them nothing", so i just said that the case was complicated. anyway i love how much of a sarcastic asshole V is

I thought i was being nonlethal with the monk quest, but it seems i accidently killed someone. RIP, but thats kind of the problem with this game. Like when i do the non lethal cyberpychosis quests I equip my non lethal modded gun and hope for the est. I like how a go here kill things quest led to Charles the ripperdoc. He's getting all his parts from scav gang members so I felt obligated to take him out. I got a police bounty for it but w/e.

I merged the Delemain fragments with the whole. Guess he's the meta now. (Side note: some of my favorite rvb fanfic plots are Ai consiousness/memory merging with the humans, so I’m having fun with this game and look foward to introspective fanfic)

Honestly Jonny made some good points, the fragments didn't deserve to die; but also destroying the core and freeing the fragments, they couldn't really function alone.

I was able to rescue Saul fine with stealth. Using cameras and the synapse overload really made it easy.  Can't use the sniper rifle reward b/c I don't have the stats for it, and while it has a silencer the fact that it's a ricochette weapon and not a shoot through walls weapons, makes it not as good imo; and theres a legendary one that is stats free for only 100k.

Lol made a pass again at Panam, and she immediately shut me down. I then did Mitch's quest and I love every time someone tells V they area  good person.

I hacked the operation carpe noctem shard, and wow the corporations are using ai to make people have cyberpsychosis, or something like that. What a shocker /s, I've played Deus Ex HR before

lol driving through the unifinished interstate, past the fight from Panam's first quest I found a "batcave" with a very nice car, and a manifesto written by "muckman'. But here's my complaint about the loot, there is a legendary top, but it had 16 armor. My current top has 84 armor, like why would i switch?? then later i found a bunker with soviet spies in it. Wild

Doing River's second quest, love the timing of as soon as you ask, why are we breaking in, someone shows up to tell you he got kicked off the force. It's funny how Johnny comments how maybe River's into you, and V just doubts Johnny's words. Love how the first kid asks River if I'm his girlfriend. also wow like oof both the second parts of Judy and River's quest are SUPER fucked UP!! oof like i stopped doing first person mode on the braindances for those quests as soon as i could, just made me too uncomfortable seeing that in first person.

DRIVING IN THE GAME IS BAD! nowhere is it more apparent than the sinnerman quest, which took me 3 times to get the driving section done, as cars spawned out of nowhere to hit me. Then when you restart, there is a bunch of dialogue it doesn't let you fast forward through. The rest of the Sinnerman questline is interesting. My V took every option to tell the dude that he was messed up, and what he was doing was wrong. idk, I was surprised how much dialogue there was that let you buy into his whole "forgiveness thing" and how there wasn't any real dialogue to call him the fuck out, that in seeking forgiveness he continues to do harm both emotional to the mother of the man he killed, but also that he got the husband killed via cop. The later follow up quest, I told him that what he is doing is crazy, studio is just going to profit off this vid. Then I refused to join him prayer, and told him fuck no i wasn't going to hammer him to the cross, or even watch. Yes, the man is scared of dying, and the corporation is exploiting him, but he keeps creating burdens for others.  I think the discussion on this quest will be interesting to read, it's definitely my own personal experience with religion coloring my view. Anyway back to a main quest, yeah i don't trust Placide, especially in that scene where he grabs my hand, then jacks in. I ran off to do most of the sidequests here and got some criticism from him. I do love how in the cinema the western movie switches to a mission brief as the netwatch agent talks. its a fun enviromental detail.  I took the netwatch offer, i don't think he's being fully honest with me, but he didn't put a virus in my head. As I told Placide later, I didn't pick a side. I like how you can then talk with the agent, who is a fan of Western movies, b/c they show "a simpler time where all good guys carry badges" :eyeroll:, and then V recommends Unforgiven, which from the wiki summary goes against that theme.

Looks like the Voodoo boys all got killed by Netwatch, but I as revenge for them trying to set me up I'm fine with it. Honestly after speaking with ai!Alt I don’t believe their plan of trying to be on good relations with AI would work. 

doing the johnny flashback 2, and wow Johnny really is an asshole. Like I had gotten so used to him in side missions I forgot how self centered and unlikable he was.You constantly get prompts to drink or do drugs, which I ignored. But i do love the goth/punk love Rogue and others have.

lol i called it, when Hellman said that the engram would seek to override the host, put V on the engram. I really like how as the relic malfunctions, you wind up in the chair with a cigarette, which you can either smoke and say you are turning into Johnny or throw away. My dialogue "your problem is the ends justify the means", which is true!!! He and Rogue detonated a nuke downtown, does anyone know that, and like ask Rogue about it????

(Funny you can ask Rouge about Johnny silverhand, over the phone, then the game bugs out and spawns her npc where you are. She doens't say much about the nuke, but she does say no one trusts you for jobs). The line of no one trusting you for jobs is pretty funny at level 46 street cred where im at “respected” status. really loving the family atmosphere at River's 3rd quest. Also his big strong arms, and the fact he is no longer a cop. I totally let the kids win, and wow the family dinner where they GRILL YOU over the relationship and try to set the two of you up, then the water tower scene!!!!! I don't love the first person sex cutscenes but they do have personality. I'm glad afterwards you got to tell River about the biochip and that you might die. Because he's so far removed from your personal plot. So I took that option to back out of a relationship.

I do love that you wake up with "river's tanktop" that says "fuck the police" It actually has extremely good armor stats, so thats what I'll wear now.

panam 3rd quest, when shes like why did you help me, I'm like "because it's important to you". Basically the closest you can get to "when a friend asks for help you help them", which as an ex-nomad backstory I really choose the nomad options when ever i can Paralezes quest part 2! I love the piano song but I always think of it as ocean's 11 music. It's also fun to see the computer and see Judy recommended you for the first quest. The emails talk about "forgetting" to hire a staffer, on the balocony a strange antennia was scannable, the color of the roses was remembered wrong...  lol guess i was right with those giant wall screens. Its fun environmental details that spell things out before you can notice, and it ties into some other quests where people's behavior is being altered. Actually, this quest "Dream On" I love it! For a while I've been like "wheres the illuminati conspiracy! Here it IS! I chose to follow Elisabeth's wishes and not tell her husband he was being brainwashed. In best case they program him to forget again, in worst case he ends up dead. The gaslighting Elisabeth described is CHILLING, her husband describes a vacation she can't remember and she doesn't know whose memories have been messed with. On your way to the plaza you get a call from someone/something that says the know exactly WHAT you are, any you black out!!! It's such a great feeling of helplessness that you're just one person in a world so big that you can't fight every power. As Johnny said, could be a corporation, could be a rogue ai, either way Jefferson is fucked (and so are you).

[michaelcarroll]

Forty-five years ago the war comic Battle Picture Weekly crashed down into the British comics scene with such an impact that the aftershocks are still being felt today.

Now, in a special double-sized issue, the award-winning fanzine Journey Planet takes a look back at this fan-favourite — and sometimes controversial — comic, and presents all-new in-depth interviews and features with some of its top artists, writers and editors, as well as never-before-published artwork!

Join Pat Mills, Carlos Ezquerra, Cam Kennedy, John Wagner, Ian Kennedy, Alan Hebden, Mike Dorey and more — as well as a host of today’s comics creators including Maura McHugh and Garth Ennis — as they discuss the impact and legacy of Battle and its stories, from the sublime Charley’s War to the subversive Hellman of Hammer Force.

With special features on the hugely influential creators Joe Colquhoun and Mike Western, this issue of Journey Planet is a must for every Battle fan!

At the low, low price of absolutely free, the fanzine is available now for download from the Journey Planet website!

Edited by Christopher J Garcia, James Bacon, Michael Carroll and special guest editor Paul Trimble, with the assistance of special correspondents John Vaughan and Pádraig Ó Méalóid!

[rufusdayglo]

Mike Western, one if my absolutely favourite artists when I was growing up. Years later I worked with his son, who kindly put me in touch with the great man himself. Like so many artists of his generation he was utterly self effacing and incredibly kind. This is the original art to the Action Holiday Special 1978 starring Hookjaw, Hellman of Hammer Force, Dredger, and Spinball. The lettering is original and on an aacetate sheet over the top. #action #2000ad #hookjaw #dredger #ww2 #jaws #comics #comicbook #comicart #originalart #illustration #art #mikewestern

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Action dated 24 September 1977. Hellman of Hammer Force cover, artist unknown. The pose is reminiscent of a splash page featuring Karl Schafft, everyone's favourite member of the Abwehr, by Francisco Fuentes Manuel that had appeared in Warlord in February that year.

Both are similar to an Airfix WWll German Paratroops figure that had first been released in 1976. The figure is in a running pose with his left leg raised off the base and holding a MP40. He's the main figure on the box art, which I think is by William Stallion, below (but facing the opposite direction) and fifth from the right on the row of figures at the bottom. It's possible both drawings were based on the Airfix figure as I'm sure artists then did base a lot of drawings on model kits and the like.

Treasury of British Comics.

[downthetubes]

What If… 2000AD had merged with Battle Action?

2000AD merges with Battle Action? Wait, what!? Check out this amazing upcoming imaginary merger of two of Britain's biggest comics!

It’s a clash of the ages – what if two of Britain’s most famous comics – 2000AD and Battle Action – had merged at the height of their popularity in the 1980s? 2000AD wraparound cover by Henry Flint In a brand new “what if?” crossover featuring some of Britain’s biggest comic book talents this September, 2000AD and the Judge Dredd Megazine find the answer to the question: what would 2000AD have…

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Battle Action cover dated 31 December 1977 with a cover by Carlos Ezquerra.

Good cover at first glance but the main character is holding the Sten gun magazine in a very odd manner. Not sure if this figure is meant to be The Sarge or not. He has been drawn with a pipe but that character rarely, if ever, used a Sten. I wonder if this may have been an unused D-Day Dawson cover that has had a pipe drawn in later?

Inside - The Early Adventures of Hellman of Hammer Force with art by Jim Watson.

Treasury of British Comics.

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Power of the Panzers!

Battle Action dated 7 January 1978. A powerful Hellman of Hammer Force cover by Ian Kennedy.

Treasury of British Comics.

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Action cover dated 13 August 1977. Hellman of Hammer Force cover, artist unknown (Mike Dorey maybe?). Treasury of British Comics.

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A 1976 ad for Action No. 2 which came with a free Hook Jaw iron on transfer! Bet there's not too many of those left.

Treasury of British Comics.

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Battle Action No. 175, cover dated 8 July 1978 saw the end of the road for Major Kurt Hellman and his Hammer Force with art by Mike Dorey.

In 1979 the character effectively continued in the pages of the new Tornado comic. In the story 'Wagner's Walk' the Hellman character was renamed Major Kurt Wagner and his trusty sidekicks Max and Dekker reappear as Karl and Gruber.

In the first issue of Tornado the pair are still disguised as Generals (as above) and in a later issue Gruber is even referred to as Dekker in a panel.

I don't know why they chose to rename the characters other than to perhaps give the strip a new start with Tornado. It would have been nice just to have seen the strip continue as Hellman.

Another strip in Tornado underwent a name change before its first issue was published. The Victor Drago strip (also with art by Mike Dorey) was originally to be published under the Sexton Blake name. I understand the decision to change the name in that case was down to a rights issue over who actually owned the character (which wouldn't have been the case with Hellman).

Treasury of British Comics.

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Battle Action cover dated 25 March 1978. Major Eazy cover art by Carlos Ezquerra.

Inside Hellman, Big Max and Dekker check out their new ride before taking it for a spin. The Tiger II, Tiger B, Konigstiger and Royal Tiger were some of the names it was known by with King Tiger being the name the Allies mainly referred to it as. Art by Mike Dorey.

Treasury of British Comics.

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A full page ad from 1979 for Tornado No. 1. There seem to have been a few last-minute name changes for this title. Fitting in a way as Heroes was to be the original title for the comic before they changed it to Tornado.

'Wagner's Walk' was originally to be a continuation of the 'Hellman of Hammer Force' story from Battle Action. It picks up right where Hellman had left off with the lead character now a prisoner of war. In one issue Wagner's sidekick Gruber is also mistakenly named as Dekker (who had been one of Hellman's men).

Victor Drago was originally meant to be a Sexton Blake strip but the publisher didn't have the rights to use the name at the time.

The ad shows the strip 'E.S.P. Smith'. This was later changed to The Mind of Wolfie Smith for the first issue. I thought this was strange at the time as 'Wolfie Smith' was still quite closely associated with the John Sullivan sitcom Citizen Smith that was still showing at the time.

Good comic with lots of great stories and art. It didn't last long though and merged with 2000 AD. It's undated but the first issue should have been cover dated 24 March 1979.

Treasury of British Comics.

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Hellman logos from Action and Battle Action.

Kurt Hellman, German Panzer Commander.

Treasury of British Comics.

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Battle Action cover dated 27 May 1978.

'Major Eazy' cover by Carlos Ezquerra.

Inside Hellman makes a horrific discovery. Art by Pat Wright.

Treasury of British Comics.