"Darkie's Mob" is a British comic war story published in the weekly anthology Battle Picture Weekly from 14 August 1976 to 18 June 1977 by IPC Magazines. Set during World War II, the story follows a rogue unit led by the uncompromising Joe Darkie, operating in Burma behind Japanese lines. Written by John Wagner and drawn by Mike Western, the strip was told through a bloodstained notebook recovered from the Burmese jungle in 1946.
Creation
John Wagner had worked with Pat Mills on the original launch of Battle Picture Weekly in 1975 before taking the post of editor on the long-running but flagging IPC boys' weekly Valiant. He became frustrated at the opposition he faced from the department's traditionalist staff and resigned in mid-1976 to return to freelancing. "Darkie's Mob" was his first commission since leaving the staff role, and Wagner conducted considerable research into the Burma campaign in order to ensure he "got it right". He also requested and got the experienced Mike Western as artist, feeling he "would give the story a solidity and grittiness" that fitted the subject. Western would later list "Darkie's Mob" as his favourite work from his own career, relating that Wagner's scripts "could put the atmosphere on the end of your pen and brush".
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. "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. Western would later recall that some of the violence did cause him some discomfort, and that he purposefully reigned 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". The character of 'Flyboy' Ferris was added at the suggestion of Battle assistant editor Steve MacManus.
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 Judge Dredd Megazine #202 to 210, despite not having featured in 2000 AD In 2011, the complete story was reprinted in a hardback collection by Titan Comics as Darkie's Mob: The Secret War of Joe Darkie.
Since 2016, the rights to the story have been owned by Rebellion Developments.
Plot summary
Following the defeat of Japan at the end of World War II a battered, stained notebook is found in 1946 among the remains of a bloody jungle battle in Burma. Inside is a journal starting on 30 May 1942, when a cut-off group of twenty British Army stragglers from the retreating British Army, trapped on the wrong side of the Chindwin River. With their captain dead and under the command of the injured Lieutenant Meeker, the unit is too weary to argue when a man walks out of the jungle and proclaims himself to be their new commanding officer, Kukri-wielding Captain Joe Darkie. Even the British troops are alarmed when Darkie captures a Japanese scout, who runs away in terror at the mention of Darkie's name, and for the next three days the unit encounters no hostile action as they prepare to cross the river, capturing a Japanese patrol boat. However, Sergeant Samson realises Darkie has instead led them across the Irrawaddy River and behind Japanese lines. Samson and the men object, but Darkie viciously beats Samson and the squad realise they have little choice but to go along with him. The squad begin responding to his ruthless command, and wipe out any Japanese units unfortunate enough to cross their paths.