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View Full Version : James Milligan, Atomic Robo 2/5


Melfice
06-09-2009, 03:55 PM
Mr. Milligan wouldn't happen to have been inspired by a certain Jack Churchill, aka "Fighting Jack Churchill", aka "Mad Jack", would he?

Here's the whole editorial on Cracked.com (http://www.cracked.com/article_17019_5-real-life-soldiers-who-make-rambo-look-like-pussy.html)

And here's the story of Jack:

An allied commander in WWII, and an avid fan of surfing, Captain Jack Malcolm Thorpe Fleming Churchill aka "Fighting Jack Churchill" aka "Mad Jack" was basically the craziest motherfucker in the whole damn war.

He volunteered for commando duty, not actually knowing what it entailed, but knowing that it sounded dangerous, and therefore fun. He is best known for saying that "any officer who goes into action without his sword is improperly dressed" and, in following with this, for carrying a sword into battle. In WWII. And not one of those sissy ceremonial things the Marines have. No, Jack carried a fucking claymore. And he used it, too. He is credited with capturing a total of 42 Germans and a mortar squad in the middle of the night, using only his sword.

Churchill and his team were tasked with capturing a German fortification creatively called "Point 622." Churchill took the lead, charging ahead of the group into the dark through the barbed wire and mines, pitching grenades as he went. Although his unit did their best to catch up, all but six of them were lost to silly things like death. Of those six, half were wounded and all any of them had left were pistols. Then a mortar shell swung in and killed/mortally wounded everyone who wasn't Jack Churchill.

When the Germans found him, he was playing "Will Ye No Come Back Again?" on his bagpipes. Oh, we didn't mention that? He carried them right next to his big fucking sword.

After being sent to a concentration camp, he got bored and left. Just walked out. They caught him again, and sent him to a new camp. So he left again. After walking 150 miles with only a rusty can of onions for food, he was picked up by the Americans and sent back to Britain, where he demanded to be sent back into the field, only to find out (with great disappointment) the war had ended while he was on his way there. As he later said to his friends, "If it wasn't for those damn Yanks, we could have kept the war going another 10 years!"

Just something I linked to Meister, and Meister thought of the potential connection. And now we're both wondering if you were inspired by "Mad Jack" for James Milligan, the mad Scotsman.

Kurosen
06-09-2009, 04:53 PM
As noted in Scott's introduction in the trade paperback collection of Vol 2, James "Scottie" Milligan is inspired by Scott's grandfather. The scope of our version of Mr. Milligan's bad assery is certainly on par with Mr. Churchill, though, so you cannot be blamed for the connection.

Really, Scott and I just like guys who are in over their heads, and know it, and not only don't give up, but don't really pause to worry about it either. Robo plays out that way, as do Jenkins, Milligan, Skorzeny, and The Sparrow. There's just something charming about that attitude.

Melfice
06-09-2009, 04:57 PM
As much as I love Atomic Robo, I try to avoid buying doubles of my comics, so you'll excuse me that I haven't bought the TPB and didn't know about that little tidbit. ;)

And those types of characters are certainly fun characters!

Mac
06-27-2009, 03:37 AM
Scottie is my favorite secondary character. Is he related to Jenkins by any chance?

Kurosen
06-27-2009, 09:39 AM
Nope. We considered it in the planning stages, but they're just both a couple of tough dudes.

Kerensky287
06-27-2009, 10:22 PM
Any chance of Scottie making a comeback?

I mean, yeah, he's gonna be like 80 by the time modern Robo stories occur, but it's not like that's stopped anyone in the past. Except that one fighter pilot.

Oh, and if Mr. Scott has already shown up in Vol 3, please excuse me - the place I picked up the other comics is a city away and I'm not going back till September. But I eagerly look forward to that badass returning, if he ever does.

Kurosen
06-27-2009, 11:03 PM
He probably won't. He was just a random soldier and the right guy at the right place at the right time.

We'll almost definitely see more of The Sparrow though.

alinaboom
07-06-2009, 10:05 PM
I went into my Newsagent a day before Atomic Issue 100 came out and was told that he didnt stock them anymore, however he said he would order a copy in for me, its now around 4 weeks later and he claims it will be there tomorrow, however I dont have much faith in that, as hes been saying that it will be in next wednesday, for the last 3 weeks.

Is there any way that I can order Atomic Issue 100 specifically, or will I have to hope that a fellow atomican bought himself a few spare copies and pay a rather large sum for it?

Cheers.

Kurosen
07-06-2009, 10:24 PM
Uh, there is no issue 100. We've published 13 issues so far and the numbering resets with each mini-series anyway.

Fifthfiend
07-08-2009, 12:38 AM
Alina, this and your rules thread post are lookin' pretty spammy and nonsensical. Start making a little more sense or we're gonna have to show you the door.