Battle for Britain (Private Eye)

Battle For Britain was a comic strip cartoon published in the fortnightly satirical magazine Private Eye in the United Kingdom during the 1980s. It depicted Margaret Thatcher's second term of office as Prime Minister but with the politicians shown as British soldiers or Nazi officials in a World War II-like setting. The strip was attributed to Monty Stubble, which was a nom de plume of editor Ian Hislop and his artistic collaborator Nick Newman.

Publication history

The name "Monty Stubble" is a play on the film-title I Was Monty's Double; the film being based upon the career of M. E. Clifton James, an actor who was employed during World War II to impersonate General Mongomery for the purposes of espionage and to confuse the enemy.

Battle For Britain appeared in Private Eye between 1983 and 1987. The series ended after the 1987 General Election; this was explained by Private Eye as happening because Stubble "was tragically lost in action in the last week of the war, believed to have been hit by a stray pencil sharpener".

The collected strips were then published in book form by André Deutsch.

Synopsis

The strip is considered to rank alongside the best to appear in the magazine. It was a satirical presentation of the struggles of the Labour Party opposition led by Neil Kinnock against the Conservative government led by Mrs Thatcher. The style borrowed liberally from Fleetway's War Picture Library comic series, and also D. C. Thomson & Co.'s Commando....
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