Star-Spangled DC War Stories Part 6: November 1959

By Corporals Enfantino and Seabrook

Jerry Grandenetti

Star-Spangled War Stories 87

"T.N.T. Spotlight!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Mort Drucker

"School for a Frogman!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito

"Get One for Smitty!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Joe Kubert

PE: Mademoiselle Marie plays yet another game of wits with the Nazis. Given the task of creating a diversion so that a band of rangers can land unmolested, Marie accepts a dare from Commandant Von Ekt, a mission that could find her blown to smithereens. Though I haven't been a fan of this series based on previous chapters, I enjoyed this installment very much. Sure, Marie can still jump from a speeding train with nary a curl out of place, but the escalating series of Von Ekt-created hoops Marie has to jump through ees verry exciting! Mort Drucker's art is fabulous, with Von Ekt resembling director/actor Otto Preminger to a T. Von Ekt is such a great villain, it almost seems a shame that he goes up in smoke with his exploding train. I do call foul on the scene where Marie and her merry men, floating downstream in a rowboat, are ambushed by an enemy patrol. The Nazis hurl potato mashers at the boat but the quick reflexes and trigger finger of M. Marie prove worthy and the explosives are deflected back at their tossers! Hilarious! Author (and future executive producer of the Dark Knight film trilogy) Michael Uslan selected this story as an example of Mademoiselle Marie's escapades for his America at War: The Best of DC War Comics (Fireside, 1979).

"But... I Nevah... Meese!"

JS: While I think the cover is very sharp, I was not as enamored of this story or Drucker's art, which I have a hard time taking seriously. I have read all of the Mlle. Marie stories to date, yet has she ever been referred to as the "Maqui Leader" before? I looked Maqui up online and it refers to the resistance fighters in the Spanish Civil War. As for her "ruthless enemy" Commandant Von Ekt, have we seen him prior to this story? They set it up here as if he's a recurring villain, so I'll bet my tinpot he did not die in the train explosion. By the way, why do the French speak in the absurd "ze" and "zat" lingo while the Nazis either speak perfect English or toss around simple German words like "Ja"?

Commandant Von Ekt himself!

"School for a Frogman!"

PE: An American frogman is captured by the Germans and used as fodder for grueling underwater training classes for fledgling Nazis. "School for a Frogman" is a tense, exciting short with one glaring flub. At one point our hero mentions he only has 15 minutes of oxygen left in his tank but, once he escapes from his torturers, he goes on quite an adventure, culminating in the destruction of a huge German boat (known as a "raider"). Where'd he get that extra air?

JS: There's one other glaring flub. How do you write with chalk on a chalkboard underwater? I don't think that even the Nazis could have pulled that off!

PE: Dazzling Kubert art highlights "Get One for Smitty," in which a tail-gunner named Smitty is determined to prove his worth to his comrades but gets into trouble immediately. They have to pull his fat out of the fire and the chant  "Got One for Smitty" reverberates throughout the bomber. Smitty ends up getting his one--the most important one it turns out--for himself and he saves the day. Only Kubert can pull off that hangdog look on a G.I. Though Haney uses that tired device of latching onto a phrase and repeating it, here it works for the good of the story.

JS: Thank goodness Smitty finally got his act together. I was getting sick of hearing it!

Russ Heath

Our Fighting Forces 51

"Underwater Gunner!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Joe Kubert

"Frogman Trap!"
Story by Hank Chapman
Art by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito

"Combat Check!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Jack Abel

PE: For some strange reason, Jerry Grandenetti and Joe Kubert switch series this month and next with Kubert here handling the disposable Gunner and Sarge series and Grandenetti mishandling the Sgt. Rock chores over at Our Army at War. Not a bright idea. Whereas Grandenetti can do a decent job on a humorous series such as Gunner, you don't want him anywhere near Sgt. Rock. As for "Underwater Gunner," Robert Kanigher must have decided that Kubert means serious business. Gone is the Keystone Kops Komedy of past issues and we're blissfully free (save one throwaway panel) of canine mascot Pooch. In fact, this is easily the best of the Gunner and Sarge stories yet presented, with Joe's scenes of battling frogmen the standout sequence. Kubert's Sarge here looks just like his more famous Sgt. over at Our Army.

Nope, it ain't Rock!

JS: Maybe this was Rock's side job--pushing Gunner around. I read the whole story wondering where Pooch was and I was relieved to find he had not been chopped up to make K Rations. I learned another new slang term for a grenade--an egg. Throw in some potato mashers and war starts to sound like Kitchen Nightmares!

PE: Our second underwater adventure of the issue, "Frogman Trap," finds an explosives expert first destroying a Nazi sub and then ordered to go back to the wreckage and retrieve secret documents stored in its safe. When the diver gets to the sunken sub, he finds it already being pilfered by the enemy. Though he makes quick work of the two German divers and is able to open the safe, a fresh wave of Germans is knocking at his door in minutes. The bad guys get the documents and trap our hero in the sunken sub. Only training and a streak of good luck allow the American frogman to survive the ordeal and land on top, secret documents and all. Writer Hank Chapman and artists Andru and Esposito serve up some genuine moments of claustrophobia and a nice surprise climax when the documents are read and we find out the Nazi sub's first target was meant to be the ship the frogman is assigned to.

"Combat Check!"

JS: Ross Andru's trademark wide open eyes made it easy to peg the artist in this one. I liked the way the floating log made the Nazi seaplane flip over in the water, but then having the box the frogman was looking for just fall out of the plane and into his hands was a little much.

PE: "Combat Check" is a less involving short about a G.I. given the unenviable duty of checking out small areas to make sure they're free of the enemy. Our protagonist simultaneously has the worst and best luck in the world: he keeps stumbling onto Nazis despite the fact that his assignment areas get smaller but the Nazis (including a sniper who has a clear shot at our American G.I.) can't hit the side of a barn door so he keeps escaping by the hair on his chin.

JS: It was pretty cool when the ruined one-room building turned out to be a camouflaged Nazi tank! I did not see that coming.

"Frogman Trap!"

Joe Kubert

Our Army at War 88

"The Hard Way!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Jerry Grandenetti

"Frogman Anchor Jockey!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Jack Abel

"A Sarge is 10 Feet Tall!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Russ Heath

And who's this disguised as Rock?

PE: "The Hard Way," we come to find out, is having to leave a wounded man behind when the enemy is near. Sgt. Rock relates his tale of "The Hard Way" to a new recruit who wonders aloud what the worst thing in war is. Coincidentally, shortly after the story has ended, the new recruit is wounded and becomes the second chapter of "The Hard Way." This recruit, however, manages to fight his way to a happy ending and saves Easy Company from an oncoming tank. Heresy! A Sgt. Rock story not illustrated by Joe Kubert becomes just another war story, unfortunately. Sure, the script has some highlights (the original soldier doesn't make it back home and there's a high body count) but it's dragged down by the weak Grandenetti pencils. You'd not be able to pick Rock out of a G.I. lineup, resembling William Holden in some panels. Not a good thing.

JS: We've been conditioned to such excellence from Kubert in this series that nothing could match up. I continue to wonder if we'll ever get recurring characters (other than Rock) in Easy Co. The supporting players seem interchangeable--but maybe that's the point. In Easy Co., soldiers die and are replaced by new ones. I don't think many regular members of Sgt. Fury's company ever died.

PE: "Frogman Anchor Jockey" reads like one of the "true war action" tales that populated the men's magazines of the 1950s and 60s. There's not much to it other than a terrifying scenario: imagine being chained to the anchor of a Nazi battleship in your own harbor? This frogman makes the best of the surrounding coral and makes his escape. When he sets the charge on the explosive (which happens to be buried nearby!) and adheres it to the hull, he wonders if he'll have time to clear himself. We never find out. Jack Abel contributes Kubert-esque art (the best art we've seen from Abel so far), with his panel of our hero chained to the anchor conveying the terror of the situation nicely.

JS: Holy Davy Jones locker! This six-pager was like a Batman TV cliffhanger, and the frogman's escape was just as believable! I enjoyed it but it did not have the vibe of the usual war tale.

PE: The best comes last this issue as we learn that "A Sarge is 10 Feet Tall." A new recruit comes to idolize his sergeant as the man seems to do no wrong. When the sarge is wounded just as his men are attacked by Japanese soldiers, the youngster must pick up the baton and become a man. Really good stuff here, with Haney's script nicely overcoming the restrictions of a five and a half page slot. Russ Heath is fast becoming my favorite war artist (yes, even throwing Joe Kubert into the mix!) and here he's noting short of perfection. His use of inks for shadow gives the strip an almost noir-ish vibe. Viva La Heath!

"A Sarge is Ten Feet Tall"

Joe Kubert and Jack Adler

G.I. Combat 78

"Who Cares About the Infantry?"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Russ Heath

"Get the Whirlybirds"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Mort Drucker

"High Water Mark!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Jack Abel

PE: Russ Heath's dazzling art is the highlight of "Who Cares About the Infantry?", wherein a grizzled veteran G.I. becomes convinced that the only soldier fighting the war is a foot soldier. As he passes idle tanks or is buzzed by soaring jets, his bile grows as each new battle rages on. In the end, though, his men are aided by both the tank and the jet and his anger washes away, replaced by tears for the men who gave their lives to help the infantry. The story's so well told you can almost ignore the constant title refrain.

"Who Cares About the Infantry?"

JS: At first, this seems like another one of those stories where the main character whines on and on about how he has it worse than everyone else. Yet a few well-placed, heroic deaths make it more meaningful. Have you noticed that pillboxes seem like sitting ducks in these stories? I would think they would be more dangerous than they appear to be. I learned more slang: when an "egg" blows up, it "hatches"!

PE: The North Koreans have had it up to here with those helicopter pilots and orders have come down to "Get the Whirlybirds!" Bill, the copter pilot finds himself facing several traps set by the enemy on his rescue missions and the final one involves his brother, Eddie. A pure adventure short, almost pulpish in style and delivery, that delivers on all fronts, especially in the art department. Drucker's very detailed aircraft are a wonder to behold.

"Get the Whirlybirds!"

JS: As little as I liked Drucker's art this month on the Mlle. Marie story in Star-Spangled, I agree with you that it's very impressive here. He excels at specific, detailed drawings of machines and there is some impressive use of forced perspective.

PE: "High Water Mark" is just about the weakest story we've encountered on this journey, in both story and art. An uninspiring and monotonous dirge on setting new "high water marks" in battle. This is the new "low water mark" in the DC war titles.

JS: No argument here!

"High Water Mark"

Joe Kubert

All-American Men at War 75

"Sink That Flat Top!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito

"No Replacement For Me!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Jack Abel

"Fighting Star!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Russ Heath

PE: "Sink That Flattop!" is a particularly moving look at three service men who give their lives in order to get their job done. Sometimes, in these Code-enforced tales, death is relegated to the background or "off-screen" or merely hinted at. Ludicrous if you think about it. How can death not be examined in a war story? Well, when it's aimed at youngsters, naturally the violence has to be toned down. Though nothing here is overly sensationalistic, we know that each one of these men has given the "ultimate sacrifice." How can a reader not choke up at Kanigher's captions: "From his doomed plane... Hank keeps on firing his guns... Because that's what he's there for..." One of the best Kanigher scripts we've seen yet and Andru and Esposito continue to grow as artists on these war titles.

JS: This story was moving and well-told, yes, but it was also very exciting! The progression from the air battle to the sea battle to the land battle kept me on the edge of my seat, and that's not always the case with DC war stories.

"No Replacement for Me!"

PE: A hard-to-kill G.I. continues to cry out his mantra "No Replacement For Me" over and over. We get it by the second page but for some reason he feels the need to drone on for four more pages. The sub-par art of Jack Abel doesn't help.

JS: This story could have been replaced and we would not have missed it!

PE: Bob Haney redeems himself nicely though with "Fighting Star," a two-part story focusing on how the North Star can help even when fighters have all the "modern electronic devices" to aid them in their journeys. The first part spotlights the sole survivor of a sunken submarine who is using the Star to navigate himself towards home when up pops the Japanese sub that sunk his own ship. Able to commandeer an unexploded torpedo, he avenges his fallen comrades. In act two, an American fighter pilot engages a Nazi bomber and its fighter escort. In the battle, the American pilot has his instrument panel damaged and must use the North Star to navigate back to England. Unbeknownst to our hero, the Germans are heading back on the same path, using the Star as their guide. Cliche though it may be, I think I could read the phone book if illustrated by Russ Heath. His aerial battles are breathtaking and his submarines are equally realistic. Give me more!

JS: This is a pretty nice story for only six pages. Heath is probably second to Kubert at this point in illustrating the war books.

The awe-inspiring art of Russ Heath

Commanded by James T. Kirk?

Coming Next Week!