By Corporals Enfantino and Seabrook
Russ Heath |
"No Shot From Easy!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Jerry Grandenetti
"Salute to a Buzzard!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito
"Junk Pile Fighters!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Jack Abel
PE: Beginning with titles cover-dated December 1959, DC demoted four of its five war comics to bi-monthly status, leaving only Our Army at War as a monthly. Several factors may have led to the decision but, according to Robert Kanigher in Chris Pedrin's Big Five (Alton-Kelly, 1994) it certainly wasn't sales, since DC publisher Jack Leibowitz had proclaimed, "The war books are solid money-makers!" I'd guess that it may been Kanigher's work load; in addition to editing all five books, he wrote at least half of all the stories (and, let's not forget, he also wrote for the DC superhero titles as well!) and had been since 1952. How long can that go on before the inevitable burn out? In any event, Sgt. Rock had probably already risen to the rank of #1 War Character and to cut OAAW's yearly output in half would have been foolish. It would remain the only monthly war title in the line until February 1973 when GI Combat and Star-Spangled would briefly return to monthly status (Our Fighting Forces would be bumped to eight times a year in 1962).
JS: "No Shot From Easy!" is a tense story that suffers from sub-par art. Sgt. Rock must hold together his company as they take shelter in a foxhole under heavy shelling. To keep them from going batty he tells stories about other times Easy Company had been pinned down. The story is solid but the art by Grandenetti doesn't create the required mood.
A far cry from Kubert |
JS: "Salute to a Buzzard!" isn't much better, with some of the most nondescript Ross Andru art we've seen.
"Salute to a Buzzard" |
JS: I agree. By the end of "Junk Pile Fighters!" I was wishing the boy and his gun would get a room. It's odd that Our Army at War would be the only book to stay monthly with such a weak selection.
"Junk Pile Fighters" |
Joe Kubert |
"Biggest Target in the World!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Joe Kubert
"Home Town Jet!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Russ Heath
"Non-Stop Patrol!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Jack Abel
PE: Just six months prior to launching "The War That Time Forgot" over in Star-Spangled, Robert Kanigher dishes up a nonsensical slice of fantasy and tries to meld it with a Gunner and Sarge story. The pair (minus pooch) are combing the shores for a sniper when out of the woods comes... a giant! This giant comes complete with uniform and rifle and kill-crazy instincts. Why is there a giant in the jungle? Who knows? At one point in "Biggest Target in the World!", Gunner is reading Jack and the Beanstalk so, when the big guy shows up, I naturally expected it to all be a dream in the end, the result of an errant bullet to the cranium or some such, but no explanation is forthcoming. The giant is dispatched when a fighter pilot comes to the aid of Gunner and Sarge and nothing more is spoken of the situation. If we were given some sort of reasoning behind the sudden appearance of this freakish soldier, the story might have been a bit easier going down, but it's just too goofy for my tastes.
That explains it! |
Can anyone read that character? |
JS: Heath sure can draw air battles well, and the ending, where the villagers paint a Chinese (?) character on the plane's nose, is impressive.
Nazis cleverly disguised as Arab "camel jockeys" |
JS: I thought it was funny that the Arabs kept turning out to be Nazis in disguise! Never could trust a Nazi.
Joe Kubert |
"Just One More Tank!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito
"Ace Against Ace!"
Story by Hank Chapman
Art by Russ Heath
"The Impossible Mission!"
Story by Hank Chapman
Art by Jack Abel
PE: I'm not sure why "Just One More Tank!" is billed as a two-parter but I'm just as happy the second part never materialized as this one is awful with equally awful art (wasn't it just a couple months ago I was expressing delight at Andru and Esposito and now we've put up with two stinkers in a row). "Just One More Tank" follows the formula set forth in the first three installments of "Tank Killer": T.K. and his ever-suffering Boy Friday (known only as "The Kid") must seek out and destroy lots of tanks. The Kid does a lot of complaining because T.K. wants to get "just one more tank" before they're relieved by replacement soldiers but, before too long, "The Kid" is so thrilled by the sight of burning Nazis that he's the one refusing rest. There's seemingly no motivation behind the change in "The Kid" and, I guess, readers in 1959 didn't demand any. This was the last of the four "Tank Killer" stories. Good riddance, I says.
"Just One More Tank!" |
PE: "Ace Against Ace" utilizes the same split-screen gimmick as "Junk Pile Fighters" in Our Army #89 but that's the only similarity between the two stories, thank goodness. "Ace" benefits right off the bat from the usual stellar Russ Heath art. I swear in spots Heath's art almost looks rotoscoped, it's so clean and life-like. The story involves an American fighter pilot and his Korean counterpart locked in a battle to the death, first in the cockpit and, ultimately, hand-to-hand on the ground. It's a stark, violent climax and though we don't see a streak of blood, we do witness the aftermath of that violence. As writer Hank Chapman puts it in the final panel: "In the end, it is not science--not equipment--but the man--that counts..."
"The Impossible Mission" |
PE: I've been reading a few two many frogmen adventures lately and they all seem to run together in my brain. That may be because there hasn't been any straying off the path as yet. "The Impossible Mission" falls into that same trap but still manages to be readable and, unlike his job on the aforementioned "Junk Pile Fighters," Jack Abel brings his "A" game this time. A band of American frogmen, intent on planting explosives on a Japanese munitions ship, are continually sent packing by the enemy. Their job is labeled "The Impossible Mission" by their superiors but the men have no quit in them and the job eventually gets done. There's not a lot of peril since we know these guys are going to make it back but it's a fun read nonetheless.
JS: If you believe these comics, there were a heck of a lot of frogmen operating in "Big War Two," as this story calls it. When did World War Two start being called World War Two? Another question for Combat Corner! I think of the James Bond movie, Thunderball, whenever I see frogmen.
Heath! |
Coming Next Week!
Enjoying these war stories write-ups guys, even though I don't comment on them every time.
ReplyDeleteAnd I must admit, I really love those frogmen adventures!
Thanks for the kind words, Yankee. Good to know you're still out there. I must say I dig those Frogman adventures as well!
ReplyDelete"A famous story was written about people becoming giants because of the special food they ate" -- clearly, a reference to HG Wells' FOOD OF THE GODS. Thanks guys for revisiting these comics --these were some of the first comic books I ever bought. Was it really 50 years ago?!
ReplyDeleteFred, hang in there--the best is yet to come! (Imagine William Dozier intoning that sentence.)
ReplyDelete