Star-Spangled DC War Stories Part 9: February 1960

By Corporals Enfantino and Seabrook

Kubert

All American Men of War 77

"Big Fish--little fish!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Irv Novick

"Diary of an Ace!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Bill Everett

"T.N.T. Yardstick!"
Story by Hank Chapman
Art by Mort Drucker

PE: Young Mickey thinks he's in for a life of loneliness at the orphanage until a kind family adopts him. His adopted brother, Harry, teaches him to swim and stay underwater for long amounts of time and, when the Japanese attack Pearl Harbor, the boys naturally sign up to be frogmen. Unfortunately, there are no places open for the boys and they're drafted into the army. While en route to battle, their ship is sunk and Harry is killed. Mickey swears he'll get revenge against the submarine with the shark design on its prow. When he rescues a battalion of his own men, the army gives him one wish and he quickly asks for a reassignment to frogman duty. Soon after, Mickey ("the Little Fish") gets his pound of flesh. I was geared up not to like this one, as the constant drone of "little fish, little fish!" was getting on my nerves, but I was pleasantly surprised at how engaging the story is. Harry's death is a surprise I didn't see coming and I found myself rooting the "little fish" on.

JS: As did I! So much for no death in these code-approved war stories. This one tugs at the heartstrings when the orphan is adopted and taken under the big brother's wing. The only false note occurs near the end, when Mickey manages to knock an oncoming torpedo off course by means of a shoulder block. I think the little fish would be fish food if he were hit by a torpedo.

PE: Bill Everett contributes his only DC war story, "Diary of an Ace," one of those "split screen" stories where we see each side of the battle from "our" perspective and the enemy's. The enemy, in this case, being the arrogant Baron Hugo Von Hoffner, "Germany's Black Ace of the skies!" Our hero, Lt. Dick Brill, flying on his first mission teaches the Baron a thing or two before delivering the death blow and retiring the Black Ace for good. It's no wonder that Everett (one of my favorite Golden Age artists) never contributed another DC war story since his art is completely wrong for the genre based on evidence shown in this story. He nails the World War I aircrafts but the characters look cut straight from a superhero strip and there's not much imagination in the choreography.

JS: I'm surprised you didn't like this one more, knowing your fondness for Bill Everett. I thought it was a solid six-pager, nothing special. I liked that the blank final page of the German ace's diary is filled in in the last panel, after he is shot down, with the words: "The End."

PE: Bogan is a grenadier, a grenade expert, and so his targets all have to be within 35 yards (thus the "TNT Yardstick"). He's finding that may be a hazard to his health and so he constantly asks for a transfer. Finally, his sarge promises him his transfer but only after he completes one more assignment. Ironically, during that mission, Bogan discovers that being closer to the target may keep him alive. I like the Mort Drucker art (but, as usual, have a hard time not thinking of MAD Magazine while enjoying it) but the story is nothing more than a series of incidents to set up our hero's inevitable change of mind.

JS: One of the fun things about doing this project is that I'm quickly becoming able to spot artists without checking the credits. This one has Mort Drucker's name written all over the gritty, determined face of Bogan as he edges closer to his target. When I first encountered Drucker's DC war work a few posts ago, I thought it was too much like Mad, but now I'm getting used to it and he's becoming one of my favorites.

Grandenetti

Our Army at War 91

"No Answer From Sarge!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Joe Kubert

"Old Soldiers Never Run!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Joe Kubert

"The Silent Piper!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Joe Kubert


PE: Robert Kanigher is kind enough to grace us with a triple shot of Joe Kubert's Sgt. Rock this issue and how can you find fault with that? All three stories are entertaining but I find the first, "No Answer From Sarge," to be the standout. It may be that I like the tales that fill in pieces of Rock's past and this story does a bit of that. The Sarge must deal with green recruits en route to the battlefield. One boy constantly begs the Rock to send him back, saying that he can't take the strain and that, in the end, he'll besmirch the good name of Easy Company. To shore up the kid's backbone, Rock tells him the story of Wally Street, a new recruit, equally green and equally scared of impending battle, who rises up, saves the Company and gives his life heroically. Of course, this story has the desired effect on the newbies and, in the climactic panel,  Rock sighs that "they look like the combat-happy Joes of Easy already!"

"No Answer From Sarge!"

JS: Sgt. Rock is able to keep an astounding amount of information under his tin pot. He recalls--under fire--that Wally Street lives at 4062 Third Avenue! He also demonstrates his ability to have faith in a raw recruit who gives every impression of being a coward. This is another powerful story of leadership from Kanigher and Kubert.

PE: "Old Soldiers" tackles the problem of aging in the military without resorting to cheap melodrama. "The Silent Piper" is the last survivor of a massacre on Heartbreak Ridge who needs a bit of closure to get on with his life. Both stories are well-written and (it goes without saying) exquisitely drawn by Kubert. How the artist could draw a gaggle of GI grunts and give each their own characteristics to make them stand out is beyond me.

"The Silent Piper!"

JS: Walt Dunn in "Old Soldiers" is said to have been too young for WWI but too old for WWII. Pipe Sergeant MacDuncan in "The Silent Piper!" marches around in full Scottish regalia, holding his bagpipes quietly after the rest of his outfit has been wiped out. Dunn and MacDuncan are examples of how Kanigher, Haney and Kubert are able to expand their stories beyond the tried and true to give color and flavor to harrowing tales of combat.

Kubert

Our Fighting Forces 53

"The Gunner and the Nurse!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito

"Bomber Party!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Mort Drucker

"I Can't Win!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Joe Kubert

PE: Try as I might, I just don't think I'm ever going to like the Gunner and Sarge series. Robert Kanigher's a superior writer when he sticks to military story lines (as evidenced by the weak scripts he contributed to House of Mystery) but his attempts at humor resemble a Jerry Lewis farce (read that as desperately unfunny). Here the "wacky" pair have to take turns romancing a beautiful blond nurse. At least, the title tells us she's a nurse. Nowhere in the story is there reasoning for why this girl is out in the middle of gunfire and explosions. She's not carrying a little black bag nor does she wear the obligatory armband. The enemy soldiers look like hopping monkeys when they threaten the trio with their potato mashers. Common sense seems to have taken the day off here. This is the worst art I've seen by Andru and Esposito, by the way. I may just be grumpy because there's no Russ Heath in any of the titles this month and when I don't get no Heath...

JS: And here I thought you'd be glad that Pooch was at the vet's this month! When Miss Julie first appears, Gunner tells us that he hasn't seen a beautiful girl since he left stateside, except in magazines. Now I wonder what magazines he was reading? As for Miss Julie, her vow to kiss every hero on the island sounds like a good way to catch herpes.

PE: "Bomber Party" is yet another one of those "Grass is greener..." stories, this time about a GI who gets a three-day pass to visit his brother, a fighter pilot. The first three-quarters of the story he moans about how much better his brother is living and how tough the infantry man has it and blah blah blah... Of course, the last couple pages, our GI finds out just how hard it is to be fighting thousands of feet in the air. Seems like we just reviewed this story a couple months ago. Thank goodness Mort Drucker's art livens things up a bit. The final story, "I Can't Win" is an enjoyable piece about two competitive GI buddies who bet on anything they can.

"Bomber Party"

JS: Once again, the art is tops in these two six-page stories. "Bomber Party!" features more of Drucker's carefully drawn faces and exciting air battles, while "I Can't Win!" is highlighted by Kubert's steady hand. Too bad the long lead story didn't live up to these two!

"I Can't Win"

Coming Next Week!