By Corporals Enfantino and Seabrook
Jerry Grandenetti |
"An Egg for Sarge!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Jerry Grandenetti
"Fighting Switch!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Jack Abel
"G.I. Shock Absorbers"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito
JS: "An Egg for Sarge!" is exactly what Gunner is looking for when his senior officer gets tired of eating K-Rations day after day. It seems that the food supply deliveries can't make it through enemy fire to the Pacific island where our heroes find themselves barely hanging on. Sarge's uncontrollable desire to eat an egg nearly gets him and Gunner killed, until Sarge uses a couple of explosive eggs to prevent a Japanese attack from wiping out the U.S. soldiers. By the way, what happened to pooch? Were those K-rations K-9?
Gunner and Sarge engage in a little self-promotion |
"Fighting Switch!" |
PE: I'm sure this scenario played out countless times during World War II, but I couldn't help but laugh at the constant banter between "Fish" and "Wings": "I'm a swimmer not a pilot!" "I'm a flyer not a frogman!" I was waiting for someone in the background to pipe up: "I'm a lover not a fighter!" Jack Abel's art is dreadful here, much too cartoony.
JS: Combat infantrymen Harry and Tom West hold back a wave of Nazi shock troopers in "G.I. Shock Absorbers." This may be the first time we've seen enemy propaganda leaflets dropped from a plane. The shock troops arrive so soon after the leaflets that there is little time to be afraid. How can Harry and Tom be expected to surrender (as the leaflets recommend) if the shock troops come at them with guns blazing?
PE: The worst is saved for last. Amateurish art by Andru and Esposito make the Nazi shock troops look like faceless Frankenstein monsters. Their vision of a diving Stuka is laughable, as if the plane is ten feet off the ground and heading in vertically. From cover to cover, one of the worst war comics I've read.
"G.I. Shock Absorbers" |
Jerry Grandenetti |
"Tin Hat for an Iron Man!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito
"Price for Red Beach!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Jack Abel
"The Toy Jet!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Russ Heath
JS: Fighter pilot Johnny Page flies cover as the infantry marches toward the town of Clevey, which is infested with hidden Nazi gunners. Page fights off an enemy jet before crash landing. Tankman Phil Locke and his crew also head toward Clevey, providing covering firepower closer to the ground. Can the infantry get there in time on foot to rescue Page and Locke before the Nazis get them? This is another one of those stories where an idea or phrase gets repeated over and over--this time, it's the suggestion that the infantrymen are lucky because they have hard helmets to protect their heads. The repetition is grating but at least the story achieves some tension along the way.
"Tin Hat for an Iron Man!" |
"Price for Red Beach!" |
PE: Five stories without Russ Heath and I'm about to sing with the heavenly choir. Yet another coincidental catch phrase story. All the soldiers are remarking on the price that will be paid for the beach they're to land on and the first thing they see is an enemy sign asking what price they're willing to pay! Sheesh. Sign me up for writing comic books in 1960. I coulda done it, I tell you, if this is the evidence.
"The Toy Jet!" |
PE: Ask and thou shalt receive Heath. Not only the best story of the issue but also of the month (though there really wasn't much competition, to be fair). Very different in style and visuals from any other DC war story we've read, "The Toy Jet" reminded me of some of the tales I read in Timely's pre-code war title, Battlefield, which I briefly discussed here. It's not a perfect story (the climax, when the escaping GIs see the toy jet falling from the fighter plane and believe it to be a bomb, is embarrassing) and a few of the panels stand aside from the perfection (the enemy captain has an impossibly large head in the panel where he's overpowered by our hero) but this is about as good as we've seen so far, art and story-wise.
Jerry Grandenetti |
"Deliver One Air Field!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Joe Kubert
"Nightmare Jet!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Russ Heath
"The Comeback Tank"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Jerry Grandenetti
JS: Sgt. Rock and Easy Co. are going to have trouble when they are asked to "Deliver One Air Field!" if hot dog soldier Zack Nolan doesn't stop looking out for number one and become a team player. Though Nolan picks up a couple of medals for bravery along the way with his intelligence and guts, Zack doesn't become a true member of Easy Co. until he sees Sgt. Rock nearly lose his life protecting him and the new soldier has to return the favor. In other hands, this story would not work and would be another one where we get the same lesson banged into our skulls over and over. However, Kanigher's writing and (especially) Kubert's art make it memorable. The fact that Nolan is actually smart and heroic doesn't hurt. It makes sense that it would be hard for him to learn the importance of teamwork under fire.
"Deliver One Air Field!" |
"Nightmare Jet!" |
PE: Russ Heath! Absolutely gorgeous but do you think there really is a mountain range shaped like a dragon, complete with feet, tail, and snout? This one had more imaginary starts and stops than a Nightmare On Elm Street movie. Perhaps it should have remained a dream, though. Might have been a bit more effective.
"The Comeback Tank" |
PE: I'll politely disagree and say I enjoyed this one along with the more typical Grandenetti artwork. The majority of panel space was given over to the perspective of the enemy and that's a rare angle for the DC war comics, one I'd like to see explored more in the future (and it will be when "Enemy Ace" shows up). And, though I thought "The Toy Jet" was the best story of the month, these three good-to-solid OAAW tales combine to make this, yep, the best comic book of the month.
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