Star Spangled DC War Stories Part 32: January 1962

The DC War Comics 1959-1976
by Corporals Enfantino and Seabrook

Russ Heath and Jack Adler

G.I. Combat 91

"The Tank and the Turtle!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Russ Heath

"Wings for a Wash-Out!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Irv Novick

"Secret War of a Snowbird!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Jerry Grandenetti

Peter: The men of the Jeb Stuart make friends with a turtle and the friendship proves advantageous later on when the Haunted Tank comes under enemy fire. Not only do I not see the reasoning behind "The Tank and the Turtle," I'm also beginning to wonder why Kanigher created The Haunted Tank in the first place. This could be just another tank squad for all the difference the ghost makes. I'd question why these guys, when surrounded by the enemy and trying to catch some rest in a hideaway, would shoot at the hawk that carried their little friend off and give themselves away. Yeah, it's just a comic book story but how on earth, in this wide open space, does the Jeb Stuart keep crossing paths with little Tommy Turtle? Russ Heath's art is still miles above that of Grandenetti and Abel but he's obviously better served by bigger panels and lots of airplanes!

"The Tank and the Turtle!"

Jack: I thought this was a fun story with dynamite art. Kanigher knows how to tell a story with a beginning, a middle, and an end, something that we probably take for granted. He starts with the cute episode featuring the turtle, then establishes that there are three Nazi tanks firing at the Jeb Stuart. The Haunted Tank then hunts down and destroys each of the three tanks. The turtle returns near the end and helps our heroes find a fourth tank. The structure of this story is very good. Too bad it does not include the exciting scene on the gorgeous cover!

Peter: Rookie pilot Curtis isn't good enough for combat so his CO grounds him. When Curtis happens upon Charlie, an old rust bucket too fragile for battle, he finds his "Wings for a Wash-Out." Every day at three, Zeroes home in on the base while the Aces are out hunting so Curtis has to get Charlie into tip-top shape in case he's called upon to defend their home ground. When the call comes, Charlie and Curtis perform admirably and their fellow pilots and forts salute them. Despite the "Wash-Out" mantra repeated approximately 110 times, I thought this one was a decent little read. If I was Curtis' CO, I'd worry about how much the kid talks to his airplane but then this was a war populated by haunted tanks, so who knows?

Jack: One question: if the Japanese planes attack the fort every day at three o'clock, why isn't there any real defense? Why is Curtis left there along with Charlie the plane? Just askin'.

Peter: After the war, Ed, an Allied ski trooper, feels compelled to revisit the mountain in Germany where he was ambushed and "lost time." He meets up with a friendly German named Hans who offers to head up the mountain with him. As Ed skis down the slope, his memories come back to him after a bullet puts him in the snow once again. When he comes to, his companion is dead and he realizes this was the same man who attempted to kill him months before. The police come up the mountain to help Ed and explain that Hans was actually a Nazi war criminal who believed Ed was on his trail. A bit of a stretch that a wanted Nazi war criminal would hang out around the mountain where he made his runs but, all in all, a decent read. The "present day" scenes and flashbacks get a bit jumbled and threaten to totally confuse the reader at times. Other than a few trademarked crazy eyes, I'd never have figured this for a Grandenetti. There are a few very unique and stylish panels here, almost Steranko-esque (No, I'm not drinking, Jack! Look at the example below.) and the action is well-choreographed. Though the GCD lists Jerry as both penciler and inker, I'll eat my tin pot if that's the truth. A different sort of animal in that "Secret War of a Snowbird" actually takes place after the war (though flashbacks are integrated), surely the first of its kind on our journey.

"Secret War of a Snowbird"

Jack: I had the same reaction that you did as I read this. Other than the toothy closeups of the Nazi, this is some of the best art I've ever seen from Grandenetti. It reminded me of the Gil Kane/Sid Greene art that was showing up in DC superhero comics around this time. Very surprising!

Joe Kubert

Our Army at War 114

"Killer Sergeant!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Joe Kubert

"The Doomed Crew!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Jack Abel

"Santa Claus Commando!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Jerry Grandenetti

Jack: Alone on night patrol, Sgt. Rock overhears his men praising his work and thinks back to an earlier time when he had to make sure they hated him, at least for awhile. Early in the North African campaign, Rock's compass was wrecked by enemy fire and he had to act like a "Killer Sergeant! and lead his men through the desert on instinct alone. When they requested a water break, he had to refuse and keep them moving because he could not reveal that their canteens had also been shot full of holes. He played the tough drillmaster and their resentment grew until they finally reached safe haven and he showed them the empty containers. This little management lesson by Kanigher and Kubert succeeds in building suspense even though we know no one is going to die of thirst.

"Killer Sergeant!"

Peter: Though it's only 13 pages, this Sgt. Rock tale (one of the better ones I've read) has the feel of an epic with its desert setting. You can almost feel the heat emanating from the pages. That cover, though, is not one of Kubert's best pieces. Besides illustrating a scenario that never happens, the Nazi looks like Marty Feldman with his pop eyes.

Jack: PT 105 is blown up by enemy fire and its captain shares a raft with a native, whose fishing boat was also destroyed. They become "The Doomed Crew!" and pick up a live torpedo from the wreckage and paddle along after the enemy destroyer until they can put the torpedo to good use. The push for racial equality at DC gets another boost in this story of a white sailor who is marooned on a raft with a silent black native. Even though the black man is drawn like something straight out of Skull Island, his dignity and resourcefulness make him a good match for the white soldier who represents the reader.

Peter: It's almost a DC war version of Robinson Crusoe. How could our two heroes survive the torpedo blast when everyone else on the enemy battleship is killed? Dumb luck?

"Santa Claus Commando!"

Jack: Two little boys in occupied France send a note to Santa in a bottle tossed into the Channel. The note is picked up by some G.I.s planning a pre-invasion raid, so one of the men dresses up like Father Christmas and parachutes in, much to the boys' delight. But the soldier has to become a "Santa Claus Commando!" and battle Nazis in his Santa suit before he is able to escape by helicopter, much to the delight of his young observers. This story shows that Jerry Grandenetti had the ability to draw decent comics when he wasn't in too big of a hurry or trying to get too stylized. His Santa Claus even makes me think of one by Will Eisner.

Peter: Hate to be a Bah Humbug grinch but this Christmas story was pretty dumb. I doubt if the French speak perfect English expect for the "double e" sound in their "i"s. If I can take one positive away, it would be that this has been a good month for Jerry Grandenetti.

Jerry Grandenetti

Our Fighting Forces 65

"Dogtag Patrol!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Jerry Grandenetti

"Combat Gunner!"
Story by Hank Chapman
Art by Jack Abel

"Chained Lightning!"
Story by Hank Chapman
Art by Irv Novick

Jack: Gunner complains that he's tired of going out on patrol as Sarge's decoy, so Sarge sets out with just Pooch. When Pooch brings back Sarge's dogtags, Gunner heads into the jungle with Miss Vicky, combat photographer, to bring back the body of his late commander. This "Dogtag Patrol!" soon turns into a rescue mission when Gunner finds Sarge alive in a POW camp. Gunner and Sarge work together to get back to base safely, with Pooch in tow and Miss Vicky capturing it all on film for posterity. Gunner's concern when Pooch brings back Sarge's dogtags adds a bit of pathos to this tale, which is a few notches above the usual laff-fest.

"Dogtag Patrol!"

Peter: With all the action these two see, it's a wonder we didn't bring all the rest of the boys home. This series gets ludicrouser and ludicrouser with each ensuing travesty. Gunner takes out an enemy patrol boat with his machine gun, Pooch jumps up on the wing of a zero while it's taking off, and the squad inside that Japanese tank must be the thickest in the army as they're nice enough to avoid running Gunner over with their monstrous treads! My favorite moment, however, is Gunner telling Pooch to chew through Sarge's ropes... and the mutt does it! Awrfff!

"Combat Gunner!"

Jack: All his life, Andy came in second at everything he tried. Now that he's a "Combat Gunner," he still can't bring down an enemy plane! But when he's assigned to help bring supplies to the front, a series of unexpected opportunities allow Andy to destroy an enemy plane and an enemy sub by using a bazooka, dropping boxes of TNT out of his plane, and finally dropping a tank in mid-flight! Jack Abel's art is the only thing that saves this silly story. We know from page one that Andy will be a hero by page six.

Peter: I was going to remark that it sure seems like I've seen this plot line before but we've probably seen a variation on it every week. The "Woe is me. I always come in second. All I want is to kill the enemy first." mantra gets as old as the repeated tagline. At least we find out that you will sink a sub if you drop a tank on it.

"Chained Lightning!"

Jack: Jack and Steve are a couple of American POWs in Stalag 10 who do nothing but argue. After a failed attempt at escape, they are chained together at the wrist and transported to a new camp, but they manage to escape, shoot the driver, hijack the jeep, steal a Nazi ammo truck AND a Nazi plane, and shoot down another enemy plane, bickering all the while! At least they didn't hug and make up at the end of this ripoff of The Defiant Ones.

Peter: The far-fetched adventures of Jack and Steve make those of Gunner and Sarge look highly probable. How do you jump from a moving vehicle, chained to someone else, and get up without a scratch? Were all Nazi commandants bald and blind in one eye?

Andru & Esposito

Star-Spangled War Stories 100

"The Volcano of Monsters!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito

"The Flippers of Doom!"
Story by Hank Chapman
Art by Jack Abel

"Stragglers Never Come Back!"
Story by Hank Chapman
Art by Jack Abel

Peter: The Flying Boots (aka The Flying Franks as seen in SSWS #99) are entertaining the troops with their high-flying acrobatic act when a Zero opens fire on them. Without batting an eyelash, the Franks open fire on the plane with their machine guns... never missing a daredevil feat. Their CO is mightily impressed and asks the boys to head out on a top secret mission that could only be accomplished by professional acrobats. Seems several planes carrying missiles have gone missing over a remote uncharted island in the Pacific (sounding familiar yet?) and the Army suspects a nest of Japanese bunkers will hold the secret of the missing armaments. Lo and behold, no enemy located on the island but lots of thunder lizards running riot over the little piece of ground. The boys manage to somersault and tumble their way through all sorts of peril and even stumble upon the missiles in "The Volcano of Monsters!", being warmed by a territorial T. Rex who mistakes the bombs for eggs. Desperately needing a way out of the volcano before they become dino-chow, the Franks/Boots ingeniously strap themselves to three of the missiles and set them off, parachuting to safety just before detonation high in the sky. Good fortune is smiling on them as a recon plane is in the area and rescues them.

More than ever this series has become a slog to get through. Kanigher's given up trying to invest anything original by this, the tenth entry in the "War That Time Forgot" series. I can understand the US Army not jotting down notes that half their planes and subs have been eaten by dinosaurs over the last year or so, always in the uncharted Pacific (after all, they've got a lot on their minds) but how do The Flying Franks forget their dangerous encounter last issue?! Barely surviving an island full of extinct lizards would make an impression on me. And mention must be made of the real fantastic elements in this story: the Frank Bros. firing machine guns at a Zero while swinging like monkeys from a tree and tossing grenades at a pterodactyl while free-falling through the sky. Now that's incredible!

Jack: I am becoming so used to these stories that I was more surprised to see The Flying Boots performing their trapeze act for the rest of the troops while wearing helmets, boots, and with rifles strapped to their backs than I was by any of the dinosaurs! I am no circus expert, but doesn't it seem like one would take those items off before swinging through the air and catching one's brother? Did they take into account the weight of the extra equipment when calculating how far and fast they could fly in mid-air? I guess it was a good idea to wear all that gear, though, since a Japanese Zero just happened to attack in the middle of the act.

Peter: Lt. Ed Burke, frogman extraordinaire, has received the coveted Golden Flippers for his dangerous missions but soon Burke will discover that he's actually just received "The Flippers of Doom!" Out on a mission, Burke disappears and it's up to three other frogmen (including Ed's brother, Shorty) to vie for the esteemed commendation. Shorty wants no part of the flippers as he believes now they're cursed. Each man ventures out on a more dangerous mission until it's Shorty's turn and his destination just happens to be the same spot where brother Ed went missing. Shorty manages to blow up enemy gas tanks and stumble across his brother so he wins the Golden Flippers whether he wants them or not. Why is it that whenever we get one of these "missing brother" stories, I always know the siblings will be reunited by story's end? There's not much of a story here, just a framework built around the words "Golden" and "Flippers."

Jack: Wait, this story's not about killer dolphins? Oh, that would be NEXT week's post.

Peter: Jet pilots learn very quickly that "Stragglers Never Come Back!" Though they continue to deliver their payload, one by one the squadron is being reduced to a minimum. Finally, our unnamed skipper and his gunner bear the brunt of the enemy and prepare for the worst. They're forced to dump their payload over a deserted amusement park rather than the desired target and then limp home. Once there, they learn that the enemy factory they had bombed that day was a dummy and the real factory was housed within the amusement park. Easily the best story of the issue, "Stragglers" suffers a bit from "repetitious war keyword syndrome" but still manages to deliver its payload, an exciting edge-of-your-seater (with honest-to-goodness Allied casualties) with a good twist finale. I'm having a hard time believing that the same Jack Abel who penciled "Stragglers" was responsible for the mediocrity on display in "Flippers of Doom." Were there two Jack Abels or are we looking at two different (uncredited) inkers? It's funny that in the "olden days" of comics, no fuss was made when a title hit 100. Was it Marvel that first made it a celebration in the 1970s?

Jack: When I saw the phrase, "deserted amusement park," my Scooby Doo Mystery Solver training kicked into gear and I just KNEW that it was going to be a Nazi base in disguise! I couldn't get beyond the repetition of the title over and over to enjoy this story, though I don't see much difference in Jack Abel's art from the one before it.

Dear Santa, Please send this for Christmas!

P.S., And this!

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