Star Spangled DC War Stories Part 35: April 1962

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

Jerry Grandenetti

All American Men of War 90

"Wingmate of Doom!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Jerry Grandenetti

"The 24 Hour Ace!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito

"Target Destroyed--Maybe!"
Story by Hank Chapman
Art by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito

Peter: When he was young, Johnny Cloud (then known to his friends as "White Cloud") was out playing with two brothers, Young Deer and Two-Talon, when tragedy struck. Young Deer, chasing his brother, attempted to jump across two high boulders and slipped. Though he tried to grab hold of Young Deer's hand, Johnny was unable to save him from the fatal fall. That day, Two-Talon swore Johnny owed him a life for letting his brother die. Now, years later, Johnny is amazed to see that Two-Talon has been assigned to his squadron. Seeing how well Two-Talon handles a fighter plane, Johnny makes him his wing man despite protests from his other men. Things don't go well, though, and Johnny has to use his plane as a shield for Two-Talon, necessitating an ejection. Two-Talon saves Johnny from capture by the Nazis and all is forgiven. Aside from the typical cop-out ending (Two-Talon actually tells Johnny he never would have killed him anyway!), "Wingmate of Doom" is an exciting, edge-of-your-seat adventure, with some interesting insight into Johnny's childhood. Sure, it's coincidental as hell that his buddy/enemy should turn up ready to join the squad but that's quickly forgotten. Johnny's flashback is poignant, a word I never thought I'd be using for a series that I've not yet gotten my teeth into. Those DC colorists sure loved coloring Native-Americans deep red.

Jack: This may be the best Johnny Cloud story yet! As a white man and a descendant of Texans, I felt a little twinge when Johnny compared a circle of Nazi planes surrounding his patrol to "the way my ancestors surrounded wagons crossing the prairie," but the more I think about this offhand remark, the more complicated it gets. Johnny is comparing his own ancestors to the Nazis he fights every day! In a sense, he has become more dedicated to his role as a soldier for the USA than to his heritage as a brave. The entire story hinges on his fear that Two-Talon will give priority to his heritage and to an old grudge than to his duty as a soldier, but in the end, Two-Talon does the right thing, at least from the perspective of the current situation. Was Bob Kanigher writing stories whose themes were deeper than they appeared on the surface? He certainly does that in the Sgt. Rock series, so I'm glad to see it here.

Peter: During World War I, a green American pilot tries to become "The 24 Hour Ace" by joining up with an experienced British pilot as his "observer." Trouble is, the American soon learns that "observing" means fighting. No matter how many times this Brit crashes his plane he walks away without a scratch. A very average tale.

Jack: In spite of the overabundance of British jargon ("You saved my hash!"), I really enjoyed this story, partly because it's set in WWI and we gets lots of pictures of biplanes and the like. Andru and Esposito are at the bottom of my list of DC war comics artists, but they rise to the occasion here, providing nice moonlit shots and staying away from the bug-eyed faces that mar so much of their work.

"Target Destroyed--Maybe!"

Peter: A pilot, desperately seeking to gain some legitimate kills, keeps getting "Target Destroyed-- Maybe" on his documents. Third time is the charm, though, as he uses his own plane to destroy an enemy bridge. There's no suspense to a story like this as you just know "Mr. Maybe" will become "Mr. Positive" by tale's-end.

Jack: Once again, we get an issue with three stories from three wars: WWI, WWII and Korea. It says so right on the cover. I like that they are all air-battle tales, since DC war artists seem particularly adept at drawing planes. I'm learning that the presence of MiGs must mean the story is taking place in the Korean War. The red stars on the planes also helped me figure that out.

Peter: Even though this issue's circulation statement reads:

The average number of copies of each issue of this publication sold or distributed through the mails or otherwise, to paid subscribers during the 12 months preceding the date shown above was: 205,000

I have to believe this is an average total number of copies sold of the title including newsstand sales. There was either a bit of hanky-panky going on down at the circulation office or the guys kept lousy numbers. This is the fourth of the five titles to report sales of 205,000. That seems a bit of a coincidence to me. I would have thought Our Army at War, with the iconic Sgt. Rock, would be outselling all the others two-to-one and yet it was the lone title with disparate numbers: 180,000 sales reported. How that happened is anyone's guess.

Jack: Our Army at War was the only title of the Big Five to come out monthly, at least at this point, so it was selling 360,000 copies to the other books' 205,000 copies every two months, wasn't it?

Joe Kubert

Our Army at War 117

"Snafu Squad!"
Story By Robert Kanigher
Art by Joe Kubert

"No-Ace Squadron!"
Story by Hank Chapman
Art by Jerry Grandenetti

"The Sarge Was a Mule!"
Story by Hank Chapman
Art by Jack Abel

Jack: After some initial fireworks involving an enemy tank and an enemy plane, Sgt. Rock and Ice Cream Soldier are sent on a reconnaissance mission and soon witness a jeep being destroyed by an enemy shell. A dying sergeant tells Rock that he is now charged with shepherding three soldiers who don't have what it takes. Rock and Ice Cream Soldier take the three soldiers along with them on their mission and, one by one, the soldiers surprise themselves and each other by rising to the occasion and giving their lives to save each other. When Rock reports what happens he realizes that he never knew the three men's names but, as their spirits look on from above, he says that they were real American soldiers. This is an outstanding example of the best that Kanigher and Kubert have to offer: an inspiring tale that makes the reader feel good to be an American.

Peter: Though quite a bit of this story is taken up with setting up the inevitable (the three losers will be winners within twelve and a half pages), it still manages to pack a wallop. I think Kanigher is being purposely vague about the health of those three mopes in order to ramp up the emotion. I suppose that portraying the trio as "spirits" in that last panel gives us a peek at the truth but then who knows with a brilliant writer like Bob?

Jack: Back in the Great War, Martin's dad was the unfortunate leader of the "No-Ace Squadron," the only flying force that failed to produce an ace. When WWII begins and Martin signs up for the air force, he is burdened with the task of erasing his father's shame, something he manages to do despite suffering temporary blindness after downing his fourth enemy plane. Guess whose voice guides him from the ground to destroy plane number five and land safely? Yep, it's dear old dad, unfit for flying but able to help out on the radio. I have no sympathy for these dumb stories about people who were ashamed of their war record and their kids who had to try to make up for it. Jerry Grandenetti draws nice planes, though.

Peter: Not having grown up in an era where your father pushed you into combat and told you to "make him proud," I always find it hard to relate to these stories of dads and their fighting sons. This one, in particular, stretches the waistband of credibility with its blind pilot and his safe landing. No complaints about Joltin' Jerry Grandenetti, who seems to have found his muse in this middle time between really bad war stories and really bad horror stories.

Jack: Private Smith is stuck with stubborn Millie the Mule, who lives up to her reputation by refusing to move when he is supposed to transfer ammo. When Smith and Millie encounter a pack of Nazis, they both earn their stripes, but while Smith is promoted to corporal, "The Sarge Was a Mule!" This is just silly, and it's not helped by the repeated "Hee-Haw"s that Millie utters.

Peter: And here I thought all the silly animal war stories were the responsibility of Bob Kanigher. There's not one thing I can recommend about this sequel to Francis Joins the WACs and, inexplicably, Sergeant Millie the Mule will return in a sequel in GI Combat #104 (March 1964). Those Nazis sure were bad shots.

Jerry Grandenetti

Our Fighting Forces 67

"Purple Heart for Pooch!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Irv Novick

"The Sitting Duck's Last Stand!"
Story by Hank Chapman
Art by Jack Abel

"Dogtag Hero!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Jerry Grandenetti

Jack: A combat injury results in a “Purple Heart for Pooch!” Although Gunner and Sarge’s Marine force holds 10% of the little island in the South Pacific, the other 90% is held by the Japanese, lead by the infamous practical joker, Colonel Hakawa. He releases balloons filled with TNT to float over the marines, then sends walking trees loaded with TNT and machine guns. Soon, Gunner and Pooch intercept a remote-controlled enemy sub, but Gunner realizes it is also laced with TNT and uses it to blow up a Japanese patrol boat. Gunner and Pooch are captured by Col Hakawa and Gunner, whose hands are badly burned and bandaged from pushing the hot sub, has to find his way back to base, trailed by Hakawa and his men. Gunner can’t pull the trigger of his gun but he and Pooch manage to toss a grenade and stop the enemy. Pooch is injured and receives a medal. A practical-joking Japanese colonel? That’s the last thing this series needs. At least Irv Novick drew this story—I prefer him to Grandenetti.

Peter: I've officially run out of synonyms for "stupid" and "awful" thanks to this series (a strip, I hasten to add, that will survive another 27 installments, so I'd best get myself a new thesaurus) so I'll just say "Purple Heart for Pooch" wasn't my cup of tea. As if the Gunner, Sarge and Pooch show wasn't inane enough, now we add the "practical joker," Colonel Hakawa! (don't forget the exclamation point). I assume Irv Novick had never met a Japanese soldier in his life so he went to Bob Kanigher for penciling advice and BK said, "Just make them look funny like Jerry Lewis!" Can you imagine the fury in BK when Hogan's Heroes debuted on national TV and he wasn't approached to write for the show?

Jack: When a shiny tank rolls into a battle zone, the G.I.s on the ground laugh at it because they think it’s too clean and neat to have seen battle. They don’t realize the importance of keeping a tank in good shape so it works well when it has to. This tank rolls into a muddy tank trap and it looks like it’s “The Sitting Duck’s Last Stand!” until the tank blows away an enemy tank and plane and then is able to roll out of the hole when the crashing plane opens up a ditch that drains some of the mud from the tank trap. Jack Abel seems to have dashed this one off quickly because it’s not his best work.

Peter: A genuinely interesting question (how do you dig a tank out of a bottomless pit of mud) is answered in a very far-fetched manner but I still thought it intriguing enough to recommend. You're in an armed fortress, surrounded by the enemy, but you can't use your big gun because it will sink you further. That's pretty scary.

Jack: A doomed company retreats from a hopeless position as a lone G.I. covers their retreat. The faceless soldier is shot and killed and his rifle and helmet are left to mark where he fell. When the Nazi tank passes by on its way to track down the company, the dead soldier rises and single-handedly guns down the tank before falling back to the ground and leaving no trace of his heroism when his company passes by again. Hold it a minute! This may be the best story I’ve read yet in the DC war comics! I may have to reevaluate my opinion of Jerry Grandenetti. This shows a heavy Will Eisner influence in both art and story. We never see the face of the soldier nor do we learn anything about him. Just tremendous!

Peter: The kind of story DC will fill the pages of Weird War Tales with, a decade forward, "Dogtag Hero" wins Best Story of the Month (and an automatic place somewhere in the Top Ten of 1962) for not falling back on the usual explanation ("well, our hero was only grazed by the huge explosion all around him and, so, was able to rise and fight once again") and, instead, leaving the reader to wonder what really happened. We never see the guardian angel's face, he never says a word. Could this really be some reanimated corpse, driven to return from the "other side" to save his comrades? The panels of the "dog tag hero" rising up, using his rifle as a support, are incredibly powerful, with Grandenetti showing once again that he could rein in the cartoony aspects of his artwork when the subject demanded. Bravo, Bob and Jerry!

"Dogtag Hero!"

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