Star Spangled DC War Stories Part 45: February 1963

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

Joe Kubert

Our Army at War 127

"The Four Faces of Sgt. Rock!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Joe Kubert

Jack: After 31 straight days of fighting, the men of Easy Co. relax with a bath and a shave. Sgt. Rock is off by himself, shaving while looking into a broken mirror, when Benjy, a new man, comments that his face is like stone and he never shows any sign of fear.

Ice Cream Soldier takes issue with Benjy's remark and tells the story of an assault on the Boot, when he and Rock were blasted as they waded ashore. Paralyzed from the impact, Ice Cream Soldier lay motionless on the beach while Rock lay in the same state in shallow water, as the tide slowly came in around him. Rock yelled for help and showed fear, but when he saw a tank heading toward the rear of Easy Co. he managed to conquer his immobility and destroy the tank with a shot from a grenade launcher. He then fought off the infantry with his gun, all while lying nearly immobile in the water.

Another member of Easy Co. named Flip-Coin recalls an incident in the sweltering summer heat when a new recruit named Dash joined the group. Dash was proud of his speed as a runner but unable to keep up due to his Army boots and heavy pack. After a scare in his first battle, Dash was so concerned with proving his speed that, the next time battle began, he stripped down to his underwear, grabbed a grenade, and ran toward the enemy, straight into fatal gunfire. His first thrown grenade landed short and he crawled onward with a second, leading Sgt. Rock to march straight into the mouth of enemy gunfire and lift Dash's broken body from the ground. Rock walked onward, carrying the young man through relentless gunfire that seemed to pass him by. He approached the enemy pillbox and Dash's hand let the grenade drop into a slit, destroying the enemy gun nest. Rock assured Dash that he finished first as the boy's life slipped away.

A third member of Easy Co. takes up the challenge to tell a tale about their Sergeant. An Apache soldier named Little Sure Shot describes a winter campaign when he and Rock came upon a female French resistance fighter, who helped them fight off a Nazi tank. Finally, Bulldozer talks about the last of "The Four Faces of Sergeant Rock," telling of a battle with Nazis in a small town where Rock fell hard for a cute little hound that helped him and his men beat the enemy. Bullets from a Nazi plane took the dog's life and Rock swore revenge.

Coincidentally, Easy Co. is then attacked by the very plane that killed the dog, and Rock brings it down with gunfire, shedding a tear in the dog's memory. This is the first full-length story we've seen in a DC war comic, and it's a good one. Kubert's art is perfect, moving from battle to pathos effortlessly. The idea of having four different tales woven into one long one allows Kanigher to avoid having to develop any one story very much, but the overall effect is good.

Peter: If it walks like an epic and talks like an epic it must be an epic, right? Not necessarily. Yep, this is the longest war adventure we've yet encountered and the extra space should have been enough to grant Robert Kanigher the freedom to delve into characterization. Well, there is a bit of that but most of it is superficial and unsatisfying. We know nothing more about Easy Company than we did before we began this 25-page blockbuster. Having said that, I have to admit that one-fourth of this piece is one of the best stories of the year. Rock may have four faces but the only one that interested me and kept that interest was his scaredy cat face. Rock lying prone on the beach, unable to move and tank approaching, is a wonderfully choreographed sequence that never lets up and keeps you gripped right up to the point where the Sarge unloads his grenade-launcher at the enemy. A 13-pager focused on that battle alone might have taken "Best of the Year" award. "4 Faces" is good but it's not great.

Russ Heath

All American Men of War 95

"Second Sight for a Pilot!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Irv Novick

"Time Bomb in My Lap!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Jack Abel

"The I.O.U. Tank!"
Story by Hank Chapman
Art by Jack Abel

Peter: Navajo fighter pilot Johnny Cloud has a real problem on his hands. As he's flying his missions with his men, the young brave keeps seeing the same scene play out before him: a "red, white, and blue striped fort leader" being attacked by enemy fighters. The only problem, as his men keep reminding him, is that the action isn't really there. Turns out the action is about to be played out before his eyes; Johnny Cloud has been blessed with "Second Sight for a Pilot!" In the end, Johnny saves the "red, white, and blue striped fort leader" and wins back the confidence of his pilots. Robert Kanigher really missed the boat on this one; I had to keep checking to make sure the title wasn't "Red, White, and Blue Striped Fort Leader" as those words were splashed across pert near every panel in the strip. In fact, that panel below wasn't picked solely for Irv Novick's dynamic art but because it's one of only a few that doesn't feature the teeth-grinding catch phrase.Talk about overkill. So, Johnny Cloud has ESP? Well, let's see if that's touched on in a future episode. My money is that Bob forgets this faster than the army forgets there are dinosaurs in the Pacific.

"Second Sight for a Pilot!"

Jack: Peter, you must have had a bad bit of cheese with your dinner before you read this one, because I thought it was very good! Is this the first we've seen of the beautiful young squaw named Singing Waters, whom Johnny had to tell goodbye on the reservation when he went off to war? Novick's air battle action is definitely solid, though it can't compare to Russ Heath's. I thought it was odd that Johnny was insisting on being permanently grounded, since that seems out of character for him. He should have known that he just needed a good rest, something his C.O. understood. I even liked Johnny's comment near the end of the final battle: "If this is to be my death song--it will cost the enemy much to hear it!"

"Time Bomb in My Lap!"

Peter: Kane has always been a cautious pilot, never one to dive into battle, but the death of his mentor, Ted, forces the young man to be a bit more impetuous. Kane must face the deadly German ace, Von Kriegmann, with nothing but his wits and Ted's words of wisdom. When Von Kriegmann opens fire on Kane, one of the shells becomes trapped in the plane's grill and threatens to explode at any moment. Kane manages to save the day while screaming "There's a 'Time Bomb in My Lap!'" Jack Abel's art is fine but we've seen this story (or a variation) countless times before. I found it odd that Kane's fellow pilots kept patting him on the shoulder and whispering comforting "Oh, Kane, you're just too cautious" whenever our hero avoided battle. Most of these stories would call a spade a spade and refer to Kane's hesitancy and tail-tucking as cowardice.


Jack: There's something about WWI planes in action that really excites me. Jack Abel's human characters are always underwhelming but he nails the planes and Bob Haney avoids that nasty habit of repeating the story's title, which--surprisingly--doesn't get uttered until the last panel! The title doesn't really tell what this story is all about, though I did not read Kane's caution as cowardice but rather good sense.

Peter: During the Korean War, the men of a hobbled tank sit and wait for the inevitable but a helpful thunder jet (TJ) saves the day, time and time again, indicating placement of enemy tanks and warding off certain death. When an enemy MIG zeroes in on the friendly pilot, the men down below finally get to pay out their I.O.U. in full. Other than a few stumbles, Jack Abel's art seems to be getting better and better all the time (and just in time, since we get a double shot of him here) and the scenes of air battle are particularly well choreographed. "The I.O.U. Tank!", while far-fetched, is exciting enough and I know Jack, for one, is happy to get out of WWII now and then.

"The I.O.U. Tank!"

Jack: Yes, I like the Battle Aces of Three Wars gimmick that All American Men of War is using now, but I thought this story was a dud. Abel's art at one point looked like that awful art in the two-page histories of real battle units that appear in every single issue of every single DC war comic. I like the Migs but Hank Chapman's corny dialogue can be tough to take.

Jerry Grandenetti

Our Fighting Forces 74

"Three on a T.N.T. Bull's-Eye!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Joe Kubert

"The Flattened Point!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Irv Novick

"Ace in a Net!"
Story Uncredited
Art by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito

Jack: Even though Pooch saves the day again and again, Sarge keeps telling Gunner that the dog is just a dog and Gunner should stop acting like Pooch is a human with human traits. When Gunner is laid low by a "jungle bug" and Sarge has to go out on patrol with only Pooch, he learns quickly that the dog has heart. "Three on a T.N.T. Bulls-Eye!" is a great example of how a fine artist can elevate a story. We've complained about this series for a long time, but with Joe Kubert replacing Jerry Grandenetti this time around, it somehow seems grittier and more exciting. The title is a play on the old superstition that if a match is used to light the cigarettes of three people, one of them will die. It doesn't quite make sense here, though, since when Sarge is stuck on the metaphoric bulls eye and Pooch is trying to pull him to safety, that only makes two.

Joe Kubert makes Pooch look cool!

Peter: It doesn't matter if the artist on this strip is Jerry Grandenetti or Joe Kubert, it's still a dog! (And that's my second canine pun in as many weeks, so you can tell I'm bored). Kubert was probably a gamer on the outside, accepting every script Kanigher put in front of him, but deep down he must have felt he was slumming (and putting him on this strip is a mistake anyway; his Sarge is a dead ringer for Kubert's more famous Sgt.). "Three on a..." is filled with all the wild impossibilities we're used to with Gunner, Sarge, and Pooch: the trio standing down Zeroes with gun fire and blasting them to bits; Pooch "holding his breath" as he dives under the sea to ferret out an enemy sub; tanks that appear out of the dirt magically; the sing-song tag lines and phrases. It's all here. All that's missing, in fact, is a good story to make us forget all the silly baubles.

Jack: The soldier walking ahead as point man for Charlie Company is supposed to make a sound when he spots the enemy, but they shoot at him with a silencer and thwart his plan. Worried that his unit will march unsuspectingly into machine gun fire, he pulls the ring on an enemy's potato masher and manages to survive the ensuing blast, at once destroying the enemy and saving his men. "The Flattened Point!" is a quickie, only three and a half pages, but Kanigher and Novick manage to present an interesting problem and solve it with style.

"The Flattened Point!"

Peter: The only interesting thing in this story is its climax, where our hero sets off a potato masher attached to the belt of an enemy soldier. That soldier is blown to bits in a pretty graphic (for 1963) scene. Novick shows us the explosion and we can imagine that the red background and flying pieces are Nazi-related but then we're brought right back to earth with the revelation that our hero survived the close range explosion with nary a scratch!

This panel by Andru and Esposito looks like
it could have come from an early '40s comic!

Jack: Lt. Heinz Volk of the Luftwaffe is captured with his plane intact. Coincidentally, an American flier named Brad is his exact double and speaks German to boot! Brad is sent off to impersonate the Nazi Ace and manages to collect information on the enemy plans, all while being watched by Nazi Major Von Luden. When Brad tries to fly home to deliver his intelligence, he becomes an "Ace in a Net!" as Von Luden gives chase. Both manage to get shot down over water and Brad finally defeats his Nazi tormentor in fisticuffs among the waves. This is a classic slice of comic book cheese! There is no way the Nazis would sacrifice a plane and let a known spy fly it, and the idea of the American and the Nazi punching each other in the middle of the ocean is silly, but for some strange reason the whole thing works, even taking into account Ross Andru's pop-eyed art!

Peter: Aside from the Archie Andrews artwork, "Ace in a Net" isn't a bad little morsel of espionage but I would have liked (Uncredited) to have shown us Von Luden's thought balloons. What was it that tipped the Major to Brad's real identity? His after shave? His beautiful blue eyes? The Rita Hayworth tattoo on his upper thigh?

Jack: According to the circulation statement in this issue, Our Fighting Forces was selling 180,000 copies a month.

In Our Next Tentacle-Twirling Issue!