The DC War Comics
1959-1976 by Corporals Enfantino and Seabrook |
Kubert |
"Escape"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Mike Sekowsky & Bill Draut
"The Moon is the Murderer"
(Reprinted from Weird War Tales #2, December 1971)
"The 13th Man"
Story by Jack Oleck
Art by Ruben Yandoc
"The Pool..."
(Reprinted from Weird War Tales #3, February 1972)
"Monsieur Gravedigger"
(Reprinted from Weird War Tales #2, December 1971)
"Bloody Halloween"
Story by George Kashdan
Art by E.R. Cruz
"The Day After Doomsday..."
(Reprinted from House of Secrets #86, July 1970)
"Colonel Clown Isn't Laughing Anymore!"
Story by Arnold Drake
Art by Frank Robbins
"Death-Gram"
(Reprinted from Weird War Tales #2, December 1971)
"The Deadly Seeds"
Story by George Kashdan
Art by Alex Niño
Mike Sekowsky has Peter turning tail and running ("Escape") |
"The 13th Man" |
choke... groan ("Bloody Halloween") |
Yussel Arenski, entertainer in the "Underground Night Club," found in the Warsaw ghetto, keeps his friends laughing and cheerful despite the real world that awaits them outside. The Nazis get wind of the Club Yussel and storm the place, arresting the patrons and shooting Yussel in cold blood. Yussel's effects are sent to Colonel Schroeder, who will ready them to be shipped to Der Fuhrer as evidence that the Warsaw Clown has been executed. But something funny is going on with Col. Schroeder; he's suddenly donning red noses and funny wigs without a clue as to how they got there. When Hitler himself comes to call on Schroeder to congratulate him on his feat, the colonel launches into a comedy sketch belittling the chief Nazi. Schroeder is cut down as an example to his men.
"Colonel Clown Isn't Laughing Anymore!" |
"The Deadly Seeds" is a short-short about a group of G.I.s sent to kidnap a German scientist who's working on a top-secret weapon for the Nazis. When the mission goes south, the soldiers discover just what the egghead's been up to. For a three-pager, "The Deadly Seeds" is not bad, thanks mostly to A+ art by favorite Alex Niño.
On the letters page, which is usually a must-skip, Joe (or whoever manned the letters page) takes us behind the scenes on the formation of Weird War Tales. Short but most interesting (and reprinted far below).
Jack: I was excited to see a DC giant-sized comic from 1975 with a cool cover by Kubert, but the insides are not that hot. The art team of Sekowsky and Draut on "Escape" did not bode well and Kanigher's story is a dud. "The 13th Man" is a run-of-the-mill story with the cool final panel that is reproduced above. "Bloody Halloween" recalls "Banquo's Chair" with fairly good art by Cruz, and "Colonel Clown Isn't Laughing Anymore!" was better than I expected, though the Robbins art is dreadful as ever. Even Niño can't save "The Deadly Seeds," which doesn't work up much momentum in three short pages.
Kubert |
"Man of God--Man of War"
Story by David Michelinie
Art by Gerry Talaoc
"The Last Kill"
Story by David Michelinie
Art by Franc Reyes
Peter: Father Memmoli insists to the Nazis that occupy his small Italian village that his people will not wage war against either side. Things change when a couple of American G.I.s storm into Monte Grande to rescue one of their captured comrades, steal a jeep, and run down a group of toddlers on the way out of town. Embittered by what he sees as American brutality, the father urges his people to side with the Nazis. Enter the Unknown Soldier, whose mission is to exterminate the "Man of God--Man of War" and return Monte Grande to a state of pacification. US takes on the guise of wounded Nazi Lt. Aschermann and wins the trust of the confused padre. While roaming Monte Grande, our hero discovers that the two soldiers who killed the children were actually disguised Nazis. He guns down the scum and readies the bodies for hiding, unaware that he's being watched by...
"Man of God--Man of War" |
Unfortunately, the subtle nuances found in Michelinie's Unknown Soldier scripts are nowhere to be found in the heavy-handed and preachy "The Last Kill," wherein we get a peek at future sports. Or is it the future? Borrowing pages from The Mechanic and William Harrison's "The Rollerball Murder," "The Last Kill" is the story of Dak Broadhurst, number one "professional warrior" in a world that has outlawed war, who is ordered to train an up-and-comer named Logan. You know where it's going from there. Michelinie lays out a world where the public demands lots of blood and guts and no mercy from their arena idols, and heaven help the gladiator who doesn't provide the spectacle. Yep, I get it, David. 2089 isn't so different than 1975 when it comes to the masochistic hunger of sports fans.
DC pushing boundaries? ("The Last Kill") |
Kubert |
"The Tank That Missed D-Day"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Sam Glanzman
"The Avenging Wind"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Frank Redondo
Peter: The Jeb Stuart is airlifted to England to take part in the great invasion scheduled for June 6, 1944, but the men take a wrong turn and end up late for the party. The ghostly Colonel makes an appearance just long enough to let his descendant know that not all heroes will end up in Normandy. That's all well and good for a specter but our heroes find themselves heading for a court-martial for dereliction of duty. Jeb manages to find a salty sea dog to ferry them to the other side of the Channel and the small tug finds itself in the midst of many harrowing incidents but, helped along by the giant fists of Colonel Jeb Stuart, the tank makes it to the other side. The boys end up quite a ways away from the action but they manage to while their time away by saving a small coastal village from Nazi scum.
Ghostly intervention |
Two boys, one Japanese, one American, grow up thousands of miles apart but with the same dream: to soar in a great bird and shoot down the enemy. Long story short: they get their wish. Well, "The Avenging Wind" is not as bad as my synopsis might infer, but it's built upon one of Big Bob's favorite cliches and climaxes with a preach (just as the two pilots are killed in battle, two more children, growing up thousands of miles apart, head for an inevitable showdown).Very nice art by Frank Redondo.
"The Avenging Wind" |
Kubert |
"Mined City!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Russ Heath
"Rendezvous"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Ric Estrada
Jack: Sgt. Rock and Easy Co. are just a few of the Allied soldiers in a long line approaching a French town formerly held by Nazis, but as they get close they discover that it's a "Mined City!" It seems the Nazis set land mines all around and left a master switch in a blockhouse in the city center. If the Nazis who are left sense an Allied attack coming, they will blow up the city.
Easy Co. is given the task of attacking the blockhouse at night, under cover of darkness, but as they move towards it they run into a couple of Nazi traps. For some reason, loudly killing Nazis along the way does not alert those holed up in the blockhouse and Easy Co. manages to reach it, but their attack is a complete flop. They kill all of the Nazis inside but one of them throws the switch as he dies and the entire town blows up.
"Mined City!" |
In WWII, an American pilot and a Japanese pilot take off and do battle in the air. The Japanese plane crashes into the American plane and both men are ejected. The American has a parachute but the Japanese doesn't. Fortunately, the Japanese pilot ends up in the arms of the American pilot as they descend, though he fights against being saved. Unfortunately, their "Rendezvous" is short-lived as a Japanese plane shoots both men dead and they continue their descent lifelessly.
"Rendezvous" |
Peter: "Mined City!" is the best Rock of the year. This is the kind of dark, gloomy script Big Bob usually reserves for his "Gallery of War" stories. It's refreshing that we're not handed yet another "green recruit" dirge and even more refreshing that Heath is back to deliver the eye candy. Good, solid climax as well. Speaking of Gallery of War, I wasn't much impressed with "Rendezvous," outside of the ironic finale. It's an interesting experiment (one that has been attempted before) but the "plot" is threadbare. I will say that Ric's Estrada's art might be getting a bit better.
Kirby & Berry |
"Bushido!"
Story by Jack Kirby
Art by Jack Kirby & D. Bruce Berry
Jack: On a Pacific island, Johnny Cloud sneaks up on a Japanese general named Yamashita and shoots the cigarette in his mouth in half. Cloud then ties up Yamashita and carries him off, joining the Losers as they escape down a river in a Frenchman's boat.
Yamashita's men are looking for their leader, who manages to overpower the Losers and escape. Fierce fighting breaks out, but Yamashita lives by the code of "Bushido!" and captures Gunner, offering to trade him and Frenchy for the chance at hand to hand combat with Johnny Cloud, who has dishonored him.
Cloud agrees and the two men fight. Unbeknownst to Yamashita, all of this has been a distraction to give American planes time to approach the island and drop paratroopers to attack Yamashita's installation. The fight with Cloud ended, Yamashita returns to his men and leads a final, doomed Banzai charge, only to see himself and his soldiers cut down by machine-gun fire.
"Bushido!" |
Peter: I've nothing new to add to my complaints about this title. It's still unreadable and unlookatable; Jack's way of saying "I'm the Boss," no doubt. "The King" has taken what was a fun adventure series about a bunch of schmucks who somehow get the right thing done and turned it into just another Kirby (circa 1975) superhero book. I was going to make a clever comment like "take the 'o' off the title of this installment and that's what I cry loudly while reading this tripe" but I've got more class. Alan Spinney of Alberta contributes the best writing of the entire issue on the "Mail Call" page when he calls out Jack for ruining the Losers and ignoring the fact that Ona has just up and disappeared. Read Alan's intelligent missive and the bogus reply below.
From OFF |
From WWT |
Next Issue... A double-dose of Neal Adams goodness arrives... just in time! |
4 comments:
The really irregular distribution of comics in my major source of them, a local indy drugstore in Hazardville, CT, meant I never saw a WEIRD WAR TALES giant...I would've snapped it up, even if it disappointed me (certainly, I would've liked to see 1950s reprints from DC, much as I did in THE WITCHING HOUR giant I had)...and would've liked reading that Origin Story!
The topic of distribution is an interesting one. I lived in NJ and never had much trouble finding DC or Marvel comics in the mid-'70s, though I did have to bike to the next town for some early Howard the Duck issues with all the frenzy at the time. I also had to do some serious bike riding to find some of the Atlas titles! I also loved the DC giants and bought all I could, though my tastes were in the superhero vein. I had a subscription to Justice League that started with the 1st 100-pager. But it came folded in a brown wrapper!
My distribution point for funny books was Stop 'n' Go, which might have been a regional chain (similar to 7-11). They had everything but well-thumbed. And they usually had a couple-three months worth on the racks. Then I found Bob Sidebottom's Comic Collector Shop in downtown San Jose and Bob got everything. Eden!
I know that Stop 'n Go wasn't completely regional, because Texas had them (I'm not sure about elsewhere).
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