Star-Spangled DC War Stories! Part 2: July 1959

By Corporals Enfantino and Seabrook

Grandenetti

All American Men of War 71

"Target for an Ammo Boy!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Joe Kubert

"Snipers Roost!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Mort Drucker

"Tell Baker I'll Be There!"
Story by Ed Herron
Art by Russ Heath

PE: The deadly sharpshooter in the "Snipers Roost" remains mostly unseen to us throughout the story. We catch glimpses of his trigger finger and unfocused eye but, for the most part, he's a faceless killing machine. On the other end of the scope, our G.I. (the sniper's target) is a fearless predator, intent on putting an end to the menace in the bell tower. "Snipers Roost" is a lot of suspense packed tight in a five and a half page package with stark, minimalist art and narrative ("The sniper fixed the two tiny figures in his sight like flies on a large saucer..."). As the G.I. nears the tower, the previously unwavering marksman loses his cool and, even though we're meant to root against this Nazi monster, the claustrophobia is palpable and we feel his fear. Artist Mort Drucker is known primarily for his long career with Mad Magazine but he also found time to illustrate several DC war stories. "Sniper" was Drucker's thirteenth job for All American Men at War.

JS: I like "Target for an Ammo Boy!," which looks like the first story featuring a soldier known as T.K. or Tank Killer and his sidekick, a younger man who loads his bazooka for him. The "Kid" narrates the story and at first he is frustrated because all he does is carry the bazooka around--T.K. always has the thrill of firing it. They get into quite a few sticky situations with tanks firing at them but T.K. always manages to blow up the lumbering machines with a well-placed shot from his bazooka. Kubert's art is sharp, especially in the faces, and there's a fair amount of action. I liked this story and am looking forward to see if it becomes a regular feature, though I can't imagine they'll just keep wandering around shooting a bazooka at one tank after another--that would get old fast.

Grandenetti

G.I. Combat 74

"A Flag for Joey!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Ross Andru

"Six-Gun Beach-Head!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Russ Heath

"No Word for a G.I."
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Bob Forgione and Jack Abel

PE: "No Word for a G.I." suffers from that annoying habit war writers had: take a word and run it into the ground. In this case, the word is "committed," which we learn means an outfit that has been given orders to stay on the battlefield no matter what (in other words, a suicide squad). At first, the word is meant to educate us (and it does) but then Haney gets carried away, overeducating us. "Committed" is used 35 times in 6 pages and, by the end of the story, I needed to be committed.

We figured Joey's days were numbered.

JS: Definitely a weaker issue than this month's All American Men At War, G.I. Combat features repetitive stories and by the numbers art. In "A Flag for Joey!" Joey survives some battles by carrying his good luck charm--a flag his father gave him to plant in the war. When he breathes his last, his pal, who had only been tolerating the flag business up to then, takes over as the chief flag-carrier until he finally puts it where it belongs. There is some nice writing here: "The enemy bomber's nose gunner swept the deck with a lead broom" made me stop for a few seconds to figure out that a lead broom is a flurry of bullets. "Six-Gun Beach-Head!" is another good-luck charm story; this time, the object is a six-shooter that a soldier inherited from his Texas Ranger grandfather. Like last month's story, "The Next Man!" (Star Spangled War Stories 82), a single soldier does the work of a whole unit.

Kubert

Our Army at War 84

"Laughter on Snakehead Hill!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Irv Novick

"Flameout"
Story by Hank Chapman
Art by Ross Andru

"Cleared to Combat!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Bob Forgione

PE: In "Flameout," our narrator, a fighter pilot, watches helplessly as his brother Joe (also a pilot in the same squadron) is shot down and killed by the enemy while attempting to stop a munitions train. Seizing vengeance by the reins, our nameless Captain redoubles his efforts to destroy the train before it enters a tunnel. Two unfortunate incidents happen almost simultaneously: the bomb he drops "hangs up" on him (it doesn't completely disengage) and his jet has a "flameout" (the engine stalls). With not enough time nor altitude to restart the engine, he aims the plane at the tunnel, ejects, and blows the train to hell. As I've mentioned, it's hard to find fault with any of the war stories if for no other reason than most of these writers experienced the hell of combat and I haven't. Reading some of these stories is both enlightening and exciting. When our Captain's jet effectively becomes the bomb, I could feel the tension come off the page. What the hell do you do in that situation other than prepare for the worst (you're gonna be blown to pieces) and hope for the best (lots of broken bones)? Outside of The Amazing Spider-Man, I've not seen much of Ross Andru's work and here his art has a nice Alex Toth vibe to it.  Andru might benefit from the fact that there's only one character illustrated here and his face is covered with an oxygen mask the entire time. There are several artists I've encountered over the last few years of comic blogging that might have come out the other end with a more checkered career had these ideal restrictions been in place for them (Frank Robbins, take a bow). "Cleared to Combat" suffers from a problem I have with several of the war stories: the writer feels the need to educate rather than entertain. Can war comics be entertaining? Yes, they can, by telling an involving story rather than, like "Cleared," finding a phrase and running it into the dirt. My problems with the story do not translate to the art.  I see Bob Forgione did several jobs for both DC and Atlas in the 1950s so I'm eager to check out some more of his work there.

We'd know those Ross Andru eyes anywhere!

JS: Poor Irv Novick. A decent artist, sure, but he seems to have the misfortune of following great artists. On Batman, it was always a letdown to see a story drawn by Novick when we were hoping for one by Neal Adams. In "Laughter on Snakehead Hill!," a perfectly decent story about Sgt. Rock and Easy Co., Novick has the misfortune of following last issue's milestone work by Joe Kubert. It seems that Novick can only be appreciated when he appears after a long stretch of mediocrity by, say, John Calnan. As for "Flameout," I wasn't that excited by this story, which seemed like another "do it for Joey" piece like the one we just saw in this month's G.I. Combat.

Kubert

Our Fighting Forces 47

"TNT Birthday!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Jerry Grandenetti

"Pigeon for a Tiger!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito

"The Three Unknown Commandos!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Russ Heath

PE: In "TNT Birthday," Gunner's birthday party is continuously interrupted by enemy attacks. Unlike Sgt. Rock, the "Gunner and Sarge" strip featured a heaping helping of humor and this may be why I don't like it very much. Of course, it might also be the vacuous characters, a surprise when one realizes that its author, Robert Kanigher, was also responsible for Rock. I shouldn't be so hard on the injection of humor into "the hell of war" here and there since one of my favorite TV shows, Combat, did so as well (and usually very successfully). Much better is "Pigeon for a Tiger," wherein a fighter pilot is shot down by the infamous ace "Tiger," but gets his revenge in the end, aided by the enemy's firepower. The art by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito (who would partner up several hundred times over the years, most notably on Wonder Woman and The Amazing Spider-Man) is not great, the Asian enemy ace looking as though he should be spouting "Ah, So!" lines and our hero barely fleshed out, but Bob Haney's story's an exciting one.

"Pigeon for a Tiger!"

The captured American pilot, with rapidly growing facial hair, droning "Someday... somewhere... somehow..." continuously as he watches The Tiger lift off from the battleship, is a perfect code-approved moment of why the words "war is hell" can never be topped. Writer Haney later created the Teen Titans for DC. The scariest writing in the issue, however, goes to Robert Kanigher in his answer to Michael Byrne's letter in "Combat Corner." Michael asks: "How do the men in a submarine abandon ship?" The editor maps out in great detail exactly what the sub-mariners must do to save their skin. While the sub is on surface, no problem, but if the craft is submerged, there is a complicated and harrowing array of maneuvers that seem almost impossible.

Jack: I liked "TNT Birthday!" precisely for the reason you didn't--the humor. Gunner and Sarge aren't much different than Tank Killer and Kid (see All American Men at War, above) but the story is different from any other I've read so far this month because of the birthday angle and the humor. It's a nice break from all the grenades. "Pigeon for a Tiger!" is notable only for the art and for being yet another example this month of how the Japanese were still being drawn, 14 years after the end of the war. I don't think Asians got a break in popular culture in the U.S. till at least the 1980s--watch any sitcom from the 1970s and cringe at the Asian jokes.

Grandenetti

Star-Spangled War Stories 83

"Jet on My Shoulder!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito

"A Stripe for St. Lo!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Mort Drucker

"War Doesn't Sleep!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Jack Abel

PE: "War Doesn't Sleep!" explores the ironies of "The Grass is Always Greener..." in wartime. One morning, a tank driver, heading off to battle, sees a sleeping soldier in a foxhole and wishes he had it so well, snoozing the war away. Of course, once the night comes, the reverse happens. "Jet on My Shoulder" suffers from the "running the phrase into the dirt" ailment mentioned previously. A new pilot attempts to show his squad he can keep up with them while his aircraft continually "tells" him "Show Me!" When the young man has finally broken through and applied himself to his task, his jet replies, "Showed Me!"

"A Stripe for St. Lo!"

Much better is "A Stripe for St. Lo." Buck Private Charlie Kidd is told he'll get a nice fat stripe for his uniform if he can be the first to break through the gates of St. Lo (located in Northern France). On his way, he meets a similarly undecorated "old man" in a foxhole and becomes convinced the man wants the stripe as well. A one-sided mental battle begins as Kidd watches the old soldier take St. Lo and, ostensibly, glory but it's his own cover fire that ensures victory. Later, Kidd is startled to discover the "pop" is actually a General (the officers must strip their bars so as not to draw sniper fire), who hands the youngster his first bars.

JS: I didn't know what the heck was going on in "Jet on My Shoulder!" except that Ross Andru was drawing another guy wearing a helmet while flying his plane. I kept thinking that there was some secret he didn't know about his plane. Alas, 'twas not the case. "A Stripe for St. Lo!" was a goodie. I thought the old soldier was the C.O. tricking the Buck Private I was surprised to see he was a general!

PE: And here's a good place to give a shout out to those incredible covers. The stories and art inside the titles may not always rise to the top but the majority of the war covers are knockouts!

All credits found at the Grand Comic Database.

Next Week!