Sgt. Rock Special #1: "Another Time, Another Place"

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Created by DC's resident war correspondent, Robert Kanigher, and drawn by Joe Kubert, Sgt. Rock as we know him first went into battle in Our Army at War #81 (April 1959).

The stories were set during World War II and Sgt. Frank Rock was topkick of a platoon called Easy Co., also known as "the Combat Happy Joes of Easy." He and his men did the majority of their fighting in the European Theater of Operations. Kanigher's idea of combat owed as much to movies and John Wayne as it did to research, and Rock's gang had the same colorful mix of men as might've been found in an MGM epic of a decade or so earlier. Among the personnel were Wildman, Bulldozer, Ice Cream Soldier, and Jackie Johnson, a black. Kanigher fudged on Johnson, giving Rock the only integrated platoon in World War II.

The adventures were gritty, grim, sentimental, and full of Technicolor heroics. The sergeant related most of the battle reports himself—"Here's a war story that'll tear at your heart... or my name ain't Sgt. Rock." Kubert did a commendable job of illustrating the Easy tales. Russ Heath also drew the feature. The sergeant's name eventually began appearing on the covers in larger and larger letters. Finally, with issue #302 (March 1977), the magazine was retitled simply Sgt. Rock. It held on longer than any other war comic, surrendering at last in the summer of 1998. The sergeant re-upped for the Sgt. Rock Special that reprinted his earlier combat adventures for a twenty-one issue run from 1988 to 1992.

Script: Bob Haney
Pencils and inks: Neal Adams
Colors: Tatjana Wood

Reprinted:

• from Our Army at War (DC, 1952 series) #240 (January 1972) (Pictured inset).

• in DC Special Blue Ribbon Digest (DC, 1980 series) #12 (August 1981).
• in Sgt. Rock Special (DC, 1988 series) #1 (1988).

Weird War Tales #34: "The Common Enemy!"

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Illustrated by Jack Sparling, the prolific Arnold Drake scripted this excellent science fiction tale set in the Pacific theater during WWII. Drake, who started at DC Comics writing scripts for Batman, Showcase-Tommy Tomorrow, and My Greatest Adventure, went on to co-create the Doom Patrol.

The first appearance of the Doom Patrol pre-dated that of the X-Men by a scant three months. The vague similarity in concept (group of misfits led by a mysterious wheel-chair bound genius, and similarly named enemies (Brotherhood of Evil and the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants)) has led to speculation as to the relation between them, if any.

According to Comic Coverage: Which Came First: The Mutant or The Freak?, creator Arnold Drake felt:

"...I’ve become more and more convinced that (Stan Lee) knowingly stole The X-Men from The Doom Patrol. Over the years I learned that an awful lot of writers and artists were working surreptitiously between (Marvel and DC). Therefore from when I first brought the idea into (DC editor) Murray Boltinoff’s office, it would’ve been easy for someone to walk over and hear that (I was) working on a story about a bunch of reluctant superheroes who are led by a man in a wheelchair. So over the years I began to feel that Stan had more lead time than I realized. He may well have had four, five or even six months."

Note: my apologies for the above copy-and-paste job, folks, but I am battling an awful cold and I'll try to be original tomorrow.


Credits

Cover: Luis Dominguez
Script: George Kashdan
Pencils: Jack Sparling
Inks: Jack Sparling

Weird War Tales #27: "The Veteran"

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Luis Dominguez illustrated one of my favorite covers for Weird War Tales. Years ago back in the the 1970s, one of my best friends brought this issue to our fourth grade class one day and I loved it so much I rushed out and bought a copy for myself, but I was disappointed with the submarine story inside. Much better is "The Veteran," with a script by Jack Oleck, pencils by Paul Kirchner and inks by Tex Blaisdell.

Weird War Tales #36: "The Pool..." (Russ Heath art)

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Written by Len Wein and Marv Wolfman and sporting artwork by Russ Heath, I first read this cleverly told and beautifully illustrated story in America at War: The Best of DC War Comics (pictured inset), but this story first appeared in Weird War Tales #3 (also pictured) and was later reprinted in Weird War Tales #36, which is what I own and am presenting here.

Russ Heath has been a professional artist for more than sixty years, and in all that time he has rarely drawn a superhero. A first-rate illustrator, Heath is noted for his combat stories, set in various times and climes, and western tales. Over the years Heath has drawn Sgt. Rock, Robin Hood, Kid Colt, Two-Gun Kid, and The Sea Devils.

Heath, in his lighter moments, worked with his friend Harvey Kurtzman on Mad, Humbug, Trump, and Help. He was also part of the team that helped produce Little Annie Fanny for Playboy.

He did some excellent black-and-white work for magazines like Eerie and Blazing Combat. In 1981 he was the artist on the revived Lone Ranger newspaper strip. The masked man and Tonto never looked better, nor their West more authentic, but the strip didn't succeed. Heath resettled in Southern California some years ago to work in animation. In recent years he's been doing comic-book work again.


Credits:

Script:Len Wein and Marv Wolfman
Pencils and inks :Russ Heath

Weird War Tales #8: "Thou Shalt Not Kill!"

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"Mein Gott in Himmel!" I loved Weird War Tales back in the 1970s as it combined two of my favorite genres: war and horror. Of course, it can easily be argued that war is horror, but I mean horror in the occult and mystical sense. Weird War Tales had its fair share of dud stories, but I found it well worth the effort to wade through those to find the gems—and what gems! The best were usually written by Jack Oleck or George Kashdan, but this time out we're treated to a story that's written by Steve Harper and drawn by my favorite artist, Neal Adams, called "Thou Shalt Not Kill!'"Adams also drew the cover. I have most if not all of the first 50 or so issues of Weird War Tales, so I'll be uploading more as time permits.

Star Spangled War Stories #183: Unknown Soldier in "8,000 to One"

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"Remember, soldier, one slip-up and 8,000 innocent people... will die!"

I recall purchasing this comic book when I was a kid because I found the Joe Kubert cover very intriguing, but I came away from the experience genuinely moved by the story inside. In "8,000 to One," the Unknown Soldier is forced to choose killing a collaborator or permit 8,000 others to perish. The final scenes are very dramatic and worth the read to get there. While the Unknown Soldier was created by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert and first appeared in Our Army At War #168, this story was written by David Michelinie and illustrated by Gerry Talaoc.

The back-up story features the Balloon Buster, whose real name is Steve Savage, Jr. Born and raised in Mustang River, Wyoming, Savage was trained by his poverty-stricken father to be a consummate marksman, learning that the gun is merely an extension of the man who wields it.

Enlisting in the Army Air Corps at the onset of World War I, Savage repeatedly disobeyed orders, breaking formation to attack and destroy the German combat balloons, which earned him his nickname.

















"Hell's Angel! Featuring Enemy Ace and the Balloon Buster, Part III: To End in Flames!" is an Enemy Ace back-up story, which was written by Robert Kanigher and illustrated by Frank Thorne.