Friday, July 20, 2012

ATOMIC WAR! "Slash by the Iron Greyhounds"

Ten-Hut!
We return to a potential near future (the 1960s as seen in 1952)...
 ...where the Cold War became hot when Russia launched a sneak attack on the US and NATO with nuclear weapons!
This tale of mechanized maneuvering from Ace's Atomic War #3 (1953) was illustrated by Ken Rice.
The writer is unknown.

We hope you've enjoyed this week of daily posts.
Regrettably, it's not something we can do as an ongoing practice...unless we get more hits on the blog!
As it is, we had to take this blog out of a weekly rotation because too few people were visiting it.
If traffic picks up, we can restore it to weekly posting, then, if the increased audience warrants it, make it daily!
It's up to you.
Tell your friends and/or other military aficionados about us.

See you soon...
Dis-missed!

Thursday, July 19, 2012

WORLD WAR III "Jet Jammers' Jamboree"

Ten-Hut!
Is there no end to Red Commie treachery?
Ironically, the Russians were ahead of us in some scientific categories (like rocketry), but not electronics!
Our German scientists were superior to their German scientists in that category! ;-)
The "ramjets" shown in this story have covered noses, which is odd, since a ramjet needs an uninterrupted air flow as it has no turbine to suck air in!
Ramjets can't move an aircraft from a standstill, and required some other propulsion system like JATO (Jet-fuel Assisted Take Off, which is actually rocket-powered) or being launched from an aircraft already in flight, to accelerate to a speed where it began to produce thrust. Ramjets required considerable forward speed to operate well, and as a class worked most efficiently at speeds around Mach 3, and could operate up to speeds of Mach 6!

Oddly, the Communists shown in this tale look Asian, despite being clearly identified in captions and word balloons as Russian!
At the time of publication, the Korean War was still going on, so it's possible that the unidentified artist simply made them Korean or, more likely, Chinese, since the North Koreans were largely-dependent upon China for arms and technology.
Plus, the map behind the Communist officers on page 2 looks like a badly-drawn version of China and the Korean peninsula.
It certainly doesn't look like the USSR!

This never-reprinted story from World War III #2 (1953) was written by Robert Turner.
Dis-missed!

Wednesday, July 18, 2012

ATOMIC WAR! "Ice-Box Invasion"

Ten-Hut!
We return to a potential near future (the 1960s as seen in 1952)...
...and a locale where it seems the heat of atomic bombs will never reach!
Personally, I'd be pretty nervous about using "atomic hand grenades" at close quarters like that, especially if I was planning to have children if I survived...
While the scripter for this tale from Atomic War! #2 (1952) is unknown, the art is by Jim McLaughlin.
Tomorrow, we return to World War III.
Dis-missed!

Tuesday, July 17, 2012

WORLD WAR III "Devils of the Deep"

Ten-Hut!
World War III spares no place on Earth...land, air, or sea!
Nor does it spare the nerves of the men who fight the Final War...
Submarines are referred to as "snorkels" in this series because they had to raise the air-exchange device at least once a day while submerged to refresh the air supply!
Real-life sailors called the actual device a "snort" and a submarine itself was referred to as a "boat", not a "snorkel".
This story from World War III #2 (1953) was written by Robert Turner, with art by Lou Cameron.
Until tomorrow, when we return to tales from Atomic War...
Dis-missed!

Monday, July 16, 2012

ATOMIC WAR! "Operation Satellite"

Ten-Hut!
We return to a potential near future (the 1960s as seen in 1952)...
...as we have a look at a forerunner to the Star Wars Defense system in this story from Atomic War! #4 (1952)
While the scripter is unknown, the art is by Lou Cameron.
Tomorrow, we switch to World War III, the other Ace Comics future-war series which was set in a seperate universe despite the similar concept!
Dis-missed!