JOHN WAYNE ADVENTURE COMICS "Bridgehead"

Ten-HUT!

We go from a superhero created for WWII to the actor best-known for winning WWII!

In the movies. John Wayne fought in WWII, Vietnam, even the Battle of the Alamo...but not in Korea!
(Jet Pilot is a Cold War movie involving Russians. No Koreans or scenes set in Korea.)
Comic books were a different matter...

You'll note that Wayne is referred to as "John Wayne", not "John Wayne as Sgt Stryker" or some other character he played in movies or a totally-new character!
One of the conceits of this 31-issue series, John Wayne Adventure Comics, was that Wayne was always himself in the stories, no matter where or when they were set!
Stories ran the gamut from Wayne in the French Foreign Legion to putting out oil-rig fires to big-game hunting in Africa to tracking spies in Hong Kong, with at least one Western-themed story every issue.
Oddly enough, though there are numerous comic adaptations of Wayne's Western movies, and even a comic based on The Conqueror (where he portrayed Genghis Khan), there are no comics adapting any of his many war movies!

Until next time...

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SGT FURY & HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS "Fighting Side by Side with Captain America & Bucky" Conclusion

Ten-HUT!

When Last We Left Our Heroes...

 Captain America and Bucky have discovered a Nazi plot involving movement of slave laborers to a French coastal site where large amounts of munitions are also being moved.
Why?
Freeing a group of captive American aviators who were about to be executed, Cap has an idea about how to discover the plan, but he wants backup...

 Now that was kool!

This wasn't the first time the Nazis tried this trick in the Marvel Comics Universe.

in 1941's Marvel Mystery Comics #16-17, Prince Namor, the Sub-Mariner discovered another English Channel tunnel as well as a Japanese one under the Bering Strait!

After destroying the German tunnel single-handed, Namor then teams up with the Original Human Torch and Toro to destroy the Japanese tunnel.

In actual history, the idea of an invasion tunnel from mainland Europe to England dates back to 1804, when it was rumored Napoleon Bonaparte was digging one to bypass the British fleet!

1805 illustration showing proposed French invasion using a tunnel as well as barges and balloons.

As to why Nick Fury isn't the leader of the Howlers in the movie...

 ...in the Marvel Movie Universe (which encompasses Thor, Iron Man, Captain America, the Hulk, and the upcoming Avengers films), Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) isn't old enough to have served in World War II!
There's no mention of an "Infinity Formula" like the one in the Marvel Comics Universe that keeps the WWII vet young and vital even in the 2010s!

Until next week...

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SGT FURY & HIS HOWLING COMMANDOS "Fighting Side by Side with Captain America & Bucky" Part 1

Ten-HUT!

We usually don't run Sgt Fury or Sgt Rock stories...

...(as much as we enjoy them) but, since Captain America: the First Avenger opens today, and it does feature the Howling Commandos (albeit without Nick Fury, who appears only in the present-day sequences),  we thought we'd present the first time Cap and the Howlers (with Fury) met!

We hate to break into the action, but you'll have to tune in tomorrow to see how the Howlers fit into this situation!
Plus, find out why Nick Fury doesn't lead the movie's Howling Commandos!

Until tomorrow...

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GREAT BATTLES OF HISTORY "Shiraz"

Ten-Hut!

From a fictional future to the far-distant past...

...we present a never-reprinted tale about a legendary battle in 1393, written and illustrated in 1970!

While it's an exciting tale, like most dramatic retellings, it ain't exactly how it happened.

In reality, Shah Mansur's small force was able to break through the middle of Tamerlane's army, and then charge straight at Tamerlane, possibly coming close enough to exchange blows with him. Unfortunately for Shah Mansur, the rest of his troops didn't do as well, and he was forced away from Tamerlane, lest he be captured in a pincer movement.

During his retreat, Mansur was caught by a detachment led by Tamerlane's son Shah Rukh, and beheaded during the fight!

This story originally appeared, not in a war comic, but as a backup in the sci-fi series Flash Gordon #18!

And, it features the first comics work of an artist who would become famous for his artwork on retro-style projects like The Shadow, Metropolis, and StarStruck...Michael W Kaluta!

Until next time...

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ATOMIC WAR! "CounterAttack"

Ten-Hut!

We go from Vietnam to a potential near future (the 1960s as seen in 1952)...

...with the concluding tale from 1952's Atomic War! #1.

There were three more issues, as well as two of World War III.

We'll be presenting them all.

Until Next Week...

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