Friday, August 26, 2011

FOXHOLE "Booby Trap"

From the skies of World War I to the muddy roads of Korea...
...in a taut tale of lessons learned the hard way, penciled by the legendary Jack Kirby.
From FoxHole #2 (1954), a comic produced by writers and artists who had served in the military.
They usually put their names and ranks on the splash panels of the stories.
(The book's subhead read "This is WAR as seen by the Guys Who Do the Fighting!")
Jack Kirby, as the book's co-publisher, primary plotter, and layout artist didn't sign his name on the stories even though he served in the Army as a scout, sneaking behind enemy lines and creating sketches and maps of enemy-held areas.
He also did the cover at left.

Unlike most Korean War-era comics, this was not a gung-ho, kick-ass title, but one that took a hard-edged look at the heavy cost of war to the participants.

Until next time...
Dis-missed!

Friday, August 19, 2011

AIR WAR STORIES "One Was Doomed"

Ten-Hut!
We go from a potential near future (the 1960s as seen in 1952) to World War I...
...with a tale of brave men flying the deadly skies against a real German super-weapon!
Zeppelins were used as long-range bombers against England in the first World War, with very limited success.
While the art on this story is not officially-credited, it's believed to be the work of Sam Glanzman, who did a lot of military-themed comics work for Dell, Charlton, and DC.
His best-known military comics work are the autobiographical graphic novels A Sailor's Story and A Sailor's Story Book II: Wind, Dreams & Dragons, about his WWII service on the destroyer U.S.S. Stevens.
It's interesting to note that there are numerous comic strips in England about World War I, but very few here in the US!
The only ongoing American strips were Enemy Ace and Balloon Buster, both from DC Comics.
Marvel tried to get a series going with Phantom Eagle, but it never got past the tryout stage.
And all of them were aviation-themed series!
Until next time...
Dis-missed!

Friday, August 12, 2011

ATOMIC WAR! "Berlin Powder Keg"

Ten-Hut!
We return to a potential near future (the 1960s as seen in 1952)...
...where Dr Strangelove would probably be a documentary rather than a dramedy!
This completes the re-presenting of Atomic War! #1.
While there are three more issues, our tale of future war next month will be from AW!'s "brother" title, World War III, which, oddly, had a different continuity than AW!!
Until Next Week...
Dis-missed!

Friday, August 5, 2011

SAGA OF THE LUCKY 7 "The Mission" & "The Rescue"

Ten-Hut!
The B-25 Mitchell bomber tells you we're in World War II...
...though we're not certain if it's the Army Air Force or Marine Air Corps!
(They both used the B-25!)
The Lucky 7 ran in all three issues of Fight the Enemy.
Art for this tale from Fight the Enemy #1 (1966) by Mike Sekowsky and Frank Giacoia.

Until next week...
Dis-missed!