Thursday, April 4, 2013

FOXHOLE "Walkie Talkie"

Ten-Hut!
With North Korea rattling their rusted sabers yet again...
...let's look at a story created during the first Korean War by the legendary Simon & Kirby studio when they were publishing their own titles!
Art for this tale from FoxHole #2 (1954) was by WWII vet Bill Draut (who served in the Marines).
While the writer is unknown, it's likely that either Joe Simon or Jack Kirby (or both as a team) penned it.

FoxHole was a comic produced by writers and artists who had served in the military.
The creators 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!