Asians in Combat JOHN WAYNE ADVENTURE COMICS "Bridgehead"

Ten-HUT!

You know John Wayne did a Vietnam War movie (Green Berets)...

...but he never did a Korean War flick!

(Jet Pilot is a Cold War movie involving Russians.

No Koreans or scenes set in Korea.)

Comic books were a different matter...

Trivia: Besides not doing a Korean War movie, Wayne never did a film set in World War II Germany!
This never-reprinted tale is from Toby's John Wayne Adventures #15 (1952), penciled by Mel Keefer.(The other credits are unknown)
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 comic adapting any of his war movies!
Until next time...

Dis-Missed!

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John Wayne
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Christmas Combat Comics G.I. JOE "Weepy's Christmas"

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Christmas is a helluva time to be fighting a war...

 ...as the ORIGINAL G.I. Joe and his buddies discover during the Korean War!

This never-reprinted story from Ziff-Davis' G.I Joe #10 (1952), illustrated by penciler Irv Novick and inker Frank Giacoia, was published long before Hasbro unleashed their 12" action figures upon the kids of America, the phrase "G.I. Joe" was slang for American soldiers.

It was popularized in 1945 by the release of the movie Story of G.I. Joe, starring Burgess Meredith as real-life war correspondent Ernie Pyle as he traveled with American troops during the invasions of Tunisia and Italy.

Ziff-Davis used the phrase as the title for a new war comic beginning in 1950.

Set in the (then) present-day Korean War, the series detailed the saga of Private Joe Burch, and the rest of his unit.

Running an impressive 55 issues, the series ended in 1957 with Joe Burch and his unit reassigned stateside to Camp Humbolt.

We'll be presenting the highlights of the original G.I. Joe's comics career next year.

Until next time...

Dis-missed!

Halloween Horror VOODOO "Corpses of the Jury"

 Ten-HUT!
For Halloween, we're combining fictional horror with the real-life horrors of concentration camps!

Warning: NSFW!

Memories of World War II and the Nuremberg Trials were still fresh in peoples' minds when this tale was published in 1953 in Ajax/Farrell's Voodoo #5.
There were stories aplenty of hidden Nazis being tracked down, but most involved them being tried and executed by Allied (American/British/French) law-enforcement, not spectral beings, and certainly not in so gruesome, yet poetic, fashion.
BTW, the identities of any of the Iger Studio creatives associated with this tale are, sadly, unknown!

Until next time...

Dis-missed!

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Complete Maus
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SPACE BUSTERS "Remember Makano"

Ten-HUT!
It's the final battle in the series that may have inspired Don the Con's fantasy about a "Space Force"...

...appropriately enough, a tale that places emotion over logic!

This never-reprinted tale from Ziff-Davis' Space Busters #2 (1952) is the final story in the short-lived series.

Oddly, none of the sci-fi books about specific characters (this one and Lars of Mars, Crusader from Mars, and Space Patrol) lasted more than two issues!

But the anthologies lasted longer...Amazing Adventures ran six issues and Weird Thrillers ran five!

It must be admitted that Murphy Anderson's revamp gave the book a solid "shot in the arm" artistically, so why it was cancelled so abruptly remains a mystery!

Until next time...

Dis-missed!

SPACE BUSTERS "Victory on Valda"

Ten-Hut!
Editor Jerry Siegel wanted Space Busters to look more like...

... the recently-revamped and revitalized Buck Rogers strip!

But artist Marvin Stein ended up using the original Buck strip as reference in his tryout, and lost the gig!

With a looming deadline, Siegel contacted the Buck Rogers strip's artist, Murphy Anderson (who had recently left the series) to provide redesigns...

...as well as the cover-featured story!

(Note: the cover is by Allen Anderson...no relation to Murphy!)

Personally, I'm not crazy about the purple-red color scheme, but at least it matches the uniform on the cover.
And, I think this is more the "look" Don (the John) Trump wants for his "Space Force" than the utilitarian garb of the first issue!

Until next time...

Dis-missed!

SPACE BUSTERS "Mission to Baldor!"

Ten-Hut!
We're on to Space Busters #2, and the first of the "redesigned" stories...

...as artist Marvin Stein takes a crack at making the "Marines in space" series look more like Buck Rogers!

This never-reprinted story appeared in the back of Ziff-Davis' Space Busters #2 (1952) because editor/writer Jerry Siegel had nothing else to fill the empty pages!
Unfortunately, Stein had gone "old school" Buck Rogers, when Siegel had wanted "modern" Buck Rogers.
So Siegel got the guy who had been illustrating the modern Buck...Murphy Anderson!

You'll see his work starting next week!

Until next time...

Dis-missed!