Star Spangled DC War Stories Issue 144: December 1973 + The Best of 1973

The DC War Comics
1959-1976
by Corporals Enfantino and Seabrook

Dominguez

Weird War Tales 20

"Death Watch"
Story by Jack Oleck
Art by Don Perlin

"Operation: Voodoo!"
Story by Arnold Drake
Art by Alfredo Alcala

"Death is a Green Man"
Story by Arnold Drake
Art by Alfredo Alcala

Peter: Private Price keeps dreaming of death but, when the Germans march in and blast the building he and his fellow G.I.s are staying in, Price sees a way out. He hides in the hills and watches as the rest of his platoon is slaughtered and then comes back down to discover he hadn't escaped the bombing after all. His dead body lies in the burnt-out building. I wonder how many times Jack Oleck used this same Owl Creek Bridge-style "shock" ending over the course of his decades-long career. To be fair, everyone used it, but that doesn't make "Death Watch" any easier to read. Neither does wading through Don Perlin's icky pencils.

"Death Watch"

Even artwork from the great Alfredo Alcala (no one did voodoo stories like Alcala) can't save the dull, boring "Operation: Voodoo!," a tale of black magic in 18th-century Haiti. There's no real life in the words, just a sense of filling up pages. And Arnold must have thought, "If at first you don't succeed . . ." by handing yet another script over to Alfredo for embellishing. Again, Alcala comes out aces, but the script for "Death is a Green Man" is a mishmash that doesn't make much sense. Fighter pilot Captain Danners has a near-death experience and gets an unwanted gift for his trouble. His friends, one by one, appear to him in green-face (as if they look "three days dead") and each one dies during a mission. Brushing his teeth one night, Danners glances into the mirror to see a green face. Knowing he's marked for death on a mission, he visits the doctor, calls in sick, and waits to see what happens to his comrades. All the planes come back safely but Danners has a seizure on the tarmac, and his doctor diagnoses penicillin shock. Why was Danners gifted the foresight? Who knows? No explanation is given, as if we're just supposed to take it for granted this is a weird war they're fighting in and anything can happen. There's a funny panel of Danners checking the roster and seeing that half the names belong to the DC bullpen at the time. Reading these latest Weird War Tales, I've got the sinking feeling every possible angle had been used up by 1973.

"Death is a Green Man"

Jack: "Death is a Green Man" is a direct swipe from "The Purple Testament," a first-season episode of The Twilight Zone. Despite the good pedigree and impressive art by Alcala, the story falls flat. I found "Operation: Voodoo!" to be muddled and confusing and even Alcala's work looks listless. "Death Watch" is a Bierce swipe, as Peter points out, with below-average art by one of our favorite 70s' whipping boys, Don Perlin.

Ken Barr

Star Spangled War Stories 176

"Target . . . the Unknown Soldier"
Story by Frank Robbins
Art by Jack Sparling

"Charge!"
Story by Archie Goodwin
Art by Frank Thorne

Peter: The Unknown Soldier bids his resistance friend, Cornelius, adieu and then walks away, only to see a missile slam into his friend's flat, killing Cornelius and lighting a fire of vengeance under the scarred bottom of the Soldier. Knowing the Soldier is somewhere in Antwerp, the Nazis continue their massive bombing and hope the pest will be destroyed. Meanwhile, back in Germany, Colonel Krantz finally reveals his secret weapon, and it's a doozy! Captain Werner von Sturm was once the "New Red Baron," the "ace of aces," the crème de la crème but, after a particularly nasty plane crash, he's a bandaged and scarred revenge-crazed superman (hmmmmmm . . .), and Krantz wants it that way. The Colonel's idea is to lure the Soldier to Germany, kill him, and replace our hero with the psycho, von Sturm.

"Target . . . the Unknown Soldier"

Meanwhile, back in Antwerp, a very important person has fallen into the hands of the Unknown Soldier. Pieter de Groote was once a leading Dutch "solid fuels physicist" until he got fed up with the Nazis interrupting his experiments and fled to Belgium. The Soldier's idea, one that the upper command immediately green lights, is to slip behind enemy lines in the guise of de Groote and find and destroy the munitions plant responsible for supplying the Germans with their bombs. All goes well until the Soldier is captured and loaded onto a train bound for a concentration camp. It's there that he realizes, after overhearing other prisoners talk badly of de Groote, that he's been hornswoggled! The Germans are waiting for him.

Check your brain at the door, please, and accompany me on a wild (if poorly visualized) ride through the craziness and laziness known as "Target . . . the Unknown Soldier." Well, it's laziness if you consider that creating a Nazi parallel of the Unknown Soldier is one of the oldest tricks in the superhero/funny book business, but the strip has such a tongue-in-cheek vibe to it (which is why I can excuse the awful art of Sparling), that I'm willing to give Frank Robbins a little more rope.

Of course, I've read Robbins's stuff before, which makes me wonder if ol' Frank is capable of whipping up something that isn't as it appears. This could end up as just another poorly-written arc but, for now, I'm enjoying the heck out of all the loony twists. How could the Soldier make contact with de Groote before the brass (he actually brings the scientist to his commander)? Did the Nazis know where to find US? Does the Soldier have a sign hanging above his Airbnb that reads "All important defectors check in here first!?" Robbins's double and triple twists in the climax are genius; just keep us guessing, please! Archie Goodwin contributes a Civil War tale concerning a gung ho "lootenant" who has a knack for getting his boys "kilt." Since we are to assume that Nazis don't speak English, can we also assume that the Southerners have a drawl and avoid all the "heah"s and "cain't"s? I find it immensely harder to concentrate on the story if my little brain is having to translate a foreign language all the while.

Jack and I is pert near tahd of tryin' ta
figger out this here talk, I must 'fess.

Jack: I thought "Charge!" was a very good short tale of a little-known battle, with fine art by Frank Thorne and a good script that gets the point across without being too heavy-handed or preachy. As for "Target . . . the Unknown Soldier," creating a Nazi counterpart of the Unknown Soldier is a good idea and the end, where the Nazis reveal that the Unknown Soldier has a tell that allows them to pick him out in a crowd, is a good start to a new continuing story. I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes!

Kubert

Our Army at War 263

"The Cage!!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Russ Heath

"Winter Soldier!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Ric Estrada

Jack: Though Easy Co. has had no rest for 48 hours and could skip a dangerous mission, they choose to probe Cemetery Hill rather than let Rock lead "a bunch of green apples" toward certain death. The route to the hill is fraught with peril but Rock and his men manage to dispatch a Panzerwagen as it crosses a bridge and a sunken tank turret buried on the approach to their target. This last bit of destruction alerts the Nazis guarding the hill, and they capture Easy Co. and march them as prisoners to Stalag 22, a nearby temporary P.O.W. camp that, to them, is "The Cage!!"

Major Krause puts Rock in charge of his fellow prisoners and, 44 hours later, when four inmates escape, the Allied soldiers are marched outside at night and Rock is told to select four men to be executed and several others to act as their firing squad. He picks four men to die and they hurl insults at him when he picks Easy Co. vets to be the firing squad. Machine gunners in a tower are ready to execute everyone if they disobey orders, but at the last moment Rock orders his men to fire at the gunners in the tower rather than at their fellow prisoners. Mayhem breaks out and Rock finishes the job by killing Major Krause himself. Set free, the prisoners thank Rock, and all of the Allied troops head off into the falling snow, away from the camp.

"The Cage!!"

Kanigher and Heath continue to present more realistic and violent stories in Our Army at War, even as some of the other DC War Comics suffer from weak scripts and below-average art. This is not Heath's best work, as some of the soldier's faces made me wonder if he had less capable help, but the action sequences are strong, as usual. It's nice to have a story that is wrapped up in a single issue, something we haven't seen much of lately, but I hope another extended saga gets going soon.

John Constable arrives at Mt. Vernon in 1781 to paint Washington's portrait but feels unworthy to capture the legendary man's likeness on canvas. A maid tells him a story of a "Winter Soldier!" who tried to desert the troops one freezing night at Valley Forge. Washington sentenced the young man to die by firing squad but took him aside to explain how his brave act of facing death with dignity would inspire his fellow soldiers to stick with the troops in that difficult winter. The young soldier is executed and Washington is haunted by his memory. Constable asks the maid how she knows the details of the story and she reveals that she is the young soldier's mother.

"Winter Soldier!"

This is a hard lesson well told by Kanigher, and Estrada does his best with his limited skill to match the tone of the story with serious illustrations. I'll admit that I was hoping Washington would find a way to pardon the young man, but I understand that the execution had to go forward. These backup stories are gritty, as Peter has noted; I just wish they'd use a better artist.

Peter: Unfortunately, "The Cage!!" doesn't change my opinion that this title, the foundation of the DC war line, is stuck in a rut. How many times we have to see the same half-dozen super-men take on a tank or a Zero with nothing more than their wits and good luck? The escape from the POW camp is indicative of what I'm talking about; are these the war's stupidest Nazis? As usual, there are still a few twists and shocks to keep the pages turning (the shadowy figure of the hanged men in a background), and Heath is, as always, the best man for the job, but why do I feel Big Bob was holding back the stronger stuff for his "Gallery of War" series? Was he being pressured to keep Rock more "middle of the road," and avoid anything too disturbing? Speaking of "Gallery of War," Big Bob's latest, "Winter Soldier!," has a jolt at the climax (the fact that Washington goes through with the execution) but the final reveal is a bit confusing. I'm assuming the woman is one of Washington's maids but it's not very clear; after the first read-through, I was convinced it was Martha Washington who was narrating the story and the President had ordered his own son's death, but that can't be the case. I'll leave it for the bookworm, Jack, to decipher the secret.

Jack: No doubt about it--she's a maid!

Kubert

G.I. Combat 167

"The Finish Line!"
Story by Archie Goodwin
Art by Sam Glanzman

"Just Another Mission"
Story by Steve Mitchell
Art by Ken Barr

Peter: Hauptmann Dieter Reinhardt has always wanted a rematch with the man who beat him in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. The obsession has haunted him so much that he's carried a duffel bag full of athletic gear (for two!) just in case this great big war landed Gus Gray in front of his Tiger. Sure enough, last issue, Gus was reintroduced to the man he beat and that man wants to prove that his Charley horse was the only thing to keep him from the Gold. Gus is forced into the race but he takes advantage of the preoccupation of Reinhardt's men to allow the boys of the Jeb Stuart to escape. The crew rolls into a Greek village, where they are hidden by resistance fighters. When Reinhardt and his Ratzis come calling, the boys and their new allies use deception to gain the upper hand. Gus gives chase to a fleeing Reinhardt, who falls over a cliff and is hanged by his Olympic medal.

"The Finish Line!"

One of the dreariest, and certainly one of the ugliest, Haunted Tank stories I've ever read. This entire saga could have been told in one issue but Archie felt the need to pad it over two. This is the 79th Haunted Tank story (with over one hundred more to follow) and, unless someone stumbles across a new angle involving a patchwork tank guided by a ghost, this is going to be a long, long journey through mediocrity. Glanzman reaches an all-time low with "The Finish Line!," with some panels looking as though they were abandoned halfway through completion and lots of sketchy, static figures running to and fro but not looking very human. Truly wretched stuff.

Much better is the co-feature, Steve Mitchell's "Just Another Mission," in which a leftenant in the British Army in the early days of WWII accepts an easy-peasy mission, only to find his Colonel had faulty intel. Sharp dialogue and fabulous Ken Barr illustrations make this one a keeper.

"Just Another Mission"

Jack: With some of the worst pro art I've ever seen, "The Finish Line!" is a contender for worst story of the year. The final irony is terribly heavy-handed and the story is awful from start to finish. It's so bad, it makes the Unknown Soldier look good! "Just Another Mission" is certainly an improvement, though nothing special. Ken Barr's art has a Severin vibe to it here and he provides some pretty wild, big panels depicting battle. The story may be set in WWII, but the attitude is pure Vietnam-era.

Heath

Four ★★★★ Battle Tales 5

"Soldier's Luck!"
Story by Dave Wood
Art by Bernie Krigstein
(Reprinted from Our Army at War #11, June 1953)

"No Sunset for a Jet!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Russ Heath
(Reprinted from Our Army at War #78, January 1959)

"The Three Frogmen"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Mort Drucker
(Reprinted from G.I. Combat #72, May 1959)

Jack: Fighting on the front lines in Korea, Willie is razzed by the other men in his unit when his Mom sends him a woolen scarf, but they change their tune after the scarf saves him and the rest of the guys by providing a dose of "Soldier's Luck!" during a series of enemy attacks!

"Soldier's Luck!"

The last issue of Four ★★★★ Battle Tales gets off to a good start with a quick little story set during the Korean War; somehow, Krigstein's art seems more finished in the DC stories we've seen lately in reprint than it sometimes did at EC.

The sun may set on most fighting men, but there's "No Sunset for a Jet!"as it battles all comers in the sky and on the ground. Russ Heath does what he can with this one but it's essentially a series of opportunities to repeat the title phrase or something similar to it as a lone fighter pilot overcomes incredible odds to survive.

"The Three Frogmen" are told of a mission that is too hard for even them, so each man sets out to prove the commanding officer wrong by tacking a very difficult task. They return to boast of their success only to learn that they have been tricked by a C.O. who wanted to see what they would do if he told them there was an impossible mission to be conquered.

"No Sunset for a Jet!"

A little of the frogman story sub-genre goes a long way and DC certainly milked it for all it was worth, but any chance to see Mort Drucker draw a war story is a chance I welcome. It's too bad this reprint title ends here, because the art on the old stories surpasses anything new we're getting from Don Perlin, Jack Sparling, Ric Estrada, or Sam Glanzman.

Peter: All three of the stories featured in the final issue of Four Star Battle Tales are utterly predictable but also undeniably charming in their own way. I love Bernie's art in "Soldier's Luck!" but I also fell for the easygoing way of our hero, not caring that much for the hard time his comrades are giving him and just getting on with the business of war. I wondered why "No Sunset for a Jet!" wasn't titled "Shooting Star," since that's the phrase Bob Haney chose to run into the ground. Heath's art is exquisite. Haney scores with the humor in "The Three Frogmen," and Mort Drucker's ordinary-Joe art is easy on the eye.

"The Three Frogmen"

THE BEST OF 1973

PETE

Best Script: Robert Kanigher, "Pathfinder" (G.I. Combat #165)
Best Art: Alex Nino, "Old Samurai" (Weird War Tales #13)
Best All-Around Story: "Pathfinder"

Worst Script: Arnold Drake, "The Warrior and the Witch-Doctor" (Weird War Tales #12)
Worst Art: Sam Glanzman, "The Finish Line!" (G.I. Combat #167)
Worst All-Around Story: "The Finish Line!"

FIVE BEST STORIES OF THE YEAR 

  1 "Pathfinder"
  2 "What's It Like?" (Our Army at War #255)
  3 "Mud and Sky" (G.I. Combat #158)
  4 "The Final Victor!" (G.I. Combat #162)
  5 "Castaway" (Our Army at War #257)

JACK 

Best Script: Robert Kanigher, "The Return!" (Our Army at War #262)
Best Art: Tony DeZuniga/Alfredo Alcala/Gerry Talaoc/Alex Nino, "October 30..." (Weird War Tales #11)
Best All-Around Story: "The Survivor!" (Our Army at War #258)

Worst Script: Robert Kanigher, "What Price War?" (G.I. Combat #158)
Worst Art: Sam Glanzman, "The Finish Line!"
Worst All-Around Story: "What Price War?"

FIVE BEST STORIES OF THE YEAR 

  1 "Who is Haunting the Haunted Chateau?" (Weird War Tales #10)
  2 "The Town" (Our Army at War #254)
  3 "What's it Like?"
  4 "School for Sergeants!" (Our Army at War #256)
  5 "The Survivor!"

Next Week...
...with a whimper!

Star Spangled DC War Stories Issue 143: November 1973

The DC War Comics
1959-1976
by Corporals Enfantino and Seabrook

Luis Dominguez

Weird War Tales 19

"The Platoon that Wouldn't Die!"
Story by Arnold Drake
Art by Gerry Talaoc

Peter: The War Department can't figure out why the Nazis go to the trouble of sending a special forces unit to rob a mass grave. It all becomes crystal clear when they realize the German bodies they're stealing have been photographed as corpses in several other places. What's up with that? Are the Nazis employing some kind of supernatural force to keep their armies at full capacity? Harry "The Actor" Nielsen is taken from Leavenworth, where he's serving a twenty-year term (for what, we're never told), and brought before Colonel Hagen, who offers "The Actor" a full pardon if he'll put on the make-up and infiltrate the Blue Bolt team, commanded by Major Bruekner, one of the resurrected corpses. Harry disguises himself as Blue Bolt Corporal Schlosser, stages an escape from an Allied POW camp, and wins back the trust of his Nazi comrades.

"The Actor" first discovers that the Nazis are using Caribbean witch doctors to raise their dead, but then further stumbles onto the truth behind the miracle resurrections. The "dead" are actually look-alike robots designed to give the Nazi boys the confidence that "Germans don't die," and the voodoo ruse is so that the Allied Forces will be convinced Germany can raise the dead. Harry shuts the project down with plenty of fire power and then heads back to the States a free man. A whole issue devoted to this claptrap? On the letters page, Joe Orlando lets his readers know that book-length stories will appear two or three times a year but only "when the basic story-line is strong enough to sustain our readers' interest . . ." Well, Joe, I'm here to tell you "The Platoon That Wouldn't Die!" failed miserably. It's got all the standard Arnold Drake traits, including incredible coincidences, plot points that go sideways (why, oh why, do the Nazis have to expend so much energy to try to convince us there's a squadron of zombies on the loose?), bizarre choices (the war department hires a convicted felon to crack the Blue Bolts instead of summoning the Unknown Soldier?) and cringe-worthy, purple-prose dialogue ("Only a lucky shot can stop these things--and it looks like I've run out of luck!"). I don't object to full-length stories, except when they're as bad and as unreadable as "The Platoon . . ."

Jack: I am very surprised at you, Mr. Grumpy DC Comic Fan! This story is a gonzo classic! It starts off with Nazis on motorcycles robbing a graveyard, which is a great way to begin any story, in my opinion. Yes, I admit it gets a bit confusing in the middle, but when we see the Haitian witch doctor bringing back dead Nazis as zombies we're off to the races! But wait, they're not really zombies--they're robots! If they're robots, why do they walk around with their hands in the air like zombies? It's all tons of fun and I enjoyed the heck out of it and am happy for a full-length story for a change.

Kubert

Star Spangled War Stories 175

"A Slow Burn . . . From Both Ends!"
Story by Frank Robbins
Art by Jack Sparling

"Hello Dolly Gray!"
Story by J. David Warner
Art by Ric Estrada

Yvette (a/k/a "Brussel's Sprout," see last issue) has lived through pain, on the Nazi stretch rack deep in the bowels of an Antwerp castle, that would have killed one hundred men, but enough is enough, and she tells the Commandant everything he wants to hear. Meanwhile, explosives are being laid below and above the seedy dungeon, with the Unknown Soldier preparing to blow the hell out of a German armament and Belgian resistance fighters in the catacombs about to do the same. The resistance leader has decided Yvette must become a sacrifice for the movement but Yvette's fiancé, Jan, has other ideas.

"A Slow Burn . . ."

As the leader sets the explosives for ten minutes and hightails it, Jan heads up to the torture chamber to rescue Yvette, only to find her approximately three feet taller than she was the last time saw her. He unties her from the rack and carries her to safety but, on the way, Yvette tells Jan that the Unknown Soldier is upstairs and the resistance explosives must be disarmed or the mission might fail. Jan picks that moment to tell Yvette he knows nothing about explosives. Unbeknownst to the love birds, the Unknown Soldier and his men are about to hightail it as well, but the oncoming sea of Nazi scum tips our hero off that, somehow, "Operation Scuttle" is no longer a classified secret. Yvette and Jan follow the easy-to-read disarming instructions on the outside of each bomb while the Unknown Soldier mows down a whole boatload of Ratzis and then blows the hell out of the castle and the German arms. Yvette dies from her injuries and somewhere in Berlin, Dichter Krantz speaks ill of the Unknown Soldier and promises that, very soon, Germany's secret weapon will blow the bandages right off his arch-enemy.

We finally learn where US has been!

Wall-to-wall action and sleazy Nazi exploitation (granted, not exactly as sleazy as Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS, but still on the edge for a kid's funny book) keep the pages turning and (oh lord, I can't believe I'm going to say this) Jack Sparling's sketchy art is just perfect for the theme. I'd never noticed before but Sparling's and Frank Robbins's art are quite a bit similar (read: awful), but for the fact that Sparling's characters have wrists that don't bend at funny angles. No, it's not the glory days of the Kubert scripted/drawn Unknown Soldier but at least "A Slow Burn . . . At Both Ends" provides entertainment and keeps your attention the same way the shudder pulps used to. I've got no problem with that. There's an uncharacteristically dark climax and also a brief "Holy Cow" moment when Jan is on his way to rescue Yvette and overhears the Nazis talking about how his girl spilled her guts (almost literally). Jan's thoughts betray the love he feels for the gorgeous Frau: "Yvette . . . talked? Told those dogs what even we don't know . . .? If--if she did . . . I'll kill her with my own hands!" And how about that last panel tease? I can't wait to see what lurid drug-fueled experiment Krantz will unleash on the Soldier!

The five-page "Hello Dolly Gray!" takes place in 1899 South Africa and focuses on when women began fighting alongside their British men. It's an interesting piece but it's a tad dry and Ric Estrada's art is not getting any better. It still looks like Archie Andrews Goes to War.

"Hello Dolly Gray!"

Jack: We must have read different comic books this time around, because the one I read was terrible! Here's some purple prose from the Robbins script: "Any goose-stepper sticks his schnozz up heah gets hisself a silent gesundheit!" If "heah" means this character is from the South, why is he using Yiddish slang like "schnozz"? I started to wonder where the Unknown Soldier was in this story until he finally yanked off his mask and revealed himself to this puzzled reader. I thought it was hard to figure out what was going on throughout the action. As for the backup story in the Boer War, Estrada's art won't win any awards but it's a notch above Sparling's, though the plot goes nowhere.

Kubert

Our Fighting Forces 145

"A Flag for Losers!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by John Severin

"A Feast of Caterpillars"
Story by John David Warner
Art by Ric Estrada

Jack: An Afrika Korps column of two Nazi tanks and numerous men on foot approaches Fort Fini in the North African desert, determined to take the fort and drink the precious water from its well. Inside Fort Fini are the Losers and a French major. Gunner shimmies up a flagpole to repair the French tricolor but finds it may be "A Flag for Losers!" when an enemy plane suddenly attacks.

"A Flag for Losers!"

The Losers shoot down the plane and go to the well for water, only to discover it has run dry. Major Fouchet tells the Losers that his brother, who is with the Vichy French, is the man guiding the Nazi column toward the fort, and the battle begins, as Nazi tanks bombard Fort Fini's walls and the Losers return fire with small arms. Nazis on foot approach the walls with TNT but the Losers kill them and use the TNT to destroy the onrushing tanks. In the end, the Fouchet brothers square off and kill each other, leaving the Losers to abandon the empty fort and head across the desert on foot.

John Severin has not shown any real deterioration in his art since he was at EC in the early to mid-'50s, unlike George Evans, whose EC work was so strong but whose work at DC in the '70s is disappointing. This latest chapter in the ongoing Losers story is fun, despite some Kanigher Kliches, mainly due to Severin's excellent work.

"A Feast of Caterpillars"

In the year 1282, the great Mongol warrior Kublai Khan was rampaging through what would later be known as North Vietnam. General Tran Hung Dao uses caterpillars and honey to fool Khan's troops into retreat, and when Khan does attack with a diminished force the locals are able to defeat him.

"A Feast of Caterpillars" is a surprisingly delightful little tale, with art by Ric Estrada that fits the story. Warner's history lesson is unusual and entertaining and shines a light on a little known aspect of Vietnam and its history.

Peter: Another solid "Losers" chapter. It's almost like one of those all-star war blockbusters Hollywood cranked out in the 1960s, full of action, pathos, and macho dialogue (love the scene with Gunner and Sarge drinking from empty canteens atop the fort wall). Severin's art is exciting and very realistic. The biggest compliment I can think to pay Big Bob and Jovial John is that these latest "Losers" strips make me forget Gunner and Sarge were once a punch line to a very bad joke.

Kubert

Our Army at War 262

"The Return!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Russ Heath

"Where . . . Where Have All the Heroes Gone?"
Story and Art by Sam Glanzman

Jack: Sgt. Rock finally reunites with Easy Co. but "The Return!" comes with an unexpected twist: Rock was listed as MIA and now Sgt. Decker is the new topkick. Rock tags along with his old unit and reacts quickly to a couple of Nazi threats, but when Decker decides to use an old farmhouse for shelter it's the new sergeant who approaches it and gets shot to pieces by Nazis. As he dies, he tells Rock that he had been the only survivor of his old outfit and wanted to prove himself to his new men.

I've never been as big a fan of Russ Heath as Peter is, but I have to admit his work on "The Return!" blew me away and I thought it was the best story of the month. People are getting blown to bits left and right and Heath does not shy away from depicting bodies flying. The panel reproduced here, where Decker is being shot to pieces, is brutal, and Kanigher's script eschews the old TNT references he relied on for so many years to tell an affecting tale of a man trying his best to live up to his legendary predecessor. "The Return!" is a sharp bit of sequential storytelling.

"The Return!"

"Where . . . Where Have All the Heroes Gone?" is just the opposite--there's no story at all, just Sam Glanzman drawing four pages of dead soldiers lying in various poses. One panel shows men hanging and is disturbing, but what's the point of this story? War is Hell? We know that. How about a decent story?

"Where" did the story go?

Peter: Never thought I'd see the day when Our Army at War was the title I least looked forward to reading each post. Oh, no mistake, the art is still the best money can buy but the plots seem to be stacked on a carousel and Big Bob pulls one off and puts it right back when he's done with it . . . because he's never done with it. The other titles may be lacking in the visuals department but their continuing stories get better and better each issue. I'm a little confused about Rock's reunion with Easy since he reunited with them last issue. Maybe Big Bob had lost that sticky note? Sam Glanzman's latest USS Stevens entry features Sam's best art to date, but is the point being made that men on both sides die in war?

Severin

G.I. Combat 166

"Enemy from Yesterday!"
Story by Archie Goodwin
Art by Sam Glanzman

"Two Roads to Destiny"
Story and Art by George Evans

Peter: Well, the boys have figured out how to get the Jeb Stuart back on terra firma but just before the tide goes completely out, the crew is fired on by crazed Nazi commander Reinhardt and his band of scum Ratzis. Our heroes are taken prisoner and, after going through the usual "name, rank, and serial number," Reinhardt pays particular attention to Gus Gray, explaining that Gus beat him out at the 1936 Olympics in Berlin. Claiming he was sidelined by a charley horse, the goofy German demands that Gus give him another chance at beating him in a race but the disgraced Olympic medalist vetoes that idea.

And co-starring
David Bowie as Reinhardt!

The commander then orders Gus into the Haunted Tank (which Commander Jeb rightfully claims is a violation of the Geneva Convention--you know, the rules that the Nazis have followed since day one?) and takes him for a little ride into a nearby village. Forcing Gus, at gunpoint, to stand outside the turret, the Nazi starts blasting the Greek village to hell. The villagers see only an American tank and a black soldier and immediately change sides in the war. As the tank is about to squash a helpless child, Gus cries "Uncle"; he'll race the Commander for the gold. To be continued . . .

Well, "Enemy From Yesterday!" is quite the comedown from the fabulous "Alaric" epic a few issues ago but it does fill in a few gaps in Gus Gray's back story. We learn that Gus took the pay-off from the sports equipment company (who knew there were endorsement opportunities in 1936!?) to pay for the care of his dying sister, Amy. The young girl died soon after, which made the Olympics scandal that much harder to handle. I gotta say (yet again) that Sam Glanzman's art is really really really hard to look at. Our first look at Reinhardt might convince us the guy is twelve years old; then he's all teeth. Glanzman has his supporters but I'm not sure how anyone could look at this and find anything resembling art.

"Enemy from Yesterday!"

"That ther' polecat shore cain get ornery, eh, Festus?"

Unfortunately, the bad art day continues in George Evans's "Two Roads to Destiny," which proves that, without a plane in the story, George is just another average artist at this point in his career. The script, about a pair of cousins who keep together all during the Civil War until one has to go off and man a Hunley (a very early submarine), is chock-filled with southern drawl and nigh on unreadable, fer Pappy's sake. Evans does get across the claustrophobia of being in one of these easily-sinkable tin cans but, otherwise, it's a slow slog.

Jack: Seeing Sam Glanzman's art makes me wonder if I should have stuck with my attempts at drawing comics as a boy. I don't think my efforts could've been much worse than this! Goodwin's story tries to be relevant and it's not bad, but the wretched art really takes away from any enjoyment here. The Southern dialect in the Evans story is distracting and he's not the artist he was 20 years before at EC, but the story is okay and there are flashes of the old George here and there.

Kubert
(from Our Fighting Forces 40, 12/58)

G.I. War Tales 4

"Four-Legged Tank!"
Story by Ed Herron
Art by Russ Heath
(Reprinted from Star Spangled War Stories #36, August 1955)

"Soldiers of the High Wire"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Bernie Krigstein
(Reprinted from Our Army at War #10, May 1953)

"Medal for a Marine!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Mort Drucker
(Reprinted from Star Spangled War Stories #78, February 1959)

"Four-Legged Tank!"

Jack: Fighting in France in WWII, Private Mike Wilson laments the disappearance of horses in the cavalry and their replacement by tanks. This all changes when he attacks Nazis holed up in a farmhouse and is surprised by a friendly horse left to wander when the farmer left the premises. Mike mounts the horse and launches a one-man attack on the Nazis, discovering to his delight that a horse is sometimes better than a tank!

"Four-Legged Tank!" is nothing special, but we always enjoy a little touch of early '50s Heath art.

"Soldiers of the High Wire"

While the rest of the G.I.s spend their time fighting North Korean troops, Don and Steve are "Soldiers of the High Wire," repairing telephone lines so everyone can communicate. War correspondent Lionel Danby asks them to drive around in a jeep he has rigged up with a tape recorder to record the sounds of war for the folks back home. Steve and Don survive an attack by a MiG fighter but forget to turn on the recorder, then they are ambushed and their jeep and recorder are destroyed. Marines save the day and the correspondent records the whole thing through the phone lines from his safe spot back at base, but when Steve and Don return he tells them no one would believe what happened and destroys the tape.

Synchronicity again for those of us reading DC War comics and EC Comics, as Bernie Krigstein makes a surprise appearance as the artist in this reprint from 1953! For a six-page filler, it's not bad; Krigstein is not one of my favorite artists but he does a decent job and it's a fun tale.

On TNT Island, Marines wait in formation for a medal to arrive so it can be awarded to one among them. Another soldier is given the medal to deliver but has to fight off an attacking boat, a plane, and a soldier to get the "Medal for a Marine!" safely to its destination. When he gets there, he gets a medal, too!

Boy, Mort Drucker sure could draw war stories. This is a very predictable eight-pager but Drucker makes it so gritty, exciting, and believable that I enjoyed every panel.

"Medal for a Marine!"

I'm sorry this is the last issue of G.I. War Tales because these have been some great reprints!

"Four-Legged Tank!"

Peter: Well, we know that 90% of the time, these reprints provide great art but little in the way of brain food in the script department. Nothing here to change that fact but there are little tidbits in each story to entertain. I love the almost telepathic bond between man and horse in "Four-Legged Tank!" and can someone tell me how exactly you stay on the horse while firing a machine gun and leaping over hedges? I like how Big Bob lets the action stray from the main point in "Soldiers of the High Wire"; the two G.I.s on a mission to record the perfect battle almost seem like an afterthought while Kanigher was crafting a tale centering around a telephone pole. The narrative goes in a much more interesting direction. The climax saves "Medal for a Marine!" from being just another "G.I. grunt fights against insurmountable odds and stands tall in the end" snoozer; far from being maudlin, I thought the final panel was a lump-in-the-throater. If you've just got to have a magazine filled with 1950s DC war reprints, you could do worse than this package.

Next Week . . .
This Ain't the End of EC . . .
But You Can See It From Here!

Star Spangled DC War Stories Issue 142: October 1973

The DC War Comics
1959-1976
by Corporals Enfantino and Seabrook

George Evans

Weird War Tales 18

"Captain Dracula"
Story by Arnold Drake
Art by Tony DeZuniga

"Whim of a Phantom!"
Story by Sheldon Mayer
Art by Gerry Talaoc

Peter: Captain Paul Black rolls his tank right up to the steps of Castle Nero and meets the lovely Angela, "mistress of the castle," who bids him welcome. Strangely, Paul feels as though he's seen the castle before, even though he'd never been to Italy until the war broke out. Angela asks Paul to stay at the castle with her and he agrees but then has second thoughts after a visit from the local priest. The padre enters the mansion but is rebuffed by Angela, who throws up her hands to ward off the sight of the priest's crucifix. Shortly after, a nice dinner between Angela and Paul is interrupted by Colonel Schlosser, the dirty Nazi who was stationed in the castle before the Allies arrived.

Hammer time!

Schlosser reveals himself to be a vampire but is dispatched with a wooden arrow shot by Angela. The beauty then turns her attentions back to Paul, who seems to be under the girl's spell. Angela bites Paul and turns him into one of the Undead; Paul then drives a wooden stake through the mistress's heart. Even though he's now a vampire, Paul realizes he's got it made, with a battlefield ripe with prey. He takes advantage of the German blood until Patton orders the night patrols ceased, which drives the G.I. vampire into a frenzy. He kills one of his own men and, fleeing, falls upon a giant wooden cross. The terror of "Captain Dracula" has ended. Typical shudder pulp nonsense from writer Arnold Drake, "Captain Dracula" pinballs from scene to scene without much cohesion or logic and is at least five or six pages too long. Tony DeZuniga's art is nice enough but he relies a tad too much on "inspiration" from Hammer movie stills.

Paging Christopher Lee!

"Whim of a Phantom!"

A German colonel can't stand his general and makes plans to blow him to kingdom come when they roll into a small French village, but a ghost materializes before him and convinces the colonel of a far better plan. Unfortunately for our not-so-bright colonel, the spirit ends up being the ghost of Napoleon and the loser is the colonel. The bottom-half of the double-bill really is the bottom, an almost indecipherable script made tolerable only by Gerry Talaoc's creepy graphics. Eighteen issues in and we're starting to see a dearth of original ideas.

Jack: Arnold Drake's clunky and obvious "Captain Dracula" is brought to life by DeZuniga's gorgeous art, using shadows and what look like movie still swipes to create visual excitement. As for "Whim of a Phantom!," I like Gerry Talaoc's style but dragging out Napoleon again is one time too many.

Kubert

Star Spangled War Stories 174

"Operation Snafu!"
Story by Frank Robbins
Art by Jack Sparling

"King of the Hill"
Story and Art by Sam Glanzman

The Unknown Soldier receives his latest mission orders from none other than Gen. Omar Bradley himself; US is to fly in to Antwerp with his crack demolition team, infiltrate and impersonate the Ratzis, and destroy a huge cache of weapons stashed in a castle there. The Opposition forces are to be notified of the deception so there are no cases of mistaken identity, but "Brussels Sprout," the Opposition's ear, is taken prisoner by the Nazis before she can get word out on "Mission Scuttle." After the Soldier and his team steal a German tank and roll it into Antwerp, they come up against a band of resistance fighters who open fire on them. US manages to evade the attack without any casualties and the tank rolls up to the castle. Unbeknownst to both our hero and the resistance, "Sprout" (aka Yvette) has been stretched on the rack by Nazi scum deep in the bowels of the castle and the rest of the resistance has entered the catacombs below and rigged it with TNT Popsicles, assuming Yvette to have gone to her grave without uttering a word. Far above, the Unknown Soldier and his men have found the weapon stash and set their own TNT cigars. What will become of poor "Brussels Sprout?" Tune in to Part 2 next issue!

I've had nothing but bad stuff to say about story and art on this title since Joe Kubert headed for the hills twelve issues ago. I'm happy to say "Operation Snafu!" is the best chapter in the saga of the Unknown Soldier since the new regime took over. It's an exciting and multi-layered story, one that rushes to a climax right out of a serial: girl on the rack, explosives above, explosives below, Nazis everywhere! Who would have thought Frank Robbins could conjure up a story so fast-moving, you never have a chance to slow down and look at the ugly art? Well, okay, I should be a little more fair; it's only ugly when Sparling has to tackle something that walks erect. The machines and backgrounds are just fine. Anyway, for the first time in a looooong time, I can't wait to see how our bandaged die-hard manages to save the girl and still blow the big guns to hell.

"Operation Snafu!"

"King of the Hill"

We also get a longer-than-usual USS Stevens installment (5 rather than the usual 4 pages), "King of the Hill," which starts out as a comedy but turns very dark before story's end. The USS Stevens stops in Borneo for some repair work and restocking of ammo. The boys are accused by the base's supply sergeant of stealing crates of food but the real culprit turns out to be an ape. One of the base's Marines catches the monkey red-pawed and decides to have some fun with the animal, but the chimp turns vicious and kills the man. Sam Glanzman has a way of defying expectations with his USS Stevens serial, and "King of the Hill" is one of the most audacious yet.

Jack: I'm glad you enjoyed these stories because I thought they were pretty bad. I had a hard time caring what happened in "Operation Snafu!" with all of the ugly art, but I'll admit things did perk up a bit when we got to the panel with the Fraulein stretched out on the rack. I have so had it with the USS Stevens saga and Sam Glanzman's poor art that I found myself rooting for the ape. I think the soldier got what he deserved.

Kubert

Our Army at War 261

"The Medal That Nobody Wanted!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Russ Heath
(Reprinted from Our Army at War 178, March 1967)

"Today is Tomorrow"
Story and Art by Sam Glanzman

Jack: This issue starts off with a reprint of "Only 1 Medal for Easy!" from 1967. The original story was drawn by Russ Heath, but editor Joe Kubert drew two new half-pages to fill in the spaces where DC used to run house ads at the end of part one and part two of the lead stories--the new Kubert half-pages are reproduced below and don't match the circa-1967 Heath art on the rest of the story.

Kubert's first new half-page ends what had been part one.

Kubert's second new half-page ends the story.

Hiroi Keise was one of the Japanese pilots who bombed Pearl Harbor and, almost four years later, he is still flying bombing missions. Two of his friends are sacrificed on a Kamikaze mission but he gets a two-day pass and goes home to his family in Hiroshima on August 6, 1945.

"Today is Tomorrow"

Sam Glanzman's art is never going to impress me but once in a while he writes a decent vignette. "Today is Tomorrow" is one of those times. It has a humanistic message that respects the dignity of an enemy fighter and the ironic ending is in keeping with DC's message to "Make War No More."

Peter: "The Medal That Nobody Wanted!" is about as predictable and lightweight as they come; it's almost like a variation on an Abbott and Costello routine that we've seen countless times before. There's nothing lightweight about Sam Glanzman's latest USS Stevens installment, which is pretty darn good. Is that really the Stevens we see sunk by the Japanese pilot and will we see the follow-up of this event?

Kubert

G.I. Combat 165

"The Waiting Game"
Story by Archie Goodwin
Art by Sam Glanzman

"Truce!"
Story by Don Karr
Art by Adolfo Buylla

"Pathfinder"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Ken Barr

With the Jeb Stuart stuck just off shore, Commander Jeb Stuart and his boys must play "The Waiting Game" until the tide rolls out and exposes the tin can. While they're bored and waiting, they recall another time, in Belgium, when they had to wait out a Tiger in a bombed-out village. Luck was with them that day as the Tiger rolled over a land mine that the Jeb would have encountered had they not waited. Those of you who feel I'm being skimpy on my synopsis this week may be surprised to learn that "The Waiting Game" runs a mere six pages, giving Archie only enough time to get the boys out of their beach predicament. Archie explains on the letters page that an illness prevented him from getting the script to Sam in time. He also apologizes for Kubert's cover, which has nothing to do with the script inside.

"The Waiting Game"

"Truce!"

Four years into the Civil War and just about everyone was ready to go home. A small band of Rebs come across an equally small group of Yankees, both sides gutted by war, and decide to declare a "Truce!" Each side swears they won't fire upon until fired upon and the truce holds until the higher-ups arrive and declare truces to be tantamount to treason. A nicely told, ironic short story (with maybe one coincidence that makes you roll your eyes) with sharp dialogue and eye-catching art by newcomer Adolfo Buylla. If "Truce!" is the consequence of a shorter Haunted Tank story this issue, then I says give us more Haunted Tank vignettes.

The "Pathfinder" performed a very important (and dangerous) task in WWII: to mark targets for the bombers. Neal feels as though he'll never grow into a great pathfinder like his brother, John, but is it because the siblings work so closely together? The pair are summoned to high command and given a thankless mission: French Underground leaders have been captured by the Nazis and taken to an SS interrogation building, The men must be killed before they can leak vital information. Neal and John volunteer for the mission and head for the skies but John is killed before he can mark the building. Without their pathfinder, the bombers are helpless but, when the bomber Neal is flying is shot down, he uses himself as a marker.

"Pathfinder"

A supremely stirring piece of story-telling, with an absolute shocker of a climax, "Pathfinder" is bound to be my Best Story of 1973. I've said it before and I'll say it again, aside from a few stray turkeys, Bob Kanigher's Gallery of War is the best series of war stories published since the EC days and deserves to be bound between hard covers. It's not just the writing that's stellar; Ken Barr is the best artist of the month not named Russ. There's a crackling authenticity and reality to Barr's work (very reminiscent of Heath, by the way) that grips you and keeps you turning those pages. This is the good stuff!

Jack: I agree 100%! I thought the Haunted Tank story was a real cheat, though six pages of Glanzman is better than 13 pages of Glanzman. "Truce!" has slightly better art and is a decent tale of men on the front lines trying to avoid needless killing. I really enjoyed "Pathfinder" and was worried that it was just looking good in comparison to the stories that preceded it, but I think you're right--this is one of the best stories we've seen lately. Barr's art is refreshing and Kanigher does not shy away from a very dark finale.

Grandenetti
(from Our Army at War 57, April 1957)

Four Star Battle Tales 4

"Silent Gun!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Joe Kubert
(Reprinted from Our Army at War #57, April 1957)

"Patrol to Nowhere!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Mort Drucker
(Reprinted from Our Army at War #79, February 1959)

"Frogman's Treasure!"
Story by Ed Herron
Art by Russ Heath
(Reprinted from Our Army at War #30, January 1955)

Jack: Sam and Vic are all that's left of B Company and they have to hold Hornet's Hill in Korea! They hold off the oncoming Chinese soldiers with bullets from a .50 caliber until it runs out and is the "Silent Gun!" They hold off the next assault with their rifles but, when those also run out of ammo, Sam leads Vic down the hill where they use Chinese grenades to wreak havoc and grab enough belts of ammo to return to their position and start firing again with the .50!

"Silent Gun!"

After a very weak month of new stories, it sure was refreshing to read a classic by Bob Kanigher and Joe Kubert and remember what made the DC War comics good in the first place. No worries about making war no more in this reprint from 1957--it's all shooting, all the time in the Korean War and there are no shades of grey. Heck, that's a really sharp cover by Jerry Grandenetti, too!

A soldier new to desert warfare finds himself on a "Patrol to Nowhere!" He shoots at a mirage and is chewed out by his sergeant, but subsequent sights that include marching Nazis, a Nazi car, and a Nazi tank are no mirage, and the soldier succeeds in destroying one and all.

"Patrol to Nowhere!"

Mort Drucker's gritty art is always welcome in our treehouse, and this six-pager from '59 is a delight from start to finish.

A phantom Nazi sub is sinking Allied merchant ships and a frogman is sent down into the deep to see what's going on. He finds "Frogman's Treasure!" in the form of a sunken galleon but has to work hard to destroy not one but two Nazi subs that are being guided through underwater mines by their own frogmen. Sadly, the treasure is buried beyond recovery when the subs are destroyed.

"Frogman's Treasure!"

Peter will be thrilled to see vintage Russ Heath in this fast-moving six-pager from '55. The art is superb and this issue is a better value than any of the new DC War comics issued with a cover date of October 1973.

Peter: Though all three oldies contain great art, only "Frogman's Treasure!" had a story that kept my interest. The problem, I think, with so many of these reprints is that they tell, basically, the same story over and over. A guy (or in the case of "Silent Gun!," two guys) beats insurmountable odds to walk out of the TNT smoke the victor. At least with "Frogman," you get a bit of a twist in the end when the treasure hunter does the right thing but buries his treasure forever. I'd certainly consider re-titling this book, Two Star Battle Tales.

Next Week . . .
The Boys Mourn the Loss of Piracy!