Only the Lonely

 

cover art by Joe Kubert

Our Army at War #214 (January 1970) is a story that is pretty predictable in every story beat it hits. But it's still enjoyable in that Bob Kanigher (who is probably the writer) organizes those beats skillfully and Russ Heath (the artist) provides his usual magnificent pencils.

Easy Company is searching through the rubble of a shelled-out town and taking some casualties doing so. Fortunately, they get a replacement. Unfortunately, that replacement is a bit of a jerk.

Hogan, we learn, grew up in the slums of New York and he's used to watching out for himself. In fact, he declines to tag along with one of the patrols checking out the town, deciding he's better going it alone.

 

It's a bit of a stretch that Rock wouldn't simply order Hogan to do as he's ordered, but the story flows along smoothly all the same. Hogan begins searching the town, only to stumble upon a unit of Germans who capture him, tying and gagging him before he can shout a warning.

Hogan had been a bit of a jerk, but he's got enough strength of character to realize he's screwed up. He also has enough strength of character to give up his life for Easy. As Rock and the others are about to walk into an ambush, Hogan charges out into the open. He's shot, but Easy has been warned.

There's a brief battle scene in which Easy Company charges into the Germans and mops them up. Hogan is wounded, but alive and starting to learn that he doesn't have to win the war on his own.

As I said, each beat of the story is predictable. We know that Hogan's loner tendency is going to get him and Easy into trouble. We know that Hogan will redeem himself in the end. I think the only part that isn't predictable is where Hogan is alive and learning his lesson, or if he's dead but redeemed by his courage. Either ending would have worked and--as I said--skillful storytelling and great art keeps us engrossed in the tale from start to finish.

Next week, we'll visit with Green Lantern.

Cover Cavalcade

An amazing Joe Kubert cover from 1969.

Cover Cavalcade

Joe Kubert cover from 1963. Comic book covers often use over-the-top imagery, but I help in the nursery at my church and can testify that this sort of thing happens all the time.

War Time Team Ups.

By 1964, DC Comics had established a growing cast of World War II-themed characters, fighting in both the European and Pacific theaters. But, oddly, team-ups between these characters had been rare.

So, when Brave and the Bold #52 (Feb-March 1964) decided to have the European-based characters team-up in a single story, it was a bit of a big deal. These characters included a fighter pilot, a tank commander, an infantry sergeant and a French Resistance fighter. Getting two of them together into a single story would probably be pretty easy. But putting all for of them in the same tale would be a challenge.

Fortunately for all of us with good taste in our graphic literature, writer Bob Kanigher and artist Joe Kubert proved to be up to that challenge. "Suicide Mission" gradually brings all the various characters in a way that makes sense in context to DC Comics' unique WWII universe.

It begins with P-51 pilot Johnny Cloud being given the mission of rescuing an Underground agent named Martin and bringing him back to Allied lines. The mission is extremely dangerous because every German this side of Berlin is looking for Martin, but the agent has information that can save thousands of Allied lives.

But the mission starts to go awry from the start. Johnny arrives at the rendezvous only to find most of Martin's Underground team dead or dying. Martin himself is hidden in a hay wagon, encased in a metal suit. The Nazis had captured him and figured a heavy metal suit would hamper any escape or rescue attempts.

Well, Martin might currently weigh a ton, but Johnny manages to jam him into his plane. They are able to make a getaway only because the last of the Underground soldiers sacrifices himself for them.

This, in fact, will be an ongoing theme throughout the story. On several occasions, men will give their lives to save their comrades and allow the mission to go forward. It's an effective bit of writing on Kanigher's part, setting up the tense ending when each of the major characters expresses a willingness to die for the others.

Back to the story. Cloud's plane is damaged in a dogfight and forced to crash land. Fortunately, Jeb Stuart's Haunted Tank is nearby, though circumstances separate most of the crew from the tank. Jeb has to make do with Johnny, who isn't trained to operate a tank, to help navigate the vehicle and its valuable passenger home.

This is another story detail that I enjoy. Johnny tries to drive the tank, but he's pretty hopeless at it. It's something he's simply not trained to do. Finally, Jeb takes over driving and firing the gun while Johnny calls out directions.

The ghost of General Stuart shows up to tell Jeb he needs to find a "Rock of Strength" to complete the mission. Jeb has no idea what the general means, but few readers would have missed the pretty obvious reference to Sgt. Rock.

Rock does soon show up. When the four other men in his patrol get killed, he uses a bazooka to take out a Tiger Tank and save Jeb, Johnny and Martin. But the Haunted Tank has lost a tread, so now the good guys are on foot.

But at least they have time to pry Martin out of his iron suit. And they soon find that Martin isn't a "him," but a "her." The Underground agent they've been rescuing is Mlle. Marie.

Marie didn't get on the cover, so there's a fair chance that original readers of this comic didn't tumble to her identity before the dramatic reveal. But, by golly, I knew who she was all the time.

The climax of the story has all four protagonists claiming to be Martin after they get captured by a German tank. This is the culmination of the theme of self-sacrifice that's been running through the entire story. Soldiers look out of each other and, if necessary, are often willing to die for each other.

No dying is required today, though. Well, at least no Allied dying. When Rock is able to take out the tank by the clever application of two bazooka rockets to the treads, it seems likely that a few Germans died. 

There's a short epilogue in which the three Americans are each promoted and Rock immediately starts planning for a way to get himself busted down to sergeant again. Rock does not want to be an officer. He works for a living, by golly!

That's it for now. Next week, we'll look at the last Lee Hunter/Reb Stuart tale.

Cover Cavalcade

Yet another great Joe Kubert cover.

The Most Innovative Tank-Destroying Technique Ever!

"I Kid You Not" proves that being obese can make you an effective secret weapon while fighting the Nazis.

The story, written by Robert Kanigher and drawn by Joe Kubert, appeared in Our Army at War #238 (November 1971). Sgt. Rock and his men are out on patrol when they are joined by a new guy named Horace Smith, who is nicknamed "Heavy" for rather obvious reasons. Heavy, we discover, has always felt like an outsider because of his size.

But he proves remarkably useful. Rock takes his men across a river, which proves to be deeper than it looks. So when they come under machine gun first from a farm house on the opposite shore, they seem to be sitting ducks.

Fortunately, Heavy is also very buoyant. The others are able to use him as a make-shift raft, allowing them to put down some suppressing fire as they finish crossing the river.











This, though, still leaves them pinned down, unable to peek over a ridge of earth at the river's edge without getting shot. But, hey, maybe...just maybe... Heavy might be useful in this situation as well.

Well, by now, Rock has gotten the point. After the farmhouse is captured, a working radio is found in the basement. This, Heavy's buoyancy and one of the other soldier's ability to speak German gives Rock an idea worthy of Mission Impossible.

A call is put out to the Germans, asking for some tanks to drive off an American attack. When the tanks arrived, they are told to follow Heavy (now wearing an ill-fitting German uniform) across the river. He'll guide them through the shallow area. Sure, he will.

The panel that follows is a wonderfully entertaining image. Kubert's art had a rawness and power to it that made him perfect for war comics and Tarzan stories, but its nice to get a reminder that he had a humorous side.

Heavy, by now, has earned his place in the squad. For the first time in his life, he's just one of the gang. It's a nice ending for a war story that manages to insert legitimately sweet and/or funny moments amidst all the violence.

So there you have it. If you're carrying a little too much weight, don't worry about it. You don't need Weight Watchers or Nutra-Slim or any of that nonsense. Instead, you should be out bringing fascism to its knees. Get to it.

Next week, we pay one last visit to the Shogun Warriors.

Let's Have a Baby--IN A WAR ZONE!

I'll get the part that bugs me out of the way first. It's something that bugged me even when I first read this issue as a kid.

The plot (from Our Army at War #249--Sept. 1974) involves Rock and Easy Company traveling to a farm on a hilltop to defend it against an impending enemy attack. Along the way, they find a man pulling his very, very pregnant wife along in a wagon. They're heading to the same farm. It's their farm and they want to have their baby there.

Now I get that a farmer can feel a deep connection to his land. That's fine and proper and a feeling we non-farmers should respect. I get that he wants his child to be born on his farm. That's also fine and proper and something we should respect.

But his farm is currently in the middle of AN ACTIVE WAR ZONE! And all through the story, Rock asks them if they want to head for safety. Both the man and his wife consistently refuse. Rock then simply brings them along--and is even forced to detail his best sharpshooter to help deliver the baby at a key moment in the ensuing battle.

Gee whiz, Rock. I get that you want to help the couple. And, to be fair, one of the themes in the story is that the hard-core soldiers of Easy still pause to help and protect the innocent. But the set-up is awkward. The husband isn't just being loyal to his heritage. He's being an idiot who is risking the lives of his wife and baby. Rock should have called him on this and FORCED him to turn back.

But everyone simply accepts the guy's decision--even when they run into first a minefield and then an ambush on the way to the farm.

The rest of the story, though, is excellent. Russ Heath does his usual brilliant job of portraying the action, especially the battle for the farm, which unfolds a little more realistically (at least at first) than is usual in a DC war book.

The final few panels of that battle, in which Easy Company counter-attacks and drives off the Germans, is stark, brutal and memorable.

In the end, Easy holds the farm and the farmer has a daughter. Rock declares the kid to be the "luck of Easy." But the kid shouldn't have been there at all. You don't bring your wife and unborn child into a war zone. That's simply NEVER a good idea.

I do like this issue and I recommend it highly if you ever run across a copy. And, once again, I get that there's a theme of veteran soldiers still having empathy for the innocent. But I will always be a little unhappy with that farmer. Gee whiz.

Below, I'm including the page-by-page video review of the back-up story in this issue--something a few friends and I made about a year ago. We talk a little about this story at the beginning of the video.





Next week, we'll begin a multi-part look at Marvel's Shogun Warriors. Over the next few months, I plan to do sporadic posts covering all 20 issues, probably in 5-issue chunks. If those particular reviews don't interest you--don't worry.  I'll be interspersing them with other comic book reviews.

One of the Best Fight Scenes Ever.

Our Army at War #254 (February 1973) is an unusual issue in several ways.

The first few pages are a bit odd. Sgt. Rock seems to be on the verge of a break-down, panicking unnecessarily a couple of times. So at first the story seems to be setting up a tale showing us that even the toughest soldier has a breaking point or needs a rest.

But then Rock pulls himself together on his own, suffering a wound to save the life of fellow soldier Jackie Johnson. From there, the story branches off to give Jackie a Day in the Limelight.

So the prologue of the story seems a little disconnected from what follows. The point very well may have been that Rock pulled himself together when one of his men needed him--which is fine by itself. But there's no follow-up to this.

But, despite this bit of awkwardness, the story goes on to be one of my favorites.

Jackie Johnson, by the way, became a regular part of Easy Company in 1961's Our Army at War #113. A composite of Jackie Robinson and Joe Louis, he was (to quote DC's wiki page) "one of the first non-stereotypical African-American characters in comics."

That the military was segregated during World War II was deliberated ignored in order to make Jackie a part of Easy Company. Interestingly, his first appearance, in which he and Wildman had to work together to man a machine gun after both are wounded, did not heavily play up his race. The story simply shows a white guy and a black guy working together without further comment. Future stories did the same--Jackie is just one of the guys. This isn't that notable today, but in the 1960s, having a black comic book character that didn't make his color a major plot point was very notable indeed.

On with the story from issue #254: Jackie is left in a German village to look after the wounded Rock while the rest of Easy continues their patrol. There's no German troops around, just a lot of civilians, with the men too young or too old to be in the military. Jackie tries to find food and a doctor for Rock, but the villagers see him as an invader and won't give him the time of day.

Then a trio of German soldiers show up and (after the former boxing champ lands a couple of epic punches) capture Jackie. But they aren't really soldiers anymore--they are deserters who soon murder an old man and begin looting the town. A young boy frees Jackie and asks him to help.

Jackie takes out the deserters, earning the gratitude of the town. They even help hide Jackie and Rock when actual German troops arrive.

It's a great story, with writer Bob Kanigher and artist Russ Heath infusing the situation with real emotion. After the disjointed prologue, the plot is strong and the various characters seem very real.

This by itself would have made it one of my favorite Easy Company stories. But Jackie's short, violent battle against the deserters at the climax really puts it over the top. Take a look at the three pages I'm including below. The fight is a textbook example of comic book fight choreography. You can easily follow the action from one panel to the next. You understand the geography of the situation and where the various characters are in relation to each other. Heath uses light and shadow magnificently to add suspense and atmosphere to the fight, while also adding little details (such as the one soldier getting tangled in the laundry after being shot) that add complexity and make the entire sequence more visually interesting.

If you are interested in all about the mechanics of visual storytelling, these pages are really worth studying and appreciating Heath's skill at composition and laying out the action in a logical & exciting manner.

Next week, we'll return to the world of Super Heroes and watch the Avengers get thoroughly outsmarted...   Or do they?

Gladiator Sergeant.

 Our Army at War #272 (October 1974) features Sgt. Rock in a story titled "The Arena." It's a very simple story in terms of plot, but is thematically interesting. Mostly, though, it gives Russ Heath an unusual setting to really show off just how awesome an artist he is.

The plot really is very simple. Rock is captured by the Germans outside of Rome. He escapes when he's brought into the city, hides out in the Colosseum and plays cat-and-mouse with the Germans. Parallel to this are flashbacks to the adventures of Rufus the Gladiator (I really wish Bob Kanigher had named him Spartacus), who is tossed into the Colosseum to fight after leading an unsuccessful revolt.

So we have two men--2000 years apart--fighting against oppressive conquerors in the same spot. Things end badly for Rufus, but Rock gets literally pulled out of the fire by Easy Company in the nick of time.

So the theme behind the story is indeed interesting and well-executed, with parallels between Rock and Rufus being emphasized in several ways. This includes images such as Rufus being crushed by an octopus matched with Rock being crushed by a burly German.

But the strength of the story here is the artwork. Using the Colosseum as a setting and allowing flashbacks to the days of the Empire allows Russ Heath to shine. Nearly every panel is riveting and a pleasure to simply look at--great figure work highlighted by perfect compositions.

Also, you don't get to see giant octopi in World War 2 stories very often.

3 Plastic Astronauts for One Comic Book

See these Marx Toys plastic astronauts? According to the school-bus economics of 1970, three of these guys were worth one comic book.

I used to frequent a gaming/comic book forum on which I once posted a story about selling my DVDs of the original Transformers cartoon on Ebay to help fund one of my mission trips to South Sudan, including paying for my anti-malaria pills. This quickly turned into a years-long running gag on that forum in which it was repeatedly claimed I once sold Optimus Prime into robot slavery for drug money. It's probably just as well that I've lost touch with that forum, because now I would have given them fodder to claim that I sold our brave astronauts returning from moon missions into slavery along with Optimus.

Anyway, here's the comic book. A kid named Scott had it on the school bus in what must have been late in the school year--the comic was published on April 30, 1970.  When I lived in New York State (until the summer of 1970), there was no regular source of comic books anywhere near where we lived, so reading one was a treat. Not that I wasn't already educated in All Things Geeky--TV shows such as the Adam West Batman, Adventures of Superman re-runs and the various Saturday Morning superhero cartoons had already made me a fan of the genre. I also owned a Fantastic Four Little Big Book. And an occasional comic book did pass through my hands. But this one---THIS ONE--was the first one I actually owned personally. If I had figuratively sold Armstrong and Aldrin into slavery to get it... well, that was a price I was willing to pay.

Boy, I loved this. I still remember trying to describe to my parents and my siblings how wonderful the story was. My parents, I'm sure, listened politely. My siblings, darn them, could not have cared less. But then I've always been more awesome than any of them anyways.

For years, I tried to identify and re-acquire it, but I incorrectly remembered the incident as having been a year or two earlier than it actually was and I was thus never able to narrow it down to the correct issue. It wasn't until last June that, remembering the phrase "hang-up" was used a lot in the story, it occurred to me to simply search that phrase in the DC wiki. That ID'd the issue and a quick trip to Ebay got me a copy.

I love owning this comic book once again. (Our Army at War #221, to be precise. Cover dated July 1970.)

It's easy to see why 9-year-old me was fascinated by Sgt. Rock. It was in part that I was already a reader of World War II stuff. And this particular story, written by Joe Kubert and drawn by the great Russ Heath, was well-structured and very engrossing. 

It begins with Rock and several other Easy Company guys trapped in the wreckage of a building, surrounded by the Germans. One of the guys, Smitty, is terrified and convinced that he'll freeze up and probably get the others killed. He eventually begs Rock to simply kill him--he'd rather die than be responsible for the deaths of his comrades.

In between short but sharp fights as they repel German attacks, Rock tells Smitty he's not the only soldier with a hang-up. He tells about how Easy Company regulars Ice Cream Soldier and Bulldozer had their own hang-ups when they joined the unit.

The kicker is Rock's own hang-up---when they were ambushed and driven into this building, Rock stayed outside under fire to collect dog tags from the soldiers who were killed. They were his responsibility and he couldn't leave them without performing this last duty for them. 

Smitty is able to pull himself together and the Americans manage to break out of the house and get away before the Germans can overwhelm them.

The story really is well-constructed, with Rock's stories (presented as flashbacks) interspersed with the fight scenes to keep everything tense. Heath's art work is typically excellent throughout--the images I remembered most vividly and (it turns out) most accurately were of the panels showing us Easy's defense of the house.

As a grown-up, I can appreciate a slight weakness in the story. (Smitty's particular hang-up is being afraid? Not a terribly uncommon hang-up among soldiers in combat, I would think.) 

But I can also now appreciate a subtlety to Smitty's dilemma that's not overtly pointed out in the story, but that I think Joe Kubert deliberately intended. Smitty is convinced he's too afraid to be of help in the fight and initially this is true. But his reaction to this is to demand that Rock kill him. The "coward" is willing to give up his life rather than allow another soldier to die. It's no wonder Rock didn't give up on him.

This issue makes an interesting companion piece to a couple of later issues written by Bob Kanigher, issues #246 and #248, both of which I've reviewed on this blog. The attitude towards cowardice in all three issues is similar and very mature. All three stories are about soldiers who allow fear to get the best of them. But in all three stories, there is no condemnation, but a recognition that fear can get the best of anyone. Each time, the "cowards" are given opportunities to redeem themselves. They are stories that recognize a soldier's obligation to perform his duty in spite of fear, but still remembers that soldiers are flawed human beings who will sometimes fall short of an ideal. Anyone can have a cowardly moment. The key is not to let that moment rule you for the rest of your life.

As I said earlier, I love owning this comic book again. It's worth it not just for the still-great storytelling, but for the memories of how thrilled a 9-year-old boy was with this particular tale. 

Darn my siblings for not appreciating it also. Why did I end up with all the Awesome DNA in the family?