Star Spangled DC War Stories Issue 110: February/March 1970

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

Kubert

Star Spangled War Stories 149

"Reach for the Heavens"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Joe Kubert

"The Terror Stone!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Joe Kubert
(Reprinted from Brave and the Bold #11, May 1957)

"Boadicea Queen of the Iceni!"
Story Uncredited
Art by Ric Estrada

Peter: Years ago, when he was still a young recruit, Hans von Hammer flew beside the very unfriendly Heinrich Muller, a pompous young man with no morals or qualms about fighting dirty. For reasons unknown to Hans, Muller develops a dislike of the future Enemy Ace and that dislike turns into hatred after a practical joke played on Muller by von Hammer's mates. Muller challenges Hans to a duel and gets the better of him, leaving a scar on von Hammer's face. On their first flight, the two are forced to fly in the same Fokker and Hans is witness to Muller's blood lust when he shoots down a helpless French pilot. Now, in present day, Hans learns that Muller will be joining his squadron and he's none too happy about it. But men hardly have time to exchange steely glances before they're called in to battle. Once again, the Hammer watches as Muller shoots down a defenseless pilot but then must suffer when the enemy exacts their revenge on Hans and shoots him down. Inexplicably, Muller maneuvers his Albatross to rescue Hans and deliver him safely to the ground. When the Enemy Ace approaches the cockpit to thank his colleague, he discovers that Heinrich Muller is dead.

"Reach for the Heavens" finds Bob Kanigher safely back in stellar script territory after the misfire that was "Enemy Ace and His Pal, Schatzi!" Some might say that the climax is weak and Muller's about-face and rescue of Hans makes no sense but I'd argue that's what makes the script so strong. Muller is an enigma; thank God Kanigher didn't inject any last-panel pathos or Muller expository about "seeing the light" or anything like that. Muller was a really bad guy who did one good deed. Every post we rattle on about how great Joe Kubert was but all you'd have to do to win that argument is present evidence like that on page 10. Does any artist in today's comic biz take such pains to visualize action?

I'm not happy about the Enemy Ace strip being halved but if the vile deed must be done then at least we're not given a "My Sergeant Was a Jackass" reprint but an exciting installment of Joe Kubert's classic Viking Prince strip that ran in The Brave and the Bold from #1-24 (in the days before B&B became the inspiration for Marvel Team-Up). In "The Terror Stone!," Jon, the Viking Prince, must somehow defeat the dastardly Thorvald, who has rescued a meteor from obscurity and is using it to disrupt life in Jon's village. Joe's art is fabulous and the script is an exciting one but wouldn't it have been ideal to reprint the first chapter rather than the tenth? The VP will also see an appearance next issue as Joe and Bob stall for time before closing the curtain on Hans von Hammer and unleashing another long-running strip  in SSWS.

"Boadicea Queen of the Iceni!" is the latest in artist (though the writer is uncredited, I believe it's Big Bob doing the chores but I've been wrong before) Ric Estrada's profile series of war and warriors of centuries past. Though it only clocks in at four pages, "Boadicea" is intriguing enough to set the modern reader off to Wikipedialand for more info. Estrada had an almost cinematic style to his work (witness the unique way he shows us the battle through the calm and serene of the trees below) that's easy on the eye and keeps the pages turning.

Jack: Agreed on all counts. I welcome a bit of back story for Hans von Hammer in the opening tale, and it's interesting that von Hammer appreciates having the heartless Muller on his side in battle. Story and art are excellent and the ending is slightly mysterious. The Viking Prince story is also terrific, but does it really qualify as a war story? I know there's some fighting, but don't we get that in every DC superhero comic? Even the 4-page Estrada story is entertaining, with its depiction of a battle between Britons and Romans. A fine issue all around!

Kubert

Our Army at War 215

"The Pied Piper of Peril!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Russ Heath

"The Face of Death"
Story Uncredited
Art by Fred Ray

"Liegnitz and the Mongol Tide!"
Story and Art by Ric Estrada

Jack: Sgt. Rock and Easy Co. are met by a Nazi ambush when they approach a French town that is supposed to be clear of enemy soldiers. Rock machine guns the Nazis, all but one, who asks to be spared. As the men of Easy Co. hold the town and await reinforcements, it becomes evident that the surviving Nazi is like "The Pied Piper of Peril!" He has some strange hold over the town's children, who steal Easy Co.'s rifles under cover of dark to protect him. Rock challenges the enemy soldier to a man to man fight and quickly gets the best of him; the children reveal that the Nazi said their parents would be killed if they failed to shelter him.

"The Pied Piper of Peril!"

This issue has a classic Kubert cover but, despite decent interior art by Heath, the story doesn't live up to its promise. The Nazi isn't much of a pied piper, though he does whittle a flute while he sits around killing time, but it makes no sense that he would have the kids protecting him with Easy Co.'s guns and then get so offended by one of Rock's taunts that he agrees to a fistfight.

"The Face of Death"

A newspaper artist named Joel Kurt visits the front lines of a Civil War battle, hoping to see and capture on paper "The Face of Death." He draws pictures of Union soldiers mowing down approaching rebel troops with a Gatling gun, but he's not satisfied. He gets down in a trench and draws the same troops firing on more rebels, but it's still not good enough. Running into the midst of battle, he is shot and uses a mirror to capture his own image as he dies. But the soldiers gathered around see nothing on the page and conclude that no one living can ever see the true face of death.

This story reminds me of something I might have seen in a Red Circle mystery comic from the early 1970s hosted by Sabrina, the Teenage Witch. It's not very scary and it's not drawn very well. While I applaud DC for trying to tell stories of wars other than WWII, they need to try a little harder than this.

"Liegnitz and the Mongol Tide!"

Europe, 1241: "Liegnitz and the Mongol Tide!" tells of Duke Henry of Silesia's battle with the Mongol hordes. At first, his troops seem to be winning, but when the Mongols pull a surprise flanking move, it's all over for Duke Henry, who is pierced with many lances.

These little stories are getting to be cool! I love learning about battles from hither and yon in days of yore. Ric Estrada's art is growing on me as well.

Peter: "The Pied Piper of Peril" is a pretty good tale but Big Bob seems to lead us down the wrong path with a DC war version of The Village of the Damned, only to resolve the eerie affair in a couple of cop-out panels. Those kids were acting a little too weird for there to be a logical explanation. Still, a crackling good script and Russ Heath put this near the top of this year's Sgt. Rock stories. I liked "The Face of Death," especially its eerie climax, but what's with the Cain and Abel appearance after the last panel? It's probably supposed to be an in-house ad but it looks more like a sign-off! Ric Estrada goes two for two this month with fascinating history lessons. This guy's head and shoulders above my old history teacher, Mr. McKinney, in the "involve while teaching" department.

Our two friends bring back fond memories
for a couple of old bloggers

Kubert

G.I. Combat 140

"The Last Tank!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Joe Kubert
(Reprinted from All-American Men of War #50, October 1957)

"Time Bomb Tank!"
(Reprinted from Our Fighting Forces #63, October 1961)

"Second-String Soldier!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Mort Drucker
(Reprinted from Our Army at War #71, June 1958)

"Face of the Enemy!"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Russ Heath
(Reprinted from Our Army at War #56, March 1957)

"The Last Tank!"

Peter: Joe Kubert was obviously feeling the ominous shadow of the deadline looming over his shoulder as this is an all-reprint issue of GIC but at least he stocks it with four very good trips into the past. First up, "The Last Tank!" gives us what is essentially a warm-up for Gunner and Sarge; a Sergeant and his bazooka-man tear their way through World War II, with Sam, the anti-tank bazooka-man, being called on to dispatch everything under the sun except tanks and complaining the whole way (a la Gunner). But the big difference between "The Last Tank!" and just about any episode of the Gunner and Sarge sitcom is that the entire affair is not played for laughs; there's a very tense moment when Sam has to take out German artillery, firing several times before hitting the mark.

The hero of "Second-String Soldier!" has been warming the bench all his life, as a youngster playing cowboys and Indians, as a college football player, as . . . you get the picture. But now, with a bazooka on his shoulder and a field full of Nazi Tigers, this guy is anything but second-string! Bob Haney (remember him?) falls back on the "lousy sports guy makes stellar G.I." chestnut (but what DC war story of the 1950s didn't?) but still manages to invest his script with exciting dialogue ("All right, scrub team--don't let 'em brush us back! LOAD ME!") and then does the smart thing: sit back and let ace Mort Drucker fill those panels with gritty magic!

"Second-String Soldier!"

In the final reprint, a green G.I. becomes obsessed with seeing "The Face of the Enemy!" up close and personal. Tired of seeing Nazis on posters and in films, this guy desires a one-on-one with a German but a series of mishaps sees him landing on top in private battles but never actually taking the enemy on hand-to-hand. That is, until a Nazi jumps him from behind and our hero must work his way out of a dangerous situation. "The Face of the Enemy!" is the perfect example of Big Bob reeeeeeeaching for a plot and grabbing hold of whatever he can; the G.I.'s fascination is irrational. But, like "Second-String Soldier!," the writer makes us look away from the obvious and concentrate on the action at hand.  While Russ Heath's art is very good here, it's evident rather quickly that Heath was an artist that got better with time.

Jack: For an all-reprint issue, this is darn good! Kubert, Heath, Drucker, and Heath--what a lineup! The first two stories fly by at six pages apiece; the third relies on repeating the same phrase ad nauseam but is propped up by great Drucker visuals. The fourth includes some interesting, subjective panels by Heath. Reprints, yes, but well worth fifteen cents!

Kubert

Our Army at War 216

"Doom Over Easy!"
(Reprinted from Our Army at War #107, June 1961)

"Silver Star for a Tin Can!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Russ Heath
(Reprinted from Our Fighting Forces #33, May 1958)

"Last on a Match!"
Story by Hank Chapman
Art by Ross Andru and Mike Esposito
(Reprinted from G.I. Combat #77, October 1959)

"Unknown G.I."
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Russ Heath
(Reprinted from Our Fighting Forces #41, January 1959)

"Return to Beach Red!"
Story by Bob Haney
Art by Joe Kubert
(Reprinted from Our Fighting Forces #11, July 1956)

"Introducing--The Haunted Tank"
(Reprinted from G.I. Combat #87, May 1961)

"Chaeronaea!"
Story and Art by Ric Estrada

"Silver Star for a Tin Can!"

Jack: An aircraft carrier is guarded by a small destroyer when the Japanese fleet attacks. The little ship protects the big ones until Allied planes arrive and bomb the Japanese ships. A star-shaped hole in the bow of the destroyer looks like an award of a "Silver Star for a Tin Can!"

After a top-notch, full-length, Easy Co. reprint opens this annual, things get silly very quickly with a reprint that features one of our least favorite techniques: two boats talking to each other! Heath draws ships well but there isn't much to this six-pager from 1958.

"Return to Beach Red!"

Despite my permanent dislike for the art of Ross and Mike, I enjoyed "Last on a Match!," another six-page reprint from 1959. It's followed by the story of an "Unknown G.I.!" A general at Army HQ examines photos taken from aerial reconnaissance of the field of battle; they show an unknown G.I. wreaking havoc among the Nazi troops and artillery and then blending back into his unit, bound to remain unknown despite his heroism.

Heath does nice work here and we never see the face of the soldier, making his efforts seem universal. The story is followed by another six-pager, this time by Kubert, in which Charlie Burke makes a "Return to Beach Red!" to try to recover the memory of what happened to him ten years before when he was part of the assault at Normandy. The story rings all of the familiar changes but the art strongly reminds me of the work of Steve Ditko.

"Chaeronaea!"

Another long story follows, "Introducing--the Haunted Tank!" This is, of course, the first entry in the long-running series that made the ghost of J.E.B. Stuart a household name. It is interesting to note that, in this issue's letters column, editor Joe Kubert writes that he is writing the scripts for Sgt. Rock while Russ Heath draws them. News to me!

The lone new story in the 1970 annual is "Chaeronaea!" by Ric Estrada, another of his historical war pieces. This time, King Philip of Macedon defeats the Greeks with a big helping hand from his son, Alexander, soon to have "the Great" added to his name. For now, he'll have to get by on his flowing red hair and matinee looks.

Another year, another annual! 68 pages for a quarter. We'll never see the likes again!

Peter: Of the reprints, the most distracting might be "The Unknown G.I.!," which is another take on a formula that's been run right into the ground. Very disappointing art by Russ Heath; disappointing in that it's notably unremarkable. Whereas pert near every panel of a Russ Heath story deserves to be taken in with both peepers wide open, this one shows Russ knocking a few dozen panels out without much pizazz, a feat I would not have deemed possible. "Silver Star for a Tin Can!" is another old trope utilized way too many times. All I could think was that, as the two ships are yelling at each other, the Japanese boats surely could be listening in and plotting their own strategies. "Return to Beach Red!" is built on a pretty wild stream of coincidences and weak Kubert art. "Chaeronaea!" is another in a series of enjoyable history lessons; short and tight, the way they should be.

Kubert

Our Fighting Forces 123

"Cold Deadly as a Bullet!"
Story by Howard Liss
Art by Russ Heath

"No Medals No Graves"
Story by Robert Kanigher
Art by Ken Barr

Peter: Ever since he was a kid back on the farm, Joe just can't seem to get away from the cold. Now, as a G.I., it's even worse as Joe pinballs from one freezing nightmare (breaking through a thin icy layer of a lake and being swept downstream while fired on by Nazi m.g.s!) to another (ambushed by Krauts and having to play possum in the snow) before finally getting some good news from his CO: his company needs only take a Nazi-held town and, afterward, hot showers and food for all the men! With a goal now in sight, Joe and his comrades invade the town but are driven back by a sniper. With the will of a madman, Joe makes his way to the tower the sniper is located in and destroys the menace but is mortally wounded. As the wreckage of the tower burns around him, Joe finally gets warm. A really solid opening tale this issue (a rare non-series opener although Joe, on the letters page, identifies the opener as the Losers story, so perhaps last-minute changes were made?), "Cold Deadly as a Bullet!" takes us back to the days a few years ago when Howard Liss could do no wrong. Once again, Liss ignores the cliches and cold-shoulders the happy ending to bring us what these titles promise: gritty war drama. If there's a "yeah, but . . . ," it would have to be my doubts about the human body surviving freezing cold temperatures and exposure for such a long period of time.

"Cold Deadly as a Bullet!

Jack: I agree with you. Joe should have died from the exposure to cold long before he did. It was too bad that he made through the freezing water and snow only to end up getting shot to death. It's strange that this story opens the issue, especially with the comment on the letters page and the cover. And what's with that giant text box on the cover? I'd like to see Kubert's art without that in the way.

Peter: It's high time that Hunter's Hellcats (and the readers) got a break from the war, so the new team on the block for deadly missions is The (Born) Losers, made up of Captain Storm, Lt. Johnny Cloud, and Gunner and Sarge.  The team is called to headquarters, where an Army colonel explains their first mission: Storm just happens to be the exact twin (right down to the wooden leg!) of Howard, an agent captured by the Nazis, who has escaped to bring info to the Allies. Storm will impersonate Howard and drop behind enemy lines, where he will be captured and tortured. He's to hold out for 48 hours and then give the enemy the false info that a commando team will be raiding Sur Le Vence. The plan goes off without a hitch and Storm is introduced to S. S. Colonel Von Kleit, a sadistic Nazi (with a brace supporting his broken neck--gotta have those infirmities), who buys into Storm as Howard and then dangles him high over a mountain cliff until the man will spill the beans on Allied activity. Meanwhile, the rest of the Losers parachute behind enemy lines, take out an ammo train and then commandeer a plane to rescue Storm. They arrive just in time and rescue Storm.

Ignoring for a moment that "No Medals No Graves" is one of the dumbest scripts we've yet encountered, I'm vague as to what exactly the mission was. Storm impersonates Howard for what reason? To give false information about a raid that is actually going to take place, but pulled off by Cloud, Gunner, and Sarge? And what was the raid to accomplish? The trio parachute in and stumble upon an ammo train that was, seemingly, not in the plans. I'm afraid Big Bob lost sight of the plot here and just tossed in whatever he could. The groaners come fast and hard here:

- In a goofy prologue (appropriately titled "Exit Laughing") that shows Hunter's Hellcats the exit, Hunter says the only way the Hellcats catch a break from the war is if they find suitable replacements and he knows "just the right guys!" How? The foursome soon to be known as "The Losers" aren't a team yet and the only G.I. who might know anything about them is Jeb Stuart, who helped form the team back in G.I. Combat #138. Did Hunter read the inter-Army newsletter? Hear chatter on the walkie-talkie? Inquiring minds want to know.

- Gunner and Sarge (as well as the rest of the future Losers) are stuck in a "Replacement Depot" and inquire as to their status. They give their names as "Gunner" and "Sarge" and are astonished to see their names are not on the transfer list! "Why, yes, my name is Sarge. Can you check the list again?"

- Perhaps the howler to end all howlers this issue is the case of agent Howard. We've seen enough "exact twins" in these comics to ignore that coincidence and maybe even the coincidence that "London intelligence" has such incredible cross-filing that they can find an exact replica of Howard in only a few hours, but the fact that both Howard and Storm have wooden legs (and the same leg!)? Yes, men are able to leap tall buildings in a single bound in the DC Universe but twins with matching logs? I think not. Oh, and immediately after giving out the important info, Howard dies. Oh, boy!

Not a good sign of things to come if the first installment of a new series is just as ludicrous as the series it replaces. If nothing else, we have Ken Barr's sparkling visuals to distract us. Barr, at times, nears Heath territory but then veers away into something akin to Novick. Whichever extreme he experiments with, the results are always exciting and well-choreographed. At least, Andru and Esposito are nowhere in sight. What's that you say, Jack? A&E take over next issue? Noooooooooo . . .

One more look at the opener to wash away that nasty taste . . .

Jack: You're kidding about Ross Andru and Mike Esposito, aren't you? Aren't you?? The cover touts the new series and we open the comic to find a random Russ Heath story. We then get a one-pager with the Hellcats that leads into the Losers story, during which the Hellcats make another quick appearance. If the new series is so thrilling, why stick it in the back of the book? You hit all the right notes regarding the plot and I agree with you that the art is nice, but they're going to have to do better than this if the new series is going to be any better than the one it replaced. And by the way, Hunter's Hellcats replaced the adventures of Captain Hunter, which weren't very good either. Since this comic lasts another eight years and almost sixty issues, this series must get better, right?

Kubert

Our Army at War 217

"Surprise Party!"
Story and Art by Joe Kubert

"Come the Revolution!"
Story by Mike Friedrich
Art by Fred Ray

Jack: Sgt. Rock notices that the men of Easy Co. are unusually quiet, but they deny that anything is going on. The captain calls Sgt. Rock into his tent and tells him that Easy Co. needs to cross a river where Nazis are guarding a bridge so that Rock and his men can meet up with Able and Baker Companies. Rock takes Bulldozer, Little Sure Shot, and Ice Cream Soldier and starts crossing the river in a rubber raft, but Nazi frogmen upset their plans and the good guys are captured by the Nazis on the other side.

Rock tells the Nazi commander that the American troops are heading for the bridge and so the Nazis aim their big guns at the crossing. The rest of the men of Easy Co. cross the river quietly, climb up the banks, and surprise the Nazis by attacking their flanks; the battle is over quickly. Wildman then reveals that it's Rock's birthday and they found him a helmet and new shirt--unfortunately, the gifts were shot full of holes during the battle and Rock looks as distressed as ever!

"Surprise Party!"

I wondered what Joe Kubert meant about writing the Rock stories in the letters column in the annual, and now I know--he wrote this one and it's a treat! The double-page spread on pages two and three includes six "floating heads" of men in Easy Co.--five we've heard of and someone named "Woeful Willie." In spite of ten-plus years with Sgt. Rock and Easy Co., they still can't scrape up six Combat Happy Joes we recognize. The story itself is exciting and the business about Rock's birthday is a welcome bit of fun. Kubert's art is outstanding.

Back in 1777, tensions were heating up in the Ohio Valley. Davy saves Dan's life by shooting a bear right before the beast could attack Dan; the two agree to be best friends forever. Both of their farms are destroyed by rebels and Dan joins up with the British soldiers so he can exact revenge on the rebels. His commander tells him to calm down but Dan heads off into the woods alone, where he is shot in the shoulder by a hidden sniper. He locates the sniper in a tree and kills him with a single shot, but his commander gives him a letter found on the sniper's body and tells him to see if he can figure out where to send the body for burial. Dan is horrified to discover, on reading the letter, that the sniper he killed was none other than his old pal, Davy.

"Come the Revolution!"

"Come the Revolution!" is surprisingly good and takes an almost Enemy Ace approach to the American Revolution. When we first meet Dan and Davy, we think they'll be on the side of the revolutionaries, but we quickly learn that they're not, and why. The British soldiers are shown to be more reasonable and compassionate than Dan, the American colonist, and the ending is tragic. Even Fred Ray's rather rudimentary art can't hurt this story.

Peter: I enjoyed both stories this issue, but the Rock was a load of fun. A couple of really nifty twists I didn't see coming. "Come the Revolution!" also finished off with a welcome surprise but I'm not warming up to Fred Ray's art--it's still a little too much like Grandenetti's for my tastes. Circulation figures show the Our Army at War fan base slipping drastically. OAaW sold an average of 180,137 copies in 1969 as opposed to the 189,221 numbers of the previous year.

Next Week...
Is this the most Shocking SuspenStory
of all time?

From Our Army at War 217

From Our Army at War 217