Sgt. Rock Between Hell And A Hard Place #2

Merry Christmas a couple of days late. While I didn't receive any comics for Christmas I did have this issue left over from last weeks new comic pile. Written by Brian Azzarello and drawn by Joe Kubert it's the continuation of a murder mystery tale. With Easy Company doubting each other who is the cold blooded killer of high ranking German prisoners of war only Sgt. Rock was able to figure out who was behind it all. That's all I can really say about this without giving away spoilers. There is also two reprint stories from Rock's past. They don't say what issues but the last one was drawn by Kubert as well and it gives you a great view on how his work has changed from the early years. I kind of prefer the style he uses now. Pick up this two issue series it's really well done.

Fightin' Army #82

The stories in this book are a little slow going but not all that bad. Weird thing is the first story makes reference to The Desert Fox, which I mentioned in my last post.
There's a really well done one page prose piece about the American forces offering gold to any North Vietnamese person who helps an American soldier. I had never heard about this and it makes me want to research it a little further to see if its true. If you know, comment on this post with a link to a story or article on it.

And just a few minutes on google and I found the exact leaflet used in the story, although it makes no mention of anything that happened in the story (which seemed a little far-fetched but you never know).

http://www.psywarrior.com/VNRewardsleaf.html

The Fightin' 5 #30

I'm not 100% sure I would class this as a war comic, it feels more like GIJOE than anything. The main story has to do more with a made up clandestine force than any army or what have you. But that said there are some great one and two page stories that deal with real armies. The best of these being the last story in the book about the Desert Fox, Marshall Rommel. There were some neat historical tidbits in the story. If you're a fan of the real history and you can find this book cheap enough (I paid $3) then i would pick it up based on the Rommel story alone.

Link

I haven't been reading any war comics recently, been catching up on my superhero and star wars books. To make up for the lack of posts check out this site http://digitalcomicmuseum.com/ . They have an amazing collection of old comics, and not just war. They're all scanned from originals and are available for download. I've found a lot of great stories in there.

All-Out War #6

"The Giant Battle Book" 1980 doesn't displease with the cheese. The Viking Commando takes center stage with this issue again. This time he is hurtled into the future to find a subterranean culture fighting against a spin off of a mongol horde, only to be sent back to WW2 to finish the battle he started. Very weird.
The second story "Hard Hat Heroes" is the actually the second story I've read about civilians building runways and airstrips for the Marines in the South Pacific. Very interesting and a good view of another side of war.
The third story stars The Black Eagle, and has him taking on a German U-boat. Not terribly interesting but short.
The fourth story is really well written and a unique story as well. A WW1 soldier who is the sole survivor of his group hides out in a cave for 27 years only to come out and find him self face to face with German Nazi's. Kind of like the stories I've heard of Japanese soldiers from WW2 who were left on islands and never knew the war had ended. I think even Gilligan's Island had a story like that.
Number five is The Fightin' Three. The "Double Death Of Hitler". If you thought he died one way, this story shows what really happened. It could've.

All-Out War #1

I love cheesy comics, and the late 1970's war comics don't disappoint. This "giant battle" issue features the origin of The Viking Commando. Lost in time from another ancient battlefield, he will not go to Valhalla until the Huns have been vanquished. A neat story with plenty of action.
There's also a Haunted Tank story where they help an air force group by the name of the Black Eagles. I'm not sure if it's possible for a tank to take out an airplane, but it happens twice in this story. I also think the Black Eagles went on to appear in other issues as well.
The third story stars Gunner, Sarge and Pooch the 4-legged marine. Thanks to Pooch they manage to stop a sniper, a tank and rescue a tv crew all in one story. Awesome!
Story number four is a short one telling about a soldier who redeems himself in the eyes of his sergeant, with a bit of a twist at the end.
Finally a fifth story featuring the Fighting Three. A group of three guerrilla fighters from three different countries. Kind of an espionage/spy/sneak attack story. It could have been stretched out a little more, but space was limited by the amount of stories in the book.
Joe Kubert did the cover as well. I like the Viking Commando hacking his way out of the page. If I ever meet Joe again, i'm bringing this issue to get signed.

Army War Heroes #24

The first comic since I started this blog to have racist language in it. I've read lots of war comics and it is quite prevalent in them, but it has been a while since I've come across it.
This issue has three different stories in it. The first is about a two man clandestine force that is not sanctioned by the army. It also features Hitler, a man who is mentioned often but doesn't often appear in the books I have.
The second story is about the redemption of three men accused and found guilty of being cowards on the field of duty. A really well written story I think.
The third has Australian forces meet up with American in the South Pacific, with the capture of a Japanese General. It also shows the sacrifice men made for their comrades so the job can get done, and mentioned briefly also the sacrifice they made by not being at home.
My issue is really beat up and I'll probably have to find an upgrade at some time in the future.

Combat #29

"The Death March Of Bataan". I picked this issue based on its haunting cover, but after reading the issue I'm glad I did because of its even more haunting story. It tells of the brutal treatment of American and Filipino soldiers at the hands of the Japanese. Torture, physical and mental. Starvation and dehydration. I can't believe what they went through, and I can also believe it because of a news story I saw yesterday where the Japanese government apologized to the Canadian government for the treatment of its prisoners in WW2. I find it strange that as I read certain stories from a wars that happened years ago are still current in the eyes of the media, which is part of the reason why I collect these War comics. Stories, like this one in Combat, should never be forgotten or lost.

*note* this issue apparently is a reprint of the same title but #3 printed in 1961

DC Special Series Vol. 4 Number 22

Featuring G.I. Combat.
Six big stories in one book. Double shot of The Haunted Tank, plus four other tales. The Fortune Cookie Fighters is easily the best story in the book. Three men get fortune cookies at a chinese restaurant and then find out the fortunes help them in battle. Kind of a neat twist.
There's also a story about changing ones belief's for war, and a spy story where you're never sure who the double agent is. Top all this off with a cover by Joe Kubert and it's a really great comic. I picked it up for $7 at the local comic store, Future Pastimes.

Two-Fisted Tales #34

This ones got it all but not much in the way of modern warfare. It starts with an old west story with a twist ending. Then it's on to medieval times with a knight story. Third up is a French legion story set in the middle east. And it ends off with a really well done WW1 bi-plane story. Lots of air-force action in this one.
This is one of the books off the van mentioned in an earlier post. It was graded at a 6.0 and i paid about $40 for this issue. And now that i think about it, probably the most I have ever spent on a single issue.

Two-Fisted Tales #30

Another first for the collection, an EC Comics book. This issue came out of the same van as the previous post. This book has it all, a Korean war story, Knights, WW1 and most timely a WW2 story about Pearl Harbor (actually Coral Island). It was pretty cool reading a story like that with the anniversary of Pearl Harbor being yesterday. It told the tale of how all wars don't always include just soldiers but civilians as well.
This book is from 1952 and lacks the comic code, also another first for my collection of comics, pre-code that is. The cover art is very haunting but brilliant all the same. My copy is pretty beat-up and graded at a 2.0. The cover cost was 10cents, I about $8 for it.

Men In Action #5

This has to be the oldest comic I own. August 1952. And it's also the only Atlas comic I own. True grit comic greatness in this issue. No holds barred, nothing censored. Four stories plus one, two page prose story, which all take place in the Korean war. Really well written and the art is great as well. One story had to deal with collecting "souvenirs" from dead Korean soldiers with a twist at the end.
I managed to pick this issue up out of the back of van in a hotel parking lot. That was a weird night where it felt like the comic-con came to us. My copy was graded as a 4.0 and i picked it up for about $18. Not too bad I think. I really enjoyed this issue and will now have to track down more from the series.

Our Army At War #229

I'm off for a few days for vacation and plan on getting caught up on the pile of backissues I have. Here's the first of many......

This giant sized issue has five fighting stories in it (one not pictured on the cover). Strangely this book has no credits in it, so I don't know who the writers or artists in it are other than Joe Kubert who did the cover and the first and last story about Sgt. Rock.
It's a great book with very awesome stories. They're all well written and drawn. If i'm ever looking for a reason why I enjoy war comics, this book is a perfect example as it still holds up to today's style of books.

Men Of War #4

Newest issue of this series as of December 7, 2011. I was hoping this series would steer clear of superhero entanglements but it doesn't look that way. Without giving too much away, "powers" have been introduced into the series. Not too impressed but i'll still keep giving it a chance.
The first three issues backup stories have been great! Even better than the main story. This months issue, not so much. "Powers" have been introduced in the main story and now the backup story has big robots in it. Maybe not robots but battle suits.

I prefer my War comics to have more war stories in them. This issue makes me feel like i'm reading GI Joe. Not that there's anything wrong with that.