Put up or Shut up! What is your best WWII comic or magazine cover?

[Flex Mentallo]

 

 

 

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These are digest sized and incredibly difficult to find in nice shape. The above copies were discovered in a vacant store that had been shut up for many years and had never been read.

 

This one is more typical of average condition.

 

 

 

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American magazines also had strong war covers - not all of which fall into the "nazi bondage" category. Battle Cry is a good example.

 

 

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[vaillant]

Just out of curiosity, are there any German or Italian comics still surviving from WWII that show the opposing viewpoint? I am making the assumption, of course, that comics existed in those countries at that time, which may be wrong.

 

"The opposing viewpoint" would probably not be the right way to approach it, as each country had obviously its degree of propaganda rhetoric, but the situations inside each one were always very complex.

 

Germany had substantially no local comics production in the 1930s and 1940s, meant in a modern way. More interesting to see France under the occupation, and after that.

Italy, on the contrary, had one of the more rich and varied local comics production since the 1930s. During fascism, it gets very complex, but to summarize we can say there were comics where patriotic feelings or nationalism were just a reflection of the times, and others which were informed by an "official" form of fascist rethoric.

 

My interest gathered around Il Vittorioso, because it represent an unique publication: being from a catholic publisher it is paradigmatic of the complex and conflicting relationships in these years (1937-1947) between the Catholic church (in its universality), the fascist government, the surviving monarchy, and the other political forces emerging.

While there is a leading character, Romano il legionario, which could be seen as a rough counterpart to – say – Blackhawk or Airboy, it was never "fascist" in the strict sense of the term (and it also changed his adventure scope after 1942).

 

To give you an idea, here’s a few wartime ones, two from 1940 (as Italy entered the war) and one from 1945 (the story features a sort of "kid gang" struggling to make ends meet, and is also one of the earliest comics depictions of italian [white] partisans and of the SS in torn and ravaged Italy at the end of the war):

 

 

 

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My favorite British digests when I was a kid were these two. They contained detailed illustrated resumes of war planes, and I read them so much my father tossed them in the fire!

 

Never mind - it only took me about 40 years to track down replacements!

 

 

 

 

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[vaillant]

Michael, are these Fleetway books contemporary to the war events, or afterward reflections on the theme?

I usually mark a distinction between the two.

 

Here’s Romano at odds with some english soldiers for you, anyway!

 

[Flex Mentallo]

Michael, are these Fleetway books contemporary to the war events, or afterward reflections on the theme?

I usually mark a distinction between the two.

 

Here’s Romano at odds with some english soldiers for you, anyway!

 

 

They were published in the 1950's. My understanding is that they were written by men who drew upon their own war experiences.

 

I love the material you've posted.

[EC ed]

Recent addition to the collection, courtesy of the Straw-Man. Really proud be the custodian of this one...

 

[Flex Mentallo]

Obviously there is a distinction to be drawn between contemporaneous war related material and post war.

 

I enjoy both, so I'm showing both even though the OP clearly asked for contemporaneous material. I particularly like the stuff Vaillant is posting. Maybe we could see more of that. The quality of the artwork is quite stunning.

 

Somewhat off topic but among my favorite war-related material are some brilliant pocket books by William Green, circa 1961. Still reputed to be among the best reference books about WWII.

 

 

 

 

 

If you're interested you can get an idea of the interiors from this link.

 

http://www.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/IJARG/nakajimaj5n1.html

 

I believe this is the Japanese plane about to be dismantled by Captain Marvel Jnr. on the cover of Master #25. Calling adamstrange!

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Simply stunning

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This is from one of the ones my father burned!

 

 

 

[comicjack]

Recent addition to the collection, courtesy of the Straw-Man. Really proud be the custodian of this one...

 

Great looking book something to be proud of!

[Flex Mentallo]

Some of the most vibrant imagery was in the propaganda posters that made much of what appeared on comic covers seem relatively tame by comparison. I'm not an expert on this stuff though it was certainly still part of what we art students discussed a generation or more after the war ended.

 

Here's our friend the Tokyo kid once again:

 

 

 

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A few more good ones...

 

 

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