Infinite Bronze War Thread 11 11

[Karma23]

Scans look great Fay (thumbs u

 

I can't believe that I've never seen this cover before, and that era is right in my wheel house I probably have a worn out coverless copy of this book around here somewhere and just don't recall the long lost cover.

[kidcolt]

Did someone here win this? How did I miss this at such a great price

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/G-I-Combat-87-May-1961-No-Reserve-DC-Comics-LOOK_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQ_trkparmsZ66Q3a2Q7c65Q3a13Q7c39Q3a1Q7c240Q3a1318Q7c301Q3a1Q7c293Q3a1Q7c294Q3a50QQ_trksidZp3286Q2ec0Q2em14QQhashZitem3a4e1f8c2aQQitemZ250418793514QQptZLHQ5fDefaultDomainQ5f0QQsalenotsupported

 

 

 

Edited May 23, 2009 by kidcolt

[thirdgreenham]

Didn't see that, but pretty much any copy is worth $100.

 

Andy

[Hedge]

Hey Guys, Does anyone know about this Hardcover book? I missed this...

 

Losers Hardcover book Jack kirby

[Jeffro.]

I missed it too.

 

However, as much of a Kirby fan as I am, I don't really care for his run on OFF. I'd much prefer they put out a hardcover

of the Severin issues.

[bigfiver69]

I saw that Kirby Losers book the other day in my LCS, but at $45 Canadian, that was a lot of coin for a bunch of books I already have.

 

I don't expect it will be a big seller, so I'll probably pick one up when it drops down to $12 in the remainder bin!

 

Shep

 

 

[Hedge]

Another Interesting book comming out???

 

 

War Stories

 

Looks Interesting? Anybody know anything about it?

 

Larry

Edited June 9, 2009 by Hedge

[Jeffro.]

Link's not working for me.

[Hedge]

Try this one

[Jeffro.]

Looks intriguing. I'd have to look at before buying though.

 

And it has a Trooper cover.

[Paratrooper]

Looks intriguing. I'd have to look at before buying though.

 

And it has a Trooper cover.

 

pst

[Hedge]

Thanks Trooper for sharing that!!

 

 

Larry

[Fazybones]

A selection of the nicer books from my favorite e-bay seller

and a great board member ArexCrooke.

 

Thanks Keith and Arex!!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I love the BA run of OAAW and some of Russ Heath's art is the

finest work I think he's done. IMHO only.

[Karma23]

Great books Fay!

 

The 235 is one of my favorite OAAW issues of the BA.

[Jeffro.]

 

I love the BA run of OAAW and some of Russ Heath's art is the

finest work I think he's done. IMHO only.

 

No need to be humble about it Fay. It is an amazing run by the master.

[bronze johnny]

It's nice to be back on on the forums- I hope everyone is well.

I've got a question:

 

Is there a first Bronze Age war book? If so, then what is it?

[bigfiver69]

Bronzejohnny, that is an excellent question.

 

Of course, it picks the scab of 'when does the bronze age really begin'.

 

But in the context of DC war comics, let's back up a second and ask 'what differentiates silver age DC war with Bronze Age DC war'.

 

The long answer is, a move towards more anti-war, anti-heroic, human interest storytelling.

The short answer is... Joe Kubert.

 

When Joe Kubert took over as editor from Bob Kanigher, he began broadening the themes of these books and making them about the real humanity and horror of war. As Joe himself put it to me, the stories became less about killing a bunch of nazis, and more about the personal trials of a a group of men doing a job they didn't want to do, but knew they had to.

 

Each of the DC war books of this era have a 'turning point' book.

 

Our Army at War #196 (August 1968) - 'Stop the War, I Want to Get Off'. The classic tale of Rock having a combat meltdown, and wanting out. No doubt reflecting popular dismay at the mounting toll of Vietnam.

 

Star Spangled War Stories #138 (April/May 1968) - First appearance of the Enemy Ace in this title. While it can be argued that Enemy Ace was a S.A. character, to me his menu fits the Bronze Age.

 

G.I. Combat #141 (April/May 1970) - Intense racial themes and hard-hitting storytelling - marks a real turning point in the narrative approach of the Haunted Tank stories, and essentially kicks off a 5-year blitz of great, great HT tales.

 

Our Fighting Forces #123 (January/February 1970) - First appearances of the Losers in this title, setting up the 'anti-hero' character vibe that was so common in popular culture at this time.

 

Weird War #1 (Sept./Oct. 1971) - Kubert's innovative mixture of horror/war themes, in keeping with the upwsing in horror titles once the Comics Code relaxed its restrictions on that genre.

 

Other contenders might include G.I. Combat #138 (October/November 1969 - first Losers appearance) and Star Spangled War #151 (June/July 1970 - first appearance of the Unknown Soldier).

 

 

For my money, even though SSWS #138 came first date-wise, the 'soul' of Bronze Age war books begins with OAAW #196... it breaks with the silver age past, and points the way for the next 7 years of outstanding, challenging and relevant DC war storytelling.

 

So.. that's my opinion - Our Army at War #196, in all it's glory.

 

Shep

 

 

[bronze johnny]

Shep,

 

Great analysis as always (with exception to our continuing respectful disagreement over the 1st app. of the Unknown Soldier-but that's one we can pick up another time).

I have been looking at GI Combat 138 and Our Fighting Forces 123 and wondering whether- besides being the first BA war book- one of these two books might have even started the BA. Some collectors might give me hell for this.

 

All the best,

 

John

[bigfiver69]

John,

 

I think that there is an argument to be made that the Bronze Age did in fact begin with a war book.

 

Some collectors believe that Weird War #1 is the first true BA book (something I don't buy into). Typically, the debate is between Conan #1 and GL 76.

 

Some say Conan #1 (October 1970) ushered in the era of the anti-hero. Others believe Green Lantern 76, with the Adams/O'Neal (April 1970) creative team, single handedly started the new generation of creativity and 'adult' storytelling that marked DC's books in the early 1970s.

 

It can be argued, though, that both the beginning of the Enemy Ace run in 1968 in Star Spangled War, and the the creation of the Losers in 1969 both pre-date Conan by at least a year, and both creations were definitely in the anti-hero vein.

 

As for the new wave of DC creativity with more relevant, mature storytelling themes, Our Army at War #196 predates GL #76 by a couple of years. And the aforementioned G.I. Combat #141 hit the stands on the same month as GL #76.

 

It's an interesting perspective, and one that a lot of mainstream BA fans aren't interested in hearing. One thing to remember during this period is the influence that Joe Kubert would have had not just on his books, but on the editorial and management direction at DC. He was very good friends with Carmine Infantino and Julie Schwartz, and Joe left his wonderful fingerprints on a lot of different titles at that time. Joe was DEFINITELY using the war books of the late 1960s/early 1970s as a forum to send an anti-war message. He was the FIRST editor at DC to use comics at this time to deal with socially relevant storytelling. Remember, too, that the new generation of artists and writers, like Neal Adams, really looked up to Joe Kubert. Without a doubt, Joe's use of DC's war lineup as a platform for more mature, relevant storytelling was the editorial and creative model others used to transform so many of DCs comics at this time.

 

Shep

[Fazybones]

Excellent and informative posts Shep. Thank You!

 

 

It's hard to beat a 10 cent DC War book in a nice grade

and I still love the DC BA war books for the quality of story

telling and the fantastic art that went along with those great

stories.