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Infinite Bronze War Thread
11 11

Started by bronze johnny,

3,136 posts in this topic

bigfiver69

bigfiver69

Posted
Posted

Hey Rip and all,

Rip and all,

 

SSWS #144 is one of the nicest Enemy Ace tales of that run, and one that has a sad, unfortunate story to it. You may all have heard this, but here it goes anyway.

 

Kubert had written the -script for that book, and gave Alex Toth the chance to do it. Apparently he drew it up, inked and lettered it and brought it in. Kubert looked at it, and HATED IT. Instead of making changes, Toth apparently walked off in a huff and tossed the boards. I hate to think that's true, but I find it hard to believe that if they still existed they wouldn't have made it out into the public eye by now.

 

So anyway, here's Kubert with a deadline and no artwork. He calls Neal Adams (at this stage still something of an up and comer) and he and the Kube pound out the art. If I'm not mistaken, that's a full-length book, so that was something of a coup.

 

The only vestiges we have of Toth's involvement in that issue come from a strange source. Back in the late 60s or early 70s, there were a set of trading cards or stickers (printed by Topps I believe) that featured comic book covers. They're pretty rare, but I saw an uncut sheet of them on display at the San Diego con a few years ago. The box in the lower right corner say 'Alex Toth' instead of Adams. So the cover must have been colourproofed before the interior art was changed.

 

It's a shame. My undertanding is that Toth and Kubert have been at odds since.

 

Shep

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Weird

Weird

Posted
Posted
There's been some talk about which books ar hardest to find from this era (in high grade). Here are my votes:

 

OAAW #256 - Awesome book, and near-impossible in NM. Finally got one four years ago, and never letting go.

OAAW #286 - Not a great issue, but strangely a tough one. Ruben Yandoc art on the Rock story, with a heavy Kubert assist. Decent Estrada Gallery of War tale.

SSWS #154 - Easily the toughest book from this title. Very rare above 9.0, but what an incredible Kubert cover.

WWT #10 - Super Toth art on a rare Sheldon Mayer story. Killer hard in grade.

WWT #12 - Kaluta cover makes it a true must have for horror collectors too.

WWT #60-#80 - Just a painful, difficult run to find in grade. Some real gems in there, though.

GI Combat #141 - Just a horror to find in grade. Perhaps Russ Heath's finest moment on Haunted Tank. If you've got a true NM copy, please contact me.

GI Combat #201-213. Early dollar-size books. Tough, and just beautiful books. #207 with the Heath art inside is probably the worst to find.

 

Welcome to the boards!

 

It is kind of funny seeing what issues give collectors a hard time compared with others, especially on non big-ticket/widely followed books. I have been focusing mainly on SSWS/US, Weird War and G.I. Combat, throwing in an occasional OAAW/Rock or misc. DC war book every now and then.

 

That being said, I only have 10 OAAW issues and, by chance, I have a NM 286 I got off ebay earlier this year from bobcat.

 

Of WWT 60-80, I have all but two in VF or above with more than half being NM- or better - with a lot of help from Blazing Bob and Doug Sulipa if I remember correctly.

 

And sure enough, I am missing about half of those Dollar GI Combats you mention, the #207 included.

 

Do you collect the Brave & the Bolds with war crossovers? I have been looking for a B&B 124 in strict NM for like a year to no avail. Killing me.

 

Also, I'd love to see some of your OA. There is a new OA section to the boards if you ever feel like posting any. Stick around and throw up some scans of your favorite books!

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HouseofComics.Com

HouseofComics.Com

Posted
Posted
Hey guys,

 

New fella here. Just found this list, and I'm jumping in to say hi

 

Shep!

 

When I saw the screen name I knew it had to be someone from the Yahoo Big Five list. Glad to see you over here. You'll find a lot of action on these boards. Also, you'll find that even though a lot of the people are most interested in superhero stuff, there's a great appreciation for all comics here. Ie, you can post Kubert war art or high grade Big Five comics on regular threads and people will appreciate it.

 

Best,

Marc

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BassGMan

BassGMan

Posted
Posted

I'm really liking this thread. I was just a fictional horror guy but now I'm starting to really get into this more true-to-life horror stuff - war. Not a funny subject. The fact that this stuff actually has some historical significance, or at least I imagine that some stories in some books are adapted from true to life tales, well, that makes these books all the more interesting. I've recently bought several BA DC war lots and will be buying more single issues in Chicago. Thanks for gettin' me interested guys. thumbsup2.gif

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bigfiver69

bigfiver69

Posted
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Greggy,

 

That is one smokin' copy you have there. Awesome. Hopefully, one will find it's way to me soon. Mine's a VF, but I gots to have me a sharpie of that issue. I was very lucky to get one of Russ Heath's original art pages from that tale (it's a page towards the end, when the Haunted Tank return the ammo dump, and the lone soldier rises from the ashes.) It's absolutely one of my favorite HT stories. HEATH!!! Mmmmmmmmm.

 

That story puts to me mind of something. I first read that story not in GI Combat #141, but in the Haunted Tank Digest from the early 80s. One thing about the digests (and not just the war ones) is that they opened up my eyes to a lot of wonderful silver and bronze age stuff that I would have no other chance to have seen at that time. Did anyone else have the same experience? If anyone's in the market for that particular digest in high grade, good luck - it is a very tough one to find.

 

And Greggy, if you ever lose your mind and want to part with that copy, please let me know.

 

Shep

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bigfiver69

bigfiver69

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Posted

Hey guys,

 

There was some talk about white DC war covers from the Brionze Age earlier in the thread. Here are a few. This is my first time posting scans, so be patient (and kind).

 

White... almost as hard as black.

 

GIC191.jpg

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