When Comics Go to War 3 3

[esquirecomics]

 

There are at least two or three comics that eerily "predicted" the bombing of Pearl Harbor, or something similar, before it really happened. Of course, one could say that was not very difficult to do since Hawaii was one of the logical choices for the Japanese to attack were they to attack.

 

Was there anything close in comics to predict the atomic bombing of Hiroshima/Nagasaki? Obviously the Manhattan Project was secretive and the general public did not know of it, but did comic writers have such imaginative powers that they came up with something similar on their own?

 

And if they did not, anyone know what was the first atomic bomb story or cover? Was it World War II related, or did we go directly to forecasting WWIII?

[nearmint]

Well, there's always Action #101, but there certainly could be something earlier than that.

[esquirecomics]

Well, there's always Action #101, but there certainly could be something earlier than that.

 

That had a publication date of October 1946. Anything earlier?

[esquirecomics]

Not much known about this promotional book from 1943. I picked it up today at the Baltimore Con. It is not listed in the Guide. Anti-Nazi book.

 

[esquirecomics]

I also picked up this issue of Living Bible #3 (1946), which is a Gerber 6 and features a classic cover by none other than L.B. Cole.

 

This book tells the story of multiple WWII Chaplains of all denominations. The cover story discusses the tragedy that befell the U.S.A.T.. Dorchester troop ship which was sunk by a German U-boat in 1943. Four Chaplains, George L. Fox, Clark V. Poling, Alexander D. Goode and John P. Washington, of three faiths (Jewish, Protestant and Roman Catholic) sacrificed themselves by giving up their life vests so that others could live. 678 out of 904 perished.

 

 

My grandfather, Chaplain David Max Eichhorn, who also served in the European Theatre during WWII, was a personal friend of Rabbi Goode. I recently edited a book on my grandfather's experiences during the war which included his role in liberating Dachau Concentration Camp.

 

[esquirecomics]

Actually, this promotional book from 1952 deals with fire prevention but the Cold War and atomic weapons were obviously a key theme and delivered a powerful message:

 

[esquirecomics]

[The Black Hand ®]

Top Notch #2 (Jan 1940) pictures an airplane with a swastika on the wing and fuselage. This is a scene from the Air Patrol story. However, Air Patrol is about an American pilot who is flying for the Royal Air Force.

 

 

This is the 1st Nazi war cover , one month before MM4

[Norrin_Radd]

I also picked up this issue of Living Bible #3 (1946), which is a Gerber 6 and features a classic cover by none other than L.B. Cole.

 

This book tells the story of multiple WWII Chaplains of all denominations. The cover story discusses the tragedy that befell the U.S.A.T.. Dorchester troop ship which was sunk by a German U-boat in 1943. Four Chaplains, George L. Fox, Clark V. Poling, Alexander D. Goode and John P. Washington, of three faiths (Jewish, Protestant and Roman Catholic) sacrificed themselves by giving up their life vests so that others could live. 678 out of 904 perished.

 

 

I remember reading about that when I was a kid. Haven't heard it mentioned anywhere since until now. Thanks for sharing.

[esquirecomics]

Top Notch #2 (Jan 1940) pictures an airplane with a swastika on the wing and fuselage. This is a scene from the Air Patrol story. However, Air Patrol is about an American pilot who is flying for the Royal Air Force.

 

 

This is the 1st Nazi war cover , one month before MM4

 

I think this is just an awesome cover. It is covers/artwork such as this as an example as to why I love GA books. I know Cole did the art, but did he do the cover? OS doesn't say.

[jkrk]

From the Spring of 1942.

 

[The Black Hand ®]

Top Notch #2 (Jan 1940) pictures an airplane with a swastika on the wing and fuselage. This is a scene from the Air Patrol story. However, Air Patrol is about an American pilot who is flying for the Royal Air Force.

 

 

This is the 1st Nazi war cover , one month before MM4

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

think Ed Ashe did it.

[Timulty]

Nice All Winners, JKRK.

[CrocHntr]

What an interesting read this topic has been.  Thanks to vaillant for bumping up the "comprehensive index" thread with the link. 

Just to update the thread a bit, I'll post an image of War Comics 1 (first dedicated War comic).  It triggered me to go back and read through some of the stories.  I found one in particular that I thought was very cool...

 

[CrocHntr]

War Comics 1 came out Jan 1940, so would have been penned in late 1939.  By that time, the idea of an unmanned aerial vehicle (aka drone) wasn't entirely new.  Pilotless aircraft were built shortly after WWI, and the concept of an aerial torpedo (basically an early cruise missile) was born.  Though not very successful, the British Navy tinkered with radio controlled pilotless target aircraft in the late 1920's, and both the British and US had working prototypes by the late 1930's.  It was in this time that the word "drone" came to be.  The drones actually came into service as early as late 1938 by the Navy, but the USAF didn't adopt the concept until 1939. 

Here was the problem...  Though this early drones could be radio controlled, there was no visual component, so they were difficult to maneuver and weren't very successful.  Operators had to ride in "motherships" and try to control the drones from afar.  So it wasn't until 1941 that the first assault drone, the TG-2, was installed with an RCA television camera that could allow the US to track the drone's path from afar.  The first operationally successful flight took place in April 2942, as the drone torpedo struck a destroyer at a range of 20 miles away from the control point.  This really was the first tactfully successful drone, though even that wasn't truly adopted en masse by military planners until 1944.

All that said, the "Television Torpedo" story in War Comics 1 precluded by almost 2 years the actual working technology.  The innovative concept made it to the pages of a comic book long before a working prototype was ever completed. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2017 by CrocHntr
Updated photos

[CrocHntr]

[vaillant]

I will contribute to this thread as soon as I have some time… with European material.

[bluechip]

On 7/6/2005 at 11:06 AM, esquirecomics said:

 

There are at least two or three comics that eerily "predicted" the bombing of Pearl Harbor, or something similar, before it really happened. Of course, one could say that was not very difficult to do since Hawaii was one of the logical choices for the Japanese to attack were they to attack.

 

Was there anything close in comics to predict the atomic bombing of Hiroshima/Nagasaki? Obviously the Manhattan Project was secretive and the general public did not know of it, but did comic writers have such imaginative powers that they came up with something similar on their own?

 

And if they did not, anyone know what was the first atomic bomb story or cover? Was it World War II related, or did we go directly to forecasting WWIII?

Marvel Mystery 17 predicted an attack on the USA by Imperial Japan, with an assault on Alaska!   It also presaged the predictions of global warming with the plot to undermine the Gulf Stream currents and freeze the UK