Are the DC war titles good or always the same boring stories? 1 1

[BA773]

I'm curious about the war themed comics published by DC between the 50s to the 80s, All American men of War, G I COMBAT, Our Army At War... I know that some charachters from the war titles are really popular like The unknown soldier or sgt Rock, and the art especially from the cover (Kubert) have an important fan base, but what about the quality of the plots? Is it worth to go trough this? Usually when we think to "war stories" we cannot avoid the feeling that it is always the same boring tales but maybe I'm all wrong... 

Some followers of these titles here, some opinions? 

Thanks

[LowGradeBronze]

They are a mixed bag, just like a lot of titles. If you like the art of Kubert, Russ Heath, Sam Glanzman, Ric Estrada and others then yes, they are definitely worth investigating. There will always a few artists whose work is not as exciting, but by picking and choosing among the titles/issues you could be very pleasantly surprised by some of the 1970s offerings and less excited (in my case) by some of the earlier issues. 

Easy way to find out what you like is readdallcomics.com

Check out the fabulous, moody splash page by Russ Heath here:

https://readallcomics.com/our-army-at-war-v1-239/

Sam Glanzman, very underrated in my opinion. 

https://readallcomics.com/g-i-combat-v1-154/

And my first ever DC war comic, with superb Russ Heath main story and excellent Ric Estrada backup feature:

https://readallcomics.com/our-army-at-war-v1-279/

 

 

 

Edited Sunday at 02:21 PM by LowGradeBronze

[jimjum12]

What's not to like? If you like war movies you should be good. GOD BLESS ...

-jimbo(a friend of jesus)

 

[LowGradeBronze]

I think they really hit their stride in the 70s with great covers and many new stories and features.

Sam Glanzman's War Diary was a superb short feature that drew on his actual service experience in the US Navy. (He has published a book too, with sketches he made at the time!)

[KCOComics]

I've read a handful of 50s Atlas war comics and the stories range from boring, to overly sensationalized to really really good. 

There generally isn't a continuity of story lines between the issues, but there are several titles that follow the same characters issue to issue. (I never read Sgt Rock so maybe those stories hang together a little better?)

As others have mentioned, the art is really compelling. And it's still a pretty cheap genre to get into, outside of high grade and a few key issues. 

I pick them up when I see them for cheap. I bought a pretty cool little collection of Battle Cry at an antique store a few years ago.  They seem so affordable for great art on a 70 year old comic. 

 

 

[Chip Cataldo]

Haunted Tank and anything Weird War Tales are going to be "different" from any regular war story. Check them out.

[shadroch]

DC war comics are better than Charlton war books, so there is that.  I'm  not a fan of Kubert's art, and he seems to be the godfather of DC War.

[JollyComics]

Don’t forget the all true war writer Bob Kanigher. He had a war experience and learned the language through the war that was used in the comic books.

Stan Lee, Jack Kirby, Joe Simon, Syd Shores, and few others were served in WWII. Joe Kubert and Russ Heath were in reserve but never were sent overseas or saw action. Sam Glazman was on USS Stevens that was used in his artworks.

There were few more artists and writers who served for USA - https://www.wearethemighty.com/mighty-trending/more-vets-worked-on-comics/#:~:text=Stan Lee%2C Jack Kirby%2C and,like these 6 creative minds.

Nams is the best and more realistic than many war comic books from 50’s to 80’s but few books are realistic with John Severin who was showing real language, attitude, psychological and nice drawings of war actions. Will Einser was great at all military instructions but he did some war stories. He fought against Nazi soldiers.

[Ken Aldred]

On 6/30/2024 at 3:46 PM, Chip Cataldo said:

Haunted Tank and anything Weird War Tales are going to be "different" from any regular war story. Check them out.

I got the Showcase black-and-white Haunted Tank reprint book a while back. A surprisingly consistent read.

Really liked the Sgt Rock and Enemy Ace Archives, which presented Joe Kubert’s art superbly.

[BA773]

On 6/30/2024 at 4:46 PM, Chip Cataldo said:

Haunted Tank and anything Weird War Tales are going to be "different" from any regular war story. Check them out.

Yeah I purposely did not mention the surrealist titles, these ones are funny for sure... there is also a title where they are often opposed to dinosaurs, I think it's Star Spangled, not sure.

[shadroch]

The powers that be at DC, KNEW kids loved Dinosaur stories.  

[Chip Cataldo]

On 6/30/2024 at 11:09 AM, BA773 said:

Yeah I purposely did not mention the surrealist titles, these ones are funny for sure... there is also a title where they are often opposed to dinosaurs, I think it's Star Spangled, not sure.

I love those books, but then again...I love dinosaurs.

Edited Sunday at 04:19 PM by Chip Cataldo

[Math Teacher]

On 6/30/2024 at 9:11 AM, LowGradeBronze said:

They are a mixed bag, just like a lot of titles. If you like the art of Kubert, Russ Heath, Sam Glanzman, Ric Estrada and others then yes, they are definitely worth investigating. There will always a few artists whose work is not as exciting, but by picking and choosing among the titles/issues you could be very pleasantly surprised by some of the 1970s offerings and less excited (in my case) by some of the earlier issues. 

Easy way to find out what you like is readdallcomics.com

Check out the fabulous, moody splash page by Russ Heath here:

https://readallcomics.com/our-army-at-war-v1-239/

Sam Glanzman, very underrated in my opinion. 

https://readallcomics.com/g-i-combat-v1-154/

And my first ever DC war comic, with superb Russ Heath main story and excellent Ric Estrada backup feature:

https://readallcomics.com/our-army-at-war-v1-279/

 

 

 

Thank you for this.

Edited Sunday at 09:42 PM by Math Teacher

[jimjum12]

On 6/30/2024 at 11:07 AM, Ken Aldred said:

I got the Showcase black-and-white Haunted Tank reprint book a while back. A surprisingly consistent read.

Really liked the Sgt Rock and Enemy Ace Archives, which presented Joe Kubert’s art superbly.

 

[Heronext]

I read (and re-read over and over again) exclusively DC War; it was my introduction to comic books.  I loved Sgt Rock & Easy Company, Weird War Tales and the Creature Commandos, GI Combat and the Haunted Tank; Mademoiselle Marie and the OSS backup stories in GIC (first of which was in Showcase #104) and the Unknown Soldier.   I couldn't say how the stories hold up because I haven't revisited them.  Anyone who remembers Kana the Ninja, please like my post!

You could start with something like this -

 

Edited Sunday at 06:23 PM by Heronext

[MAR1979]

On 6/30/2024 at 12:25 PM, Math Teacher said:

Thank you for this...

Shill Bidding = OK on this forum, ripping off old people at 1 cent on the dollar for GA and SA comics = more than OK on this forum. 

@Math TeacherGiven above + the site is a purely altruistic venture, Please consider removing the final 2 sentences in your post

Edited Sunday at 05:47 PM by MAR1979

[BA773]

On 6/30/2024 at 6:00 PM, shadroch said:

The powers that be at DC, KNEW kids loved Dinosaur stories.  

Yeahi was completely obsessive about dinosaur when I was kid... don't know what they have but all the kids love them

[BA773]

On 6/30/2024 at 6:25 PM, Math Teacher said:

Thank you for this. I am not making any type of accusation, but how is this website legal? Surely not all of this material is in the public domain, right?

Lol they are plenty of website where are avalaible almost every comics published since the beginning of the times... I personally use "read online"

[BA773]

On 6/30/2024 at 7:40 PM, MAR1979 said:

Shill Bidding = OK on this forum, ripping off old people at 1 cent on the dollar for GA and SA comics = more than OK on this forum. 

@Math TeacherGiven above + the site is a purely altruistic venture, Please consider removing the final 2 sentences in your post

What is this story of "ripping off old people" exactly? 

[shadroch]

On 6/30/2024 at 11:54 AM, BA773 said:

What is this story of "ripping off old people" exactly? 

It used to be that you could only get a seat at the BSD table at Comic-Con if you were bona fide.