• When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.

War Comics
17 17

11,101 posts in this topic

Here is a nice copy that I picked up last week!

AAMW_74.jpg

 

Its the first (and unfortunatly) last apperance of the MINUTE COMMANDOS...a great fantasy story about some commandos who meet some added challenges when they are shrunk by a mysterious green ray while parachuting behind enemy lines...

 

Classic Kanihger & Andru...its too bad this series never took off, it could have been a lot of fun (a nice change of place from those drippy old war stroies...). It would have made a nice little back up feature in SSWS...maybe alternating with GI ROBOT.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Here is a nice copy that I picked up last week!

AAMW_74.jpg

 

Its the first (and unfortunatly) last apperance of the MINUTE COMMANDOS...a great fantasy story about some commandos who meet some added challenges when they are shrunk by a mysterious green ray while parachuting behind enemy lines...

 

Classic Kanihger & Andru...its too bad this series never took off, it could have been a lot of fun (a nice change of place from those drippy old war stroies...). It would have made a nice little back up feature in SSWS...maybe alternating with GI ROBOT.

 

Let's see it. (thumbs u

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Preceded SSWS 90 by a number of months, too. I've always thought of it as a prologue or prototype to the "War that Time Forgot" series. Cool issue. Maybe the best part is that purple, green, and black combo. Those colors are NEVER seen from any other companies besides DC. I'm trying to imagine what 10 of those in a row looked like brand new off the stand. That copy is definitely a move in that direction. Truly nuclear copy, Bill!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I loved the Minute Commandos, and they were definitely part of a theme that Kanigher had going.... aside from things like G.I. Robot and the War That Time Forgot, one of my favorite stories of that ilk was 'Goliath of the the Western Front'. I read it as a reprint in Weird War Tales #6... I think it originally appeared in Star Spangled War #85 or #86... haven't got the books in front of me.

 

The notion of fantasy in the war books - seeded almost entirely by the fertile imagination of Bob Kanigher - is one of the most underappreciated aspects of DC war, especially by those not intimately familiar with the books. Aside from the War that Time Forgot, and stories like the Minute Commandos, etc, it's easy to forget that the Haunted Tank was by and large a fantasy series... one of the longest running in comics.

 

Nice stuff.

Shep

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I loved the Minute Commandos, and they were definitely part of a theme that Kanigher had going.... aside from things like G.I. Robot and the War That Time Forgot, one of my favorite stories of that ilk was 'Goliath of the the Western Front'. I read it as a reprint in Weird War Tales #6... I think it originally appeared in Star Spangled War #85 or #86... haven't got the books in front of me.

 

The notion of fantasy in the war books - seeded almost entirely by the fertile imagination of Bob Kanigher - is one of the most underappreciated aspects of DC war, especially by those not intimately familiar with the books. Aside from the War that Time Forgot, and stories like the Minute Commandos, etc, it's easy to forget that the Haunted Tank was by and large a fantasy series... one of the longest running in comics.

 

Nice stuff.

Shep

 

 

True, I always forget that the Haunted Tank was really a fantasy series...

 

Do you guys know of any other fantasy/sci-f themes war stories that appeared in the BIG 5 prior to SSWS #90? I think I just found a new sub-genre to collect!

thanks,

Bill

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

Do you guys know of any other fantasy/sci-f themes war stories that appeared in the BIG 5 prior to SSWS #90? I think I just found a new sub-genre to collect!

thanks,

Bill

 

Not off the top of my head. However, you might want to check out Blackhawk. Yeah, I know not Big 5 but lots of wacky fantasy/sci fi themes.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

 

 

True, I always forget that the Haunted Tank was really a fantasy series...

 

 

Do you guys know of any other fantasy/sci-f themes war stories that appeared in the BIG 5 prior to SSWS #90? I think I just found a new sub-genre to collect!

thanks,

Bill

 

There are a few for sure. The one that comes to mind right away is G.I. Combat #86, the story entitled 'The Secret of the Fort that Did Not Return'. Definite 'Twilight Zone' vibe to that story. One of my favorite art jobs by Russ Heath too.

 

There were also stories where guns talked, etc.. that are a form of fantasy I suppose.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not at all on topic but this discussion made me remember one of my favorite back up war stories from the copper age.

 

It involved a group of soldiers who come ashore on a pacific island held by the Japanese. All they find is bunches of skeletons all picked clean and little crabs about. Then the 'momma' crab shows up and has itself a little GI buffet.

The end scene is of another group of soldiers coming ashore and finding one lone soldier from the first party still alive but babbling incoherently.

Now I just have to remember which title it was in?

Edited by Jeffro
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Jeff,

 

I'm pretty sure that story is a back up in Sgt. Rock... somewhere in the 1978-1982 era, and I'm pretty sure that it was drawn by Tim Truman.

 

I haven't got my Pedrin handy, but that should narrow it down. It's a creepy tale fo sho.

 

Shep

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Tim Truman did a number of stories in 1981 and 1982. Perhaps this list will jog your memory.

 

SR #354 3 pages "To the Last Man"

SR #357 2 pages Warrior "U-Boat War"

SR #358 3 pages "Deep Prey"

SR #361 5 pages "The Pass!"

SR #363 5 pages "Deadly Victory"

SR #367 3 pages Battle Album "Ninjutsu"

SR #371 3 pages "Samurai!"

SR #376 3 pages "...War Spoils"

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Truman was a totally underrated artist... along with Rick Veitch, he provided some of the best back up artwork in the Sgt. Rock book.

 

To me, the only monstrous mistake that Kubert did during his long tenure on DC war books was giving the backup slot to artists from the Kubert school. Some were very good (the two artists noted above) but many were dreadful... Tom Mandrake, Jan Dursema... not the kind of top notch talent we had come to expect.

 

I well remember the 1980-83 era, when I was completely enraptured by these books. At the time, as I started getting what were then 10-year old back issues from the early 70s. I was amazed... even then as a pre-teen... that the quality could have dropped so far so fast on the back issues.

 

Shep

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
17 17