War comics | |
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Cover of Battlefield Action 67 (Mar 1981). Art by Pat Masulli, pencils, and Rocco Mastroserio, inks.[1] |
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This topic covers comics that fall under the military fiction genre. | |
Sub genres | |
This type of comics can be brokendown into: Military science fiction comics World War I comics World War II comics |
War comics is a genre of comic books that gained popularity in English-speaking countries following World War II.
Contents |
History
American war comics
Shortly after the birth of the modern comic book in the mid- to late 1930s, comics publishers began including stories of wartime adventures in the multi-genre omnibus titles then popular as a format. Even prior to the U.S. involvement in World War II, comic books such as Captain America Comics #1 (March 1941) depicted superheroes fighting Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. In the post-war era, comic books devoted solely to war stories began appearing, and gained popularity through the 1950s. Several anthologies by various publishers began to appear, such as Frontline Combat by EC. The most prolific publisher of war comics was Charlton Comics who produced a wide variety of titles beginning in the 1950s, such as Battlefield Action, though the mainstream publishers such as DC also began to produce war titles, which gained in popularity in the United States and Canada even during the Vietnam War. The titles tended to concentrate on US military depictions, generally in World War II, the Korean War or the Vietnam War.
Around 1959, several recurring characters began to appear in mainstream comic lines, including Sgt. Rock and The Haunted Tank in the DC line. These recurring characters began as regular "guests" of anthology titles such as Our Army at War and later graduated to their own titles. Marvel Comics also produced war titles, notably Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos. Warren Publishing published a black-and-white comics magazine Blazing Combat devoted to authentically drawn and researched combat stories with a self-professed anti-war slant.
End of the Silver Age
By the late 1980s, a great number of venerable war titles (most of which were either anthologies or else World War II themed titles) from the late 1950s and 1960s "Silver Age of Comic Books" had died out, though newer titles were still debuting. Notable among these was Marvel's the 'Nam which debuted in 1987 and was based during the first year on writer Doug Murray's actual Vietnam experiences (though it followed fictional character Ed Marks) and written in "real time" following a single character through his tour of duty and then progressing through every month of the Vietnam conflict from 1966 to 1972.
Writer Doug Murray opined that his proposal for a Vietnam-war themed comic did not look promising in this period: "I never expected anything to come of it because war books were already pretty much dead at that point in 1985".[2]
Also from Marvel in the 1980s was the toy tie-in G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero which focused on a fictional counter-terrorist team in a contemporary setting, and a limited run of Tales of the Marine Corps, similar in tone and style to Charlton's Fightin' line of war anthologies.
War-comics series that ended long runs in the 1980s, following publication of over 100 issues, include:
- Fightin' Army(Charlton, 157 issues from 1956-1984)[3]
- Fightin' Marines (Charlton, 163 issues from 1955-1984)[3]
- G.I. Combat (DC)
- Our Fighting Forces (DC)
- Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos (Marvel) #1-167 (May 1963 - Dec. 1981)
- Sgt. Rock (DC — includes a retitling of the earlier Our Army At War, the combined run was over 400 issues from 1952 to 1988)[4]
- The Unknown Soldier (DC — a retitling of Star Spangled War Stories that ran from 1952 to 1977, then continued as The Unknown Soldier from 1977-1982, with number 268 the final issue).
- Weird War Tales (DC, 124 issues from 1971-1983)[5]
British war comics
Black and white anthology stories were popular in Britain in the 1960s. Examples include Commando Comics and Battle Picture Weekly.
Reprints
Trade paperback reprint collections of war comics include:
- Blackhawk Archives Vol. 1 (reprints "Blackhawk" stories from Military Comics #1-17)
- Enemy Ace Archives Vol. 1 (reprints "Enemy Ace" stories from Showcase #57, 58, Star-Spangled War Stories #138-142)
- Enemy Ace Archives Vol. 2 (reprints Star-Spangled War Stories #143-145, 147-150, 152, 181-183, 200)
- The Losers by Jack Kirby (reprints Our Fighting Forces #151-162)
- Marvel Masterworks Sgt. Fury Vol. 1 (reprints Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #1-13)
- Marvel Masterworks Sgt. Fury Vol. 2 (reprints Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos #14-23, Annual #1)
- Sgt. Rock Archives Vol. 1 (reprints G.I. Combat #68, Our Army at War #81-96)
- Sgt. Rock Archives Vol. 2 (reprints Our Army at War #97-110)
- Sgt. Rock Archives Vol. 3 (reprints Our Army at War #111-125)
- Showcase Presents Blackhawk Vol. 1 (reprints Blackhawk #108-127)
- Showcase Presents Enemy Ace Vol. 1 (reprints "Enemy Ace" stories from Our Army at War #151, 153, 155, Showcase #57-58, Star-Spangled War Stories #138-152, 158, 181-183, and 200, Detective Comics #404, Men at War #1-3, 8-10, 12-14, 19-20, The Unknown Soldier #252-253, 260-261, 265-267, DC Special #26)
- Showcase Presents The Haunted Tank Vol. 1 (reprints "The Haunted Tank" stories from G.I. Combat #87-119, The Brave and the Bold #52, Our Army at War #155)
- Showcase Presents The Haunted Tank Vol. 2 (reprints "The Haunted Tank" stories from G.I. Combat #120-157)
- Showcase Presents Sgt. Rock Vol. 1 (reprints "Sgt. Rock" stories from Our Army at War #81-117)
- Showcase Presents Sgt. Rock Vol. 2 (reprints "Sgt. Rock" stories from Our Army at War #118-148)
- Showcase Presents The Unknown Soldier Vol. 1 (reprints "Unknown Soldier" stories from Star-Spangled War Stories #151-190)
- Showcase Presents The War that Time Forgot Vol. 1 (reprints "The War that Time Forgot" stories from Star-Spangled War Stories #90-137)
Notes
References
- Conroy, Mike (2009). War Comics: A Graphic History. ILEX Press. pp. 192. ISBN 190581447X.
- Riches, Adam (2009). When the Comics Went to War. Mainstream Publishing. pp. 256. ISBN 184596554X.
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