I'm a little late to the party, I know, but I just wanted to thank you for posting this and tell you how much I enjoyed it. I just recently discovered the world of mid-20th century war comics, and this is exactly the kind of overview I've been looking for. Also, just FYI, DC did reprint a number of their war books a few years ago as black and white digests under the branding Showcase Presents. They're not too hard to find, still, in spite of being out of print. I picked up a volume containing the first twenty six issues of the Losers stories, and man, John Severin's art was something else.
just now seeing this, very well organized,,,,and as a collector,,learned a bit more. i have about 90% complete collection of all the DC Big Five. Our Army at War (Sgt Rock), Star Spangled War Stories (then unknown soldier), GI Combat, Our Fighting Forces, All American Men of war,,,and other titles, Weird War Tales, Men of War (Gravedigger), All Out War, GI War Tales, and all the DC digest. Great job on setting this up
Tim- as a former Sgt. Rock fan I really enjoyed your taking these stories seriously in terms of plot and theme. I think they are cool and now understand them much better and now realize their moral complexity, for example when you examined cowardice, etc. Russ heath is superb, I agree. This video was a real treat. I was getting ready to sell my WWII comic collection from the 60's, but may now have second thoughts. I love the Star Spangled War Stories covers as well. Thanks so much.
Good lecture. Re: comic book buying, I'm an avid comic book reader and collector including the War books, but I only collect comics from the Silver and Bronze Ages and a few from the '80s-'90s. I haven't bought new comics in several years due to the high prices and less than satisfying issues. For the price of a new comic ($4+) I can buy legit older books in acceptable grade, sometimes even cheaper than the new books. I grew up reading the good stuff, and thankfully there are thousands of older comics to collect that are still affordable, so it's an easy choice for me to stick with the older books. BTW, you should check out Warren's Blazing Combat magazine size War title that ran 4 issues back in the '60s. Some great stories and art in Blazing Combat. It covered different wars as well as WWII including Vietnam (which is the main reason it was forced off of the market). Thanks for posting the great video.
Thank you. I'm glad you liked the talk. The Blazing Combat stories were re-printing in a hard-back volume a few years ago and I did pick up a copy. Excellent stories.
My favorite story from SGT Rock was Nameless. As far a war comics go DC was king! SGT Rock, G.I. Combat, The Unknown Soldier, Weird War! When it comes to war and horror DC was king. Fury couldn't carry Rocks suitcase!
I'm a little late to the party, I know, but I just wanted to thank you for posting this and tell you how much I enjoyed it. I just recently discovered the world of mid-20th century war comics, and this is exactly the kind of overview I've been looking for.
Also, just FYI, DC did reprint a number of their war books a few years ago as black and white digests under the branding Showcase Presents. They're not too hard to find, still, in spite of being out of print. I picked up a volume containing the first twenty six issues of the Losers stories, and man, John Severin's art was something else.
just now seeing this, very well organized,,,,and as a collector,,learned a bit more. i have about 90% complete collection of all the DC Big Five. Our Army at War (Sgt Rock), Star Spangled War Stories (then unknown soldier), GI Combat, Our Fighting Forces, All American Men of war,,,and other titles, Weird War Tales, Men of War (Gravedigger), All Out War, GI War Tales, and all the DC digest. Great job on setting this up
Tim- as a former Sgt. Rock fan I really enjoyed your taking these stories seriously in terms of plot and theme. I think they are cool and now understand them much better and now realize their moral complexity, for example when you examined cowardice, etc. Russ heath is superb, I agree. This video was a real treat. I was getting ready to sell my WWII comic collection from the 60's, but may now have second thoughts. I love the Star Spangled War Stories covers as well. Thanks so much.
Russ Heath was an incredible artist! I have every version of G.I. Combat that he illustrated. Loved Joe Kubert as well.
Good lecture. Re: comic book buying, I'm an avid comic book reader and collector including the War books, but I only collect comics from the Silver and Bronze Ages and a few from the '80s-'90s. I haven't bought new comics in several years due to the high prices and less than satisfying issues. For the price of a new comic ($4+) I can buy legit older books in acceptable grade, sometimes even cheaper than the new books. I grew up reading the good stuff, and thankfully there are thousands of older comics to collect that are still affordable, so it's an easy choice for me to stick with the older books. BTW, you should check out Warren's Blazing Combat magazine size War title that ran 4 issues back in the '60s. Some great stories and art in Blazing Combat. It covered different wars as well as WWII including Vietnam (which is the main reason it was forced off of the market). Thanks for posting the great video.
Thank you. I'm glad you liked the talk. The Blazing Combat stories were re-printing in a hard-back volume a few years ago and I did pick up a copy. Excellent stories.
My favorite story from SGT Rock was Nameless. As far a war comics go DC was king! SGT Rock, G.I. Combat, The Unknown Soldier, Weird War! When it comes to war and horror DC was king. Fury couldn't carry Rocks suitcase!
Where was Blackhawk?
When they were acquired by DC in 1956, their adventures were usually post-World War II.