War Comics

War Comics
https://foxhugh.com/war-comics/
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01) Introduction to War Comics

A war comic is a comic book that has war as the primary topic. This collection of articles will
analyze war comics from several perspectives. The first perspective will be in terms of what war
the comic picked as a topic. The wars as topic include the American Revolution, the Spanish-
American War, the American Civil War, World War I, World War II (Silver Age versus Modern
Age of comics), the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the War in Afghanistan, and the Iraq War.
Comics books as a media in the US tend to be works of speculative fiction which is a broad
category that includes the genres of science fiction, fantasy, horror, alternative history, magic
realism, and superhero fiction. Some war comics have a speculative fiction slant and they are
treated as a separate category. Finally, there are comic book anthologies that have stories that
cover different wars as their topic and are the final category analyzed. This article focuses on
Anglo-American comic books but also includes European and Japanese comic books that have
been translated into English and have been distributed in the US.
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02) War Comics set in the American Revolution

There are only two war comics set exclusively in the American Revolution. Jerry Drummer -
Boy Hero of the Revolutionary War (Charlton) is so obscure that he doesnt even rate an entry
in Wikipedia or Don Markstein's Toonopedia! Jerry Drummer is a drummer boy in the
Continental Army. I guess having the last name Drummer made Jerry think that becoming a
drummer was a good idea. Jerry Drummer has a heroic dog that gets Jerry into very unlikely
situations that force Jerry Drummer to end up a hero. My family dogs had trouble figuring out
that they should go poo-poo outside not inside and never helped me become a hero. I guess I
just had bad luck with dogs.
However, there was some historical information included so the youngster received a little
education for their ten cents.
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Tomahawk (DC) starts out fighting Native Americans and rarely Red coats but in Tomahawk V1
#81, Miss Liberty (DC) is introduced and Tomahawk starts to take on a marginally larger role in
the American Revolution. Miss Liberty uses fused powder horns as a type of colonial period
grenade below.
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This state of affairs doesnt last long and Tomahawk soon descends into more and more
speculative fiction and even gains superpowers sporadically. This also happens to the war hero
Blackhawk but this will be discussed in 11) War Comics plus Speculative Fiction. In Tomahawk
V1, #85, Tomahawk can fly by using bent trees as catapults and uses fused powder horns as a
grenades yet again in the picture below.
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The series tried to become "relevant" towards the end and even has Tomahawk questioning his
actions as an Indian Fighter in issue Tomahawk V1 #121.
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The DC imprint Vertigo version of Tomahawk eats some mushrooms and has the hero going
through a shamanic evolution because the spirit in the woods wants Tomahawk to aid the
American Revolution because revolution is after all somehow related to spiritual evolution. I
thought revolution was about the redistribution of power within a society and not all that
spiritual but I have not gone through shamanic transformation so what do I know?
Alan Moore has Tomahawk recovering from reverse culture shock in Swamp Thing V2 #86 by
living with the Native Americans again. Now this is a story I can relate to given my own cultural
experiences.
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03) War Comics set in the American Civil War

Jonah Hex (DC) was an officer in the Confederate Army but his comic book mostly follows his
adventures as a bounty hunter. I have to add that Jonah Hex is one of those rare comic book
heroes that gets beat up and knocked out on a regular basis. In this sense, Jonah Hex resembles
Will Eisner's the Spirit. Jonah Hex turns himself into the Union Army because of the red clay on
his boots and some detective work from a Black Union soldier, is wrongly branded as traitor to
his fellow Confederate soldiers in Weird Western Tales V1 #29.
Jonah Hex then arms his fellow Confederate prisoners but this goes totally wrong as well.
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Chuck Connors in the TV show Branded decided to prove his innocence in a similar situation.
Jonah Hex on the other hand decides to cynically accept his lot taken on the disreputable
profession of bounty hunter and thus establishes himself as DC's foremost Western anti-
hero. Ironically, Jonah Hex ends up being actually branded, rather than figuratively branded,
with the "Mark of the Demon" by Apaches in Jonah Hex V1 #8.
Jonah Hex ends up being stuffed and mounted after death in DC Special Series-Jonah Hex
Spectacular V1 #16. Is this some sort of punishment for Jonah Hex choosing to be an anti-hero
instead of going the Chuck Connors hero finding justice route?
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Loveless (Vertigo) has another Civil War vet as an anti-hero. Wes (Wesley) Cutter returns to his
hometown and shoots fellow veterans, denounces God and kicks out Union soldiers occupying
not just his hometown but his front porch.
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The English version of the French comic book Un chariot dans l'Ouest (Dupuis) is titled Blue
Coats (Cinebook). The title has been received well and while I like the detailed and slightly
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panoramic art that is unusual in a juxtaposition with cartoon art but I find the humor rather
crude.
Marvel comics produced a very good historical series about the American Civil War which
includes Epic Battles of the Civil War 1: Bull Run, Epic Battles of the Civil War 2: Shiloh, Epic
Battles of the Civil War 3: Antietam and American Civil War-Epic Battles of The Civil War 4:
Gettysburg.
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In my opinion the best overall documentary Civil War graphic novel is Battle Lines-A Graphic
History of the Civil War (Hill and Wang) by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm (Author, Illustrator) and Ari
Kelman.
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The best graphic novel for educational purposes is The Civil War I and II (Chester) by Bentley
Boyd. A more specialized Civil War read by Bentley Boyd is Civil War Confederate Leaders
(Chester).
Wayne Vasant has created two excellent graphic novels that are more specialized reads
including Grant vs Lee and The Graphic History of Gettysburg (Zenith Press).
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04) War Comics set in the Spanish-American War

There are two comic books about the Spanish-American War but only one is a war comic. Teddy
Roosevelt and his Rough Riders (Avon) was published in 1950 and is typical war comic fare.
There is no mention of yellow journalism and the imperialistic side of this war in this comic
book.
I lived in San Antonio for five years and would often go to the Menger Bar in the Menger Hotel
which was were Teddy Roosevelt recruited the Rough Riders. The Menger Hotel is supposed to
be haunted and I often had a drink with the ghost of Sallie White. Well ghosts can't actually
drink but she kept me company but I was the only person who could see her. Sallie had some
interesting observations as to how the hotel and especially the clientele had changed over the
decades.
In 2016, the Rough Riders (Aftershock) were resurrected but this version of the Rough riders is
clearly an example of speculative fiction and not a war comic and will be dealt with in the 11)
War Comics plus Speculative Fiction part of this collection of articles.
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05) War Comics set in WW I

The most famous World War I comic book hero is Enemy Ace (DC). Enemy Ace, aka Hans von
Hammer, first appeared in Our Army at War # 151 and as a Prussian aristocrat believes in a
warrior code i.e. chivalry even in the modern battlefield. In Enemy Ace Special #1, a French
pilot salutes the Enemy Ace even as his plane goes down in flames.
This sense of honor is tested when Hans von Hammer is recruited for WW II and must fight for
the very dishonorable Nazi in Enemy Ace-War in Heaven #1.
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In the Vertigo version, the Enemy Ace is old and dying and has an extended conversation with a
Vietnam vet that had been a tunnel rat. The story suggests there is a brotherhood of soldiers that
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transcends history. The death of Hans von Hammer is one of the better death scenes in comic
book history.
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The Enemy Ace shows up Swamp Thing V2 #83 in a plot that is pure speculative fiction and this
story is expanded on in the 11) War Comics plus Speculative Fiction section of this series.
DC's counterpoint to Enemy Ace is the Balloon Buster! Enemy Ace is German. The Balloon
Buster is American. The Enemy Ace is an aristocrat. The Balloon Buster is White trash. The
Enemy Ace is motivated by honor. The Balloon Buster is motivated by an inferiority complex.
The Enemy Ace goes after planes. The Balloon Buster goes after observation balloons. Enemy
Ace was a successful character. The Balloon Buster was so unsuccessful that he does not have his
own entry in Wikipedia but is only listed as a recurring character of the anthology Men of War.
Balloon Buster is not even in Don Markstein's Toonopedia. Balloon Buster first appeared in All-
American Men of War #114.
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Balloon Buster did get an entry in DC Who's Who #2 or at least the 1985 version.
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The last Balloon Buster story is a stroll down memory lane with Batman in Annual Batman-
Legends of the Dark Knight #7. Apparently, Ballo0n Buster's girlfriend was killed by a German
soldier and the Balloon Buster got his revenge three days before WW I ended and therefore his
career as a balloon buster.
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The Marvel version of DC's Enemy Ace is the far inferior Phantom Eagle (Marvel) in Marvel
Super-Heroes V1 #16. The Phantom Eagle has a secret identity and a spiffy mask which makes
the comic silly rather than gritty. The Phantom Eagle is not a war comic or much of a superhero
comic book. Neither fish nor fowl and thus did not have much success.
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Later there was an attempt to make the Phantom Eagle relevant, the silly mask and secret
identity were done away with, in War Is Hell - The First Flight of the Phantom Eagle #1. The
message is that war is hell, big surprise but the internal dialogue that was an important part of
the Enemy Ace series is not present and thus the comic fails to entertain.
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Marvel retroactively created the Freedom's Five which included the Phantom Eagle, the Crimson
Cavalier, Sir Steel, Silver Squire and Union Jack.
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World War Stories #1 (Dell) had a beautiful hand painted cover.
World War Stories #2 dealt with the Gallipoli Campaign.

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World War Stories #3, the final issue, dealt with poison gas so the comic book was topical.
Charley's War (Fleetway) is a British comic book that is considered one of the best British comic
books ever. Details of trench life like contracting lice were researched by the writer Pat Mills.
The series got a new writer and was moved to WW II but this is still mostly a WW I comic strip.
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The most gruesome comic book versions of WW I are provided by Jacques Tardi in It was the
War of the Trenches and the follow up work the Goddam this War.
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Joe Sacco wrote the WW I documentary graphic novel The Great War: July 1, 1916: The First
Day of the Battle of the Somme.
Wayne Vansant wrote the graphic novel The Red Baron obviously set in WW I.
14-18 V6 (Delcourt) is set in WW I and in V6 the problem with tanks of WW I is illustrated.

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06.1) War Comics set in WW II-Silver Age

Charlton Comics holds the record for the most WW II titles (18) but all the titles were uniformly,
pun intended, bland. The titles include Army Attack, Army War Heroes, Attack, Battlefield
Action, D-Day, Fightin' Air Force, Fightin' Army, Fightin' Marines, Fightin' Navy, Marine War
Heroes, Marines Attack, Navy War Heroes, Never Again, Soldier and Marine Comics,
Submarine Attack, US Air Force Comics, War and Attack, War at Sea and War Heroes.
ua
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Some recurring characters within the anthologies include "The American Eagle", "Shotgun
Harker and the Chicken", "The Devil's Brigade", "The Iron Corporal" and "The Lonely War of
Capt. Willy Schultz".
DC holds the record for the most memorable war heroes including Boy Commandos, Captain
Storm, Gravedigger, Gunner and Sarge, Haunted Tank, Hop Harrigan, Iron Major, Lt.
Hunters Hellcats, Mademoiselle Marie, Sgt. Rock, Easy Company, The Losers, the Unknown
Soldier and Viking Commando.
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DC has had many war comic anthologies (12) War Comic Anthologies) but only two that dealt
with stories set in WW II almost exclusively including G.I. Combat and Our Fighting Forces.
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British comics include three tiles: Commando (D.C. Thompson), Warlord (D.C. Thompson) and
Battle Picture Weekly (IPC). All three comic books tend to pay more attention to detail. Regalia,
slang used by the troops and the illustration of types of weapons used tend to be more much
more accurate than their American counterparts.
Dell comics had four WW II comic titles including Combat, McHale's Navy, War Heroes and
War Stories. McHale's Navy was based on a popular American sitcom.
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Farrell had three WW II titles including G-I in Battle, War Report, and War Stories.
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Harvey Comics had three war titles including True War Experiences, War Battles and War
Victory Adventures.
Marvel does not have as many war titles or war heroes as DC. Marvel does have a more intricate
retconned universe of superheroes operating during WW II than DC.
Captain America is by far the most famous superhero, DC or Marvel, to emerge from WW II.
The Invaders, Kid Commandos and Liberty Legion are all heroes that more or less operate
during WW II.
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The Invaders and the Liberty Legion eventually meet up in Invaders V1 #6.
Captain Savage is a war hero that is a marine as opposed to belonging to the army like the
Howling Commandos.
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Sgt. Fury is the most famous WW II war hero and of course has to meet Captain American
during WW II eventually and does so in Sgt. Fury V1 #13
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The Combat Kelly series published in the seventies was set in WW II.
St. John had two war comic titles including Anchors Andrews and Canteen Kate.
Key Publications had four war comic titles including Battle Squadron, Navy Patrol, Navy Task
Force and Battle Heroes.
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Air Fighters Comics V1 #4 (Hillman) introduced Air Boy.

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Youthful Magazines published Attack.
Holyoke Publishing published the war comic Captain Aero Comics.

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Four Star published the war comic Captain Flight Comics.
Rural Home published Eagle Comics.
Atlas/Seaboard Comics published Savage Combat Tales.

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Fiction House published Wings Comics.
Fawcett published Don Winslow of the Navy.

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06.2) War Comics set in WW II-Modern Age

The Modern Age of Comic Books is more or less from the 1980s to the present. The quantity of
comics set in WW II in the Modern Age is less than the Silver Age of Comics. However, the
quality of Modern Age WW II war comics is far higher than during the Silver Age.
Berlin #1 by Jason Lutes deals with Berlin in the period just before WW II. This is a collection of
small stories that the reader already knows will culminate in the biggest story in the history of
the world i.e. WW II. There is an Upstairs, Downstairs aspect to Berlin as the comic book shifts
from a conversation by Hitler in issue 17 to a sailor trying to cheer up a Jewish friend with a jig
in issue 18.
Berlin - The Seven Dwarves (Cinebooks) has detailed art and follows the story of GIs during
WW II.
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Dogs of War (Scholastic) includes three stories about three different dogs set in three different
wars including WW II.
Garth Ennis is THE Modern Age WW II writer and has written the following WW II comic books
Adventures in the Rifle Brigade (Vertigo), Adventures in the Rifle Brigade: Operation Bollock
(Vertigo), Battlefields (Dynamite), the Unknown Soldier V3 (Vertigo), War Story (Avatar), War
Stories (Vertigo), and World of Tanks (Dark Horse).
The first war comics of Garth Ennis are Adventures in the Rifle Brigade (Vertigo) and
Adventures in the Rifle Brigade: Operation Bollock have a unit of misfits trying to find one of
Hitler's testicles. The Rifle Brigade was edgy dark humor for comic books when the series came
out but has not aged well. The characterization is too broad for adults and too dark for children.
The fact that the old tired Dirty Dozen trope is being used yet again doesnt help.
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Battlefields (Dynamite) uses indirect, understated characterization to explore the dynamics of

interesting characters in interesting situations as shown in Battlefields - Night Witches #1.
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The same character reappears in the last series Battlefields - Motherland #1 and has changed
dramatically since her first appearance in Night Witches.
Garth Ennis takes an interesting character and makes the character even more interesting in
Unknown Soldier V3 #1 (Vertigo).
War Story (Avatar), War Stories (Vertigo) and World of Tanks cover a lot of the same territory
and are not as good as the stories in Battlefields.
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Japan may or may not have a huge library of war comics in Japanese dealing with WW II but
this series of articles limits itself to material that has been published in English. Message to
Adolf by Osamu Tezuka follows the lives of three men named Adolf including Adolf Hitler.
Barefoot Gen by Keiji Nakazawa deals with the aftermath of Hiroshima. The author of the comic
book is a Hiroshima survivor.
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Maus (Penguin Press) by Art Spiegelman is about The Holocaust and is generally considered
one of the top five comic books ever created.
Operation: Broken Wings, 1936 (Boom) is an espionage thriller set in pre WW II.
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Pin-up (Dargaud) is a Euro-comic that uses detailed art and intricate plot lines related to
various GI flyers in WW II except for the last volume which is about the Cold War. There is also
a subplot about Pin-Up gal back in the US that acts as a model for a comic book strip called
Poison Ivy. The Poison Ivy model resembles Bettie Page.
Star Spangled War Stories V2 (DC) introduced G. I. Zombie.

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The Pacific Air Farce (Bamboo) uses cartoon art to look at WW II using dark humor.
Wayne Vansant has written and illustrated several books set in WW II including Bombing Nazi
Germany, Knights of the Skull - Battle Group Peiper (Caliber), Normandy: A Graphic History
of D-Day, and The Battle of the Bulge.
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World War 2 Tales (Chester the Crab's) is a graphic novel designed to teach students about WW
II.
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07) War Comics set in the Korean War
As I surveyed the 41 titles that dealt with the Korean War exclusively I was struck as to how each and
every title fit into four categories. There are six titles that introduce a war hero. There are four titles
that deal with the air force and mostly jets fighting it out in MiG Alley. There are 20 anthology titles
that deal with the Korean War exclusively. Finally there are ten titles that are anthologies that focus
on the Marines.
The Korean War heroes are Bill Battle (Fawcett), Buddies in the US Army (Avon), Captain Jet
(Farrell), Captain Steve Savage over Korea (Avon) and Combat Casey (Atlas). None of these war
heroes has survived the test of time. The two big war heroes in comic books are Sgt. Rock (DC) and
Sgt. Fury (Marvel) and both are set in WW II not the Korean War! The Korean War is nestled
between our biggest war WW II and our longest war, until Afghanistan, Vietnam and is known as
"the forgotten war" and the so maybe it is natural that the Korean War heroes are the forgotten
heroes.
In Bill Battle #1 (Fawcett) we find out that Bill is such a nice guy he carries the back packs of other
soldiers. Bill Battle's simplistic characterization is that Bill is a braggart but the GI's under him notice
that Bill has the goods to back up his bragging and that he is a softy underneath it all. The titled
lasted four issues. Bill Battle does not have an entry in Wikipedia or Don Markstein's Toonopedia
and probably doesnt deserve one!
Buddies in the US Army #1 (Avon) explains the basic premise of the comic book. Mike and Jon are
buddies that like the same gals so they fight but on the battle field they come together. How many
times can you use this gimmick? Apparently about three or four times per issue. There were only two
issues so I guess the gimmick wasnt enough to sustain reader interest. Buddies in the US Army does
not have an entry in Wikipedia or Don Markstein's Toonopedia and probably doesnt deserve one!
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Captain Jet (Farrell) flies jets and thats all you need to know about Captain Jet. Captain Jet survived
five issues. Captain Jet does not have an entry in Wikipedia or Don Markstein's Toonopedia but did
get one in Comic Vine so thats something!
Captain Steve Savage (Avon) doesnt have a cool name like Captain Jet but did survive eight issues
which is a record for Korean War heroes! In addition while Captain Steve Savage does not have an
entry in Wikipedia or Don Markstein's Toonopedia but did get one in Comic Vine!
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Atlas which later becomes Marvel comics has two Korean War heroes. They both have Combat as
their first name. There is Combat Casey who has a red beard. There is Combat Kelly who has red hair
but not a red beard! That's all you need to know! Combat Casey lasted 34 issues. Combat Casey does
not have an entry in Wikipedia or Don Markstein's Toonopedia but has entries in Comic Vine and the
Marvel Database.
Combat Kelly is the celebrity among the Korean War heroes and has a Wikipedia entry, Comic Vine
entry and even a Marvel Database entry, wow! The Korean War version printed in the fifties lasted
44 issues.
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The four anthology air force titles that did not have a recurring war hero are Jet Aces (Fiction
House), Jet Fighters (Standard), US Fighting Air Force #4 (Superior) and War Birds (Fiction
House).
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The 20 anthology titles include Attack (Trojan), Battle Attack (Key), Battle Cry (Key), Battle Stories
(Super Comics), Battle Stories (Fawcett), Battlefront (Standard), Fighting Man (Farrell), Fighting
Undersea Commandos (Avon), Fighting War Stories (Story Comics), GI Joe (Ziff Davis), GI Tales V1
(Atlas), Soldier Comics (Fawcett), US Paratroops (IW), US Paratroops (Avon), US Tank
Commandos (Avon), US Tank Commandos (IW), War Fury (Comic Media), War Heroes (Ace),
Yanks in Battle (Quality) and Combat (Atlas).
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Based on the number of titles, the Marines and the jets more or less fought the North Koreans and
Chinese alone! The ten Marine centered titles include Marines at War (Atlas), Marines in Action
(Atlas), Fightin' Marines (St. John), Fighting Leathernecks (Toby), Monty Hall of the US Marines
(Toby Press), Tell it to the Marines (Toby Press), Tell It to The Marines (IW), United States Marines
(Magazine Enterprises), US Marines in Action (Avon) and With the Marines on the Battlefronts of
the World (Toby).
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08) War Comics set in the Vietnam War

I would like to go ahead and state my own prejudices at the very start of this article. I did
participate in anti-war demonstrations at Michigan State University in my early teens. I have
always considered our military involvement in Vietnam to be both illegal and immoral. I did
visit the C Chi tunnels in Saigon in 2002 and was impressed by the lengths the Vietnamese
were willing to go to achieve self-determination.
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I met with a victim of Agent Orange at the Vnh Mc tunnels, in 2015. The victim is shaking my
hand and is wearing an Adidas hat in the picture below.
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The victim was more or less my age. I have managed to get a doctorate and travel all over this
world. The poor Agent Orange victim had trouble walking and talking. Who can you blame for
what happened to this poor soul? The Nazis were evil people that needed to be stopped. I am
proud of what we did during WW II. In the Vietnam War we were the Nazis and I ashamed of
what we did in Vietnam! I will have difficulty being objective and judging comics about the
Vietnam War using an aesthetic rather than political methodology.
The Vietnam War is probably the most controversial war in US history. From the point of view
of Vietnam War protestors the Vietnam War was more or less a evil war. The other point of view
is that the Vietnam War was a good war like World War II and therefore comic books that glorify
the Vietnam War, like past comic books have glorified other wars, are acceptable. Comic books
about the Vietnam War also reflect these two POV's. The 'Nam, Born, Vietnam Journal, Such a
Lovely Little War: Saigon 1961-63 and The Other Side all reflect the POV that the Vietnam War
was a more or less a bad and/or special war and the subject matter should be approached
differently than a war like WW II.
The 'Nam was published by Marvel comics and started out as typical war comic and takes a
sympathetic look at the experiences of US soldiers in Vietnam in the first issue.
However, by the last issue the narrative tone has changed dramatically. The last issue shows the
war from the POV towards of a North Vietnamese female operative and in the last box in last
page has a clueless American officer stating, "Just a kids drawing" when the drawing is actually
so much more than that! One of the better uses of indirect characterization in a comic book to
make a point. Even towards the end, the US soldiers never had a clue as to what was going on in
Vietnam!
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Marvel's second foray into the Vietnam War is Born. Born examines the dehumanization of
Frank Castle in Vietnam. Frank Castle had made a brief appearance in The 'Nam.
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What happened to Frank Castle in Vietnam is inescapable and he cannot go home again and will
inevitably become the Punisher (Marvel).
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John Lomax served in Vietnam and wrote the Vietnam Journal. The comic book is noted for
being gritty, realistic and avoiding the glorification of war.
I present the last page to give the reader some idea of the story arc of the graphic novel.
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Such a Lovely Little War: Saigon 1961-63 is from the POV of a young man and his family living
in Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
The Other Side (Vertigo) goes back and forth between the POV of an American soldier and a
North Vietnamese soldier. This POV back and forth technique has the unconscious effect of
establishing moral equivalence between the US and North Vietnam.
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Nguyen Charlie, Dong Xoai, Will Eisner's Last Day in Vietnam and Tales of the Green Beret all
normalize the Vietnam War. From this comic book POV, the Vietnam War was just another
generic war and glorification and/or trivialization of the US role in Vietnam is not a problem.
Nguyen Charlie is a comic strip that is just like any other comic strip you would see in the
Sunday funnies except the setting is just happens to be the Vietnam War. If you dont
understand why Hogan's Heroes is an obscenity then you will not understand why Nguyen
Charlies is just wrong! The trivialization of a war that cost millions of Vietnamese their lives, not
to mention the lives of thousands of US soldiers is obscene. The author of the strip claimed that
he did not want to politicize the war but trivialization is a type of overt propaganda that can be
much more toxic than overt propaganda. However, the original comic strip was published in
Stars and Stripes, a US military newspaper, and if this comic strip helped American soldiers
bear the horror of Vietnam then this is a mitigating factor. Maybe trivialization is a necessary
psychological defense mechanism when faced with daily horror. However, the fact that these
comic strips were gathered together and published in two collected editions by Arthouse Books
like the subject matter was Calvin and Hobbes is beyond obscene. Finally, the comic strip is just
not all that funny on any level.
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Dong Xoai was written by Joe Kubert. Joe Kubert is famous for creating Sgt. Rock, DC's
foremost WW II war hero. I liked Sgt. Rock as a kid. I dont mind the simplistic approach to war
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of Sgt. Rock when it comes to the topic of WW II. Dong Xoai is basically a WW II comic book
that could have been written in the fifties. Dong Xoia is the story of brave Americans doing good
work in a place called Vietnam but the setting could be anyplace, anywhere. Joe Kubert used
unfinished pencil work minus inking and coloring as is the norm in US comic books and this is
interesting artistically. Joe Kubert also created Enemy Ace who I deal with in 05) War Comics
set in WW I. Joe Kubert was able to apply a certain amount of moral relativism in the case of
Enemy Ace but wasnt able to do this in Dong Xoai.
Will Eisner's Last Day in Vietnam has a WW II feel from top to bottom. Will Eisner is more or
less an inventor of many comic book narrative conventions and is the first person to really add a
theoretical foundation to the art of comic books in Comics and Sequential Art (1985). Eisner is
always pushing comic books as a medium and is doing something interesting in terms of plot in
this book. In the story, A Dull Day in Korea, an American soldier about to shoot an unarmed,
middle aged, Korean lady but the story comes to a very undramatic end which seems very true to
life.
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I also liked the Eisner story The Casualty which I present below:
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I think Eisner just got a bunch of stories from GI's and wrote up then most interesting ones.
Eisner, in a manner similar to Dong Xai, uses pencil work minus inking and color but detailed
pencil work is used unlike Dong Xoai's unfinished pencil work. The art work is excellent when it
comes to capturing facial expressions but this is a forte of Eisner overall. All in all a good read
despite not having an anti-war slant. Maybe I can place aesthetics over political correctness!
Dell published the very first Vietnam War comic, Jungle War Stories which was titled Guerilla
War starting in issue 12. Jungle War Stories had hand painted covers. Who can resist buying a
comic book with a cover like the one in Jungle War Stories #10?
Guerilla War had line art covers. Both titled versions were about brave soldiers in Vietnam
doing the best they can with no mention of the absurdity of the Vietnam War. Apparently
napalm is not war crime but a necessity as we see in Guerilla War #12.
Another view of the "necessity" of the use of napalm is provided by the Phan Thi Kim Phuc
picture below.
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Tales of the Green Beret is the type of Vietnam War comic I hate! Joe Kubert returns to Vietnam
and once again gets Vietnam mixed up with World War II. Tales of the Green Beret is a
collection of jumping the shark plots that show war is not hell but in fact a really fun game
that should be played by the whole family and especially your sons! I suppose this "War is a
Game" theme is pretty bad when applied to any war but for reasons I have mentioned in the
beginning, I find this theme especially obscene in the case of comic books about the Vietnam
War.
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The Vietnam War: A Graphic Novel by Dwight Jon Zimmerman, Wayne Vansant and Chuck
Horner takes a documentary approach to the Vietnam War.
Vietnamerica A Family's Journey by G.B. Tran also takes on a documentary approach but from
a more personal perspective and focuses on how the Vietnam War affected his family from
Vietnam. Tran's family ultimately ends up in the United States. The author knew little about his
Vietnamese heritage until he was older and visited Vietnam in 2001.
In War Wings #3 (Charlton), the reader finds out that you can't trust any Vietnamese but of
course we already knew that.
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09) War Comics set in the War in Afghanistan

There are only four war comics set in the War in Afghanistan and they include Army@Love,
War is Boring: Bored Stiff, Scared to Death in the World's Worst War Zones, Dougies War and
To Afghanistan and Back: A Graphic Travelogue.
Army@Love (Vertigo) is pretty silly. The idea is allowing soldiers to fight as couples and using
consumerism causes US soldiers to become such effective warriors that the construction of the
Meccaway Mall is possible in this alternate universe Afghanistan. Army@Love was drawn and
scripted by Rick Veitch. Vertigo is an imprint of DC comics. This is more or less a mainstream
comic book but more science fiction than a war comic. The serious real life issues of the War in
Afghanistan are not dealt with by Army@Love.
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War is Boring-Bored Stiff, Scared to Death in the World's Worst War Zones by Dave Axe and
Matt Bors is based on the real life experiences off Dave Axe. Dave Axe was a war correspondent
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who covered the War in Afghanistan. The graphic novel is basically a documentary of the
experiences of Dave Axe and even provides a lot of technical detail about improvised explosive
devices.
Dougies War by Dave Turbitt deals with the Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome problems of a
Scottish vet that served in the War in Afghanistan. The title Dougies War is a play on Charley's
War that was dealt with in 06.1) War Comics set in WW II-Silver Age.
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To Afghanistan and Back: A Graphic Travelogue by Ted Rall is a sardonic view of the War in
Afghanistan.
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10) War Comics set in the Iraq War

There are only six war comics set in the Iraq War including Combat Zone: True Tales of G.I.s in
Iraq (Marvel), Pride of Baghdad (Vertigo), Sheriff of Babylon (Vertigo) and Walking Wounded:
Uncut Stories from Iraq (NBM).
Combat Zone: True Tales of G.I.s in Iraq (Marvel) is a nice two dimensional comic war comic
that almost seems anachronistic in its simplistic take on the Iraq War. The US troops are killers
but have enough goodness to hope the souls of their dead enemies rest in peace.
The series ends with a G.I. saving his comrades in arms by putting his body between them and
an exploding grenade.
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Pride of Baghdad (Vertigo) is from the POV of lions that have escaped from a zoo during the
invasion of Bagdad. The graphic novel is loosely based on a true incident. There is some
interesting panoramic art work. The character development of the lion pride is really well done.
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Sheriff of Babylon (Vertigo) is a police officer from Florida that is trying to create a US style
police force in the Green Zone after the Americans occupy Bagdad.
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Walking
Wounded: Uncut Stories from Iraq (NBM) explores post-traumatic stress caused by the War in
Iraq. Mal, the illustrator, uses orange in juxtaposition to the black and white coloring to
contrast reality from flashbacks in an interesting manner.
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The Haunted Tank from WW II makes a showing in Iraq in the Vertigo version. This is a buddy
film story. You have the Black tank commander forced to buddy up with J. E. B. Stuart. The idea
is interesting but just doesnt work in this case.
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In War-Fix (NBM), the reader discovers that war can be a drug.

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11) War Comics plus Speculative Fiction

Many war comics have speculative fiction elements. Sometimes speculative fiction comics have
war comic elements. Both these types of comic books are examined in this article. Speculative
fiction includes the genres of science fiction, fantasy, horror, alternative history, magic realism,
and superhero fiction.
In the 195o's saw the publication of four atomic age science fiction war comics including Atom
Age Combat (St. John), Atomic Attack (Youthful Magazines), Atomic War! (Ace) and
Commander Battle and the Atomic Sub (American Comics Group).
Then there is the very long story of the war hero Blackhawk (DC) and his back and forth from
being a war hero to being a superhero and back again. Blackhawk started out as a squadron of
air aces (Blackhawk V1 #9) complete with racist stereotypes.
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However, in Blackhawk V1 #228-230 the Blackhawks were turned into superheroes more or
less due to pressure from the Justice League of America.
By Blackhawk V1 #239, the Blackhawks were back to being war heroes rather than superheroes
but this back and forth did not save volume one of the series.
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In 1988, Howard Chaykin made a desperate attempt to make the Blackhawks relevant and
somehow the ultra-patriotic Blackhawks are reframed as anti-establishment figures with some
very fancy footwork.
The third version of Blackhawk brings the Blackhawks back to their WW II roots.
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The New 52 version of the Blackhawks has them warped into some sort of super soldiers. The
leader goes from having black hair to white hair. Why? The New 52 is more or less a crime
against comic books and one should pretend this misguided comic book event never happened.
Enemy Ace (DC) was a WW I flyer as opposed to Blackhawk that shares the DC universe with
Blackhawk but amazingly they have never crossed paths despite the fact that DC has established
that Enemy Ace was active in WW II (see 05) War Comics set in WW I). Enemy Ace was spared
the awful speculative fiction twisting that was done to Blackhawk but Alan Moore could not
resist placing Enemy Ace in the middle of a story of horror in Swamp Thing V2 #83.
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A Steam Punk version of Theodore Roosevelt shows up for the Battle of San Juan Hill in Rough
Riders (Aftershock).
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Many aspects of military life suck but one of the big ones is that you have to wear a uniform.
This uniform more or less obliterates your individuality and for some reason people like being
individuals. I think the uniform is one of the top three reasons I never did and never would join
the armed forces. That and the fact you can get maimed or killed in battle.
Young people might like a military that allows them to join something bigger than them but at
the same time keep their individuality. Superheroes get to display exaggerated individuality
through the use of their unique costumes. On the other hand, superheroes dont exist while war
heroes do exist in the real world. How about a world in which you get the costume of a
superhero plus the plausibility of a war hero?
Liberty Scouts Comics (Centaur) is an obscure comic book printed in 1941 that is probably the
first comic book to unite military experts from different branches of the military and with
different uniforms in order to form a single squad.
This idea of an army made up of specialists with different uniforms was explored again in the
sixties classic, M.A.R.S. Patrol Total War (Gold Key). I remember reading the first issue as a
youngster but never read the whole series until years later as an adult. There was something
about this series that I like but I couldn't figure it out. I think even as a youngster I realized that
the M.A.R.S. Patrol combined the plausibility of a war hero with the hyper-individualism of a
superhero in a tidy conceptual framework. The comic book included a little factual information
about real life weapons.
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The idea of military in which each member is a specialist and therefore allowed to retain some
sort of individuality was taken to an extreme with G.I. Joe as can be seen in the wrap around
cover of G.I. Joe - Order Of Battle V1 #1 (Marvel).
G.I. Joe is more science fiction than war comic and this point is reinforced in the Transformers
vs G.I. Joe (IDW) series.
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The art of the Transformers vs G.I. Joe series combines Jack Kirby style art work with sixties
psychedelic coloring that is a retro synthesis meant to disturb baby boomers like myself and
worked in my case. There is also both direct and indirect fourth wall action in an entertaining
manner in Transformers vs. G.I. Joe #13.
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The Vietnam War is the setting for three speculative fiction-war comics including '68 (Image),
Light and Darkness War (Epic Comics) and Super Green Beret (Lightning Comics).
'68 is zombie apocalypse meets the Vietnam War! Horror comic plus war comic.
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The Light and Darkness War shows us a Valhalla for Vietnam Vets. Fantasy comic plus war
comic.
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Super Green Beret is the story of Captain Marvel (DC) but the boy turns into a Super Green
Beret instead. This comic book is more a superhero comic book than a war comic book.
Alternate history is one of the subgenres of speculative fiction. Alternate history stories are set in
a world in which one important historical event has changed. I was genuinely surprised how
many alternate history war comics are out there. What if the Confederacy had won its
independence from the United States? Well you would have Captain Confederacy (Epic
Comics)!
What if the War of the Worlds, Martians, more or less, had shown up right in the middle of
some WW I trench warfare? This is the premise of War of the World War One (Delcourt).
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Just as there are more war comics about WW II than any other American War, there are more
alternate history World War II comics than any other war. Hindenburg (Grandangle) is a
universe in which mutants exist during WW II and are used by the Nazis. The comic book is long
and tedious and well worth avoiding.
The Royals-Masters of War (Vertigo) assumes the royals of various countries have superpowers
but also have some sort of pact that prevents mutual assured destruction which is broken by one
British royal during WW II. The series has excellent artwork and good characterization and the
writer makes the premise work.
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What if an alien formula to create enhanced humans in limited numbers had been created by the
Nazis on the eve of the invasion of Berlin? That is the premise of ber (Avatar). ber is a great
read and by far the best of all the alternate history comic books listed in this article!
The premise of the formula is explained in ber #3.
There are different classes of enhanced humans and the lower classes can gang up on a higher
class as is shown in ber #5.
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ber Invasion is the follow up series. Great Britain has been conquered. The Germans have
landed and are moving from the East Coast to the West Coast. The Lincoln Memorial has seen
better days in ber Invasion #2.
What if the US had not entered WW II but instead US volunteers had entered the war? That is
the premise of World War II: 1946 (Antarctic).
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What if the Germans had developed jet planes before the allies? That is the premise of
Wunderwaffen (Delcourt). The artwork is the highly detailed artwork one comes to expect from
Franco-Belgium comic books and this style makes the airplanes seem real. I think war buffs
interested in WW II military planes will find this series interesting for the art work alone.
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What if Hitler had been killed in 1939? Turns out a dead Hitler would have been a good thing for
the German military as has been suggested by any number of war historians. The premature
death of Hitler is the premise of WW 2.2 (Dargaud).
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The first volume of Weird War Tales (DC) was an anthology in which every type of speculative
fiction was mixed with different war settings but the anthology mostly focused on horror. The
first volume even had a horror host!
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The second volume of Weird War Tales is not so much horror as just plain weird as
demonstrated in the first issue of volume 2 of the series.
What if WW II soldiers stumbled into an island filled with dinosaurs? The dinosaurs exist on
Dinosaur Island somewhere in the South Pacific. That is the premise of "The War that Time
Forgot" that never got its own series but ran in various issues of Star Spangled War Stories in
the Silver Age. I was not aware that dinosaurs had such serpentine tails until I read this series.
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The idea of dinosaurs versus soldiers was resurrected 2012 in G.I. Combat #1 (DC).
What if monsters, especially classic Universal Monsters, were used as GI's? That is the premise
of DC's Creature Commandos! The first line up appeared in Weird War Tales V1 #93.
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The second line up appeared in Creature Commandos #1.

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In Weird War Tales V1 #111, the Creature Commandos meet G.I. Robot (DC) on Dinosaur
Island! How could any red blooded boy not buy that issue!
G.I. Robot had appeared earlier in Weird War Tales V1 #101.
Marvel has their own version of the Creature Commandos originally called Nick Fury's Howling
Commandos!
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There was a second line up as part of the Secret Wars story arc and was named Mrs. Deadpool
and the Howling Commandos #1.
The third version of this concept first appeared in Howling Commandos of S.H.I.E.L.D #1.
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DC has ghosts helping the allies during WW II. The Ghost Patrol is a trio of ghosts that help the
allies.
The far more popular Haunted Tank has the ghost of J.E.B. Stuart helping US troops in WW II
and the Iraq War.
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The first ghostly soldier appeared in 1942 in Devil Dog Comics #1 (Street & Smith). The ghost
was the spirit of the US Marines and never appeared again.
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War Heroes (Image) written by Mark Millar and is similar to ber but the super powered
soldiers are American GIs and the enemy is Al-Qaeda.
What if Santa Claus fought the Nazis? That is the premise of the very silly Santa Claus vs. The
Nazis (Markosia).
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12) War Comic Anthologies

One common type of war comic are anthologies. Comic anthologies will have several short
stories that are generally unrelated. The stories may be one-shots or serialized. Sometimes
anthologies can be used to showcase particular heroes so reader feedback can be used to decide
if the hero is worthy of their own title. Showcase (DC) was a, none war comic, that was the
spring board for many superheroes, including the Silver Age Flash, who later got their own title.
If a war comic anthology specialized in a particular war then that anthology is reviewed in the
article dealing with that particular war. Silver age war comic anthologies that focused on WW II
more or less exclusively are dealt with in the 06.1) War Comics set in WW II-Silver Age section
of this collection of articles. Silver age war comic anthologies that focused on the Korean War
more or less exclusively are dealt with in 07) War Comics set in the Korean War section of this
collection of articles.
DC has three war comic anthologies that deal with various wars and not just one war including
Men of War later renamed All-American Men of War, Our Army at War later renamed Sgt.
Rock and Star Spangled War Stories. DC war comic anthologies are mostly remembered for
introducing interesting on going war heroes.
All-American Men of War introduced several war heroes including Tank Killer, Johnny Cloud
and the WW I hero, Lt. Savage, the Balloon Buster which is dealt with in more detail in 05) War
Comics set in WW I.
Tank Killer first appeared in All-American Men of War #69.
Johnny Cloud first appeared in All-American Men of War #

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Men of War introduced several war heroes including Gravedigger, Dateline: Frontline and Rosa
Master-Spy. Gravedigger was introduced Men of War V1 #1.
The story of a war correspondent titled Dateline: Frontline was introduced in the back pages of
Men of War V1 #4.
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Rosa Master - Spy was introduced in Men of War V1 #17.
Our Army at War introduced Sgt. Rock in #81. Sgt. Rock in turn is probably the second most
important war hero in comic book history. Marvel's Sgt. Fury is number one but only because
Nick Fury goes on to become a first tier character in the Marvel Universe.
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Our Army at War introduced Enemy Ace in #151 and he is dealt with in detail in 05) War
Comics set in WW I. The Unknown Solider first appeared in Our Army at War #168.
Star Spangled War Stories introduced Mademoiselle Marie in Star Spangled War Stories V1
#84. Marie may be war hero but she is still a woman so of course she cries in the end. I can't
recall Sgt. Rock ever crying.
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The concept of GI's versus dinosaurs known as "The War that Time Forgot" was introduced in
Star Spangled War Stories and is dealt with in detail in the 11) War Comics plus
Speculative Fiction section of this war comics series.
Atlas was a precursor of Marvel and published the anthology Marines in Battle.
Marvel later published War is Hell. The comic book started out as a place to reprint war comics
and then veered into horror.
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EC Comics has two war comic titles including Frontline Combat and Two-Fisted Tales.
Frontline Combat #1 includes a story about the Korean War that shows how war dehumanizes
soldiers.
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Two-Fisted Tales started out as adventure anthology with some war stories and then became a
war comic anthology. This can be seen in the variety of stories in Two-Fisted Tales #18.
In my opinion the best war comic anthology ever was Blazing Combat (Warren). The
controversial story "Landscape" in the first issue has a strong anti-war message.
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The story "Face to Face", the truth of about the glory of war is revealed.
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Dell published two totally forgettable war comic anthologies: Air War and War Comics.
Warfront (Harvey) introduced the world to Dynamite Joe.

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Eventually Dynamite Joe gets an arch enemy named Half Mask.
Key Publications had two war anthologies which include Battle Fire and Flying Aces.
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American Air Forces #1 by Magazine Enterprises.
Contact Comics #1 by Holyoke Publishing.
Fight the Enemy #1 by Tower Comics.
Foxhole #16 by I. W. Publishing-Super Comics

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Parents Magazine Press published True Aviation and True Aviation Comics Digest.
Charlton published the anthology War.

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War Comics

01) Introduction to War Comics

02) War Comics set in the American Revolution

03) War Comics set in the American Civil War

04) War Comics set in the Spanish-American War

05) War Comics set in WW I

World War Stories #1 (Dell) had a beautiful hand painted cover.

World War Stories #2 dealt with the Gallipoli Campaign.

14-18 V6 (Delcourt) is set in WW I and in V6 the problem with tanks of WW I is illustrated.

06.1) War Comics set in WW II-Silver Age

Air Fighters Comics V1 #4 (Hillman) introduced Air Boy.

Youthful Magazines published Attack.

Holyoke Publishing published the war comic Captain Aero Comics.

Four Star published the war comic Captain Flight Comics.

Rural Home published Eagle Comics.

Atlas/Seaboard Comics published Savage Combat Tales.

Fiction House published Wings Comics.

Fawcett published Don Winslow of the Navy.

06.2) War Comics set in WW II-Modern Age

Battlefields (Dynamite) uses indirect, understated characterization to explore the dynamics of

Star Spangled War Stories V2 (DC) introduced G. I. Zombie.

07) War Comics set in the Korean War

08) War Comics set in the Vietnam War

09) War Comics set in the War in Afghanistan

10) War Comics set in the Iraq War

In War-Fix (NBM), the reader discovers that war can be a drug.

11) War Comics plus Speculative Fiction

The premise of the formula is explained in ber #3.

The second line up appeared in Creature Commandos #1.

G.I. Robot had appeared earlier in Weird War Tales V1 #101.

12) War Comic Anthologies

Johnny Cloud first appeared in All-American Men of War #

Rosa Master - Spy was introduced in Men of War V1 #17.

Warfront (Harvey) introduced the world to Dynamite Joe.

Eventually Dynamite Joe gets an arch enemy named Half Mask.

American Air Forces #1 by Magazine Enterprises.

Contact Comics #1 by Holyoke Publishing.

Fight the Enemy #1 by Tower Comics.

Foxhole #16 by I. W. Publishing-Super Comics

Charlton published the anthology War.

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