The main reason for the diminished quality is the lack of a consistent host. The first few issues either don't have a host or it involves soldiers huddling around a campfire or bunker telling ghost stories. Even worse, DC would try out something really strange, like a living mound of seaweed to spin those weird war yarns. But by issue #13, they decided to use the living embodiment of Death and comic book history was made.
With Death, any time period was now open to a good weird war tale. From the times of Vikings and Romans to the robot wars of the 22nd century, if people died, Death would be there. There's even one story set during Vietnam which I thought was very interesting as the Comics Code Authority actually made mention or use of Vietnam off limits in comics for a brief time.
Featuring a slew of comics greats like Ross Andru, Joe Orlando, and Marv Wolfman- the main star of this series is Joe Kubert. I don't think this series would've gotten off the ground if not for his efforts. Just about every one of the first 20 or so issues has either a cover or story by him. I think he even took over editing duties around issue #8. So that explains the advance in quality at some point.
I really would love to have these in single issue form. But seeing how sub par some of these first issues were, I'm kinda glad I didn't. This is a good way to get the first two dozen books without spending and arm and a leg to get them. Plus, now I can save money up to buy the later issues which are far more superior.
An interesting time capsule looking into the early days of a classic comic book series that combines war, sci-fi, horror, and everything weird.
Worth Consuming
Rating: 7 out of 10 stars.
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