Our Army at War #81 Facsimile Edition

Whether or not you consider this facsimile edition of Our Army at War to contain the first appearance of the tough as nails Sgt. Rock, this issue was a fascinating piece of pop culture history.

A prototype of Sgt. Frank Rock had appeared in the war anthology series a couple of years prior. Because the character is referred to as 'Sgt. Rocky', some historians and fans consider issues #82-83 to be the soldier's official first appearances in comics, when he receives his official moniker. It feels a bit like the debate over what is the first appearance of Wolverine. Is it #180 with the Canuck's entrance on the book's very last panel or is it Incredible Hulk #181 where not only does the mutant appear throughout the whole book but makes the cover as well? What cannot be denied is that Our Army at War #81 marks the first appearance of the World War II Army unit called Easy Company, whose troops are the focus of 2 separate adventures. 

The cover by Jerry Grandenetti is super clean. It features the Rock character taking on a Nazi soldier welding a potato masher, while the American hero carries a fallen comrade on his back. It, along with the vibrant reproduction of those late 1950s ads are what sold me on the book. As for the material inside, it was a bit of a mixed bag that had great art, neat ideas and very limited dialogue to the point of getting annoying.

Aside from a couple of one and two-page shorts and a letters page, the main body of this book is written by Bob Haney. There's the Rocky story, the other Easy Company tale where 2 grunts take on an entire Nazi division, a morality play about a paratrooper jealous of his brother: the fighter pilot and a story of cat and mouse in the African desert. Each story focuses on a single phrase or word which is then used as nauseam in literally every panel. For instance, the paratrooper keeps referring to himself as a 'parachute pilot' because of how he can maneuver like a pro when falling while strapped to the silks. I've never heard this term before. It very well could be a thing soldier's during the second world war said. But the problem was that the jumper keeps beating himself up about not being good enough to be an actual pilot to the point I could pretty much determine what the character was going to whine about on the next scene... Verbatim!

I swear, if those 2 dog faces from Easy Company used the word 'pocket' one more time, I was going to scream. I think my wife appreciates that I kept my frustrations from just writing this review. But what do you know? The freakin' captured Kraut commander at the end of the story just has to say 'pocket!'

I did notice something unique about this DC Comics facsimile edition. At the bottom of the front page, underneath all the copyright jargon, there was a disclaimer. It stated that this issue contained material that was considered racist and stereotypical for the time period; both intentional and unintentional. Rather than remove the offense material, DC decided to leave this issue uncensored for historical purposes and in hopes of opening dialogue about sensitive matters. I'm perfectly okay with that. I just can't figure out what DC is talking about.

There's Nazis galore in this book. I think they get called 'Ratzis' at least once. Other than that, the stories in this book are extremely tame. I'm wondering if the disclaimer was about the ads, which are vintage 1959 comic book advertisements. One ad tells kids how to make money selling Bible Quotes door-to-door. Could that be the offensive material? The Bible doesn't offend me. But I know it can be a source of derision for some. Or is it the one-pager titled ' What's Your B.Q.?', brought to you by the National Social Welfare Assembly?

In this public service announcement, readers are asked to test their Brotherhood Quotient.  To do this, readers are asked to rate on a 4-point scale how well they like things such as 'cabbage, alligators, Catholics, Jews and Negroes'. The idea of this seems very shocking and misguided; which makes me wonder why the school district I work for hasn't tried to implement this test before with our high schoolers. You know what they say about where the road of good intentions leads to and I'm just gobsmacked to think that any public program with the purpose of spreading social unity thought this print commercial was a good idea! Even in 1959!!!

You know, I really can't figure out how to end this review. Holy cow! I'm dumbfounded. I plan on keeping this as I doubt I could ever afford a copy of the original and the Ross Andru and Russ Heath art is amazing. But man, I thought the tests in Cosmo were bad...

Rating: 6 out of 10 stars.

Four Color #1048- The Horse Soldiers (2022 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

John Wayne. One of the top box office draws from the 1940s-60s, Wayne starred in over 170 movies in a career that spanned roughly 50 years. Though his star started to wane in the 1970s, Wayne earned an Academy Award and a Golden Globe for 1969's True Grit.  

In 1959, during the pinnacle of his career, John Wayne starred in a Civil War picture titled The Horse Soldiers. Wayne played Col. John Marlowe, a Union solider sent deep behind enemy lines to destroy a train depot and it's supply train. With Col. Marlowe is regimental surgeon Major Henry Kendall. As Marlowe's wife died during surgery, the Colonel is resentful of doctors. But he understands that will Kendall around, many of his troops will survive this mission. 

Joining the troops on the mission is Miss Hannah Hunter. Normally a Southern Belle wouldn't be a part of a union secret mission. But since Hunter and her servant Lukey know of the Union's agenda, they're both along for the ride until it's mission accomplished.

The Horse Soldiers was directed by John Ford, a frequent Wayne collaborator. Based on same name novel by Harold Sinclair, the film was distributed by United Artists. Though number one at the box office, The Horse Soldiers has been regarded as a Hollywood failure. That's because the $4 million dollar box office was not enough to recoup the high salaries of both Wayne and costar William Holden (Stalag 17).

One surprise name attached to the film is that of Althea Gibson. A professional golfer and tennis player, Gibson was the first black woman to win a grand slam title when she won the French Championships in 1956. Wimbledon and the US Nationals were won in '57. Gibson repeated those two titles the following year. The Horse Soldiers was Gibson's only film credit. While her role as Lukey did not garner her any award nods, she was praised for her refusal to say her lines in ' the stereotypical 'negro' dialect written in the script.'

The Horse Soldiers was released as part of Dell's Four-Color Series, issue #1048. The script was written by Gaylord Du Bois (Turok, Son of Stone). Wonder Woman's Mike Sekowsky penciled. The cover artwork was taken from the theatrical poster. This was not the only movie tie-in released by Dell. They also reissued the complete Harold Sinclair novel (Dell F76) with a completely different painted cover that seems to show John Wayne's character atop a steed.

Having never seen this film, I don't know how accurate the adaptation is to the film. However, I can say that the ending seems rushed. The story plot is summarized with production stills in the front inner cover. Yet, some of that introductory material is omitted from the comic itself, primarily General Grant giving his orders to Col. Marlowe. The inner back cover is utilized to finish out the story which sees Marlowe and Kendall parting ways. The artwork seems to resemble Wayne fairly well. But I couldn't pick the other actors out of a lineup; much less really telling if Sekowsky captured the likenesses of Holden, Gibson and the rest. 

Overall, an entertaining story. Good art. But the plotting seemed uneven. The opening scene seems to take over 1/3 of book's roughly 64 pages. The climatic final battle- less than 2!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Completing this review completes Task #25 (Set in the 1800s) of the 2022 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Dell Giants #26

The cover is touted as 'Walt Disney's Christmas Parade'* and the entire amount of over sized content does not disappoint. I didn't count pages. But I would estimate that this was either an 86 or 100-pager. Every story was Christmas themed from a team-up with Pluto and Grandma Duck against those tricky crows from Dumbo to a Goofy and Mickey caper involving a ton of stuffed moose heads. Then Donald and his nephews learn about Christmas in other lands from friends Tinkerbell, Jiminy Cricket and others. Uncle Scrooge gets in over his head in anticipation for a winter ball thanks to his desire to save money... Man- it was just an awesome issue from 1959. 

I was lucky to find this issue is really decent shape. There's a bunch of games and puzzles. A page to color. And no less than 3 opportunities to cut up this beauty with do-it-yourself holiday crafts. But other than a small nick on a corner on the front cover, there's not a page missing or fun page filled in. 

True, the pages have yellowed some. But the colors inside are vibrant. Especially the yellows! Those hues look almost like the printers used highlighters, those yellows are that full and bright.

The only thing that might have aged poorly was the Br'er Rabbit story. The cultural value of the Uncle Remus stories, especially in regards to the Disney film, Song of the South, has warranted a lengthy debate over whether such stories should be cancelled. If this issue was reprinted today, there's a very good chance that the Br'er Rabbit tale might have been censored if not omitted all together. I thought it was a charming story about a Americanized version of the classic trickster god character seen in stories about Loki and Anansi otherwise But yes, I did wonder if it was wrong of me to enjoy it or not.

As a whole, this was a timeless collection of Christmas stories. The art was crisp and clean. The jokes were fresh and plots delightful. This Christmas Parade was a welcomed diversion from a holiday season that was anything but normal. And heck yes- I'd read the entire thing again from cover to cover!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

* Despite what the cover says, this was a part of the Dell Giants series. Leaving off that 'S' can make database searches quite difficult as I learned the hard way.