Willy Schultz, Part 1

 

cover art by Rocke Mastroserio

Recently, Dark Horse Books published the entire run of the "Lonely War of Capt. Willy Schultz" saga, which began in Charlton's Fightin' Army #76 (October 1967). Written by Will Franz and illustrated by Sam Glanzman, it's a brilliant war story about a man who ends up fighting for both the Americans and the Germans. 

(By the way, Schultz's name is misspelled on the cover.)

I've never had the opportunity to read the entire story before and I wasn't disappointed by the great plot construction, characterizations and anti-war themes. 

We pick up in that first story with Willy, a captain in the U.S. army, commanding a company of tanks. But his new C.O.--a general's son and obviously unqualified to command anything--rides along one day on patrol. When they encounter Germans, the C.O. refuses advice, gives the wrong order and gets everyone but himself and Willy killed.

What follows is a perfect storm of misunderstandings. Willy, understandably angry, threatens to kill the C.O. with a lugar he just picked up from a dead German. Another German actually shoots the C.O., then gets away. All of this is heard, but not seen, by two Americans in an approaching jeep. The jeep's driver is a man who hates Willy. The other is the general, who goes into a rage when he sees his son's body.

Willy is court-martialed for murder and sentenced to die. When the jeep carrying him to prison hits a mine, he gets a chance to make a run for it. He finds a dead German and switches uniforms. Willy speaks perfect German, so he comes up with a vague plan to hide out with the enemy.

When he joins a German column after its been strafed, he's struck with an empathy for the injured Germans, seeing them as fellow human beings rather than faceless enemies. The story does not yet delve into the issue of what these soldiers are fighting for, but it is obvious that these are not hard-core Nazis. They are just guys trying to survive.

Willy even begins to make friends with one of them. But later, an opportunity to blow up a fuel and ammunition dump presents itself. Willy does so, but is caught near the explosion and injured. The Germans don't realize he is the saboteur, though, and assume commandoes were responsible. Willy ends this segment in a German hospital, realizing he'll be shot as a spy if his real identity is uncovered, but shot as a murderer if he makes it back to American lines. He's truly alone.

It's a strong start to the saga, full of tension and a healthy cynicism about authority figures while effectively setting up the overall plot. Getting Willy convicted of murder in just a few panels is a little bit rushed, but (granting the storm of coincidences that occur at the "crime scene") everything still makes good story sense. 

The first two issues containing the Willy Schultz story are in the public domain, so you can read this one HERE.

We'll return to Willy in two weeks. Next week, Hawkman and Hawkgirl take on a ghost.