Spawn of the Devil

 

cover art by Joe Kubert

Our Army at War #270 (July 1974) saw writer Bob Kanigher and artist George Evans bring us a very unusual Sgt Rock tale. 

It begins with a replacement join Easy Company. Two things stand out when we meet him. First, Little Sure Shot, despite having a good instinct for such things, doesn't immediately recognize the soldier as an ally. Second, the guy's name is Havok. I guess that second one doesn't necessarily stand out at first, but it will soon prove to be horribly metaphorical.

It only takes turning the page to discover that Havok is trouble. He's a little too quick at throwing a grenade at shadowy figures. He ends up killing a farmer and the farmer's young son.

Havok doesn't seem bothered by his mistake. It looks like he might be a problem, but then he's killed by a German grenade.

Except he turns up alive again a few minutes later...

He then promptly shoots several American G.I.'s by being a little too quick on the trigger once again. But he takes a bullet through his helmet. He's dead for sure this time.

No, he's not. He's walks back into the midst of the now really nervous Easy Company soldiers a few minutes later.

Something weird is going on. And Sgt. Rock does exist in the same universe as the Haunted Tank (and arguably in the same universe as Weird War Tales), so there is possibly something literally supernatural going on. 

A few minutes after all this, Easy Company starts taking shell fire. Havok takes cover in a cabin, but this takes a direct hit. Havok begins screaming in pain, begging for Rock to do something.

Here's where the story gets very interesting. Rock runs into the cabin. There's a panel in which we no longer hear Havok screaming. Did he simply die from his wounds? Did Rock give him a mercy bullet (though there's no sound effect for a gunshot)? 

We'll never know for sure, since Rock is forced to flee the cabin before its destroyed by another German shell. And then, the men see something very strange. Is that the devil himself carrying Havok off to hell? Or is it just a random image in the smoke?

There are other unanswered questions as well. Was Havok just a sociopath who survived early supposed "deaths" just by luck? Or was he some sort of demonic entity? If the latter, what was it about this last "death" that allowed it to take hold?

The questions raised are good ones, but this is a case where NOT answering them is actually the best decision Kanigher could make. Sometimes ambiguity adds to the drama. That is what happens here.

Next week, we'll return to the Avengers to see how Hawkeye, Hank Pym and the Wasp are handling the reduced roster.