Friday's Favorite OTR

 Suspense: "A Week Ago Wednesday" 11/29/45

A woman comes home to discover she's lost a week of her life--and according to the newspaper, she's been murdered by her husband.

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Short Story Genre Survey, Part 4

 

This week, we look at a war story.

Sports

Adventure

Mystery

Horror

Science Fiction

Fantasy

Western

War

It is shameful that William Chamberlain's fiction (war-themed and Westerns) are out of print. The guy was good. A career military officer who retired as a general in 1946, he often wrote what he knew. Much of his military fiction is told from the point-of-view of an officer--usually a commanding officer--and dealt with matters of leadership and responsibility. At the same time, he didn't forget about the grunts, making sure he humanized the noncoms and privates as well.

"Hard-Luck Regiment" is a solid example of how good he is. Originally published in the September 22, 1951 issue of The Saturday Evening Post, it was later reprinted in the 1964's More Combat Stories of World War II and Korea, the second of two anthologies collecting Chamberlain's short fiction. This book was reprinted as a paperback in 1969 under the title The Zone of Sudden Death.

It's January 1945 and American troops are advancing into the Huertgen Forest, a real-life campaign that turned into a bloodbath. Maj. Clay Daggett--new to combat--has just become the executive officer of a battalion in the 26th Regiment, which has a reputation for hard luck.

The reputation seems to be well-earned. The regiment captures a couple of towns, but takes heavy losses and one of the towns is retaken. The regiment's commander, Dan Sharkey, wants to counterattack, figuring that this unexpected move and the morning fog will mean the Germans will be caught with their pants down.

Daggett, who now commands a battalion because the original C.O. was killed, thinks this plan is nuts. When orders arrive ordering the regiment to retreat and promoting Sharkey to general, Daggett is relieved. No suicide attack now.

But Sharkey has been with the regiment since the Great War. He knows what they can do. He knows the hard-luck reputation comes from the regiment getting hard missions--but also accomplishing those missions. Daggett thinks he's making a horrible decision, but he doesn't know the regiment like Sharkey.

It's a strong story, setting up the premise effectively, giving us supporting characters among the enlisted men so we never forget what's at stake, and introducing themes about inspirational leadership into the tale. The combat sequence is short, but effective. Not everyone we've met will be alive at the end and the success of the mission is very uncertain for a time, but we learn a thing or two about leading men from the front.

"Hard-Luck Regiment" is typical of the quality of Chamberlain's work. He really does need to be brought back into print.

Man-Wolf Goes to Space, Part 4

 

cover art by George Perez

Marvel Premiere #46 (February 1979) brings Man-Wolf's epic Space Opera adventure to a close. The script is still by David Kraft. For this final issue, George Perez does the breakdowns and Ricardo Villamonte does the finished art.

We left off last time with Man-Wolf and one companion (Gorjoon) seeking to rescue their companions from the palace of Tyrk, the ruthless dictator. 

The trouble is that Tyrk's palace floats in the air well above them.

But the moonstone is still increasing Man-Wolf's strength. Using this strength means that a rope tied to a spear will give them a way to climb up. 

There's some great dialogue between Man-Wolf and the scared but still determined Gorjoon during the sequence, adding a little bit of humor to the otherwise tense situation. But when they reach the palace, things get tense once again. His companions who were captured in the previous issue are chained and about to be tortured. Man-Wolf violently objects to this and soon, after freeing some other prisoners as well, he's leading the good guys in a charge towards Tyrk's throne room.

But the charge is stopped dead when they reach the throne room. Over the last few issues of this story, there's been a sub-plot set back on Earth in which someone has kidnapped John's girlfriend Kristine Saunders. Now we find out that it was Tyrk who did that kidnapping.

Man-Wolf has a choice. Surrender or watch the woman he loves die. (Tyrk, of course, is planning on killing her no matter what.)

Man-Wolf opts to take a third option--allowing himself to access the full god-powers of the stone. Soon, stuff starts exploding.

It turns out, though, that only the bad guys blew up. Kristine is safe and the dimension is free from its evil ruler. 

There's one more scare before the story ends. Kristine goes through a portal back to Earth. But before Man-Wolf can follow, a not-quite-dead Tyrk destroys the portal. At first, it seems John Jameson is getting the tragic ending that all werewolf characters seemed destined to get. But John is able to use the last of his god powers to force himself through the dimensional barrier to Earth.

Hey, a werewolf gets a happy ending! 

Kraft and the artists bring this epic to a satisfying conclusion. Villamonte does justice to Perez's breakdowns, bringing the well-written story to vivid life. And the happy ending fits. Not every werewolf story has to end tragically. This time, the happy ending is earned.

What'll we look at next week? Well, with Disney doing such a good job of destroying Star Wars in modern day, it might be nice to look back at a time when Star Wars was still fun. 

Cover Cavalcade

 JUNE IS AVENGERS vs JLA MONTH!!!

From February 1973: The JLA cover is by Nick Cardy and the Avengers by Rich Buckler. 

Friday's Favorite OTR

 Escape: "Seven Hours to Freedom" 11/3/50

A commercial fishing boat is hijacked by escaping convicts. The two-man crew is given a choice: Die now, or take the convicts to Mexico and die later.

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Cover Cavalcade

 JUNE IS AVENGERS vs. JLA MONTH!!!

Two Neal Adams covers, both in issues cover dated February 1972.

Friday's Favorite OTR

 Screen Guild Theater: "Destry Rides Again" 2/2/41

Henry Fonda takes the role as the soft-spoken deputy tasked with cleaning up a lawless town.

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NO WEDNESDAY/THURSDAY POSTS FOR TWO WEEKS

 

My wife and I are of on a river cruise down the Danube, during which we will undoubtably battle sea monsters and use brilliant deductive reasoning to solver murders. So there will be no Wednesday or Thursday posts until June 10. 

Cover Cavalcade

 MAY IS POST-APOCALYPTIC FUTURE MONTH!!!!

Killraven is having a bad day in the Herb Trimpe cover from 1974.

Friday's Favorite OTR

 Burns and Allen: "Cast Your Ballot" 2/9/43

Gracie wants to be president of her women's club, so she wants to get a celebrity speaker for the next meeting. This requires telling one fib to Charles Laughton, telling a different fib to George and a THIRD fib to the club members. What can possibly go wrong?

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