Willy Schultz, Part 12

 

cover art by Sam Glanzman

Fightin' Army #88 (November 1969) has writer Will Franz and artist Sam Glanzman tossing Willy Schultz into a new chapter in his complicated life.

Remember that Willy had escaped from the Germans while in Italy. In this chapter, he's found by Italian partisans fighting the Nazis. 

And this seems like a good thing. The leader of the partisans is an OSS officer named John Daurio, who knows about Willy's murder conviction. (By the way, its an effective ironic touch regarding the inherent confusion of war AND Willy's background fighting for both sides that Daurio is dressed in the uniform of an SS officer.)

Anyway, Daurio doesn't really care that Willy is a convicted murderer or whether Willy is actually guilty. He can use someone with Willy's skill in an upcoming mission. Also, he has (or at least claims he has) the pull to get Willy a pardon if Willy does help.

The mission? Willy will take command of a captured Tiger Tank, using this to get close enough to a German stronghold to blow it to pieces. Willy's knowledge of German and his experience in German tanks make him the perfect man for the job.

While preparing for the mission, Willy catches the eye of a pretty lady partisan named Elena. But is Willy tough and brutal enough to survive partisan warfare?

That's an open question. The mission is successful and a town is liberated from the Nazis, but only after brutal combat. Then the partisans start executing German prisoners. Willy is repulsed by this to the point where he is going to intervene, only to have Daurio stop him and explain that this is the way it is in partisan warfare. There's no prisoners taken.

Franz and Glanzman pile yet another irony on top of this. Elena is delighted not just that Willy survived, but that her father--a prisoner of the Nazis--was rescued. So the partisans are committing what can be defined as a war crime for killing prisoners. But an innocent man was saved from Nazis and a town was liberated. And, to be fair to everyone, is there a practical way to for partisans to take prisoners even if they wanted to do so?

This is yet another powerful chapter in Willy's saga. It's probably a bit of a stretch that the OSS officer happened to have been at Willy's trial, but it helps effectively give Willy a reason for agreeing to join up. He seems to be stuck being a soldier no matter what happens to him.

Next week, we'll begin a look at a three-part Incredible Hulk story.