Cover Cavalcade

 SEPTEMBER IS YOUNG LEX LUTHOR MONTH!!!

This Bob Oksner cover from 1975 gives us both young Lex and adult Lex.

Cover Cavalcade

 SEPTEMBER IS YOUNG LEX LUTHOR MONTH!!!

A 1964 cover by Curt Swan. 

Cover Cavalcade

 SEPTEMBER IS YOUNG LEX LUTHOR MONTH!!!

Lex continues to be a rotten kid in this 1962 Curt Swan cover.

Cover Cavalcade

SEPTEMBER IS YOUNG LEX LUTHOR MONTH!!!

A Curt Swan cover from 1960.

A Shavetail Lieutenant

 

cover art by Joe Kubert

Don't ever try to figure out how Easy Company is organized. It can't be done. It was never meant to be a realistic portrayal of a real-life unit and the structure can vary from issue to issue. Where real-life companies were commanded by Captains and platoons that make up the company commanded by lieutenants, we usually see Sgt. Rock running the company with nary an officer in sight.

In Our Army At War #250 (October 1972), though, a brand-new inexperienced lieutenant shows up and is said to be the "new platoon leader." His rank makes sense for this role, but does that mean Sgt Rock was usually commanding just one platoon in Easy Company? Once again, don't think about it too hard. It sincerely doesn't affect the quality of the stories. Just as the DC war stories bounced back and forth through the historical timeline, the way Easy Company's structure changes from story to story is meant to suit the needs of each individual tale. It works. 

Anyway, Easy Company (or a platoon from Easy?) is going to be taken by glider to a location where some paratroopers are pinned down by the Germans. Most of Easy is concerned with the lieutenant's inexperience and his initial dismissal of Rock's advice. But Rock consistently insists throughout the story that the lieutenant is indeed in charge. He respects the chain of command.

The plane towing the glider is shot down and the glider crashes, killing a few of the soldiers. The lieutenant insists they move out wading through a canal, which takes them into a booby trap. Does this guy know what he's doing?

Rock says he does--that they might have run into trouble crossing open fields and it was the officer's responsibility to pick a route. This is one of the strengths of the story. The lieutenant makes a decision that is apparently wrong, but Rock points out it might have been the best decision with what they knew at that moment. 

There's another strong moment when Rock shows the officer the dog tags of the men lost so far and the young lieutenant says "So... many?" It helps humanize him.

Easy Company has several more dangerous situations before getting pinned down. At this point, the lieutenant gives his life to save Easy and allow them to rescue the paratroopers.

The story is a stereotypical one--the young shavetail who needs to listen to the experienced, grizzled sergeant. It's been done many times before. But Russ Heath's art brings it all to life and Bob Kanigher's script does include those humanizing moments. Besides, there have been many, many new officers in real life who had to learn from their sergeants on their way to becoming good commanders. The story deals in a stereotype, but it's a stereotype drawn from real life. 

Next week, let's go in a completely different direction and visit with... who the heck is Sappy the Sportman?

Poisoned Waterholes and Desert Heat

 

cover art by Luis Dominguez

A man escapes from prison after poisoning a guard, then poisons waterholes as he escapes across the desert, at one point leaving two people, including a child, to die after taking their canteen. 

So what we have is the typical sort of ruthless killer that Jonah Hex normally tracks down. But two things make Teddy "The Gentleman Killer" Chandler a particularly interesting villain. First, he has a companion who shows compassion and regret towards the victims, but still remains inexplicably loyal to Chandler.

Second, late in the story, we learn Chandler's interesting backstory. He wasn't always an animal. In fact, he was in prison because he killed a man when his companion, a black man named Orion, was about to be lynched. Chandler saved Orion's life. That's why Orion, a God-fearing man, remains loyal to him.

It all gives Chandler a dimensionality that the bad guys in Hex's stories often lack. That, combined with John Albano's tightly-written script and Tony DeZuniga's atmospheric art, make this a particularly notable issue.

The story (from Weird Western Tales #19--September/October 1973) begins with the prison breakout. Orion is waiting nearby with horses, but is shocked to learn that the poison he smuggled to Chandler was used to kill a human being rather than rats. Chandler begins poisoning waterholes while they make a getaway to discourage pursuit. 

 

Jonah finds them by chance, but recognizes the prison uniform that Chandler is wearing. He wounds Chandler, taking him and Orion prisoner. But when they find a wagon that had been attacked by Comanches. The two adults are dead, but a young boy is still alive. Unfortunately for Jonah and the boy, Chandler gets hold of a gun. He gets the drop on Jonah, leaving him (and the boy) with no weapons, horses or water. Orion, though, drops a canteen as he and Chandler ride off.

It's here that we get a reminder of a usually hidden aspect of Jonah Hex's personality. He manages to bring the boy to a ranch, but does so by saving all the water in the canteen for that boy, leaving him nearly dead before the journey is over. Later, when he rides off after Chandler, the lady of the ranch remarks how kind and gentle he is. And she's right, though Jonah would have been angered if he heard her say it. He does have moments where his better nature takes hold. The ruthless bounty hunter does indeed have his kind and gentle moments.

In the meantime, Chandler shoots Orion in order to save on water consumption. When Jonah finds Orion, the black man explains Chandler's backstory and forgives his killer before he dies. 

The story ends with Jonah relentlessly pursuing Chandler, only for the escaped killer to die when he runs out of water and desperately drinks from a waterhole he had earlier poisoned. He dies laughing at the irony of it.

It's a stand-out story from an excellent series. It's not a criticism to say that most of the outlaws that Jonah runs down are ruthless killers. So is Chandler, but his background--possibly a good man stripped of his humanity while in prison--and the counterpoint of Orion's gentle nature, make this tale particularly notable.

Next week, we'll visit with the Cartwright family to see how well Bonanza translates into comic book form. 

Cover Cavalcade

   JULY IS GUNNER & SARGE & POOCH MONTH!!!

Would Gunner have survived the war without Pooch? This 1963 cover is by Jerry Grandenetti. 

Cover Cavalcade

 JULY IS GUNNER & SARGE & POOCH MONTH!!!

A 1963 cover by Jerry Grandenetti. 

Cover Cavalcade

  JULY IS GUNNER & SARGE & POOCH MONTH!!!

From 1962, with art by Jerry Grandenetti.

Cover Cavalcade

 JULY IS GUNNER & SARGE & POOCH MONTH!!!

A 1962 cover by Jerry Grandenetti.

Cover Cavalcade

  JUNE IS AVENGERS vs JLA MONTH!!!

February 1976: The Avengers cover is by Gil Kane and the JLA cover by Dick Giordano.

Cover Cavalcade

  JUNE IS AVENGERS vs JLA MONTH!!!

From February 1975. Nick Cardy drew the JLA cover and Ron Wilson drew the Avengers.

Cover Cavalcade

  JUNE IS AVENGERS vs JLA MONTH!!!

From February 1974. The JLA cover is by Nick Cardy; the Avengers by Jim Starlin.

Cover Cavalcade

 JUNE IS AVENGERS vs JLA MONTH!!!

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

Cover Cavalcade

 JUNE IS AVENGERS vs. JLA MONTH!!!

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

Cover Cavalcade

 MAY IS POST-APOCALYPTIC FUTURE MONTH!!!!

A dynamic Jack Kirby cover from 1973.

Silver Age Superman

 I hope you all don't mind if I take a Thursday to highlight someone else's work, but this video about the value of Silver Age Superman stories is extremely well-done and deserves to be shared:

What Happened to Poor General Norton?

 

cover art by Joe Kubert

A brief bit of comic book history: In G.I. Combat #148 (June-July 1971), writer Bob Kanigher and artist Russ Heath introduced the character of General Norton, who is clearly an expy for real-life General Patton.

In fact, he's so clearly supposed to be a fill-in for General Patton, it's a wonder that Kanigher didn't just use Patton as a guest star again.

In G.I. Combat #159, writer Archie Goodwin and artist Sam Glanzman give us a General Norton cameo as he sends an armored column led by the Haunted Tank on a raid behind enemy lines to liberate a POW camp. This mission fails, just as the real-life March 1945 raid ordered by Patton failed.

That brings us to G.I. Combat #196 (November 1976). General Patton appears in this issue, pushing his tank column forward to reach a fuel depot before he runs out of gas, ramming tanks that do run out of gas off the road so the rest of the column can keep moving.

Jeb is asked to lead a column of four other tanks to take and hold the fuel depot until Patton arrives. Along the way, though, a German ambush leaves the crews of the other tanks dead, killed by concussions that left the tanks intact. With no time to bury the dead, each member of Jeb's crew takes the driver seat in one of the tanks, making an eerie trip to the fuel depot with dead men essentially looking over their shoulders. 

They reach the depot just in time to hold off an approaching German column. The German commander realizes the tanks are short-handed, but doesn't want to attack in the growing darkness for fear of igniting the fuel. He needs it as badly as Patton does.

During the night, Jeb and his men sneak into no-man's-land to plant cannon shells as booby-traps. They're spotted just as they finish and Rick is wounded, but they all make it back to their tanks.

There's an effectively done scene showing Gus praying for Rick. Then daylight comes. Jeb sees Patton's tanks approaching and roll barrels of gas down towards them. 

The Germans attack, but are slowed by the cannon shell booby-traps. Patton's tanks arrive and drive them off. 

It's a good story. The tank ride with dead companions really does hit an eerie vibe. Gus's concern for Rick and his faith in God are handled respectfully. Patton's determination to keep moving forward is historically accurate, while the story moves along at a nice pace. As usual, Sam Glanzman's art is superb. 

Patton would make several other appearances in the book (issues 208 and 275), with the General actually getting to see and talk to the ghost of General Stuart in #208. 

Why didn't Kanigher originally use Patton back in #148? It's very possible there were legal concerns--Patton had been dead for 25 years by then, but his son was still around and was himself a general who had served in Vietnam. A concern that an appearance by Patton in a comic book might generate a lawsuit may have existed.

 

So what opened the door? I have no documented proof, but I have a theory. In 1974, Jack Kirby put in a Patton cameo in Our Fighting Forces #148, based on his own encounter with Patton during the war. Kirby, I suspect, just did this without worrying about legal concerns and, as it turns out, there were no legal concerns. No lawsuits came flying at DC Comics.

Was this, then, what convinced Kanigher to drop poor General Norton into Comic Book Limbo and begin using the real General Patton? Kirby did it--got away with it--so Kanigher followed suit. I think it's at least possible. And it would be ironic, considering that Kanigher was always openly critical of Kirby's work.

Of course, the 1970 movie Patton, which helped shape him as an iconic historical figure, might have also eventually helped convince DC legal eagles that using Patton in a story was okay. 

That's it for now. Next week, we'll return to the Marvel Universe as one unlikely character is thrown into a sword-and-planet adventure. 

Cover Cavalcade

  APRIL IS "WHY DID IT HAVE TO BE SNAKES" MONTH!!!!

An intense Tony DeZuniga cover from 1972. 

Cover Cavalcade

 FEBRUARY IS TANKS vs DINOSAURS MONTH!

Even the Haunted Tank eventually got into dinosaur-related combat. This Joe Kubert cover is from 1975.