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Post by Deleted on Jun 24, 2017 20:26:50 GMT -5
KING TIGER TANK
I have seen a KING TIGER TANK on my trip to Europe in 1994 and I was blown away seeing it in action similar to this short video that I've shared here.
Short Original Footage during World War Two.
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bran
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Post by bran on Jun 26, 2017 17:53:08 GMT -5
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 27, 2017 1:35:05 GMT -5
Great topic cody. Long before Pratt was associated with melancholic/poetic comics he did war stories like you wouldn't believe it. People, absurd situations, combat, war psychosis, depicted unbelievable well. To this day I didn't find anything that can match early Pratt (I have yet to check Ennis's "War Stories" and "War Story" series). The thing is - writer/artist has to be someone who was actually in war (I believe Pratt was drafted/volunteered in Italian army in north Africa as a teenager), that's not very common. So if you have chance to obtain some of these, get them all (and give us you reviews if you will):      I am planning on covering Ernie Pike, soon, as I have pdfs of the material, in Spanish. However, it may take a little time, as my Spanish is very rusty and I want to read a bit before commenting. Unfortunately, outside of Corto Maltese, there isn't much Pratt material in the US, though I believe Sgt Kirk is soon to be translated. I also want to look at Tangy et Laverdure; but, my French is worse than my Spanish. I've got a little Buck Danny, but it is later stuff. I would love to get my hands on the classic, earlier material, that was set during WW2. I am planning on looking at Berlin: The Seven Dwarves, from Marvano, which Cinebook has translated to English, as well as their Cinebook Presents volume about the Battle of Britain and the Falklands War. Next up, though, I thought I'd hit a little less serious war book and take a look at a favorite Sgt Fury and His Howling Commandos tale. Wahooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! |
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bran
Full Member
Posts: 227
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Post by bran on Jun 27, 2017 11:52:35 GMT -5
I am planning on covering Ernie Pike, soon, as I have pdfs of the material, in Spanish. However, it may take a little time, as my Spanish is very rusty and I want to read a bit before commenting. Unfortunately, outside of Corto Maltese, there isn't much Pratt material in the US, though I believe Sgt Kirk is soon to be translated. I also want to look at Tangy et Laverdure; but, my French is worse than my Spanish. I've got a little Buck Danny, but it is later stuff. I would love to get my hands on the classic, earlier material, that was set during WW2. I am planning on looking at Berlin: The Seven Dwarves, from Marvano, which Cinebook has translated to English, as well as their Cinebook Presents volume about the Battle of Britain and the Falklands War. Next up, though, I thought I'd hit a little less serious war book and take a look at a favorite Sgt Fury and His Howling Commandos tale. Wahooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Right on, Stan was in the army (for a couple of years I think), and it shows. Looking forward. Apparently like Pratt he never thought much of it, one of those things. They wanted to do other stuff. Pratt applied a lot of his war-experience to, my personal favorite book of his - The Scorpions of the Desert. Wanted to post just the image, but there is more, much more, just get it (you'll thank me later): Autumn 1940, in the desert on the border between Libya and Egypt. The protagonists of the story are a group of men that belong to the fighting elite of the British Army: the Long Range Desert Group, aka the Scorpions of the Desert. They come from every battlefield of the Empire, and they travel alone, on the edges of the great maneuvers. They appropriate jeeps, armored vehicles, camels; or they march for days on end before an attack, striking and disappearing behind the sand dunes without much regard for rules.
But everything is bewildering around here, the borders, the enemy’s uniforms, the colors and the flags on the vehicles used by these men. Sometimes whoever is telling a story doesn’t tell the whole truth...
cortomaltese.com/en/ebook-the-scorpions-of-the-desert/Note. Last 2 books are done in his later style. More loose drawing, which some people don't like (think of Sin City), and different pacing. I suggest go with 1-3 first. As for Aeronauts/Tangy et Laverdure, these are not a classic war-stories, rather men on the mission type of thing (it's post WWII - 50s/60s). Sometimes they inject themselves into the local war zones, but it's a different beast altogether. I bought last year first 5 volumes (there are 3 to go) to see if Charlier ever wrote a bad story - and he didn't! But - aside from genius plotting of that son of a gun, as an overall product it didn't age all that well (in contrast to Blueberry). |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 27, 2017 12:01:16 GMT -5
I am planning on covering Ernie Pike, soon, as I have pdfs of the material, in Spanish. However, it may take a little time, as my Spanish is very rusty and I want to read a bit before commenting. Unfortunately, outside of Corto Maltese, there isn't much Pratt material in the US, though I believe Sgt Kirk is soon to be translated. I also want to look at Tangy et Laverdure; but, my French is worse than my Spanish. I've got a little Buck Danny, but it is later stuff. I would love to get my hands on the classic, earlier material, that was set during WW2. I am planning on looking at Berlin: The Seven Dwarves, from Marvano, which Cinebook has translated to English, as well as their Cinebook Presents volume about the Battle of Britain and the Falklands War. Next up, though, I thought I'd hit a little less serious war book and take a look at a favorite Sgt Fury and His Howling Commandos tale. Wahooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Right on, Stan was in the army (for a couple of years I think), and it shows. Looking forward. Apparently like Pratt he never thought much of it, one of those things. They wanted to do other stuff. Pratt applied a lot of his war-experience to, my personal favorite book of his - The Scorpions of the Desert. Wanted to post just the image, but there is more, much more, just get it (you'll thank me later): Autumn 1940, in the desert on the border between Libya and Egypt. The protagonists of the story are a group of men that belong to the fighting elite of the British Army: the Long Range Desert Group, aka the Scorpions of the Desert. They come from every battlefield of the Empire, and they travel alone, on the edges of the great maneuvers. They appropriate jeeps, armored vehicles, camels; or they march for days on end before an attack, striking and disappearing behind the sand dunes without much regard for rules.
But everything is bewildering around here, the borders, the enemy’s uniforms, the colors and the flags on the vehicles used by these men. Sometimes whoever is telling a story doesn’t tell the whole truth...
cortomaltese.com/en/ebook-the-scorpions-of-the-desert/Note. Last 2 books are done in his later style. More loose drawing, which some people don't like (think of Sin City), and different pacing. I suggest go with 1-3 first. As for Aeronauts/Tangy et Laverdure, these are not a classic war-stories, rather men on the mission type of thing (it's post WWII - 50s/60s). Sometimes they inject themselves into the local war zones, but it's a different beast altogether. I bought last year first 5 volumes (there are 3 to go) to see if Charlier ever wrote a bad story - and he didn't! But - aside from genius plotting of that son of a gun, as an overall product it didn't age all that well (in contrast to Blueberry). No, I'm aware that Tangy et Laverdure is military adventure, not a wartime setting; but, I consider that as part of "war comics," same as the wartime strips of Terry & the pirates and some of Steve Canyon. I was first introduced to Tangy et Laverdure in Maurice Horn's The World Encyclopedia of Comics, back in the late 70s, when I got it from the local library. That introduced me to a lot of European comics, as well as those from Latin America and Asia. I have watched a bit of the tv series, on Youtube and have a copy of the movie Les Chevaliers du Ciel, known as Sky Fighters in the US. I also intend to look at Area 88, from Kaoru Shintani, about a mercenary air force in a fictional North Africa kingdom. |
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Post by String on Jun 27, 2017 14:09:36 GMT -5
The G.I. Joe '80's cartoon was utter dog-crap, for all of the reasons mentioned. The animation was poor, unrealistic storylines, etc. Even as a kid, I pretty much ignored this completely. Conversely, I found the Marvel G.I. Joe comic far superior - very interesting, compelling, and with some amazing & iconic characters. Even as a kid, I never saw it as a genuine realistic war comic (unlike The 'Nam or Sgt. Rock, etc.). Though there were modern war/espionage elements, they were combined with some sci-fi tech. & fantasy (Zartan's shape changing abilities, etc.). Taken as a whole, it's definitely one of my all-time favorite comic series. I read it intermittently during the '80's, and then went back & read all of the issues in the more recent TPB & HC reprints. G.I. Joe: Special Missions is definitely grittier, edgier, and more violent/realistic than the regular series - I liked how there was some cross-over between the regular series & Special Missions in some cases. Like I say, I read a chunk of the first year and it was decent, though I wasn't wild about some of the art. It seemed a little tame, after seeing some of the SHIELD comics, that came before (and helped inspire Hama's concepts). The comics were definitely better; I was juts drawn to other things, in that era. If the series had had an artist with a more spectacular signature style, like a Michael Golden, I probably would have stuck around for more. A higher signature artist would have been an asset surely, but the same can be said for almost any title really. I never had any problem with the art on the comic, yes, some fill-ins were a bit rougher than others but early on, Herb Trimpe and Mike Vosburg provided a strong stable look for the characters and mythos. (I do consider Trimpe to be one of the unsung heroes of the Bullpen. The man provided solid art with clear storytelling consistently on multiple titles for Marvel for years). There are some issues where Hama was able to focus more on the actual military aspect of the characters/group aside from the usual mix of sci-fi influenced adventure. Two such issues spring immediately to mind:  Issue #5 finds Cobra after the secrets of the Joes' MOBAT tank (loosely based, I believe on the M1 Abrams tank of the time). Hama gives focus to some of the inner workings, details, and strategies of a tank unit (along with a very nice twist on how the Joes win the day).  One of my favorite all-time issues, this tale (with art by Rod Whigham) is just a straight-up aerial dogfight between Ace and Wild Weasel. Hama presents a tense, exciting duel between equal opponents while highlighting certain tactics, tech, and terminology of such a fight. An excellent stand-alone story. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 27, 2017 15:16:23 GMT -5
Like I say, I read a chunk of the first year and it was decent, though I wasn't wild about some of the art. It seemed a little tame, after seeing some of the SHIELD comics, that came before (and helped inspire Hama's concepts). The comics were definitely better; I was juts drawn to other things, in that era. If the series had had an artist with a more spectacular signature style, like a Michael Golden, I probably would have stuck around for more. A higher signature artist would have been an asset surely, but the same can be said for almost any title really. I never had any problem with the art on the comic, yes, some fill-ins were a bit rougher than others but early on, Herb Trimpe and Mike Vosburg provided a strong stable look for the characters and mythos. (I do consider Trimpe to be one of the unsung heroes of the Bullpen. The man provided solid art with clear storytelling consistently on multiple titles for Marvel for years). There are some issues where Hama was able to focus more on the actual military aspect of the characters/group aside from the usual mix of sci-fi influenced adventure. Two such issues spring immediately to mind: Issue #5 finds Cobra after the secrets of the Joes' MOBAT tank (loosely based, I believe on the M1 Abrams tank of the time). Hama gives focus to some of the inner workings, details, and strategies of a tank unit (along with a very nice twist on how the Joes win the day). One of my favorite all-time issues, this tale (with art by Rod Whigham) is just a straight-up aerial dogfight between Ace and Wild Weasel. Hama presents a tense, exciting duel between equal opponents while highlighting certain tactics, tech, and terminology of such a fight. An excellent stand-alone story. Um......yeah......issue 5 wasn't a favorite. The whole Cobra disguised as a marching band to steal the tank plot was a bit too goofy for me. The amplified bubble gum pop, which fools Cobra into believing that the tank is firing on them was a bit much. I can appreciate the lighter tone of it now; but, then, I thought it was too childish. By contrast, I enjoyed the second issue, with Quinn (despite the silly homage to the Manfred Mann song), even though it was mostly a rip-off of Ice Station Zebra. Hama was a good writer and he had good stories here. I haven't seen the second one you described; but, I did enjoy the issue with the Cobra robot infiltrator in The Pitt and the two-part adventure in Afghanistan, with the October Guard (even if they were carrying outdated weaponry). The issue where the JOEs have to infiltrate a militia group was good, though Hama goofed up the nomenclature of the M-16, on the splash page, when the character calls it the "Mike One-Six," rather than the "Mark One-Six." "Mike" is the international alphabet designation for "M;" but, M-16, in relation to weaponry, means "Mark-16 Rifle". I'm surprised a combat veteran would make such a mistake; then again, he was in the Army......  Possibly, he intended to show that the militia soldier was little more than an armchair soldier, not a professional. I still think he had been a civilian too long.  Incidentally, for the younger folks, Larry Hama had a small career as an actor and appears in an episode of MASH  Hama is on the left, next to Robert Ito, who was best known as Sam, on Quincy, with Jack Klugman. Ito also appeared in the Kung Fu pilot movie and the motion picture Midway, as Japanese air warfare specialist Capt. Minoru Genda, who helped plan the attacks on Pearl Harbor and Midway. Genda later organized the 343 Kokutai, a group made up of the best surviving Japanese pilots, to fight the allies, in 1944, as an alternate to kamikaze attacks. he felt that trained pilots were more effective and they were armed with the Kawanishi N1K2-J "George", which could match the F6F Hellcat, F4U Corsair and P-51 Mustang, in combat. The group proved effective; but, dwindling numbers, few replacement pilots and lack of material resources meant they were fighting a losing battle. Genda later went into politics, as part of the hard-Right wing of the Liberal Democratic Party, who advocated dropping or curtailing Article 9 of the Japanese constitution, which limited them to defensive forces, rather than a full-blown military. Genda served as an unofficial consultant to the Japanese filming of the joint film production Tora! Tora! Tora! |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 27, 2017 23:38:47 GMT -5
Sgt Fury and His Howling Commandos #15 and Special Marvel Edition #13   One of my favorite Howler missions, which I first saw as a kid. Our story is...  Our story begins in England, as the Howlers have been assembled in a briefing room and are listening to a radio report from Agent X, somewhere in Holland. he reports of a massive German buildup, for a planned invasion of England. They must resort to Operation Deluge. Operation Deluge consists of landing a small force of men to plant explosives in particular spots to blow the system of dikes and flood areas of Holland. Only Agent X knows the right spot; anything else will be devastating to the Dutch people. The Howlers are flown over the channel, stand up, hook up, shuffle to the door, jump right out and shout "MARINE CORP!" Sorry; I had a flashback to Navy ROTC. Back to the story.... The Howlers come floating down in Holland and are so manly they don't need helmets, jump smocks, equipment bags or any other airborne gear! I'm surprised they needed parachutes. Of course, Holland being occupied by the Germans leads to them quickly facing attack...  Being Marvel's best GI Asgard-kickers, they fight off this squad of Germans, but soon face reinforcements. They are told to surrender or, "...in 10 seconds ve fire our mortars!" in Stan's comical German. Fury tells the men to surrender and steps forward with hands held high (wuss...) when a shot rings out and hits the cap of the officer in charge. Being cowardly Nazis the soldiers figure they must be surrounded or else the commandos wouldn't be fighting and tuck tail and run off. Joke's on them; our shooter turns out to be the mascot for a paint company.  He is Hans Rooten, son of the mayor (of whom the Howlers were warned to avoid, as he is a collaborator). He takes them to a deserted house cellar to hide out. Fury gets some new duds and a fishing rod and goes out with Hans to find Agent X. The kid says he will pass as Dutch, as long as he keeps quiet, which leads to off panel comments about Fury not clammin' up at his own funeral! Dino is also along, since he speaks German (while swigging whiskey and singin' "Ain't That a Kick in the Head."). A couple of German soldiers come along; but, dumb Nazi supermen have never been to the movies and don't recognize heartthrob Dino Manelli. The Dutch girls do, though; and, before you can say "Red Light District," they are on him like velour on a pimp. The stupid Nazis finally take a hint and move in with Schmeissers drawn, only to be hit by a flying tackle from Fury, which takes them into the canal, to the cries of "Ach du lieber!" and "Himmel! Ve expected him to run ze other way!" More stupid Nazis come along and the girls realize they have imperiled their idol and lead the Nazis on a wild goosestepping chase, while Dino rescues Sarge from the two Nazis in the drink, who are sneaking up on the water-logged dogface. Back in the cellar, Reb Ralston is fleecing the pigeons in a poker game (Reb never leaves the pasteboards at home!). Pinky owes him his pay until the end of the war and Reb says it is time to play for high stakes. Dum-Dum Duggan is worried and decides to hunt for Fury and Dino, realizing that the most inconspicuous cover in an occupied country is US Army fatigues, a derby with corporal stripes, a red handlebar mustache, and a Thompson M1A1 submachine gun! Fury and Dino observe the kid's father, ridin' with the Nazis, when he tells a man arrested by the Gestapo that he shouldn't have been passing messages to the Underground. What a rat! The kid bad mouths his old man and the Americans agree. Meanwhile, Duggan is scouting the area and finds Fury and Dino's handiwork: two stupid Nazis bound and gagged, since this is a Code-approved book and commandos leave Nazis alive, rather than slit their throats to keep them from alerting others. Just then, he gets beaned in the derby by a rock and Fury calls him a "...walrus-faced baboon!" Fury yells at him for running around in his gear, oblivious to the fact that he has left two nazis alive and a squad is running after teenage girls, trying to find him, thanks to dragging a film star along on a recon! They go back to the cellar, having not found Agent X, and tell Izzy he has been nominated to blow up the dikes by the Committee to Take a Crapshot at Not Killing Thousands of Dutchmen in a Flood. Izzy says he doesn't know anything about dikes and I will leave you to write your own jokes about a line like that! They head out to the dikes and find that they are behind the Nazi staging area. This being Marvel, no sentries are posted and the Howlers decide that 7 men and a kid can take on a batallion. So, with a WAHOOOOOOOOooooooo and a bugle blast, the Howlers go on the attack...  Pinky and Hans are crossing a dike when an armored car opens up on them, missing them completely, while Pinky stands in the middle of the road, pointing with his bumbershoot (don't you know...). Before you can say, "Bad show, wot?" Pinky tosses hand grenade and blows up the noisy blighter! Time for a cuppa! Hans takes aim and nearly gets ripped apart by a Nazi and Fury shoves him outta tha way. Izzy heads off to plant explosives while the Howlers hold off a Nazi army, with no artillery, tank or air support, no crew-served weapons, 6 Thompsons, a handful of grenades, torn uniforms, and three days beard growth. The Nazis don't stand a chance! While Izzy is planting explosives, Agent X pops out of the water, with an Aqualung (Sitting on a park bench......). The Howlers believe he is Agent X and not a Nazi frogman and he leads Izzy to the correct spots and they blow the dikes, flooding only the Nazis and not the good Dutch people (just the ones who joined the Dutch SS). While doing all of this, he reveals that the man the Gestapo caught was actually a gestapo agent that he set up to be executed. Hans is sent off by Agent X to live in England, to be safe. A plane arrives to fly them out and Hans wishes his father could be a patriot, like Agent X. Stan is about as subtle as Gabe's bugle. Obviously, Agent X is Mayer Rooten; they even have the same hook nose. A young Paul Verhoeven watches as they fly away, dreaming of filming a more accurate tale of life in wartime Holland! This is beyond stupid; but, it's damn entertaining and I loved it as a kid. It is on par with Where Eagles Dare (minus the intrigue), where Richard Burton and Clint Eastwood kill half the German Army, in Germany, and get away scott, free, uncovering two traitors and obtaining the names of all of the Abwehr's agents in England. That's kid stuff compared to Fury and the Howlers! Dick Ayers provides the lively art, with Steve Ditko inking. This is about as gung ho as it gets and is filled with Stan's goofy sense of humor and sarcastic dialogue, coupled with a complete ignorance of combat, since Stan was stationed stateside, writing for the Army (probably classics like When Faceth With VD and Your Carbine and You, 'Nuff Said!), while Jack Kirby was getting shot at and nearly leaving his toes in a wet foxhole in France. You can understand why Kirby wasn't a fan of this book. Ayers, on the other hand, loved working on it, and did so for a long, long time, along with John Severin and some other inkers. Gary Friedrich wrote many tales (as did Roy Thomas) and knew even less about combat than Stan. Dino Manelli was modelled after one comic book fan named Dino Crocetti, better known as Dean Martin. He was supposed to be a film star who enlisted and ended up in the Howling Commandos. Izzy Cohen was modelled after Charles Bronson, while Percy Pinkerton was modelled on David Niven. Gabe was a member, despite the Army's institutionalized segregation and no one, not even stereotypical southerner Reb Ralston ever says a word. Well, they did do a story where another GI says some s@#!, but, he learns. Stan has since claimed Percy was created to be gay; but, that sounds like he latched onto modern internet BS, because someone as effete as Pinky must be gay. he isn't, he's British. Everything in this book was a stereotype, though at least Gabe didn't sound like Amos 'n' Andy. I could really tear this apart; but, I always loved Sgt Fury. It was a 60s war movie on paper and the personalities were pretty good. It never had the level of writing or art that the best DC war comics had; but, it lasted 167 issues (though a good chunk of those were reprints) and 18 years. That ain't bad. Fury would later be reunited with the Howlers for a mission into Korea (which is where he got bumped up to lieutenant) and then led them on a mission in Vietnam (annuals 1 and 3, respectively), while he was head honcho for SHIELD (both in Sgt Fury annuals). Dum-Dum and Gabe were SHIELD agents and German turncoat Howler Eric Koenig was a Berlin-based SHIELD agent (like he could go home, after the war). Later, the Howlers and Happy Sam Sawyer, now a general, appeared in two issues of Captain America (273 and 274), teaming up to fight HYDRA. Reb was a senator, by that point (fleecing his fellow Congressmen at the poker table, between sessions, no doubt). It was ridiculously fun! |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 28, 2017 1:29:55 GMT -5
ps The comic also features an ad for Yubiwaza, the Japanese art of self defense, using only one finger! Master NJ Fleming will teach you to turn one finger or your hand into a potent weapon, without any bodily contact! Yes, Yoshie Imanami, who only weighs 90 lbs, can incapacitate a 200 lb attacker with just one finger, because she knows Yubiwaza!  Strange how that one never turned up in the UFC! |
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Post by Prince Hal on Jun 28, 2017 8:02:51 GMT -5
codystarbuck, I never realized Ditko had inked Sgt. Fury. He brought some lightness and liveliness to reliable, but stolid Dick Ayers. Funny review, and as you point out,the Fury stories may be the least realistic war stories ever published. At least when Sgt. Rock and Easy Company were routinely dispatching Stukas with small-arms fire, it all looked realistic! I think that in later Howler adventures, during the Gary Friedrich era, German soldiers actually died. Can anyone confirm? Paging DanBintheUnderworld...
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 28, 2017 12:11:22 GMT -5
codystarbuck , I never realized Ditko had inked Sgt. Fury. He brought some lightness and liveliness to reliable, but stolid Dick Ayers. Funny review, and as you point out,the Fury stories may be the least realistic war stories ever published. At least when Sgt. Rock and Easy Company were routinely dispatching Stukas with small-arms fire, it all looked realistic! I think that in later Howler adventures, during the Gary Friedrich era, German soldiers actually died. Can anyone confirm? Paging DanBintheUnderworld ... I believe so. The Friedrich/Ayers/Severin stories were far more serious than Stan's and were a bit closer to things like Sgt Rock and The Losers. Stan was more interested in applying the same formula that worked on the superhero books to war comics, a genre that had always done well for Atlas (and one that they heavily churned out). His Howlers might as well be the X-Men or FF, with hand grenades and Tommy Guns for superpowers. It was 12 issues before we got the death of Junior Juniper, which is followed by a team-up with Captain America. Stan was definitely not Robert Kanigher, in terms of focus and I have trouble seeing him doing that same kind of human tale. Stan wrote the series for 28 issues, then Roy Thomas comes on board and handles things a little more seriously, though not entirely. Friedrich comes on with issue 42, so Roy did fewer stories than Stan. John Severin's first issue is #44. That team is together through issue #76. After that, you get a variety of writers and inkers, with Ayers the only constant. Then, they start alternating new stories with reprints, and Friedrich returns to writing it. Issue 120 is the last with an original story. After that, they just start reprinting the series from around issue 20 and continue until the end. I think I once counted that there were a couple of stories that were published at least 3 times. Ayers was on it until the end and had started with issue one. He isn't present for issues 4-7; but, is there for every one after (apart from reprints of ones he didn't do). When Severin came onboard, they did some stories set in the Pacific, where he had served, so I always wonder if he didn't contribute some ideas for that. The wiseacre tone is always present; but, Friedrich went for more serious tales, focusing on the people, much like the DC books. As a kid, I loved the earlier wisecracking stories (I watched a lot of Hogan's Heroes, too); but, when I was older, I appreciated the more realistic ones of Friedrich/Ayers/Severin. The earlier stuff is like the Dirty Dozen and Kelly's Heroes; the later more like Battleground, Sands of Iwo Jima, and Battle of the Bulge, to put it in movie terms. |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 28, 2017 12:24:12 GMT -5
Since I brought up the subject,here are some lists of commando, World War II, and war movies and my thoughts (my imdb screen name was Grendelkhan). |
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Post by codystarbuck on Jun 28, 2017 13:29:18 GMT -5
I just posted a thread about Sam Glanzman entering hospice care. There is a link to a piece at the Atomic Junk Shop, with details of a Gofundme campaign. Please check it out.
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Post by codystarbuck on Jul 1, 2017 22:12:39 GMT -5
Sgt. Fury and His Howling Commandos #13/Special Marvel Edition #11   Featuring Captain America, in the greatest demand in Marvel history (all 3 years of it!) It says so on the cover and Stan wouldn't exaggertae, right? Our story opens in a British cinema, where the crowd watches and oohs and ahhs at newsreel footage of the Howlers and their latest exploit. The Limeys just love the Howlers, since they need them to win the war for them, right? That's what my old history book said, in grade school! Anyway, the crowd continues to rudely talk through the picture, don't you know (bad show, wot?) and then another reel shows footage of Captain America & Bucky in action, who Fury's girlfriend, Lady Pamela Hawly, think are just smashing! Crickey, those chaps are just superb! Fury is a bit put off that the "reserved" British crowd was more animated for Cap & Bucky than the Howlers. Fury and Pamel head to a pub where Sgt Bill McGiveney decides to pick a fight with a young, blond-haired private. The private sticks up for himself; but, Fury thinks he will be murdered by McGiveney and intercedes, throwing down with his rival (they are the other Ranger squad, in the platoon). The rest of the Howlers are near by and they jump into the fray, to the tune of Gabe's bugle. The MPs show up to bust up the fun. The next morning, the blond private suits up as Captain America, joined by Bucky, as they head off on a mission to occupied Europe. Cap fills in Bucky about the fight and says he would be proud to fight with Fury, at some point. No foreshadowing there! Meanwhile, the Howlers get in some judo practice, while Izzy plays around with Gabe's horn. Happy Sam Sawyer comes across him and asks what he thinks he is doing. "Just waitin' on a judo partner, sir!" Sam gives him one and proceeds to toss him around like a rag doll. Kirby actually depicts real judo holds and throws. One panel has Fury on the ground, while Dum-Dum has a wristlock on him that is textbook perfect. Dino tries a leg sweep on Reb. Kirby knows his stuff! Cap & Bucky paddle to shore, from a submarine, and scale a cliff (Heavens to Navarone!). They dump a stupid Nazi sentry, they bust up some barbed wire, with a motorcycle and take off on another (it's the same bike, but, Stan's dialogue says otherwise. Kirby makes it clear it's the same motorcycle. Pretty clear who plotted the bulk of this. Cap & Bucky engage in the noisiest secret mission, as they head into a coastal town, where they see the Nazis using slave labor to dig something. The come across some goosesteppers about to shoot some downed American pilots and bust up the party. Shields and bodies fly everywhere. Cap frees the pilots and sends them to the coast, with a message, to send for the Howlers.  The Howlers are on a forced march, gripin' and moanin' while Fury tells them to pick 'em up and put 'em down. They arrive back at base and Sam calls Fury into his office for a briefing. They got Cap's message and off the Holwers go. We later see them moving through beach obstacles, while Stan's dialogue says they parachuted in. No parachutes are seen on the page and it is obvious that Kirby plottted them to come in via boat or sub, wading ashore through the beach defenses. Kirby was there; Stan wasn't. The Nazis hear them; but, the Howlers get the jump, despite Germans crawling along the French coastline. The Howlers punch Nazis, while the Germans drop a grenade, which wounds Gabe. Fury dispatches Izzy to take him to their sub rendezvous (and probable taxi service), while they smaller group presses on. Um, Yeah... Dum-Dum and Dino flank a gun emplacement and fight their way inside, where they take control of a howitzer. The Nazis are about to hit the Howlers with a flammenwerfer, when Dum-Dum unloads some artillery, which miraculously doesn't come close to Fury, even though Dum-Dum is in the infantry and probably has no idea how to aim the weapon. Maybe he has instructions in his derby... The Howlers move inland and fight their way to a train and hop on. It is carrying the slave labor, including our favorite blond private. He claims his unit ws overrun; but, Fury says booshwah. The Nazis come in and put a kid from the Hitler Youth in charge, 'cause, comics... It turns out the Nazis are building the Channel Tunnel a few decades early. Fury and the guys are taken inside, after Prvt Rogers is taken away by Fritz, the Hitler Youth bully boy. Inside, they see the vast works, when an explosion sounds. Cap shows up and directs Fury and his men to attack the other end, to seal in the Nazis. Much tommy gunning and grenading occurs, while Cap pulls some fancy stunts..  They fight their way out and proceed to flood the tunnel. They fight through the Nazis up top and get away, with some serious, but not fatal wounds. The issue ends with the walking Howlers visiting Fury and Reb in the hospital, where the noise disturbs the patients in the other ward: Cap and Bucky. Total silliness, but filled with action. It's kind of disjointed, as there is no good reason for the Howlers and Cap to be brought together and there are a lot of contrivances. Kirby notoriously hated Sgt Fury and this is one of his last issues. He goes to town on the action, though. The plot is straight out of some old Timely covers, as I recall one Schomberg piece that had the Nazis using a tunnel to invade. It's beyond ridiculous; but, that was 60s Marvel. As I pointed out early, this looks like Kirby's plot, with Stan contriving his own in the dialogue, despite Kirby's drawings. The Howlers do not parachute in and Cap & Bucky do not find another motorcycle, after sending one through barbed wire. I think this helps illustrate how Stan and Jack could have such different perspectives on their partnership. Stan's conversation to Kirby was likely that he wanted Cap to cross over with Fury and Jack plotted the adventure. Stan made alterations with the dialogue. Stan's German is a mess and the stupid Nazis sound even more stupid than usual. The Howler's banter is their normal fare. The Brits sound like they stepped out of an Ealing comedy, minus any Cockneys, or Alec Guinness (not even Alfie Bass!). While in Stan's hands, Sgt Fury is just a superhero book, with GIs. some stories are more serious than others, but, they are pretty lightweight, compared to the DC war comics. With Roy Thomas and Gary friedrich, they take on a more serious tone, even if the banter remains. It would be about 10 years before Jack got to do war comics like he wanted, with the Losers. This is still a pretty decent action tale, even if the interaction of Cap and Fury isn't particularly well developed. This probably should have been a two-parter or more, though that was still a bit rare, at this point. Stan's cornball dialogue still makes this fun, despite not being in sync with Kirby. |
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Post by Rob Allen on Jul 2, 2017 3:34:29 GMT -5
Yes, there were definitely times when you could see the seams in the Lee-Kirby partnership, and in a lot of Marvel Method comics. For me, that adds another layer of intrigue to reading them.
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Possibly, he intended to show that the militia soldier was little more than an armchair soldier, not a professional. I still think he had been a civilian too long. 
