Still loving these reviews, the look at Unknown Soldier and Mlle Marie is very interesting, I've read nothing of either character so far and they both look very exciting.

Reading this thread made me want to dig out the only two copies of G.I. Combat that I own:








#253 and #262. Haunted Tank is probably my favorite DC war concept as a result but I was surprised to see that Glanzman was the artist for the Tank stories in both issues (and thanks Cody, now I can truly appreciate his work and effort for as a kid, I was totally unaware of his past). I also enjoyed the Mercenaries strip as well (credited as being created by Boltinoff and Kanigher)

But I was also surprised to find war comics that I didn't remember owning. I have no clue as to where or how I acquired these issues. I have four issues of Sgt. Fury and his Howling Commandos: #63, #129 (which reprints #27), #130, and #140 (which reprints #45). I also have #48 but I do remember buying that awhile back after reading Beau Smith's discussion of it in his column in CBG.

I was very surprised to find this:




Recently, in checking out the history of Rock, I had discovered this reprint series from the late 80s that I was looking into acquiring so I was very pleased to see that I already had one issue of it!

This issue contains three Rock stories: 'The Rock of Easy Company" by Haney, Andru & Esposito from Our Army at War #81, the 3-part 'Easy's Had It' by Kanigher and Kubert from Our Army at War #103, and 'The Survivors' by Kanigher and Heath from Our Army at War #258.

Of course, the first story is Rock's first appearance by Bob Haney though! In the letters page, editor Mike Gold relates his initial surprise too over discovering this factoid. Upon discussing it with Haney himself, Gold tells that Haney freely admits to creating Rock but also admits that he was writing the character to the editor's specs, the editor being Kanigher. Plus, as Haney recalls, his assignments for that title were only for that issue and possible the next. Thus, he has no qualms with Kanigher and Kubert's legendary connection and status with the character. (Very interesting along with the fact that the character was called 'Sgt. Rocky' in the story itself).

The three-part story had some great Kubert art naturally as Rock seeks to dissuade the soldiers of Easy of the idea of his perceived invulnerability, that even he is expendable at all costs. But I really enjoyed the last story with Heath's amazing art. Rock, adrift in the Pacific, lands on a small island only to find two Japanese soldiers. He kills one but strikes a uneasy peace with the other soldier in their bid to reach safety.  What's also interesting is that they altered the first page of the story. Here's the original:



In my copy, the text caption is replaced by the Sgt. Rock banner. The inking and coloring were slightly altered too, with the scene being more darker, Rock's face being more shaded, especially his hair. (Also, if you look at the USA on the map, you'll see a tiny 'Me' with an arrow pointing roughly to Chicago which is where Heath was living at this time. So Heath put himself into his art!)

So I'll definitely check into the rest of this series as some stories from Mlle Marie, the Losers, Tank, and Enemy Ace were also reprinted too. 

While perusing eBay for assorted war comic issues, I came across this:






I ended up getting a decent copy for 80 cents. I've read very little of the Losers. The only issue that I have featuring any of them is Four-Star Battle Tales #1 which reprints All-American Men at War #94. The lead is Johnny Cloud, Navajo Ace and the main reason I bought it is because I wanted to read the story that inspired this fantastic cover:




This special is written by Kanigher with art by Glanzman, Judith Hunt and Mike Esposito. It details the Losers' final mission as they take on the task of taking out a German rocket launcher group that has Rock and Easy Co. pinned down in a nearby village. We see the background of the group, what lead them all separately to initially join together as they helped the Haunted Tank outfit for a previous assault awhile back. They succeed in their present task but at a cost. Johnny Cloud's last death wish grants a spiritual ending for this fighting force.

This was a good story though I'm unsure of how accurate these given past relations are to their previous history given that this is a Crisis crossover. (This story seems to be based on CoIE #3 but it's been so long since I read that mini). But the ties that bind as shown here are good, from Capt. Storm's initial loss of his first command to a particular Jap sub to his driven obsession to regain his sea command in hopes of using it to avenge his lost crew upon that very same sub to Gunner & Sarge working together with Pooch as they have a hand in the assault that finally takes out that Jap sub to Johnny Cloud descending from the very clouds as he loses a young pilot who sacrificed himself to save Cloud.

I can understand the previous statements about how Kirby never liked the name for this group but here, I can see some validation for it as Kanigher builds upon the theme of their separate losses, men and soldiers under their respective leadership & command whom they've lost and they feel it taints them in some way.  (Storm comes across as being very tragic, the sea claiming his crew but never him).

The art was decent seeing as it was a collaboration, I could see the underlying hints of Glanzman's detail. The ending was heroic if sad but I was most disturbed by Pooch. He had a good build-up throughout this special, from his loving training with Gunner to his sincere working with gruff Sarge. I know war is hell but c'mon! Not the dog too!

Yep, they pretty much set up everything you know about SHIELD and HYDRA in the 60s.  There's a Sgt Fury story, from the 60s, which establishes how his eye was injured, to explain the patch in the modern day.  Captain Savage established how Strucker came to lead HYDRA, after Steranko revealed him to be the Supreme Hydra.  Val, Clay Quartermain, Jasper Stilwell, The Gaf...all of it started in this era.

Captain Savage had appeared as a submarine commander a few times, in Sgt Fury, before getting his own squad of Marines.  Makes about as much sense as Capt. Storm being in the Losers, since a naval officer wasn't trained in infantry tactics; but, comics...

I'm up to Captain Savage #6 and I'm loving this Dick Ayers/Syd Shores art!

First off, riding into battle on surfboards?! How crazy is that!

Second, I didn't think Ben was that old to have fought in WW II.

Great look on a title that I haven't heard of till now. I've read some of Steranko's SHIELD stories with Strucker and HYDRA but as you said, I had no idea that his backstory was detailed in this series. That's very cool.

I picked up decent copies of Blazing Combat #3-4 from eBay and wow, totally agree, the quality of art in these issues is amazing and Goodwin's stories, ranging from different theaters of war, are solid throughout. The letters pages were also interesting in seeing the great reaction to this series from war buffs and actual servicemen. 

Fantastic Four #11 (the FIRST Fantastic Four #11, 1963) has a flashback that explicitly states that Ben Grimm was an ace fighter pilot during World War II and that Reed Richards was in intelligence. (Reed meets the Howlers (for just a few panels) in Sgt. Fury #3 while they are on a mission, I think in France.)

As for the surfboards, well, it makes a nice cover. Stan probably thought it would sell comics. (They should have put Strucker on a surfboard; THAT would sell comics.)