Did that come before or after the two-part story that appeared in Fanfare?

What a waste of Wrightson's talent. The guy didn't draw all that many comics, and to think Marvel could have assigned him a Kull story, or something like that - Werewolf by Night, Dracula, Dr. Strange, Bloodstone, Solomon Kane - Wrightson would killed on Solomon Kane, come to think of it ... hell, I'd prefer one of Starlin's increasingly annoying Thanos comics to this.

Actually this would have been a few years before the Infinity Wars and all that stuff so it might even have been good! But I suppose perhaps still a bit too early to bring back Tanos. Anyway, I think there were many, many more suitable projects that Wrightson could have drawn for Marvel, so a great missed opportunity, in my eyes.

Of course for all I know he might have asked for these characters himself, who knows.

'Graphic Novel' as big comic book that costs more. Right ingredients; Starlin, Wrightson, better coloring.... wrong mold?

Marvel Graphic Novel #30 A Sailor's Story



Creative Team: Sam Glanzman-writer and artist; Phil Felix-letters, Larry Hama-edits

This is Sam Glanzman's masterpiece; a semi-autobiographical tale of his time onboard the USS Stevens (DD-479), from 1943-1945. The USS Stevens was involved in the Pacific Theater, including actions at the Gilbert Islands, at Kwajalein, Guam, the Philippines, and Borneo. At the end of the war, they were part of the group that went into Tsingtao, China, to inter Japanese ships there.

The book is "Dedicated to all 'Tin Can" soldiers.....May they rest in peace those that died. And may God bless and grant peace forever to those that live."

Synopsis: The book opens with Sam on the family farm, in Dec 1941. he leaves the farm and his beloved dog, in Dec 1942. He reports aboard the USS Stevens in 1943, at the Brooklyn Naval Yard. Sam reports aboard and we immediately get a lesson in naval terminology...



Sam is assigned to the Deck Department, where his work consists of maintaining the fixtures on the exterior of the ship. He and his fellow "Deck Apes" "turn to," (get to work), chipping, scraping and painting, in a seemingly endless cycle. He sees some others laughing at him and his mates. They are "snipes" (engineering personnel) and don't "turn to."

The ship eventually leaves New York and transits the Panama Canal, to the Pacific. Along the way, sam gives us a glimpse of a unique feature of the Stevens. It was fitted with a book steam catapult and a float plane, which would theoretically give it greater scouting range and a weapon to attack enemy submarines, beyond their own torpedoes and depth charges. The Deck Apes are tasked with hoisting the plane back aboard, as we see the craft shift while being hauled aboard, dumping the pilot in the drink.

Sam shows us the banality of daily life onboard a naval vessel, consisting of work and few amenities. The ship makes Pearl Harbor and the crew gets a bit of liberty to unwind, including the local brothels. After getting "brewed, screwed and tattooed" the men return for duty and the ship moves out for gunnery exercises, before joining a task force, headed to the Gilbert Islands.



Sam's battle station is the handling room of Number 2 Gun Mount, one of the ship's 5 inch guns. There, he passes ammunition to the loaders of the gun. We see that injuries can come without taking a hit, as one of the men loses a finger during loading of a round.

The ship is involved in raids at Marcus Island and Tarawa, then heads for Guam. On the way, it crosses the Equator and Sam shows us a Shellback Initiation.



Pollywogs (those who hadn't crossed) are rounded up by Shellbacks (those who had) and summoned before King Neptune, to be initiated in the "Solemn Mysteries of the Ancient Order of the Deep." They are then subjected to a series of humiliating hazings, until they are Shellbacks and the "turn to." In Sam's day, this included things like running a gauntlet of paddles and lengths of rubber hose, while my day had prohibitions against violent acts, but still had injuries and even deaths due to stupidity of the whole thing.

The festivities over, the ship actually heads to San Francisco and Sam gets leave and returns home to see his dog. However, leave ends and Sam returns to his ship. He reminds us of the actions that occured while they were in port, then takes us to Kwajalein, in the Marshals. We also see a buddy crack up under the stress. Sam has had enough of chipping and scraping and decides to "strike for a rating" (apprentice himself to become a specialist)as a snipe. He reports to engineering, where he is given a rag, a wire brush and some oil and told to "turn to" on the boiler plates. he has been had, as the snipes do the same thing in the engineering spaces that he had done on deck, but without the sun and fresh air!

Sam soon learns how to avoid duty and drive his chief nuts.



Another chief enjoys his shenanigans and convinces him to strike for "fireman". He likes Sam's curiosity and soon Sam is working in the fireroom, where the y maintain the burners that light the boilers, to produce steam, which drives the engine turbines, propelling the ship.

Sam makes Fireman, First Class and his battle station becomes the fireroom. During the landings at Guam, he witnesses a crewmate wig out and hide in the spaces, with a bucket over his head. Everyone ignores him, as they have work to do and all know it could have been them.



The ship is tasked to aid in the rescue of a downed DE (Destroyer escort). They are forced to sink the derelict vessel and the rescued crew watches in horror, as their ship slides under the surface.



Sam takes us through other landings and other actions, as the ship is detached from battle, until it deals in post-surrender duty in China, and Sam's discharge and return home, only to find that his beloved dog is gone...



Thoughts: never in comics has there been such a personal account of the horrors of war, from the fear and excitement to the mundane. This is not some gung-ho story of battlefield heroics; this is the real war, as lived by Sam and those he knew. Not everything is factual. sam portrays himself as an orphan, but, he had two brothers (David Charles and Lewis) and had been working in comics, starting with Centaur, in 1939. The USS Staevens was not engaged in every action shown, but the events of the battle are true or represent a truth in them. Much of the story had been told in the USS Stevens stories that Sam produced for DC Comics. Those were some of the strongest piece in Our Army at War, even more than SGT Rock and Enemy Ace, as they had an authenticity lacking in the others. You could feel the truth of them.

Sam worked in comics before the war, but left them behind, for a time, after the war, before being pulled back in, producing comics for Dell, Charlton and DC, among others. Sam became one of the noted war comics artists, but one who strove for reality and authenticity. His work at Dell, on Combat, is tremendous, as he illustrates real battles and actions, including the story of John F Kennedy;s PT-109. At Charlton, he co-created The Lonely War of Captain Willy Schultz, with Will Franz, about a German-American, falsely accused of murder who must shelter in the German Army and face the possibility of killing fellow Americans, while bonding with fellow German soldiers. It was a unique feature and one that drove home the casualties of war: the humanity of those who are caught up in it. Sam spent many years illustrating his USS Stevens stories and The Haunted Tank for DC, before producing this work, for Marvel. he would also contribute historical stories to Marvel's short-lived Semper Fi,comic, a companion to The Nam, focusing on the US Marines. Sam provided stories about the original Colonial Marines.

Near the end of the book, Sam provides a tribute to the destroyers and tin can sailors who lived and died in the horror that was Okinawa...



This work is very personal to me. I discovered the graphic novel in college, where I was undergoing my Naval ROTC training. It was the most honest depiction of Navy life that I would ever encounter. It didn't BS things. We were filled with traditions and protocols, engineering and weapon systems, navigation and leadership and Sam told us of a grinding cycle of preventative maintenance, drills, moments of calm, psychological stress and the horrors of naval combat. This wasn't the histories of Adm Arleigh Burke, or the memoirs of John F Kennedy. This was a sailor's view of life on a tin can.

I always wanted to meet Sam and swap sea stories and just thank him for giving me the truth and not the sales pitch. To talk of why I am not a shellback, even though I crossed the Equator and see what he had to say about it. On the whole, reading this work, I suspect he would understand. When he was in hospital, Drew Ford solicited messages from fans. I sent an e-mail telling Sam what I would have said in person. I don't know if he ever saw or heard it. I kind of doubt it. Regardless, it was a chance to say thank you to a shipmate.

Fair winds and following seas, Sam.



1924-2017