I'm with you on the Undergrounds, to a point, though I am old enough to have experienced the aftermath of "The 60s," and have some context (mainly through outdated Hollywood notions, on tv).  Still, so much of the subject was off-putting, to me.  I encountered samples in The World Encyclopedia of Comics and another reference book, from the library, around 1978-79.  Dope, sex and anti-authority jokes fell flat on a small town kid, in the Midwest, with parents who were teachers, but not politically dogmatic.  I was old enough to understand some of the anti-war stuff and even anti-establishment, and had some sympathies, but it was past.  Plus, I could see the other side, since I was more of a neutral observer. The sex stuff wasn't erotic...just played for shock value and humor and being a virgin, was a bit lost on me.  The art styles tended to the distorted and naked breasts drawn by someone who drew grotesque or extreme bodies didn't tittilate the way more "straight" artists did.  Even in hormonally charged puberty.

Trashman was the first to really capture my attention, when I saw the collected volume, in a comic shop, while in the military.  I had been a bit of a gun and action nut, in my teens, as you could imagine, with someone who applies for a military scholarship and an interest in military history.  I had been fed the Hollywood version and hadn't encountered enough unfiltered history to know better.  That fed a fascination with the Executioner pulp novels.  Trashman seemed to hit that vibe and I bought it, but, as I read it, I saw the subversive undercurrent.  Spain had something to say beyond getting high and getting laid.  At the same time, as growing boredom with the superhero genre enticed me to look at more alternatives and positive reactions with things like Dark Horse Presents led to more experimentation.  That helped lead me to things like CUD and I could connect more with it and stuff like Hate.  I was still a bit standoffish with the Alternative scene, though finally getting my hands on issues of Love and Rockets helped nude that.  Same with finally getting my hands on an issue or two of American Splendor and the world of autobiographical comics.  Still, not everyone was a Harvey Pekar.  It took the film version of Ghost World to get me to actually look at Dan Clowes' stuff.  I had to get past my prejudices against the art styles and the "whining," that I perceived, in my late 20s and 30s.  A bit of disenchantment in my 40s helped, with that, just as disillusion from the Gulf War altered some of my political perceptions and my reception to some themes in the Undergrounds.

Since then, I have found that there is a lot of good stuff in there; you just have to dig.  Same as every other comic book genre.

On the military stuff.......well, that was always my wheelhouse.  Like I say, Hollywood fueled a lot of that and idealistic and glorified accounts of history, from the school library abetted things; but, the fascination remained, even after experience proved otherwise.  I did not serve in combat, but was close enough to see the reality vs Hollywood, just from CNN coverage vs actual message traffic I read, during the Gulf War.  I saw two very different wars and I could also see that in the works of Glanzman and Lomax, though they fought in two very different wars.  There is still a universal truth, in both:  those that survive dwell upon those who didn't and also that they fought for their buddies more than they did for ideals.  Also, not everyone in command knows what the hell they are doing, especially generals.  I read lots of war comics, as a kid, because of the exciting action; but, guys like Glanzman brought some reality into them and though Sgt Fury was Hollywood action, Sgt Rock was a bit more in the mode of Battleground, where you understand a little of what soldiers go through and that there isn't necessarily glory.  I read some of his Haunted Tank and Fightin' Army stuff (Willy Schultz); but, A Sailor's Story just spoke to me, as a midshipman, training to be a naval officer.  Don Lomax brought a grittier edge to Vietnam stories, that felt far more real than The 'Nam or things like Platoon or Full Metal Jacket.  It also didn't have to answer to the Code.

I get it, though, that it is not for everyone.  if there is a gateway drug to "good" war comics, I would say it was Enemy Ace.  The art is sheer beauty, from Joe Kubert; but the character is even more intriguing, even though Kanigher is a bit fanciful with his tales, with pilots who have gimmicks and fanciful dogfights.  What is real though, is the alienation Von Hammer faces, as a born killer.  He cannot take pride in his success and the only one that understands him is a wolf he encounters, while hunting in the forest.  He kills because he must and so does it, but no one understands either one, except themselves.

While I don’t know the specific titles you are referring to, I do wonder how compelling medical comics can be when compared with live-action.

I am not sure some things are as compelling on the comicbook page. I mean, if it comes to fighter jets and military helicopters, I think I could gain more excitement from seeing “moving pictures”, e.g. Airwolf. I’m not sure aerial dogfights can be as interesting in a comicbook. 

Would firefighting be as compelling on the page, or would one rather watch 9-1-1?

If I watch a medical drama, which doesn’t happen often, I’d rather watch ER or Casualty.

My problem with War books is that the cast usually survived at too high a rate for me to be engaged. There's too many bullets flying for it to work for me. The only book I enjoyed and still have is the Combat Kelly 9 issue series. The ending was rough and more believable. 

There's very, very little of comics I like from before the Silver Age. From reputation, though, I had high hopes for the EC horror comics, and I was not disappointed when I started collecting them. It helps that I'm a horror fan.

I was more surprised by how much I like the EC war/combat stories. I don't generally like war comics. I have nothing against the genre, it's just that I never found a captivating war series (aside from Ennis' efforts).

The other Golden Age surprise for me is World's Finest, with Sprang art. I normally can't stomach Golden Age superhero stories. But these are just entertaining enough that the art pushes them over the top into enjoyable.

Now if I ever find an enjoyable Golden Age western, that would be most shocking to me. The Western genre, in any medium, seems to foster boring stories (there are exceptions, of course).

Sandman didn't sound like it was for me, but I had to try it, and learned that it was indeed not for me. I never like the anthropomorphization of natural phenomena, and there was nothing in the comic to overcome that. I found it to be pretentious wankery.

Sgt Fury had a couple of decent stories, under Roy Thomas; but, the best material was done by Gary Friedrich, when Dick Ayers and John Severin are the art team.

Unknown Soldier was good stuff and I really liked Gerry Taloc's distinctive style, for whatever reason.  It was a bit weird; but it suited the atmosphere that surrounded the character.  Haunted Tank was at its best under Glanzman and his stories, with Will Franz, in Fightin' Army and Army War Heroes were good.  Also his stories from Dell's Combat.  Tom Sutton also did some good work for Charlton's war comic line, like Attack!, in the early 70s.  Pat Boyette, too.  Shotgun Harker and The Chicken was a fun read, in Fightin' Marines.

For about a decade, now, I have had this idea stewing in my head of a maxi-series, with the classic DC war comics characters, taking them through the entire war, including Blackhawk, with a little tweaking, to make them a bit more realistic to the actual history.  I would make them like the Polish, Dutch and Belgian squadrons, in the RAF, fighting the Battle of Britain, and carrying out special missions, in DeHavilland Mosquitos, doing things like the bombing attack on the Norwegian heavy water plants and the mission to free the Resistance fighters from Amiens Prison (Operation Jericho), and the propaganda bombing missions that knocked out the main radio transmitting tower in Berlin, during a speech by Goring, on the 10th Anniversary of the Nazis' rise to power.  They attacked again and knocked it out a second time, during a speech by Goebbels.  

Ma'mselle Marie joining the Resistance, in the wake of the German victory, aiding Allied pilots to escape and carrying out sabotage missions, particularly in Normandy, when the OSS Jedburgh teams arrive, upon D-Day.  Sgt Rock and Easy mirroring the 1st Infantry Division, in Operation Torch, in Italy, then at D-Day and on into Germany (following the basic flow seen in Samuel Fuller's The Big Red One).  The Haunted Tank in Italy and Operation Dragoon (the invasion of southern France), The Losers in the South Pacific, as either Marine Raiders or Alamo Scouts, to keep them a special unit.  Maybe have Gunner and Sarge as Marine Raiders, at Guadalcanal, then assigned to work with the Alamo Scouts, where Johnny Cloud is a code-talker and Captain Storm's PT Boat is used for landing and extracting them, on recon missions.  The Unknown Soldier would be a cover for an OSS operative.  Add some other characters to cover things like the British in North Africa, the fighting in Burma, etc.  Maybe some cameos by the fathers of later heroes or characters, like Hal Jordan's father or Jonathan Kent.

Orion by Simonson! How did I forget that! Proving I can enjoy wider DC universe books. 😎