4.5 stars, some of the very last stories a bit too much for me, but that's war I guess. I read the Unknown Soldier as a kid and at least 3 of the books in this collection, I remember, mostly I remembered just the cover and the little circular "Make War NO More" sign at the end of the earlier stories. I find the fantasy a bit more to my liking than 3 late stories in the book that are a bit gut wrenching. It almost surprised me that one of them passed the comics code but upon reexamining the book, curiously, the seal of approval is not on the cover of the September issue on page 320 which is a rather mild story with nothing offensive. It looks like the "No Holds Barred" issue is the only one like that. I can't add much on to what others have said, the majority of these stories are well illustrated and have a good plot and occur in both the European and Pacific theaters. It was a pleasure to read these again.
Lastly, I remember, but not the exact stories, but if one is talking about reprinting old stories, I'd certainly like to see the old Charlton company's comics in book form. It was something for this kind of comic book company not being one of the "big boys" but still trying to create stories, some very good on various subjects. One of their war comics was Fightin' Marines and it went down well. I'd also rather have read a Charlton western like Billy the Kid than those put out by DC or Marvel. I just add that in as their seems to be a bit of a free discussion here on these magazines.
An exceptional Showcase collection Regarding DC's SHOWCASE PRESENTS series of black and white collections, I certainly feel that older material should be available in an affordable format for all to experience, but I consider very few of those volumes to be essential reading. Many of them have shown me just how quickly some of DC's flagship titles lost steam in the `50s and `60s. Flash, Green Lantern, Atom - while I love these characters, it was difficult to stick with their various collections. Others weren't so difficult; specifically, their non-superhero titles such as Jonah Hex, The Haunted Tank, and now, The Unknown Soldier. In fact, SHOWCASE PRESENTS: THE UNKNOWN SOLDIER VOLUME 1 is my favorite entry in the series so far (sorry Jonah!).
The Unknown Soldier... the man whom no one knows, but is known by everyone! Created by Joe Kubert, and first appearing in Star-Spangled War Stories #151 (1970), his face was ruined in a grenade attack that killed his brother. Remaining in the service as a covert operative for US intelligence, this master of disguise moves behind the enemy lines of World War II like a ghost, supporting the troops of Europe, Africa, and the Pacific Theater through his espionage activities and impersonations of both Allied and Axis figures.
This collection features tales from Star-Spangled War Stories # 151 - 190, written by Kubert, Bob Haney, Frank Robbins, Robert Kanigher, and Archie Goodwin; and illustrated by Kubert, Jack Sparling, Dan Spiegle, and Gerry Talaoc. Good grief, could the talent roster be any more impressive? The stories are quick and to the point, yet packed with tons of plot and action; seriously, even the shorter stories in this collection contain more action than many of today's full-length comics. The stories pull no punches when it comes to the realities of the war - spies, concentration camps, and death around every corner. Also of note is the obvious research the writers did in order to stage the Unknown Soldier's missions during actual events of World War II, such as the cracking of Japan's Purple Code, the Casablanca Conference, and the German Resistance's plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler. The art is consistently stellar, even though it moves through a number of contributors. These guys all knew how to draw normal, everyday people and military hardware, exhibiting much more talent than many of the artists on DC's superhero titles.
I'm hoping for more volumes featuring DC's war characters, and the Unknown Soldier is at the top of the list.
Classic DC war comic The war, horror and Western were genre staples of the DC Universe, as much as it was to the Marvel Universe..until DC Crisis and Marvel's Secret Wars. These titles died a small death, due to the growthg of superheroes.
DC, in its WAR genre hayday, Sgt. Rock and his Easy Company (now in a color archieve book edition and a graphic novel "Between A Rock & A hard Place"), The Haunted Tank (also now in another Black & White Showcase edition), Enemy Ace (also now in a color Archieve edition), The Losers (which combined heroes Johnny Cloud, Captain Storm and Gunner & Sarge) (so DC, where is the Archieve or Showcase edition of this one?), Weird War (which was strange war tales), Man of War (a black American OSS agent), and the Unknown Soldier
This collection of tales of the Unknown Soldier starts with his first appearence in the pages of Star Spangled War. This collectiom of the first 38 issues of SSW is worth an Unkown Soldier fan. Joe Kubert and Dan Spiegles art work make this collection one to keep
The story of the Unknown Soldier is simple. This man of a thousand faces , working for the USA, becomes some person in the war from a soldier to a general . The man become a turning in the war and then vanishes
OKAY, This book for me is pure escapest war stuff! 1970's Americana promoting the smart USA against the dumb axises. It was great entertainment for my 20 cents then ..and the book is a feel good project reflection an era gone by.For me, In reading this collection, I am eleven years old again and buying these at cappy's newsstand
DC Comics with their Showcase books have brought back character driven collections like the Phantom Stranger, The Haunted Tank, and Jonah Hex (see my Review) as well reprinting Early stories of Shazam (see my review), Green Lantern, Green Arrow, Justice League and Brave & the Bold (Batman team up books). these collections are over 500 pages for under $20, worth it to recapture comics of old.
I hope that DC will seek out the original DC showcase books from the 1960's themselves > Some had characters like Hawk & Dove, Bat Lash and even James Bond Dr No in comic form. well I can hope
Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD
Reprint Gunner and Sarge Sgt. Rock and Easy Company should be out in force as the vanguard of DC's classic war stories, but right behind them should be "Gunner & Sarge." Come on DC, let's get moving! Ya think we're all gonna live forever?
Not "Unknown " to us DC war comics fans. This collection ,along with the one of "The Haunted Tank" is an excellent volume of DC war comics. It has hundreds of pages of great comic art work.I must admit I do miss the color, but for the number of stories it is a great value over the Archives version of DC's other collections. Now please do volumes of The Losers, Sgt. Rock and Weird War Tales.
Anything Goes Trivia
Megaton Man
Trevor
