Longbox Junk Halloween Horror 2022 Part 1 - Sgt. Rock vs. The Army of the Dead #1

Welcome to Longbox Junk, where I write comic reviews that nobody asked for!

What's that you say? 

I promised a King Conan series review and the title CLEARLY says nothing about King Conan?  

Fear not, Conan fans! That series review is in the pipeline, just delayed a bit.  I completely forgot that October is upon us.  October isn't Conan season. . .October is Longbox Junk HALLOWEEN HORROR season!

That's right, it's that time of year when I take a look at the spooky side of comics, and I try to pack as many of them as I can into the month of October!  So, settle back, turn down the lights, and let's have some Halloween fun!

I'm starting off this Longbox Junk spookathon with something brand spankin' new!

So, before we begin. . .

THIS IS A REVIEW OF A COMIC THAT IS ON THE STANDS RIGHT NOW.  THIS IS YOUR SPOILER WARNING!

Okay? Everybody in that's staying in? Let's do this!

SGT. ROCK vs. 

THE ARMY OF THE DEAD #1

(DC Horror - 2022)

COVER: Gary Frank

NO TIME LIKE THE PRESENT

SCRIPT: Bruce Campbell

PENCILS: Eduardo Risso

INKS: Eduardo Risso

THE COVER:

Ah. . .There's the good stuff! My favorite WWII infantry dog captured in a freeze frame moment of action against a horde of the undead!  It's super-detailed and full of action.  This is the kind of thing that makes me want to buy a comic book!  Let's get inside. . .

THE STORY:

BERLIN: 1944.  As the Allies move in on the German capital, Adolf Hitler becomes more and more desperate to turn things back around.  Operation: Regeneration is put into action.  A mad experiment in returning dead Nazi soldiers back to life, using a combination of chemicals and electricity.  

After an allied patrol is decimated by seemingly unstoppable German soldiers, Sgt. Rock and Easy Company are summoned to HQ for a special mission. . .infiltrate deep into hotly contested enemy territory, find where the re-animated soldiers are being created, find one Doctor Morell (the head of the project), and do what Easy Company does best.

To aid in the mission, Easy Company is issued some experimental equipment, including thermal imaging scopes, and are shown one of the re-animated soldiers. . .but during the briefing, the undead German breaks free and attacks!

Easy Company quickly discovers that the process doesn't just bring the dead back to life but gives them superhuman strength and ability to resist damage.  It takes the combined firepower of the whole squad to bring just the ONE undead German down! 

After seeing what it took to destroy the escaped creature, Rock isn't very confident about their chances on this one. . .

To be continued.

THE REVIEW:

I LOVED seeing this issue on the stands!  Sgt. Rock is one of my favorite comic characters of all, and it's been a while since DC gave us Rock fans anything new to sink our teeth into.  And then, it's a horror mashup with Sgt. Rock versus Nazi zombies? Sign me up!

This first issue is mostly setup for what's to come.  Most of the page space is taken up with various expository briefings, except for a bit of action bookending the issue with the zombie attack on the allied patrol at the front, and the captured zombie attacking at the end.  

Fortunately, in such a dialogue-heavy issue, Bruce Campbell does a good job at capturing a military feel and flavor in the character speech.  Unfortunately, he doesn't spend any time at all on introducing Rock and the rogues of Easy Company, sort of leaving new readers out of the loop and aiming this story at established Sgt. Rock fans.  That said. . .there's 5 more issues, so a little more background may be coming.

On the art side of things, I'm a BIG fan of Eduardo Risso.  Since I read 100 Bullets, I've gladly bought just about anything with his name attached to it.  I love his clean, dark artwork, his spare backgrounds, and his supremely expressive faces.  That said. . .I'm not entirely sure he's the BEST artist choice for a Sgt. Rock story.

Don't get me wrong. . .the art isn't bad by any means.  Risso is a great artist and there are certainly some great moments in this issue.  I just think a Sgt. Rock story demands a little grit, a little dirt.  Risso's art is super-clean and sharp.  Someone more along the lines of a David Finch or the like might have better served the dirty dogs of Easy Company.  But like I said about the story above, there's still 5 issues coming to prove me right or wrong.

CONCLUSION

It's a little strange for me to review a comic before the whole story is out, but I like what I see so far!  Beside the bare fact that DC has decided to throw us Sgt. Rock fans a 6-issue bone, I happen to really like when genres are mashed up. . .in this case, war and zombies.  Yeah, it's been done before, but it's still fun in MY book.

Bruce Campbell does a fine job with writing on this one, giving a good sense of military speech in the multiple briefing/ exposition scenes, but kind of leaves new readers in the dark as to who these guys are.  Without a little background, there's not much to tell the characters of Easy Company apart.

Eduardo Risso turns in a predictably great job on the art, but in MY humble opinion, he might not be the best artist for a gritty WWII story.  His art is just too sharp and clean.  This is the kind of story that demands some dirt.  That said, the art's not bad and Risso fans will definitely want to add this one to their collection.

Overall, I liked this a lot and can't wait to see what happens next.  If you're a Sgt. Rock fan, or an Eduardo Risso fan, then this is a MUST-BUY!  If you're looking for a good zombie/ war mashup, then this one is a good choice so far.  The first issue is a bit full of briefings and exposition, but if I know Sgt. Rock, it won't stay that way for long!

Up Next. . .

More Longbox Junk Halloween Horror fun!

Be there or be square!

Longbox Junk - One Shots (part 2)

Welcome to Longbox Junk, the place to find all the comic reviews you never asked for!

Join me as I continue to go through a hefty handful of random one shot comics from my collection. In the first part, I was pleasantly surprised to find not a bad one in the bunch. Sure, there were little gripes here and there, but overall I couldn't find much wrong with any of them.

Will my lucky run of winners continue? Let's find out!

ONE SHOTS

(Part 2)

OUR ARMY AT WAR 

DC (2010)

TIME STANDS STILL FOR NO MAN
SCRIPT: Mike Marts
PENCILS: Victor Ibanez
COVER: Joe Kubert

Sergeant Rock is one of my favorite characters. As a Marine Corps veteran, I can appreciate how Rock is actually one of the greatest ANTI war characters ever created. This modern take on Rock is one of the strongest comics I've read in a LONG time.

It is written to perfection with the story flashing back and forth between WWII and present-day Afghanistan, with the characters finishing each other's dialogue across time, showing the old soldier's adage "The more things change, the more they stay the same." to be true.

The ending of the story, when we find out why the modern character joined the military, is an emotional punch to the gut, and comes out of nowhere. I won't spoil it, but it's the kind of ending that puts everything before it in a whole new perspective. . .

The art is superb in every way, from the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, to the 9/11 attack on the Twin Towers, the whole issue is rendered in incredible detail. And then there's that fantastic cover by the legendary Joe Kubert!

From the cover to the last page, this one shot delivers on every single panel!
Highly recommended for any fan of military comics.

We're off to a great start. . .let's see what's next!

GIANT-SIZE WOLVERINE

MARVEL (Vol. 3, 2006)

COVER: DAVID AJA

This is a nice, hefty book. I like the heavy feel of it in the hand.
Unfortunately, 75% of it is reprint material (X-Men vol 2 #6-7). Let's look at the parts separately. . .

HOUSE OF BLOOD AND SORROW
SCRIPT: David Lapham
PENCILS: David Aja

I'm not the biggest Wolverine fan, but I REALLY liked this story! Wolverine stumbles upon strange goings-on when he crash lands on an isolated farm outside of a small, superstitious town.

The dark and twisted art by Aja perfectly suits the "Backwoods Cthulhu" horror of this story, and the colors in sickly shades of brown and green really bring it home.

This is now officially one of my favorite Wolverine stories!
It's gruesome Lovecraftian horror with Wolverine in "Logan" mode. A real hidden gem!

X-MEN (vol 2, 1992) #6-7
FURTHER STILL / INSIDE? OUT!
SCRIPT: Jim Lee & Scott Lobdell
PENCILS: Jim Lee

Where the first part of this one shot was dark, moody, and horrific, the back 3/4 of the book is brightly-colored 90's superhero cliche to the hilt, with a giant cast of characters shouting exposition to each other.

I found it a bit hard to get through, and didn't really understand most of what was going on as it just sort of drops you into the middle of the continuity-dense X-Men saga. I don't understand the thinking behind including these reprinted issues. It's a complete disconnect from the first story in both tone and appearance.

The Jim Lee art is fine, in his signature 90's-Tastic way, so the reprint isn't entirely bad. It's just totally out of place. It feels like padding to justify doubling up on the price. I'm sure they could have found an older solo Wolverine story that would have fit better to reprint here. This just feels lazy.

All in all, this one shot was half and half. A dark Wolverine story that is superb in every way, and a gaudy, wordy, 90's X-Men reprint. If it was JUST the first story, this would be a total winner. But as it stands, I'll just recommend this one for the first story.

NEXT!

STAR WARS

ANNUAL #1

MARVEL (Vol. 4, 2015)

SCRIPT: Kieron Gillen
PENCILS: Angel Unzueta
COVER: John Cassaday

I really liked this story, which sits apart from the regular Star Wars continuity as a stand-alone tale.

It tells the story of a Rebel Spy who has been undercover in the Imperial bureaucracy on Coruscant for many years until he becomes involved in a desperate operation to save Imperial Senators sympathetic to the Rebel cause from the Emperor's wrath. . .not knowing he's been lured into a deadly trap.

While the art is generally good, and even has a few really great moments (the awesome opening page shot above of Imperial Coruscant comes to mind), what elevates this story is that it completely flips the script and defies expectation in that not only is the hero unsuccessful in his mission, but he is played like such a chump by The Emperor, that his mistakes are devastating to the Rebellion.

I know, I know. . .the heroes are supposed to win against the odds. But there's a reason that Empire Strikes Back is regarded as the best Star Wars movie. The writer of this One Shot remembered why that is. . .Sometimes the bad guys win too. Very nicely done. Highly suggested for any Star Wars fan!

MOVING ALONG!

WONDER WOMAN

ANNUAL #6 

DC (vol. 2, 1997)

COVER: David Beekman

There for a while, DC was doing "themed" annuals. . .Year One, Elseworlds, etc.

This one was from one of the more forgettable years. "Pulp Heroes". To tell the truth, I see very little "Pulp" in this annual (compared to some of the others) and more "Two pretty standard stand-alone Wonder Woman stories" Let's look at them separately. . .

NECROPOLIS
SCRIPT: John Byrne
PENCILS: John Byrne & Tom Palmer

The first story is a tale of Wonder Woman as a young teenager on Themyscira discovering death and madness in Paradise as she accidentally causes the death of a friend, then descends to the "City of The Dead" to try and rescue her.

The story was a bit light, but interesting, and is backed up by some great Bronze Age throwback artwork. I did like that they decided to set the story in Wonder Woman's past, and that the villain was unexpectedly sympathetic. All in all, a pretty good story.

FROM HELL SHE CAME
SCRIPT: Joan Weis
PENCILS: Ed Benes

The second story features Artemis (AKA Angry 90's Substitute Wonder Woman) going to Hades to lead a failed rebellion, then tricking Hades in order to escape again.

This one was full on 90's style "Bad Girl" violent cheesecake. The story was light and tacked on as an excuse for the fighting. The twist at the end was predictable. Ed Benes delivers a full-on 90's-Tastic artgasm that any fan of Jim Lee would be proud of. But at the end of the day. . .taken as a relic of the 90's, it's not too bad. It's one of those "So bad, it's sorta good" things. 

Both stories taken together, this was a decent one shot. Nothing great, but not particularly bad. It's just a little odd that neither story fit the "Pulp Heroes' theme at all, especially when compared to other Annuals in the theme that year. So as pulp it fails. As a couple of decent Wonder Woman stories, it does okay.

AND FINALLY. . .

GRIMM FAIRY TALES

THE LITTLE MERMAID 

ZENESCOPE (2009)

SCRIPT: Raven Gregory, Linda Ly, Ralph Tedesco & Joe Tyler
PENCILS: Claudio Sepulveda
COVER: David Nakayama
I knew my luck couldn't last. This one was pretty bad.

First, the good. . .the cover is awesome!

And that's about it.

The hefty one shot is a collected reprint story from the main "Grimm Fairy Tales" series (#25-26), and is a "Be careful what you wish for" tale set in two different intertwining times and places. . .a medieval fantasy kingdom and modern times.

The story itself is. . .okay. It's predictable and extremely light, but it's okay. Too bad that "okay" is where they got it to when there are FOUR(!) credited writers. I'm not sure there's an excuse for that.

The worst problem here is the extremely weak and juvenile art. It looks like something a high school student would draw to impress his friends. Everything looks sketchy and unfinished. Faces and hands are crude afterthoughts. The artist has a real problem with vehicles and backgrounds. The only thing he draws well are close up shots of female bodies. Anything past middle distance is pretty vague.

All in all, this is a borderline average story backed up with some pretty awful art. The whole thing reeks of cash grab. Like I said at the start, the only good thing about this one is the cover.

CONCLUSION

It's a bit more of a mixed bag for this handful of one shots, compared to the first. There were two outstanding examples of creative teams stepping up to the plate and hitting a one shot home run in Our Army at War and Star Wars Annual #1. . .both highly recommended if you should spot them in a back issue bin. 

 Wolverine had an excellent opening story backed up by a strange choice of reprints. Wonder Woman was pretty good. Not bad, but not great. Little Mermaid definitely stands out as the foul ball of this bunch with a weak story that took four people to write and art that's barely professional.

Up Next. . .

Let's step away from the one shots and take a look at a Batman/ Superman mini-series without Batman or Superman! Well. . .unless you count the giant Kryptonite-powered Batman/Superman robot that Gotham's substitute superheroes punch into submission at the end of things. . .BUT I'M GETTING AHEAD OF MYSELF!

It's DC's 2009 "World's Finest" mini.

Be there or be square!

Longbox Junk Retro Review Independence Day Special - Our Army At War #295

Welcome to another Longbox Junk Retro Review!  Every now and then, I like to take a step back from my usual Bargain Bin fare and shine a spotlight on some of the older or more "valuable" single issues in my collection. . .this is one of those times.  Enjoy!

To many "serious" collectors, the comic at hand isn't that old.  Likewise it isn't really too "valuable", either (about $20 in perfect condition). What this comic DOES have going for it is that it was part of DC's celebration of America's Bicentennial in 1976, and I was wanting to do something related to Independence Day for this entry.

Oddly enough it seems to be the only comic I have from 1976 marked as being part of America's Bicentennial Celebration.  I have other comics from 1976 in my collection, but none of them seem to care about the Bicentennial. For that matter, it seems to be the only comic in my collection that has anything to do with Independence Day in general (my daughter is out of town, so I didn't have a chance to dig through her boxes). I find that a bit strange, but there it is.

SO. . .

What we have here is my lone Independence Day-themed comic book.

It's one of the last issues of Our Army At War (which changed title to "Sgt. Rock"  and went from being an anthology to a Sgt. Rock-only comic with issue #301).  In my humble opinion, DC has always had hands-down the BEST war comics, and Our Army At War was right up there at the top of the list with great recurring characters like Sgt. Rock & Easy Company and Enemy Ace as well as talent like Robert Kanigher, Sam Glanzman, and my personal favorite all-time artist, the legendary Joe Kubert.

I think what I like best about Our Army At War (and DC's war comics in general) is that they never really glorify war.  Most of DC's war stories are ACTUALLY Anti-War stories!  In my humble opinion, Sgt. Rock is one of the greatest Anti-War characters ever written.

But enough introduction.  Let's take a look at this comic.

Oh. . .and Happy Independence Day from me to you!
Enjoy yourself and drive safely.

OUR ARMY AT WAR #295

DC (1976)

COVER: Joe Kubert

Before we get inside, let's take a moment and look at the cover.  

And what a cover it is!

It's a simple character portrait of Sgt. Rock done by the great Joe Kubert, but in its simplicity there's a lot of power.  It's just Rock standing there, surrounded by the colors and symbols of the United States. Sgt. Rock is a grim and unheroic figure, weathered and weary of war. You can definitely see Kubert's intent to show the patriotism of America's Bicentennial contrasted with a representation of the tired soldiers that have fought for America through history.

This is a brilliant cover and definitely one of my all-time favorites.

Let's get into the comic!  

THE DEVIL IN PARADISE

SCRIPT: Robert Kanigher

PENCILS: Frank Redondo

Sgt Rock and Easy Company are tasked with clearing a small town of any Nazi defenders so that an allied armor  unit can use it for a headquarters.  It's just another day in the war for Rock and the Easy veterans, but for a newly-arrived replacement, it's his baptism by fire when Easy Company loses several men to friendly mortar fire.

Rock is sickened by seeing yet another young man forced to witness the horror of war for the first time, and when the town is pacified after some brutal house to house fighting, he takes a walk to get some air and clear his head.

Outside of town, Rock is finally able to relax as he walks through a forest untouched by the war.  Unfortunately, on the shore of an idyllic pond, he is attacked by a German soldier.  A desperate hand to hand battle to the death ensues.  Rock finally wins, but as he looks around the forest. . .now disturbed by blood and battle. . .he realizes there's nowhere he can go to escape the war.

The End.

I have to say, this is a pretty powerful story.  It's well written by Robert Kanigher, and even though it's a bit heavy-handed, it packs a good emotional punch, especially in the beginning when Easy Company's new recruit gets his first taste of the horror of war and Sgt. Rock stoically tells him he's "joined the club". 

With that one single line, Kanigher tells us everything we need to know about Sgt. Rock.  He cares, but he's seen some stuff that can't be unseen.  He knows it's just the beginning for the new kid and there's nothing he can do about it except try to keep him alive. . .and there's no guarantees on that end.  

Once again, I maintain that DC had some of the best Anti-War /War Comics ever put on the stands, and the writing of people like Robert Kanigher was one of the things that made that possible. . .this short, simple story is a fine example.

The art in this story is pretty workmanlike.  Generally-speaking, it's good but not great.  It tells the story but doesn't try to be special.  That said, there are surprising splashes of brilliance here and there. . .the stoic expression of Rock as he tells the kid he's "Joined the club" on the page above, and this panel of Rock walking through the forest after the fight through the town. . .

In my humble opinion, the panel above completely captures the essence of Sgt. Rock in an almost perfect way!  I just wish the art in the rest of the story could have matched it throughout instead of just giving us flashes of greatness. That said, overall the art is pretty good.

Moving on!

WAR GAMES

ART: Sergio Aragones

Here we have a one page comedy interlude between the two actual stories of the comic.  To tell the truth, after the emotional punch of the opening story, it feels really weak and somewhat out of place.  Don't get me wrong, Sergio Aragones is a legend and I'm generally a fan of his work, but this really isn't one of his better efforts, and it's made a bit worse by coming in after such a great opener.

And finally. . .

MEDAL OF HONOR: SGT. YORK

SCRIPT & ART: Norman Maurer

Here we have an illustrated re-telling of the true tale of legendary WWI American hero and Medal of Honor Recipient,  Alvin York.

York was a Tennessee farmer who, when drafted into the army during WWI, initially refused to engage in any kind of violence against his fellow humans because of his extremely strong religious beliefs.  He eventually came to believe that violence in the name of protecting others and the greater good was acceptable.

In France, at the battle of the Argonne Forest, German machine gun fire had killed all the officers and most of the men in York's unit, leaving Corporal York in charge of the remaining soldiers. . .all seven of them.

Faced with THIRTY-FIVE German machine gun nests, York used the marksmanship he'd learned hunting in Tennessee to single-handedly take down TWELVE of them.  He then had his remaining men provide cover fire as he snuck behind the Germans to continue his one-man assault. . .taking down SIX more before encountering a German Major who surrendered the rest of his forces to York.

ONE HUNDRED TWENTY-EIGHT German soldiers and 4 officers surrendered to York and his handful of men that day.  For this amazing feat, York was awarded the Croix de Guerre (France's highest military honor) and the Medal of Honor.

The End.

This short re-telling of Alvin York's story hits the high points, but still falls a bit short of the full story of probably the most humble Bad@$$ Uncle Sam has ever handed a rifle to and sent to a foreign land.  Seriously, this guy was the real deal.  Read up on him.

The story itself is written well enough, it's pretty much a "this happened and then this happened" no frills narrative that skims York's tale decently enough for those who might not know about him.

The art is likewise no frills. . .average bordering on poor in places.  It helps tell the story at hand, but that's about all it does.  There's absolutely no effort toward making the art anything other than than it needs to be.  

Overall, this is a pretty minimal effort, using material you could get out of an encyclopedia and backed up by artwork that barely manages to hurdle the low bar of average.  It's interesting because of the subject, but other than that. . .not much to it.  

CONCLUSION

An almost perfect cover, a great opening story, a sorta "meh" one pager, and an average pre-Wikipedia true story info dump.  Overall, I give Our Army At War #295 a B- grade.  Where it's good, it's REALLY good.  The rest of it is just sort of. . .there.

The most disappointing thing about this comic for ME is that, despite that awesome cover, there's nothing in this comic about the Bicentennial or Independence Day in general, which really makes it a somewhat poor choice for an Independence Day Longbox Junk Special. . .but I've already written this much, so there it is.  I ain't a quitter, son!

All in all, I give this issue a recommendation for fans of war comics based on the main story alone.  It's a fine example of the War/Anti-War stories DC comics were so good at before the genre fizzled out.

Up Next. . .

Back to Longbox Junk business as usual. . .WITH advance apologies for inevitable summer delays.

Be there or be square!