Infinite Bronze War Thread 11 11

[MisterX]

It's been quiet around here. Too quiet!

 

Here's a few Weird War Tales I picked up recently. Luis Dominguez...

 

 

 

 

[MisterX]

I wonder if this Whitman Sgt. Rock 329 went to anyone around here?

 

http://www.ebay.com/itm/122057827003?_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

[bronze johnny]

MisterX- Those WWTs are beauties!

 

In retrospect, this series is a significant milestone for the war genre that's overlooked on account of the war-supernatural-horror focus.

 

I would argue that Weird War Tales is the essential BA war series that differs very much from the essence of the SA Big 5 books with exception to the Dinosaur stories in SSWS.

 

Weird War Tales is an example of the Bronze war books being different from the preceding SA era titles.

 

The Bronze Age has something of its own when it came to the war genre- Weird War Tales.

 

Best,

John

[IngelsFan]

MisterX- Those WWTs are beauties!

 

In retrospect, this series is a significant milestone for the war genre that's overlooked on account of the war-supernatural-horror focus.

 

I would argue that Weird War Tales is the essential BA war series that differs very much from the essence

 

Weird War Tales is an example of the Bronze war books being different from the preceding SA era titles.

 

The Bronze Age has something of its own when it came to the war genre- Weird War Tales.

 

Best,

John

 

I agree. WWT is my favorite bronze title. I like anthology books because you will always find at least one standout, sometimes more. The only times I didn't like WWT were those few occasions where they did full length stories. That, and when they switched to continuing features like Creature Commandos. But give me the "prime" era of WWT with art by Alcala, Yandoc, Talaoc, Henson and Draut with a Tanghal Death intro splash and I'm one happy camper!

[Black_Adam]

Love those Weird War Tales covers! Just seeing that logo brings back a ton of cool memories. I always had to hide them (and any Unknown Soldiers) from my older brother and his friends. If they got their hands on them I'd be lucky to get them back in one piece, if at all. And when they asked why I didn't have any war comics I said I did, and offered them a copy of Sad Sack and the Sarge. Does that count as Bronze War?

[bronze johnny]

MisterX- Those WWTs are beauties!

 

In retrospect, this series is a significant milestone for the war genre that's overlooked on account of the war-supernatural-horror focus.

 

I would argue that Weird War Tales is the essential BA war series that differs very much from the essence

 

Weird War Tales is an example of the Bronze war books being different from the preceding SA era titles.

 

The Bronze Age has something of its own when it came to the war genre- Weird War Tales.

 

Best,

John

 

I agree. WWT is my favorite bronze title. I like anthology books because you will always find at least one standout, sometimes more. The only times I didn't like WWT were those few occasions where they did full length stories. That, and when they switched to continuing features like Creature Commandos. But give me the "prime" era of WWT with art by Alcala, Yandoc, Talaoc, Henson and Draut with a Tanghal Death intro splash and I'm one happy camper!

 

Love Creature Commandos!

 

WWT very much reminds me of the L.B. Cole precode war-supernatural-horror stuff he did during the precode era. I sometimes wonder if his work was one of the inspirations for Weird War Tales.

[bronze johnny]

Love those Weird War Tales covers! Just seeing that logo brings back a ton of cool memories. I always had to hide them (and any Unknown Soldiers) from my older brother and his friends. If they got their hands on them I'd be lucky to get them back in one piece, if at all. And when they asked why I didn't have any war comics I said I did, and offered them a copy of Sad Sack and the Sarge. Does that count as Bronze War?

 

Can't tell you how many books my younger brother got hold of that I never saw again.

 

Your very brief anecdote about hiding the comics reminds me of just how much more significant it is to have a direct connection to the comics of one's era. Growing up with these comics and having the memories is beyond the grasp of many investors and speculators. It is also beyond those who will possess the greatest comic books and most incredible collections without ever having any real life connection to those comic books that hit the newstand or local comic shop during their youth. They can read about the stories collectors and fans provide about their childhood encounters with the comics but will they ever know the real-life experiences? It is true that there are great rewards (beyond financial profits) for those seeking books where the connection can be based on a love for a particular character, artist, writer, publisher, theme, historical comic age, and the love of "the chase." These are just some of the fantastic motivations for collecting comics (I love and collect comics for these reasons too). However, there is no greater reward in comic book collecting than the memories we have about our earliest experiences reading and collecting the stories and gazing at the glossy covers on the racks - and the difficulty sometimes in making the best choices as to what books we would purchase on that day with the very limited (in my case at least) budgets we had- given that there were numbers of us who were too young to work and relied on creative ways to get those quarters (mowing the lawn & shoveling snow are two examples) if a weekly parental allowance was not always the option. Some parents might refer to this as a good example of a "mis-spent youth." Then again, the experiences we had reading and collecting comics resulted in many of us having and sharing the memories of our youth.

 

It's important to reflect on this since the comics will inevitably pass on to others and posterity.

 

As for the collecting memories of our youth, we take the ones that are remembered with us...

 

Best,

John

[oakman29]

Love those Weird War Tales covers! Just seeing that logo brings back a ton of cool memories. I always had to hide them (and any Unknown Soldiers) from my older brother and his friends. If they got their hands on them I'd be lucky to get them back in one piece, if at all. And when they asked why I didn't have any war comics I said I did, and offered them a copy of Sad Sack and the Sarge. Does that count as Bronze War?

 

Can't tell you how many books my younger brother got hold of that I never saw again.

 

Your very brief anecdote about hiding the comics reminds me of just how much more significant it is to have a direct connection to the comics of one's era. Growing up with these comics and having the memories is beyond the grasp of many investors and speculators. It is also beyond those who will possess the greatest comic books and most incredible collections without ever having any real life connection to those comic books that hit the newstand or local comic shop during their youth. They can read about the stories collectors and fans provide about their childhood encounters with the comics but will they ever know the real-life experiences? It is true that there are great rewards (beyond financial profits) for those seeking books where the connection can be based on a love for a particular character, artist, writer, publisher, theme, historical comic age, and the love of "the chase." These are just some of the fantastic motivations for collecting comics (I love and collect comics for these reasons too). However, there is no greater reward in comic book collecting than the memories we have about our earliest experiences reading and collecting the stories and gazing at the glossy covers on the racks - and the difficulty sometimes in making the best choices as to what books we would purchase on that day with the very limited (in my case at least) budgets we had- given that there were numbers of us who were too young to work and relied on creative ways to get those quarters (mowing the lawn & shoveling snow are two examples) if a weekly parental allowance was not always the option. Some parents might refer to this as a good example of a "mis-spent youth." Then again, the experiences we had reading and collecting comics resulted in many of us having and sharing the memories of our youth.

 

It's important to reflect on this since the comics will inevitably pass on to others and posterity.

 

As for the collecting memories of our youth, we take the ones that are remembered with us...

 

Best,

John

 

Bravo.

[Black_Adam]

 

Can't tell you how many books my younger brother got hold of that I never saw again.

 

Your very brief anecdote about hiding the comics reminds me of just how much more significant it is to have a direct connection to the comics of one's era. Growing up with these comics and having the memories is beyond the grasp of many investors and speculators. It is also beyond those who will possess the greatest comic books and most incredible collections without ever having any real life connection to those comic books that hit the newstand or local comic shop during their youth. They can read about the stories collectors and fans provide about their childhood encounters with the comics but will they ever know the real-life experiences? It is true that there are great rewards (beyond financial profits) for those seeking books where the connection can be based on a love for a particular character, artist, writer, publisher, theme, historical comic age, and the love of "the chase." These are just some of the fantastic motivations for collecting comics (I love and collect comics for these reasons too). However, there is no greater reward in comic book collecting than the memories we have about our earliest experiences reading and collecting the stories and gazing at the glossy covers on the racks - and the difficulty sometimes in making the best choices as to what books we would purchase on that day with the very limited (in my case at least) budgets we had- given that there were numbers of us who were too young to work and relied on creative ways to get those quarters (mowing the lawn & shoveling snow are two examples) if a weekly parental allowance was not always the option. Some parents might refer to this as a good example of a "mis-spent youth." Then again, the experiences we had reading and collecting comics resulted in many of us having and sharing the memories of our youth.

 

It's important to reflect on this since the comics will inevitably pass on to others and posterity.

 

As for the collecting memories of our youth, we take the ones that are remembered with us...

 

Best,

John

 

Very well said! Especially the bit about comic buying budgets back then (in my case, the Bronze Age). My weekly allowance was 25 cents (raised by single mom with four kids - I was the youngest) and each week, if I could resist the urge to fill a tiny brown paper bag with twenty-five penny candies, I'd buy one comic.

 

And I distinctly remember the day I laid my weekly comic on the counter and the clerk pointed at the price and said, "they're thirty-cents now." I raced back home and begged my mom to raise my allowance, just by five cents.

 

I think I've had easier salary negotiations with employers, but in the end I got the extra nickel and my comic. Thanks Mom!

 

[MisterX]

MisterX- Those WWTs are beauties!

 

In retrospect, this series is a significant milestone for the war genre that's overlooked on account of the war-supernatural-horror focus.

 

I would argue that Weird War Tales is the essential BA war series that differs very much from the essence of the SA Big 5 books with exception to the Dinosaur stories in SSWS.

 

Weird War Tales is an example of the Bronze war books being different from the preceding SA era titles.

 

The Bronze Age has something of its own when it came to the war genre- Weird War Tales.

 

Best,

John

 

Thanks, John!

 

I agree, WWT is different from the other BA war books of the time. I think the younger, rotating staff of writers could partly be the reason why. It wasn't always Kanigher all the time. (Although he did go berserk on WWT later with the Creature Commandos!) I also think the anti-war feeling at the time had a major influence on the title as well.

 

When David Michelinie took over writing the Unknown Soldier stories in SSWS 183, the series took on a grittier, BA tone until Bob Haney took over around SSWS 205/Unknown Soldier 205. Then the tone switched back to more action/adventure without any moral quandries.

 

Unknown Soldier is deifinitely one of my favorite books. And, I confess, I like the Creature Commandos. Even G.I. Robot!

[bronze johnny]

 

Can't tell you how many books my younger brother got hold of that I never saw again.

 

Your very brief anecdote about hiding the comics reminds me of just how much more significant it is to have a direct connection to the comics of one's era. Growing up with these comics and having the memories is beyond the grasp of many investors and speculators. It is also beyond those who will possess the greatest comic books and most incredible collections without ever having any real life connection to those comic books that hit the newstand or local comic shop during their youth. They can read about the stories collectors and fans provide about their childhood encounters with the comics but will they ever know the real-life experiences? It is true that there are great rewards (beyond financial profits) for those seeking books where the connection can be based on a love for a particular character, artist, writer, publisher, theme, historical comic age, and the love of "the chase." These are just some of the fantastic motivations for collecting comics (I love and collect comics for these reasons too). However, there is no greater reward in comic book collecting than the memories we have about our earliest experiences reading and collecting the stories and gazing at the glossy covers on the racks - and the difficulty sometimes in making the best choices as to what books we would purchase on that day with the very limited (in my case at least) budgets we had- given that there were numbers of us who were too young to work and relied on creative ways to get those quarters (mowing the lawn & shoveling snow are two examples) if a weekly parental allowance was not always the option. Some parents might refer to this as a good example of a "mis-spent youth." Then again, the experiences we had reading and collecting comics resulted in many of us having and sharing the memories of our youth.

 

It's important to reflect on this since the comics will inevitably pass on to others and posterity.

 

As for the collecting memories of our youth, we take the ones that are remembered with us...

 

Best,

John

 

Very well said! Especially the bit about comic buying budgets back then (in my case, the Bronze Age). My weekly allowance was 25 cents (raised by single mom with four kids - I was the youngest) and each week, if I could resist the urge to fill a tiny brown paper bag with twenty-five penny candies, I'd buy one comic.

 

And I distinctly remember the day I laid my weekly comic on the counter and the clerk pointed at the price and said, "they're thirty-cents now." I raced back home and begged my mom to raise my allowance, just by five cents.

 

I think I've had easier salary negotiations with employers, but in the end I got the extra nickel and my comic. Thanks Mom!

 

The "Still Only 35 Cents" meant a great deal to me back in the late '70s. I remember how sad it was to see the 40 cent price and what it meant in terms of how many books I could buy. I sometimes ended up selling older books at a loss to buy new ones (great business model!). The comics were an end result or reward for the trials and tribulations for a kid who would sacrifice getting ice cream from the Good Humor Man (back then he pushed the ice cream cart around by foot) on a hot day like today in order to get some comic books at the newsstand near my subway stop. The beauty of the gloss that shined on the covers of my new Marvel Comics Group books exceeded the look of any Good Humor Eclairs

[bigfiver69]

I haven't been on the boards much, but I saw Johnny's post about the meaning of collecting and it's conduits to childhood, and I couldn't agree more.

 

Going to my local corner store every Thursday between the ages of 10 and 13 to pull my books from the bales as soon as they were clipped... it's something I'll never, ever forget. Was there a Sgt. Rock? A GI Combat? An Unknown Soldier? It was the greatest feeling ever. I got to know the lady who owned the store and she eventually let me pick the books I wanted first if I helped rack them. Heaven.

 

You just don't get that feeling from an iPad...

 

[bronze johnny]

I haven't been on the boards much, but I saw Johnny's post about the meaning of collecting and it's conduits to childhood, and I couldn't agree more.

 

Going to my local corner store every Thursday between the ages of 10 and 13 to pull my books from the bales as soon as they were clipped... it's something I'll never, ever forget. Was there a Sgt. Rock? A GI Combat? An Unknown Soldier? It was the greatest feeling ever. I got to know the lady who owned the store and she eventually let me pick the books I wanted first if I helped rack them. Heaven.

 

You just don't get that feeling from an iPad...

 

No Previews back then - only in house ads announcing upcoming books. The trip to the newsstand was always exciting because of the surprises I might find. I still have some of these books - Mom never got to these

 

I saw an episode of Comic Book Men with Stan Lee where a customer came in and no longer wanted to buy comics after having collected them since his childhood. Stan persuaded the customer to continue collecting and reading comics so that he could remain connected to his childhood. This discussion we are having about the comics of our era and the joys we experienced reading and collecting them being the greatest reward this hobby can give anyone is not exclusive to sentiment and nostalgia. In line with what Stan Lee said to the collector on Comic Book Men- the comics from our childhood era and the experiences we had reading and collecting them remain with us- the child within us did not entirely end when adulthood came along.

 

The 20th Century American writer, Thomas Wolfe, alluded in his classic novel, "You Can't Go Home Again," that an individual could not go back to their childhood. If only Mr. Wolfe had as a kid, read and collected the comics of his era...

[HouseofComics.Com]

The bonus with the war comics was that you could learn some history too!

 

Bob Haney wasn't the greatest writer but I'm pretty sure Unknown Soldier 205 would've been my first exposure to the Battle of the Bulge, for instance.

[Jeffro.]

My first experience with the Battle of the Bulge was the movie. It's a fun movie to watch but not at all historically accurate. There are little bits of truth but It doesn't even try for accuracy. It wasn't until years later that I learned how that battle really went

[OV]

I highly recommend the book Snow and Steel by Peter Caddick-Adams as the modern definitive publication on the Battle of the Bulge.

 

And here's a pic of a cool war comic (hope it's Bronze Age)

 

[MisterX]

Great book, OV!

[bronze johnny]

I highly recommend the book Snow and Steel by Peter Caddick-Adams as the modern definitive publication on the Battle of the Bulge.

 

And here's a pic of a cool war comic (hope it's Bronze Age)

 

 

Beauty!

[sterlingcomics]

I love Kubert. Bought that book off the stands...thanks for the memories Mr. K....

[Comic Closet]

Awesome stuff. Man I miss Kubert.