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Copper Age War Comics
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118 posts in this topic

Hi all,

 

Seeing as the Silver and Bronze Age forums have war comics threads, I thought it might be interesting to see if there's any interest in a copper war thread.

 

To me, war comics had an interesting turn during the copper age. During this period, the last of the great DC war comic titles died, yet new titles emerged to some limited success. There were even interesting small-press books (which I have only a passing knowledge of).

 

Strangely, it seems that Marvel made the biggest impact during this period - I say strangely because Marvel puclished only a handful of war titles during the previous 30 years. But with The 'Nam, Semper Fi and even the Savage tales magazines, Marvel certainly picked up the flag on this genre in the mid to late 1980s.

 

Anyway. Let's see what you got!

 

Shep

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Let's kick it off with what I thought was a significant book... the first issue of The 'Nam. Great writing, excellent continuity, killer art and a great concept. Yeah, these are a dime a dozen, but still worht celebrating.

 

nam1.jpg

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People possibly forget that this was a hot book when it came out with prices jumping to around $5. But Marvel #1s of that time period were so over-ordered it's not surprising that you can get them for nothing now.

 

Semper Fi sells surprisingly well for me and small press stuff like Vietnam Journal and Desert Storm Journal always sell.

 

Marc

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Hey Marc,

 

Nice to hear that Sempr Fi sells well... I think that book was probably not hoarded in the way that The Nam, or some other 'hot' 80s titles were.

 

Semper Fi had some astonishing art from a young Andy Kubert, inked by John Severin. And Sam Glanzman also contibuted.

 

My favorite book of all from this period was a sniper story in The Nam drawn by Russ Heath... I think it may have tied into the Punisher backstory (haven't got the book in front of me). But it certainly a stand out book.

 

I well remember buying my Semper Fi books off the rack. As for The Nam, I bought a full NM run off ebay five years ago for something like $25! Great stuff.

 

Shep

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The Nam was a great book in the beginning but would have been so much better had Golden stayed on the book longer. frown.gif

 

Golden is one of my all time favorites but he never stayed on any book for very long. frown.giffrown.giffrown.giffrustrated.giffrown.gif

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During this period, the last of the great DC war comic titles died, yet new titles emerged to some limited success.

 

It's truly a shame that time has killed the genre for the most part. I don't foresee a time when we will ever see a resurgence of war books like we had from the beginnings of the "Big Five" titles and leading eventually into the 80's books.

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Hey Guys, Great Thread. The Nam book was #65 Shep, It takes one to kill one!! (The gratitude of his people).. The front cover reminds me of a Weird War book.

Larry TheNam.jpg

Edited by Hedge
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Hey Guys, Great Thread. The Nam book was #65 Shep, It takes one to kill one!! (The gratitude of his people).. The front cover reminds me of a Weird War book.

Larry TheNam.jpg

 

Russ Heath painted cover too!!!

 

One day, it might well be a classic!

 

Shep

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Hey Guys, Great Thread. The Nam book was #65 Shep, It takes one to kill one!! (The gratitude of his people).. The front cover reminds me of a Weird War book.

Larry TheNam.jpg

 

Russ Heath painted cover too!!!

 

One day, it might well be a classic!

 

Shep

 

I love this cover and just started searching for a copy.

 

Anyone have a NM copy they could part with??

 

Shep or anyone else, is this the only Nam cover done by Russ Heath?

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Yeah Fay, that's the only Heath (cover or interior) in that run.

 

John Severin also did one issue, cover and interior, early in the run ... #12, 13 or 14 or something like that.

 

I only have the one copy of that issue... and it's staying put! But they appear on ebay from time to time.

 

Shep

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Hey Guys, Great Thread. The Nam book was #65 Shep, It takes one to kill one!! (The gratitude of his people).. The front cover reminds me of a Weird War book.

Larry TheNam.jpg

 

Holy *spoon*!! I had no idea this particular issue existed. Added to the want list. Russ Heath cloud9.gif

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Good to see some appreciation for The 'Nam! I believe the first 12 issues followed the tour of duty of one soldier which I thought was a great idea, but I'm not sure if the rest of the run followed the same this formula, since I dropped the book not long after Golden left

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Holy *spoon*!! I had no idea this particular issue existed. Added to the want list. Russ Heath cloud9.gif

 

That's why I thought it would be cool to kick off a Copper age war thread... as with pretty much the entire war genre, there are LOADS of great hidden gems in this era. To wit....

 

- Any Mike Golden on the Nam (even though he left the main art duties after the first dozen issues, he did conitnue to do covers throughout the run. His finest 'Nam covers stand along the best covers of the Copper age.)

 

- Great backups in the last 20 or so issues of Unknown Soldier. There are the last few Bob Kanigher Gallery of War tales, Enemy Ace by John Severin, Balloon Buster drawn by Dan Spiegle, and even a Losers story that was slated for Our Fighting Forces before it was cancelled. Great stuff that made up for the lousy Haney/Ayers/Talaoc Unknown Soldier stories.

 

- GREAT STUFF in Savage Tales Magazine, including Viet Nam stories by Golden, and some inspired art by John Severin. These are getting tougher to find in grade, so snap 'em up!

 

- DC's Balckhawk. Some consider this a hero book, but to me it's all war. The 1980s run had great stories by Mark Evanier and art by Dan Spiegle, plus backups drawn by Severin, Alex Toth, Doug Wildey and others. Every issue is a gem... some killer covers by people like Howard Chaykin too.

 

Some good, overlooked stuff all over this era!

 

Shep

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Yeah Fay, that's the only Heath (cover or interior) in that run.

 

John Severin also did one issue, cover and interior, early in the run ... #12, 13 or 14 or something like that.

 

I only have the one copy of that issue... and it's staying put! But they appear on ebay from time to time.

 

Shep

 

Thanks Shep,

 

I don't think it should be too tough to find on E-bay. I originally seen this

issue searching or I should say just looking at some OA of Russ Heath's.

 

Actually I was surprised how reasonable some of his OA was.

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Great stuff everyone thumbsup2.gif

 

I like that 65 893scratchchin-thumb.gif

\

 

 

It's a sweetie!

 

When I get my collection back in hand when my house move is over, I'll pick through my copper war books and post some other unusual gems.

 

Shep

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I have been looking at this piece for about 2 months and just pulled the trigger last week. I should be getting it shortly. Heath, The Nam #65 page 17. I feel this is the best page out of the book. TheNam65OApage17-1.jpg

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