When the TSR imprint had it's own line of comics at DC

Super-Blog Team-Up explores franchises with rich histories and fascinating expanded universes in various media from movies, to toys, television, novels, animation, and of course comic books just to name a few. These universes further a character, storyline, or a whole universe adding texture and new history to a property unleashing worlds of new ideas a concept’s. With some properties these universes advance the franchise forward giving their legions of fans fun new concepts to digest while others sink once bright ideas to mere corporate shells of themselves. Super-Blog Team Up is BACK to explore some uncharted territory as we open up the Universal gateway to expansion. God save us all...

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If you were purchasing comics in the late 80s/early 90s, you may remember these titles gracing the shelves at your local comic book shop:

If you were a teenager or college student in the eighties, then you'd probably immediately recognize the TSR logo under the DC bullet at the top-left corner of the cover. If nothing else, you at least recognize 'Dungeons & Dragons'... I mean, it's pretty much universally acclaimed as THE fantasy tabletop role-playing game system. You tell people you're meeting some friends to play "Pathfinder", and they'll give you a puzzled look. You tell them you're playing "Dungeons & Dragons" and they'll know EXACTLY what you mean.

So what is this? Well, in short, this was TSR's attempt at cashing in on the comic book market with their own imprint of comics. As per TSR logic: If you played Dungeons & Dragons and other role-playing games, then you probably read comics, right? So why not reach out to the comic-reading crowd and interest them in our role-playing games? It was a really smart attempt at marketing to your target customer base, while picking up a little money on the side by licensing your properties.

TSR (short for "Tactical Studies Rules") had already cornered the tabletop gaming market since the mid-seventies and were looking to expand. They had managed to successfully license out the Dungeons & Dragons to Marvel Productions to create an animated series that ran as a Saturday morning cartoon on CBS from 1983 to 1985:

Coincidentally, Mark Evanier, Paul Dini and Steve Gerber wrote a few episodes for this animated series. 

Not only were 27 episodes produced, but Dungeons & Dragons also had it's own action figure toyline (which was produced by LJN one year before the cartoon aired) and you can take a look at the toy collection here.

However, you can forget all of that before you read these comics, since DC's TSR imprint had nothing to do with the cartoon.

DRAGONLANCE SAGA (1987 - 1991)

The Dragonlance Saga was the first TSR property to get the 'comic book adaptation' treatment in 1987. It was a graphic novel adaptation of the first volume of the Dragonlance Chronicles: Dragons of the Autumn Twilight. At 81 pages, this was no mere comic book and steered towards being a graphic novel.

Subsequent issues (aka: Books Two to Five) finished adapting the rest of the volumes in the Dragonlance Chronicles trilogy and were released on an annual basis, with the last book being published in 1991. Thomas Yeates (Warlord, Saga of the Swamp Thing) illustrated the first two books, Tony DeZuniga (Jonah Hex, Arak) illustrated the second two books, and Ron Randall (Warlord, Arak) illustrated the last one. They were all written by Roy Thomas. To be honest, these should be considered in a league of their own -- they look like they should've been included in the DC Graphic Novel collection.

DRAGONLANCE ongoing series (1988 - 1991)

Released in late 1988, Dragonlance was the first ongoing series from the TSR imprint to hit shelves.

Written by Dan Mishkin (Blue Devil, Amethyst, Wonder Woman) and illustrated by Ron Randall, the Dragonlance ongoing series starts with Sturm Brightblade (who appears in Dragonlance Chronicles) helping out a young woman fight off some hobgoblins and then wandering off into the sunset. The story continues with the young woman (Riva Silvercrown) and her further adventures in Krynn. Every few issues the focus would shift to a different set of characters, but Riva always seems to come back into the story -- especially since she appeared to be specifically designed for this ongoing series. The series continues on for another thirty-three issues in a very Lord of the Rings-esque adventure.

A typical issue summary reads something like "Trapped in the city of Istar, Tanis and Horak need to use their wits to defeat Maquesta and Koraf in the Arena of Blood. Meanwhile, Loralon and a sea-elf manage to use the power of the Starstones to crack the dome as Ohrgil and the Highlord watch".

Dan Mishkin co-created and co-wrote Amethyst (which also ran on a fantasy/fictional world of it's own), so this series was in good hands as far as storytelling for that genre was concerned. He wrote most of the first twenty-eight issues, and then several different writers (including Paul Kupperberg) wrote the final issues.

Mike Kaluta contributed some very nice covers towards the end of the run.

Three months after Dragonlance #1, two more titles were released: Gammarauders and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons.

GAMMARAUDERS ongoing series (1989 - 1989)

Gammarauders, written by Peter Gillis (Marvel's Strikeforce: Morituri, DC's Tailgunner Jo), was an ongoing series based on TSR's post-apocalyptic role playing game of the same name -- it was cancelled after 10 issues due to poor sales. I once briefly chatted with Mr. Gillis online and he told me that "Gammarauders was both a lot of fun and my last comics work for twenty years".

ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS ongoing series (1988 - 1991)

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons outlasted 'em all and ran for thirty-six issues and an annual. Written by Michael Fleisher (Warlord, numerous Conan titles for Marvel) this title probably had the greatest 'star appeal' since readers buying this comic knew exactly what to expect with a series called 'Dungeons & Dragons': several characters of varied backgrounds and skill-sets getting together to go on an adventure -- and that's exactly what the reader got.

Fleisher left the book after the fourth issue, Dan Mishkin took over writing duties the following issue and would write most of the remaining issues until the series ended at issue thirty-six (Jeff Grubb wrote four fill-in issues).

Something notable about the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons comics -- every few issues contained stats (and a history) so you can add the characters you read about to your own D&D campaigns. Readers loved these and often submitted stat requests for specific one-off characters found in the stories:

From Advanced Dungeons & Dragons #11

In the second issue of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, TSR game designer and author Jim Ward wrote the obligatory 'welcome to the TSR worlds imprint, hope you enjoy these comics' letter column as well as a quick overview of TSR and it's humble beginnings. As Ward describes future plans for TSR's new products for 1989 and 1990, he curiously mentions a new Buck Rogers comic book collaboration between TSR and DC in the works (meant to coincide with TSR's new Buck Rogers adventure board game being launched) -- slated to be published May 1989. This comic series never happened. The Buck Rogers TSR game, released in 1988, received a lackluster response -- which most likely influenced the cancellation of this comic book series.

comic book ad for TSR Buck Rogers Boardgame. Circa 1989.

Writer Dan Mishkin gave us a few quick anecdotes about his time working on the Dragonlance and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons books. We kicked off the interview by asking if he had played D&D prior to taking that writing assignment:

"I CAN say that I was aware of D&D but had never played, and I had not read the DragonLance novels...but when I did I was impressed. One of the impressive things was that the story brought together a disparate group of people and made the fate of that world depend on them in a more organic and believable way than, in my opinion, Star Wars did. "

"Also — frustrating at the time, amusing now — I don’t think most of the people I had to check in with at TSR understood that I was writing a comic book and not running a D&D campaign in my basement (Jeff Grubb being a very big exception)."

"Ron Randall called me one time to basically tell me my script wasn’t working in one spot and did it in the sweetest possible way, saying something like, 'I spend more time with each of these pages than you do, Dan, so I’m more likely to see problems that you might miss.' I loved working with Ron on DragonLance and with Jan Duursema on AD&D (and with Jan’s husband, Tom Mandrake on a couple of fill-ins; the first story Tom and I every worked on together was one that I still love, a funny tale of what happens when the Lords of Waterdeep inadvisably sign a contract with the Lawyer’s Guild to let them start practicing in the city). [The lawyers story was in AD&D #23, I think.]"

FORGOTTEN REALMS ongoing series (1989 - 1991)

About a year after Dragonlance ongoing series launched, the Forgotten Realms (1989) ongoing series joined the imprint.

Forgotten Realms (not to be confused with DC's Lords of the Ultra-Realm published in 1986) was based on a Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting that turned into a life of it's own and spun-off into various novels and video games. If Pool of Radiance or Baldur's Gate mean anything to you -- they were set in the Forgotten Realms fantasy world setting. Unlike Dragonlance, the Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and Forgotten Realms books shared a few characters -- most notably Priam Agrivar, a paladin who first appeared in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons #1 (1988).

TSR author/game-designer Jeff Grub wrote all twenty-five issues of the Forgotten Realms ongoing series. It's worth noting that Forgotten Realms #1 (1989) was Rags Morales' first work for DC comics. Rags would provide the art for the twenty-four of the twenty-five issue series.


TSR WORLDS annual (1990)

In 1990, a TSR Worlds Annual brought the three remaining TSR titles together and introduced a new fourth series: Spelljammer.

SPELLJAMMER ongoing series (1990 - 1991)

Spelljammer would be TSR's last ongoing comic book series. Spelljammer was a new D&D expansion TSR had introduced in 1989, and this ongoing series was one of the tie-in products introduced. In contrast to Dragonlance, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and Forgotten Realms, Spelljammer had a more 'sci-fi feel' to it and allowed magic and spells in an outer space environment.

This first eight issues of this series were written by Barbara Kessel (who was the editor for the TSR title in 1989), and the last seven issues rotated between Don Karr, Adam Blaustein, Jeff Grubb and Barabara Kessel. This series also had a rotating assortment of artists: Michael T. Collins, Chris Wozniak, Don Heck, Kevin J West and Joe Quesada. Spelljammer #8 would be Quesada's FIRST work for DC comics. (Quesada would go on to become editor-in-chief of Marvel Comics in 2000.)

House ad for TSR Spelljammer and Dragonlance novels:

AVATAR limited series (1991)

1991's Avatar was a three-issue limited series adaptation of the Avatar Trilogy that was originally published in 1989 by TSR as novels. This series was also written by Barbara Kesel, but illustrated by Dameon Willich.

So...what happened?

According to the Comichron, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons and Dragonlance were both within the top 100 books pre-ordered by North American comic book shops in June 1989 for both Diamond and Capital City comic distributors -- they hovered around the mid-bottom-half of the top hundred. Gammarauders did not make the top 100.

By October 1989, Advanced Dungeons & Dragons, Forgotten Realms and Dragonlance were near the very bottom of the top 100 books pre-ordered by North American comic book shops (as per Diamond Comic Distributors).

By August 1991, no TSR titles had made it into the list of top 100 books pre-ordered by North American comic book shops. What changed?

The early nineties are best known for the glut of new comic book publishers that saturated the market. A quick snapshot of a January 1990 shelf at a comic book shop shows me nearly 170 comics to choose from. It's quite possible that the TSR titles got lost in the sea of titles.

Another, equally plausible, theory is that the sword & sorcery genre had become passé by the early 90s (which would explain why the Spelljammer ongoing series was a sci-fi concept more so than a traditional 'lost world' type of setting).

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons series editor Kim Yale offered this explanation to readers on why the series was being cancelled: "Licensed properties sooner or later come to an end, which is the case here (as with all the TSR titles)."

The Forgotten Realms ongoing series was cancelled prematurely, and two dangling storylines were completed in Wizards of the Coasts' Dragon #247 (1998) and Dragon #260 (1999):

Interestingly enough, the Dragonlance comics are still considered cannon, so there's a demand among Dragonlance fans to read them. IDW collected the first eight issues of the Dragonlance ongoing series and reprinted them in a Dragonlance Classics TPB. IDW has also collected all of the Forgotten Realms and Advanced Dungeons & Dragons comics and reprinted them is a series of TPBs named Dungeons & Dragons: Forgotten Realms Classics and Dungeons & Dragons Classics (respectively). Nothing about a collected Spelljammer TPB, however.

Dragonlance and Forgotten Realms are still going strong -- Devil's Due and (most recently) IDW are still cranking out new issues -- so there's obviously still a fanbase here.

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I vaguely remember seeing these at my local comic book shop, but I would've glazed over them while searching for the latest issue of Spider-Man and Justice League. I was a very narrow-minded kid; at that particular moment in my life I was mainly into superheroes and maybe Robocop and G.I. Joe comics. I wasn't into 'fantasy' comics at the time, and if the mood every struck me, I had tons of Warlord and Conan comics sitting around at home anyways. The fact that the TSR imprint was a universe of it's own -- separate from the DCU -- made me less inclined to 'jump in'. At least with Warlord, Skartaris was sometimes given a nod by the other DCU titles (Travis Morgan even met with the New Gods at some point).

The main issue, however, was that I didn't grow up playing Dungeons & Dragons or reading the Dragonlance novels, so the lore meant nothing to me... and I didn't have the inclination to invest all sorts of time learning about the new characters and worlds and etc.

This, of course, is my opinion and opinions are subjective. I'd like to hear from anyone out there who IS a fan of the Dragonlance/Advanced Dungeons & Dragons/Forgotten Realms/Spelljammer novels. How did these hold up? Solid writing? Entertaining characters? Did you actually use these characters in your campaigns? Leave a comment if you feel like sharing some memories.


-Justin

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At Albany Comic Con

 

Judging a book by it's cover: Unknown Soldier (1977 - 1982)

With Veteran's day quickly approaching (it's November 8th as I write this), I was hoping to review the Unknown Solder ongoing series that ran from 1977 to 1982. Sitting in front of me I have nearly 65 Unknown Soldier comics to peruse in less than 3 days -- which is a daunting task, even for me. Instead, I'll be trying something new -- I'll take a look at the cover, decide if it's interesting enough to flip through, and review those ones -- essentially 'judging a book by it's cover'.

Who or What is the Unknown Solder?

Created by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert in 1966, the Unknown Soldier first appeared in 1970s's Star-Spangled War Stories #151.

The Unknown Soldier [name never revealed] was a young American soldier who witnessed his older brother (also a soldier) sacrifice himself by jumping on a grenade thrown into their foxhole. Despite being wounded, the young American soldier managed to destroy the enemy patrol in an adrenaline rage before collapsing. When the young American soldier awoke in the hospital, he was informed that his face was damaged beyond repair. Rather than receive an honorable discharge, the young American solider decided to list himself "dead" on official records, but live on as "one man" who could make a difference. He mastered the art of disguise (he keeps a make-up kit on him at all times), hand-to-hand combat, the proficient use of almost any weapon and the ability to pilot almost any military vehicle. He became The Unknown Soldier -- he was the man that no one knew, but was known by everyone. He also had a few field operatives he relied on: Chat Noir, the Sparrow and Inge.

As Joe Kubert recalls, the initial inspiration for the Unknown Soldier came from the actual Tomb of the Unknown Soldier -- located in Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington, D.C. The Tomb is a memorial to all of the U.S. service members who died, but who's remains were never identified. Kubert intended the Unknown Solider to be a living symbol representing this idea. Kubert raised this idea to Carmine Infantino (DC executive at the time), and it was green lit. In order to distinguish the Unknown Soldier from the other DC soldiers (such as Sgt Rock), it was decided that the Unknown Soldier would have no identity of his own -- his face was taken away from him -- and so his main symbol of identity would be stripped from him. Hence, the bandaged face.

There's a bit of a debate on whether or not 1966's Our Army at War #168 was the Unknown Soldier's FIRST appearance -- and here's the scoop on that: OAaW #168 was a story in which Sgt Rock is saved by a mysterious unknown soldier who saves his life and disappears. Four years later, in Star-Spangled War Stories #151, the Unknown Soldier is introduced.


Scott Harris, a regular on the CGC comics forum, explained it as such: "The Unknown Soldier as a character and series doesn't debut until 1970, with Star Spangled War Stories #151. This is where we are introduced to the character, and the concept - he's a secret agent whose face was blown off during a battle in the Pacific, and who now uses his amazing acting skill, mimicry, and special effects make-up talents to take the place of various people of different nationalities, allowing him to go undercover in any situation. None of this is remotely hinted at in OAaW #168, because this character had not yet been conceived of. "

"Where this gets tricky is Star Spangled War Stories #157, which reprints OAaW #168 and retcons that standalone story into being an official appearance of The Unknown Soldier; since you never see the soldier's face in the story, it's easy enough to do. As a result, in continuity, OAaW #168 is the first story with Unknown Soldier that was published, but in reality, the character wasn't created until SSWS #151 four years later. OAaW #168 is a very clever retcon, but still a retcon. So for me, SSWS #151 should be more expensive than OAaW #168, because it's much more important. OAaW #168 is an interesting curiosity, and most Unknown Soldier fans would probably want both issues - I have them both - but it's definitely of lesser importance." 
 

Left: Our Army at War #168 (1966), Right: Star-Spangled War Stories #151 (1970)

If you need more evidence, the letter column of Unknown Soldier #263 lists Star-Spangled War Stories #151 as the first appearance of the Unknown Soldier.

Why was DC comics still publishing comic books about World War II in the late 70s/early 80s?

In 1978, DC was still publishing: G.I. Combat, Men Of War, Our Fighting Forces, Sgt Rock, Unknown Soldier, and Weird War Tales (some of these were being printed bi-monthly). Recurring WWII characters appearing in these books included Sgt Rock, Unknown Soldier, the Haunted Tank, Dateline: Frontline, Enemy Ace, The Losers (Johnny Cloud, Captain Storm, Gunner and Sarge), Mademoiselle Marie, Fighting Devil Dog, Codename: Gravedigger, and Viking Commando.

As far as DC was concerned, it wasn't just soldiers fighting in WWII, super-heroes were also battling Hitler and his Nazis in the 1970s and 1980s. The All-Star Squadron and Seven Soldiers of Victory both formed in 1941 to assist with the war effort. The Young All-Stars operated during 1942 to battle Nazis. The Freedom Fighters fought on Earth-X -- an alternate reality where Germany won World War II.

World War II ended in 1945, why was DC still publishing stories about World War II? Haven't they strip-mined that era of history enough? Why not cover Vietnam, the Korean War or the Cold War?

Simply put: stories about World War II sell. World War II holds a very strong and favorable sentiment among (most) North Americans. Other factors for DC focusing on World War II tales:

1. There was a very specific enemy (Adolf Hitler and the Nazis) that nobody felt sympathy towards.
2. Unlike all the other wars you can think of, World War II was a war America actually won.
3. Nick Cardy, Bob Haney, Dick Ayers, Joe Orlando, Robert Kanigher, Dan Spiegle, Bill Draut, Doug Wildey, Murray Boltinoff and Sam Glanzman regularly edited, wrote or drew the stories in DC's War anthology comics. They were also World War II veterans. Who would know the source material better than someone who was actually in WWII?
4. For an adventure/sci-fi writer, using World War II as a historical backdrop offers unlimited story possibilities. There were plenty of rumors that Germany was working on new technologies that could've changed the outcome of the war in their favor, and just about every crackpot theory has been put out there about the Nazi's involvement with mysticism, the occult, or aliens -- it's gotten to the point that we just kinda accept that it could be within the realm of possibility (see: Netflix specials about WWII Germany).

In contrast, Marvel Comics tried to keep things "fresh" by keeping things contemporary. Nick Fury and his Howling Commandos became Nick Fury, Agent of SHIELD. The Nazis were now Hydra. The Punisher was a Vietnam War veteran. From 1986 to 1993, Marvel published The 'Nam -- a critically-acclaimed ongoing series about the U.S. War in Vietnam... and the list goes on and on.

Okay, so this isn't a REAL answer, but it's the best I've got. So...
 

Unknown Soldier issues #205 to #268

Star-Spangled War Stories was re-named to The Unknown Soldier in 1977. [This wasn't the first time this series had experienced a name change; it was originally called Star Spangled Comics and featured the Star Spangled Kid, and then at issue #131 was re-titled to Star-Spangled War Stories.] Another DC war comic, Our Army At War, had been re-named to Sgt. Rock in 1977 as well.

Also occurring around the same time as the title change from SSWS to The Unknown Soldier, David Michelinie -- who had been writing the Unknown Soldier feature in SSWS since issue #183 -- was being replaced by Bob Haney starting with issue #203. Haney had written Unknown Soldier stories before for SSWS in 1971 and 1972.

The Unknown Soldier had pretty much been the lead feature in SSWS since his introduction in issue #151. Why the sudden name change? Not sure, to be honest.

Staying true to our namesake (i,e.: DC in the 80s), we're going to start with the first 'official' The Unknown Soldier comic from 1977 -- issue #205:

Unknown Soldier #205 (1977)

It's really difficult to pass up a Joe Kubert-illustrated cover; he's the definitive Sgt Rock artist (he co-created Sgt Rock, dontcha know?) and has a distinct style that really encapsulates how miserable these soldiers are probably feeling running through the sleet and snow while getting mowed down by enemy fire. Also, it's got Sgt Rock's younger brother, Lawrence (aka: Fighting Devil Dog), in this issue. How could I resist?

This was a quick 11-page story about the Unknown Soldier impersonating a Colonel in order to give an American infantry unit the morale boost it needed to hold their location. This story was written by Bob Haney and illustrated by Dick Ayers and Gerry Talaoc. Joe Kubert only illustrated the cover of this issue. Haney made sure to take a moment to remind us that war isn't all sweeping victories and courageous moves on the battlefield -- many good soldiers died fighting for our freedom, too:

   
 
I skipped over Unknown Soldier #206 (the cover didn't really do anything for me), but decided to have a glance at DC Super Stars #15 thanks to another great Joe Kubert cover:

This cover got me interested in the story inside: two Sgt Rocks and one's trying to kill Mademoiselle Marie? Yeah, I couldn't pass on this one. The cover basically sells itself. Mlle Marie and the Unknown Soldier have a bit of a rivalry going on (aka: she wants to kill him) -- this would be a recurring theme throughout the regular series.


I skipped a few more issues, but these ones piqued my interest:

Both of these issues were very good. At 11 pages, issue #209 was a story about how resilient to enemy torture the Unknown Soldier is, and issue #211 contains an 11-page story about the Unknown Soldier persuading an American tank patrol from mutinying their crazy colonel (this was a reprint from an earlier issue of SSWS). Thanks to reader demand, The Unknown Soldier went from being a bi-monthly to a monthly series starting with issue #209. 

With Bob Haney as the new writer, the Unknown Soldier started off as more of a 'morale boost' for demoralized soldiers -- teaching them the valor of holding their position and that 'one man in the right place at the right time, can make the difference [in the war effort]'. Michelinie's Unknown Soldier mainly had him in spy/espionage tales. Readers noted that while Haney was good, Michelinie spent more time on characterization and gave more insight into what kind of person the Unknown Soldier was.

While the issue #211 of The Unknown Soldier story was good, what I really enjoyed was the "In Country" entry written by Larry Hama (Marvel's GI Joe) and illustrated by Russ Heath. It was an anecdote about a American soldier name Luthor who (I'm assuming) Larry knew personally. Either way, it was an interesting read:

  Two more Joe Kubert issues that jumped out at me (are we noticing a trend, yet?):

Issue #212 featured Unknown Soldier's ally, Chat Noir, in a 17-page story about the Unknown Soldier infiltrating a gang of Nazi saboteurs (with no back-up story). Issue #213 was a 12-page story about the Unknown Soldier capturing and rehabilitating a Hitler Youth who had been brainwashed. This issue has a back-up feature.


Gradually, the series started to do away with back-up features and start running full-length Unknown Soldier stories (some of them were even spanned multiple issues). They'd play with the format a bit throughout the course of the series. It was later explained by the editor that...

Issue #214 was a continuation of the events that occurred in DC Super Stars #15 (there's your continuity, folks). This was editor/writer Robert Kanigher's first Unknown Soldier story. This one's a bit heavy -- in this issue, the Unknown Soldier's mission is to rescue French Resistance leader, Mlle Marie, from the Auschwitz concentration camp. I had problems with this story -- while Kanigher took the time to mention the sheer terror of Auschwitz and how it was probably the closest thing to hell on earth...

...it all seemed to be down-played by how easily The Unknown Soldier and Mlle Marie were able to free themselves and coerce the prisoners to turn on their captors. Now, I realize this was only a 17-page story in a book targeted to young adults (and adults) that had to meet the Comics Code Authority's guidelines -- so Kanigher couldn't really delve into the horrors of Auschwitz or what it's prisoners experiences. My recommendation? Read Art Spiegelman's Maus at least once in your life.


I skimmed the next two issues. While the covers were nicely illustrated (Kubert again), there wasn't enough there to really make me want to read them:

Writer Bob Haney served in the Navy during World War II, so Unknown Soldier #215 (left) would've been right in his wheelhouse.

The Unknown Soldier #217 is the beginning of a 3-issue story arc (written by Bob Haney) about the Unknown Soldier's failed assassination attempt on Hitler, getting killed and then having a Nazi imposter pretending to be the Unknown Soldier to assassinate Winston Churchill. This cover made me laugh because you don't typically expect to have explosives hidden in a painting.

The Unknown Solider #218 also had a cover that made me laugh. Without any context of who the Unknown Soldier was, it would appear that Hitler wants to allocate all of his resources into killing a fourth-degree burn victim. Like, it's bad enough that this guy has to walk around for the rest of his life with charred skin, but now Hitler wants him shot, too? Harsh. All kidding aside, this was a great issue and would pretty much cement the Unknown Soldier/Adolf Hitler rivalry that could only end one way at the end of the series. (hint hint)

Staring with issue #219, the price of the book went up (from 35 cents to 50 cents) and books now had 40 pages. Welcome to the 1978 'DC Explosion' (soon followed by the 1978 'DC Implosion' three months later).

For reasons I can't really explain, the cover of issue #221 intrigued me -- so I gave it a read. This issue's story is about a Tokyo Rose-type radio personality who is feeding Japanese military intel to American troops in coded messages during her radio programs. What struck me about this issue is that, contrary to what I'd normally expect, the Unknown Soldier was unable to prevent the pretty young radio announcer from getting discovered and murdered by her husband/Japanese colonel. Huh. These guys play for keeps.  


Alright, so the book prices have been re-adjusted: 40 cents now gets you 32 pages:

So this cover jumped out at me -- it appears that the Unknown Soldier is trying rescue allied soldiers on a German plane... that won't land! This cover was actually misleading -- it was about American aircrafts getting captured with with a Nazi "capture beam" and the allied aircraft crew being brainwashed into fighting for Germany. So, really, there was never any danger of the plane NOT landing. The Unknown Soldier thwarts their plans -- all within 13 pages. So far, this has felt like the most sci-fi/adventure/superhero story of them all.

On the cover of The Unknown Solider #232 is the Unknown Soldier and the closest thing he has to a comrade-in-arms, Chat Noir, securing a secret envelope with the name of a secret traitor. A 17-page story about the Unknown Solider using his detective skills to uncover who the traitor is in a French Resistance group. The story moved quickly and had plenty of action. Very enjoyable.

It's the Third Reich on a submarine... saluting the Unknown Solider? Also, it's a really nice cover with a high contrast between the oranges and grey/blues. The Unknown Soldier impersonates a German submarine captain in order to infiltrate an impregnable German naval base and blow it up. This was a quick 17-page story.

This cover reminded me of a scene from The Deer Hunter, and I remembered enjoying the film --so I had to give this one a read. The Unknown Soldier needs to convince an American being held in a Japanese-American internment camp to pose as an Imperial Ordnance Specialist to plant bombs in a Japanese army stronghold. There's a bit of suspense as we wonder if the American will betray his adopted homeland for his ancestral one. I applaud writer Bob Haney for not trying to pull the wool over our eyes and pretending like the Japanese-American internment camp "guests" had the best living conditions:
 

This was one of the sillier issues I read. The Germans are using children to stop the Allied forces from bombing a town, as they bide their time for their own Panzer squad to arrive to counter-strike against the Allied forces. The Unknown Soldier's solution? Dress up like the Pied Piper and lure the kids safely out of town so the Allied forces can attack:

Paul Levitz leaves as editor on The Unknown Soldier (to work on Batman and it's spin-off comics), and Len Wein comes in as the new editor.

It was hard to resist this cover: the Unknown Soldier hanging from the front of a charging locomotive while dodging a Nazi officer swinging a giant mallet. Don Heck illustrated this cover. This was a story that drew a lot of criticism from readers and sparked the whole 'Realistic vs Unrealistic war stories' debate in the letter column pages of The Unknown Soldier. Another misleading cover: at no point does the Unknown Soldier fight a guy carrying a giant hammer on the front of a train -- but this story does read a bit like Raiders of the Lost Ark as the Unknown Soldier is desperately trying to keep famous French artifact, The Hammer Martel, out of Nazi hands. Great read.



Around this time, GI Combat becomes a monthly book (it was previously a bi-monthly book).

 

It's the Unknown Solder guest-starring Captain Storm (of the Losers). Prior to this issue, I've never heard of Dateline: Frontline!, but in this issue it looks like we're getting 8 extra pages of it (and a ten cent price increase). In this issue, the Unknown Soldier and Captain Storm team-up to take out a mysterious 'ghost sub' that's blowing up Allied ships. It was a good story, but what really stood out for me was the 2-page 'Big Daddy' story written by Robert Kanigher and illustrated by Tom Yeates:

I was drawn to this issue because it kind of reminds me of the cover of that Punisher issue where Frank Castle is all chained up, but has a grenade hidden behind his back with the pin halfway out. "Like, ha, you guys think you have me beat? You have no clue what you're in for." There is no scene in this book where the Unknown Soldier hides in a sewer where a dozen Nazis march around him -- but he does meet his female German counterpart:

How were war comics doing around this point? Well, the Men Of War ongoing series was cancelled sometime between Unknown Soldier #246 and #247.

It's the Unknown Soldier, and he's leaving in a cart of dead people with a little red-haired girl [?] who is clearly alive. This was a great story about the Unknown Soldier trying to escape a Jewish ghetto with a secret formula to create the atomic bomb. This issue also contains part 2 of Cary Burkett's 'Ruptured Duck' feature.

Well, I'm a sucker for 'secret origin' issues, so I couldn't resist reading this issue. This was actually part 1 of a 2 part story in which a top SS espionage agent learns of the Unknown Soldier's true identity and seeks to hold his dad hostage. It does re-tell the Unknown Soldier's origin. It's continued in the following issue... and the Unknown Soldier retcons his own origin -- it turns out that he was inspired by a Battle God to become the 'Immortal GI':

How could anyone pass on a cover like this? Guest-starring Sgt Rock and Easy Company, Mlle Marie, the Haunted Tank and the Losers... and they're all trying to kill the Unknown Soldier. In this issue, the Unknown Soldier pretends to defect to the Nazis and become Hitler's right-hand man, so of course there's a giant target on his head. This issue gives you exactly what it professes -- all of these characters are trying to kill the Unknown Soldier, only to realize it was a giant scheme at the end. A really fun issue.

Mike W Barr (Batman and the Outsiders) becomes the editor of the title starting with issue #256.

The cover of this issue looked intriguing, so I gave it a shot. In issue #261, The Unknown Soldier goes on a secret mission to a French Chateau to rescue his paramour, Lady Jade, who is being tortured by Nazis. [Lady Jade was introduced in issue #254]. This issue has plenty of supernatural overtones, and probably should've been a Weird War Tales story. Still a fun read, however.   

I liked this cover because it introduces a mystery: what is the secret of the Death Sub? This easily could've been a Weird War Tales or House of Mystery cover. Unfortunately, this was not a submarine piloted by zombies, but a bunch of crew members who were sick with an experimental Japanese virus. It was a quick read, and the cover definitely drew me in.

Another whodunit cover. Who murdered the general? This was part 1 of a 2-part story that finished in issue #266. In typical DC fashion, we discover that the person who first confessed to the murder was only trying to protect his squad from being court-martialed, and that the REAL killer was actually a German soldier posing as an American soldier. Great story -- a quick and easy read.

Okay, so this is the LAST issue of the series. It's set on April 30th 1945 --  the day of the Gotterdammerung -- the day Adolf Hitler dies. It's a 23-page story. This is how you end a series. The Unknown Soldier is in Berlin, hot on Hitler's trail. All of his supporting characters are getting wiped out: Sparrow is discovered and killed by an SS firing squad, Inge sacrifices herself for the Unknown Soldier and trips on a seemingly inert bomb, and Chat Noir is gunned down while trying to rescue the Unknown Soldier from a tight situation. With the fall of Berlin looming, Hitler has one crazy scheme left up his sleeve: blood-sucking octopi that are to be dropped on Allied forces from the sky.

The Unknown Soldier manages to infiltrate Hitler's bunker, and shoots Hitler (making it look like a suicide). Throughout the course of their struggle, Eva Braun accidentally swallows her cyanide tablet. The Unknown Soldier uses his skills as a master of disguise to impersonate Hitler and shuts down the crazy Nazi 'octopi from the sky' scheme. While leaving Hitler's bunker, in one last selfless act of heroism, the Unknown Solider sacrifices his life to save an innocent child:

 
...and that's the end of the Unknown Soldier, folks. Or is it? The final panels allude that he may have dodged death and disguised himself as a GI. It kinda leaves the ending open for interpretation.

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This series was cancelled due to low sales. I don't have an accurate number of how many issues they were selling by the end, but in issue #249 (1981) they estimated that they had more 100,000 readers. It's really hard to make sense of the then-current war comic landscape since some war titles were getting cancelled, and some were going from a bi-monthly to a monthly schedule. Sgt Rock would outlast them all.  

A popular demand among readers who wrote in were for longer Unknown Soldier stories. Most readers wanted more than 13-page Unknown Soldier stories since he was the lead feature. It was explained by editorial that it simply wasn't possible since the regular inkers, Romeo Tanghal and Gerry Talaoc, lived in the Phillipines and that more than 13 pages would be too big of a workload on them.

It was later revealed by editorial that the back-up features were meant to expand their audience and (hopefully) bring in new readers. Popular back-up features included Enemy Ace by Robert Kanigher and John Severin, Dateline: Frontline! by Cary Burkett and Rick Estrada, and pretty much anything Robert Kanigher and Tom Yeates were cooking up. Unpopular back-up features included Andy Stewart: Combat Nurse and Fighting Devil Dog. Somewhere in the middle was Mlle Marie, the Losers, Balloon Buster and Viking Prince.

What's interesting about this series is that it doesn't pull any punches -- while the Unknown Soldier always wins at the end, many American soldiers are killed in the process. Often the scenes are grim -- Nazi (and Allied) soldiers are stabbed, hung, having their necks broken or shot. It's not just limited to men in uniform, either -- civilians and bystanders are captured, shot, blown up or tortured. That's war.

When I was a pre-teen, I could not stand war comics. I had a whole pile of Sgt Rock comics and the odd issue of Charlton Comics' Fightin' Army thrown into the mix, and I absolutely did not care for them. To this effect, I feel that war comics are an acquired taste -- since I love reading them now. I would definitely recommend the Unknown Soldier.

-Justin