Summary
Our Army at War is an American comic book anthology published by DC Comics that featured war-themed stories and featured the first appearances of Sgt. Rock and Enemy Ace.[1] The series was published from August 1952 to February 1977, then was renamed Sgt. Rock in March 1977, continuing the numbering sequence of Our Army at War.
| Our Army at War | |
|---|---|
 Cover to Our Army at War #1 (August 1952), art by Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella. | |
| Publication information | |
| Publisher | DC Comics |
| Schedule | Monthly |
| Format | Ongoing series |
| Genre | |
| Publication date | August 1952 – February 1977 |
| No. of issues | 301 |
| Main character(s) | Sgt. Rock and Easy Company |
| Creative team | |
| Written by | List
|
| Penciller(s) | List
|
| Inker(s) | Mike Esposito |
| Editor(s) | List
|
Publication history edit
Our Army at War was launched in August 1952 as part of a wave of war comics.[2][3] The stories were often followed by tag lines such as "Explosive Battle Action". One of the main characters was Sgt. Rock, who appeared in #81 (April 1959) as Sgt. Rocky along with his team, Easy Company.[4] The character got his final name in issue #83. Writer Robert Kanigher and artist Joe Kubert introduced Enemy Ace in #151 (February 1965).[5] Artist Neal Adams made his DC Comics debut with the story "It's My Turn to Die", written by Howard Liss, in issue #182 (July 1967).[6] Writer/artist Sam Glanzman began his series of biographical war stories about his service aboard the U.S.S. Stevens in issue #218 (April 1970).[7] Three issues of the series, #242 (February 1972), #269 (June 1974), and #275 (December 1974), were published in the 100 Page Super Spectacular format.[2][8] The series' title was changed to Sgt. Rock with issue #302 (March 1977).[9] An Our Army at War one-shot was published in November 2010.[10][11]
Collected editions edit
- Showcase Presents: Our Army at War collects Our Army at War #1–20, 512 pages, December 2010, ISBN 1-4012-2942-5
- America at War includes Our Army at War #67: "Push-Button War" by France Herron and John Severin; #83: "The Rock and the Wall!" by Robert Kanigher and Joe Kubert; #160: "What's the Color of Your Blood?" by Kanigher and Kubert; #235: "The Glory Boys" by Kanigher and Alex Toth; #233: "Head-Count" by Kanigher and Kubert; and #235: "Kamikaze" by Sam Glanzman, 247 pages, July 1979, ISBN 978-0671249533
- Sgt. Rock Archives
- Volume 1 collects Our Army at War #81–96, 240 pages, May 2002, ISBN 978-1-56389-841-9
- Volume 2 collects Our Army at War #97–110, 216 pages, December 2003, ISBN 978-1-4012-0146-3
- Volume 3 collects Our Army at War #111–125, 224 pages, August 2005, ISBN 978-1-4012-0410-5
- Volume 4 collects Our Army at War #126–137 and Showcase #45, 248 pages, October 2012, ISBN 978-1-4012-3726-4
- Showcase Presents: Sgt. Rock
- Volume 1 collects Our Army at War #81–117, 544 pages, November 2007, ISBN 978-1-4012-1713-6
- Volume 2 collects Our Army at War #118–148, 544 pages, November 2008, ISBN 1-4012-1984-5
- Volume 3 collects Our Army at War #149–180, 512 pages, August 2010, ISBN 1-4012-2771-6
- Volume 4 collects Our Army at War #181–216, 520 pages, February 2013, ISBN 1-4012-3811-4
- DC Universe Illustrated by Neal Adams Vol. 1 includes Our Army at War #182: "It's My Turn to Die" and Our Army at War #183: "Invisible Sniper" both by Howard Liss and Neal Adams; Our Army at War #186: "My Life for a Medal" by Hank Chapman and Adams; and Our Army at War #240: "Another Time Another Place" by Bob Haney and Adams, 192 pages, January 2009, ISBN 1-4012-1917-9
- U.S.S. Stevens: The Collected Stories includes "U.S.S. Stevens" stories from Our Army at War #218, 220, 222–223, 225, 227, 230–232, 235, 238, 240–242, 244–245, 247–248, 256–259, 261–262, 265–267, 269, 275, 281–282, 284, 293, 298, 424 pages, July 2016, ISBN 978-0486801582[12]
References edit
- ^ Cowsill, Alan; Irvine, Alex; Manning, Matthew K.; McAvennie, Michael; Wallace, Daniel (2019). DC Comics Year By Year: A Visual Chronicle. DK Publishing. p. 65. ISBN 978-1-4654-8578-6.
- ^ a b Our Army at War at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ Irvine, Alex (2010). "1950s". In Dolan, Hannah (ed.). DC Comics Year By Year A Visual Chronicle. London, United Kingdom: Dorling Kindersley. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-7566-6742-9.
DC's latest title, Our Army at War, emerged at the forefront of a wave of war-themed comics that swept the industry in the early 1950s.
- ^ Irvine "1950s" in Dolan, p. 93: "In "The Rock of Easy Co.!" written by Robert Kanigher and Bob Haney, with art by Ross Andru, the reader was introduced to Sgt. Frank Rock of Easy Company".
- ^ McAvennie, Michael "1960s" in Dolan, p. 114: "This landmark issue...presented a very different look at war through the eyes of Enemy Ace Rittmeister Hans von Hammer. Writer/editor Robert Kanigher and artist Joe Kubert based von Hammer on German WWI pilot Manfred von Richthofen a.k.a. the "Red Baron"".
- ^ McAvennie "1960s" in Dolan, p. 124: "Adams commandeered his first DC work as a penciler/inker with 'It's My Turn to Die' a nine-page back-up tale written by Howard Liss for Our Army at War #182 in July [1967]".
- ^ McAvennie "1970s" in Dolan, p. 139: "It was Glanzman's semi-autobiographical tales in Our Army at War that brought a harrowing realism to World War II that few war comics have matched".
- ^ Eury, Michael (July 2015). "A Look at DC's Super Specs". Back Issue! (#81). Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing: 20 and 26.
- ^ Sgt. Rock at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ Our Army at War one-shot at the Grand Comics Database
- ^ Overstreet, Robert M. (2019). Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide (49th ed.). Timonium, Maryland: Gemstone Publishing. pp. 917–918. ISBN 978-1603602334.
- ^ "U.S.S. Stevens: The Collected Stories". Grand Comics Database.
External links edit
- Our Army at War at Cover Browser
- Our Army at War and Our Army at War one-shot at Mike's Amazing World of Comics