Our Army at War
Cover to Our Army at War #1 (August 1952), art by Carmine Infantino and Joe Giella.
Publication information
PublisherDC Comics
ScheduleMonthly
FormatOngoing series
Genre
Publication dateAugust 1952 – February 1977
No. of issues301
Main character(s)Sgt. Rock and Easy Company
Creative team
Written by
List
Penciller(s)
List
Inker(s)Mike Esposito
Editor(s)
List
  • Robert Kanigher (#1–193)
    Joe Kubert (#194–301)

Our Army at War was 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.

Publication history

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

References

  1. ^ 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.
  2. ^ a b Our Army at War at the Grand Comics Database
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ 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".
  5. ^ 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"".
  6. ^ 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]".
  7. ^ 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".
  8. ^ Eury, Michael (July 2015). "A Look at DC's Super Specs". Back Issue!. Raleigh, North Carolina: TwoMorrows Publishing (#81): 20 and 26.
  9. ^ Sgt. Rock at the Grand Comics Database
  10. ^ Our Army at War one-shot at the Grand Comics Database
  11. ^ Overstreet, Robert M. (2019). Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide (49th ed.). Timonium, Maryland: Gemstone Publishing. pp. 917–918. ISBN 978-1603602334.
  12. ^ "U.S.S. Stevens: The Collected Stories". Grand Comics Database.

External links

DC Comics war titles
Categories