WWI in comics

Kirk R. Lowry · 14 September 2009, 08:26 PM

Bonjour mes amis!

George Evans was one of the great illustrators and despite the gradual and eventual collapse of E.C. was always able to find work. DC was to be a source of employment, but, not, ultimately, as one would have thought. Despite publishing, perhaps, the most renown Great War Aviation series, Enemy Ace, Evans was never to illustrate the title.

Evans related that upon being introduced to Robert Kanigher who edited the various war based titles published by DC: "he looked at my portfolio and said, "Oh, you're one of those bastards from E.C. who ruined the whole industry and now you think you're going to move in here and we're going to pay you?" Though Evans did do work for DC cooperation with Kanigher was limited. As Kanigher was the creator of Enemy Ace, Evans, it would seem was kept from illustrating the title ... though John Severin, who worked for E.C. would ...

Nonetheless the man was so great a talent that work was provided by DC no mater the personal differences and as a means of displaying the passion supporting stories to various titles were given to Evans to write and illustrate ...

THE ACE AND THE Joker was a remarkably detailed story told in seven pages about a pilot named Bix Benton and a Sopwith Camel called The Beast. Benton joins "THE INTERNATIONAL SQUADRON but flys a Sopwith Camel that cannot be controlled. Evans, as always, displays a remarkable attention to detail.

From The ACE AND THE Joker, OUR ARMY at WAR, NO.200 (1968)

Other tales illustrated by Evans for DC were in the traditions established by E.C.; fictional accounts depicting the reality of war and biographical features about pilots.

From MUD AND SKY, G.I. Combat NO.158 (1973)

From The AEGEAN EAGLE!, G.I. Combat NO.164 (1973)

Salut!
Kirk

Gregvan · 14 September 2009, 08:53 PM

Bravo, Kirk!! Thanks so much for posting those. I've had "The Ace and the Joker" since it came out, and treasure it. The other two stories were new to me, and now I'll have to prowl ebay until I can find them. I had no idea George had ever done the Eschwege story. Terrific!!....

I know you've seen the "Weird War Tales" (No. 17, Sept. 1973) story "Dead Man's Hands", which combined George's love of WWI aviation with his expertise in ghoulish stories gained from all those jobs for EC. The ridiculous macabre plot aside, it's one of my favorites of George's pieces. Magnificent aircraft art and characterization.

Merci again, mon ami.

Greg

josef scott · 14 September 2009, 10:06 PM

Kirk,

Once again, you've nailed it for me. I had both those issues of G.I Combat.

Great memories!

jastaflieger · 15 September 2009, 06:07 PM

Kirk,
I had no idea these stories by George existed, and now i have had to buy them- yes , Greg i already went on line and have purchased both comics already- looking forward to these stories::: so thank you kirk, keep these coming because in truth- these are really fun and not too expensive, from my secret internet site( cannot tell you Greg) just got both comics for 9 dollars, includes shipping!
Cannot complain about that!
jim

Gregvan · 15 September 2009, 07:52 PM

Come on, Jastaflieger - spill the beans!

Greg

Chock · 16 September 2009, 06:23 PM

Another old one I have, this is from 1980:

My wife did some of the artwork in this annual, pretty good it is too!

Al

jastaflieger · 16 September 2009, 07:10 PM

i would try mile high comics, or NewKadia or metropolis comics- those are usuallly the ones that have the best supply of old comics.

jim

Breguet · 19 September 2009, 03:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Southside Bucky

Printed in the UK, Commando comics were launched in 1961. If you wanna know more, here's the Wiki entry:

Commando Comics - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Stories are usually set in WWII, so this cover's something of a rarity...Also, I'd say it surely has to be the only cover art depicting a dogfight between an Albatros and a man on a bike?

Check out the issue number...Can you imagine trying to collect the whole set?

Commando actually has quite a few. Here are some more:

Southside Bucky · 19 September 2009, 04:14 AM

Thanks for those Breguet...The cover art on the Commando's is always spectacular. It's a pity you couldn't find larger pics. That one; 'The First Aces' is fantastic!

You can tell that the in-house artists (whoever they are/were) went to a lot of trouble to get the details as accurate as possible. Check out the Albatros D.III on the cover of 'Front-Line Fear' for example...The colour scheme is from that excellent old 'Blandford series' book: 'Fighters 1914-19', by Kenneth Munson.

Breguet · 19 September 2009, 04:28 AM

They're actually all from my collection (I only have a couple of thousand - not a complete set by any means!).