Our Army at War #255, featuring Sgt. Rock.

Thanks to Charlie Horse 47 and Killdumpster for their sponsorship of this post, via the magic of Patreon.

***

War is hell.

And so is reading war comics.

I admit it, it's a genre that's always held little interest for me, but the public's demanded I review a product of that field and, so, I must.

I could cheat and do an issue of Weird War Tales, which was the only war book I ever liked, as a child, mostly because I saw it as being a horror mag.

However, I've already reviewed the odd issue of that title, so I feel I should dive in and do what can only be termed a pure war-publication.

For that purpose, I've chosen a Sgt. Rock issue, mostly because XTC said Sgt Rock was going to help me and also because this one has one of those covers where the hero's about to walk straight into a whole heap of deadly menace while thinking everything's fine.

Where would the average war comic be without such a cover concept?

But, then again, is this an average war comic?

Here's where I find out.

The book kicks off with the tale What's It Like? in which Robert Kanigher and Russ Heath spin a yarn wherein a desk-bound sergeant, whose job is to give Rock his latest missions, repeatedly bemoans to the Rockster about how unfair it is that he's stuck in an office while Rock and his gang are out having fun fighting the war.

In fairness, it's easy to see why that sergeant thinks this, as he keeps handing Rock assignments that, on paper, look a doddle, like pulling a jeep out of a river, making road signs point the wrong way, or finding the general's lost dog.

However, such is Rock's monumental bad luck that, every time he tries to perform one of these tasks, he blunders into a mountain of enemy hostility which leaves half his men dead and he himself lucky to still be alive.

For some reason, it never occurs to Rock to point this out to his fellow sergeant and disabuse him of his misconceptions.

Indeed, Rock is a strangely taciturn character in those meetings and not at all like the hyper-emotional weirdo I first encountered in the pages of his Brave and the Bold team-up with Batman. Up until now, that team-up has been my only exposure to the character and may have given me completely the wrong impression.

As someone whose nearest reference point to the adventures of Rock is having read the exploits of Nick Fury and his Howlin' Commandos, I find it a startlingly sombre and bleak outing in which everyone but Rock is basically cannon fodder and even the simplest of duties turns into a rolling meat-mincer.

To be honest, although I wouldn't want to spend a lifetime reading such stories, I do much prefer it to the adventures of Fury in which going into battle-zones, while armed only with an umbrella, a mouth full of slang, and a trumpet, is the route to a bucketload of fun.

But there's not just one tale in this book. This being an early 1970s DC title, there's also a back-up strip.

This one - Red Rain - is supplied by Kanigher and the redoubtable ER Cruz and is like something straight out of Weird War Tales, in which a 1917 troop of soldiers keep being rescued by a mysterious Frenchman who turns out to be a statue. I have a feeling Stan Ridgway probably read a fair few DC comics before he wrote Camouflage.

Again, it's a sombre and downbeat tale and a total contrast to Nick Fury's rompings.

So, did I survive my encounter with war?

Yes, I did.

In truth, it was a painless read, although, with both tales' lack of character development, and a reliance on nothing but a central concept to carry them forward, I can't say I feel any urge to read any more such issues.

I am, however, curious to discover whether the depiction of Rock here is typical.