Book Report: FRONTLINE COMBAT Comics in Kendal

 

Book (comicbook) Report FRONTLINE COMBAT.  Before MAD Comicbook/Magazine existed at EC Comics existed they had a big selection of Horror and Science-Fi Comics.  Then writer/artist/editor Harvey Kurtzman came along.  He is credited for writing and editing most of EC’s two new War comics FRONTLINE COMBAT and TWO-FISTED TALES.

Harvey Kurtzman has been dead over a quarter century.   Now, I suppose “the best of” FRONTLINE COMBAT is in digital Kendal form.  FRONTLINE COMBAT Kendall covers all kinds of war,  WWI aerial dogfights, pirates, Civil War, Indians, Roman times, modern airplane fights, and on and on.  The details were well researched.  Kurtzman had an assistant who did the research.  He even went down in a submarine.  Kurtzman also verified Sherman’s quote, “War is Hell.”  The American soldier did not always win, and some were natural bullies.  I counted stories, one Forward, and one Introduction.    One included comic was a special on the Air Force, which was all good,  like a show off of what we have.

The artists in this Kendal is George Evans,  Alex Tooth, Harvey Kurtzman, Jack Davis, Wally Wood, John Severin*, and Jack Kubrt.  It is interesting that John Severin and Will Elder worked on most of their stories as a team, but not one Elder and Severin was included.

 

This was before MAD was created, these war comics took a lot of research and then Kurtzman created MAD and he is more remembered for MAD than he is of the War comics.